We have largely moved on from the Arsenal schadenfreude, but we have been given hints that Mikel Arteta will only get more cynical.<\/p>\n
This is an Arsenal-themed Mailbox; your Liverpool and Andoni Iraola mails are here<\/a>. Mail us at theeditor@football365.com<\/p>\n Mikel Arteta sent a warning about football future<\/p>\n It could be lost amid the flurry of Arsenal schadenfreude, but one statement made by Arteta last night gave me a shiver, because it tells us so much about Arteta and Arsenal, and maybe even about the direction of football:<\/p>\n When asked about the Madueke non-penalty incident, Arteta said:<\/p>\n \u201cI watched all the penalties in the competition this season over the past 72 hours to understand what\u2019s a penalty and not. That easily can be a penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s bleak. He said the quiet part out loud.<\/p>\n In the 3 days before the biggest game of his career, he spent hours(?) watching all the penalties given in the ECL. Time that could\u2019ve been spent analyzing Doue or Vitinha. Time spent looking for weaknesses in Pacho or Mendes. But no, he wanted to watch penalty decisions.<\/p>\n Why? Because for better or worse, he knows that in this current VAR era, where everything is refereed twice, he can use that to his advantage.<\/p>\n It\u2019s so hard to break down defence and score goals. A penalty is a game changer in any game it\u2019s given.<\/p>\n Arteta now clearly sees penalties as Arsenal\u2019s best form of attack. And in a time where VAR will check everything again in slow-mo, why wouldn\u2019t he:<\/p>\n Tell the Arsenal players to run into the box at pace and hit the deck at the first brush of contact. It will look worse in slow mo!<\/p>\n Tell the players to stay down, shout like you\u2019ve been shot, draw the ref\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n If the rolling and shouting doesn\u2019t work, make sure Rice, Gabriel, Arteta, Odegaard hound the refs while Arteta hounds to officials\u2026 whatever it takes to send them to the monitor!<\/p>\n And honestly, as bleak as this is\u2026 for a \u2018win at all costs\u2019 manager like Arteta.. why wouldn\u2019t he? It\u2019s an absolute glitch in the system at the moment and he\u2019s exploited it perfectly. A review last week showed Arsenal benefited (joint) most from VAR errors this year. He\u2019s won a league with this as part of the tactics\u2026 why wouldn\u2019t he continue?<\/p>\n It\u2019s such a shame to see the game reduced to this. The current, awful VAR model means that the Arsenals and the Artetas of the world, and their success to be fair, will make others copycat quickly.<\/p>\n We\u2019re heading to a world where VAR checks take ~10-15mins in many games, and penalties start accounting for 40-50% of all goals scored. At that stage, claims of corruption will come in \u2013 when video refereeing becomes so decisive, people will really scrutinize who\u2019s making those decisions.<\/p>\n VAR has been awful: simple as. Tech is great for binary decisions like offside and goal line tech, but the concept of \u2018what is a foul\u2019 and \u2018what is a handball\u2019 is still so completely subjective, it makes no sense to ruin games, to give another faceless ref another chance to look at every decision again in slow motion, and then come to an inconsistent answer anyway.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a flaw that\u2019s being exploited by coaches like Arteta, and we may only see this get worse.<\/p>\n Finally, in case this sounds like Arsenal bashing, it\u2019s not meant as that: I\u2019m not a fan of their football, but let\u2019s be fair: it worked! They\u2019ve had a very successful season, and look well positioned for that success to continue\u2026 but I must admit I was glad PSG\u2019s more \u2018purist\u2019 football won out in the end. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026Some decent emails in the mailbox<\/a>. Good points about travesties averted and some Arsenal \u201cwe promise we\u2019re actually the good guys\u201d; PSG are run by oil maniacs and stan Kroenke is the second coming of Mother Theresa. Which was reflected in the Arsenal Apologism and Arteta Hagiography in the 16 Conclusions<\/a>. I mean really Matt Stead did you actually watch Arteta\u2019s post match interview where, with a face like a slapped arse, he whined about how it was unfair that they were consistent(ly shit and boring) all tournament and lost on penalties. Then he complained that they should have had a penalty because they got them the rest of the tournament. He only half heartedly added that Luis Enrique and PSG were good at the end as a footnote. That \u201ccaricature\u201d is actually more of an accurate portrait my friend. I get this is an English website but good lord let\u2019s have some objectivity please.<\/p>\n And again somehow Arsenal nearly got away murder. Trossard\u2019s handball assist, Saka allowed to play basketball in his own box\u2026. But finally they got a penalty awarded against them and they didn\u2019t win. It just shows that if Arsenal hadn\u2019t been riding some level of Deal With the Devil at the Crossroads of refereeing bullshit, they would have dropped MANY MANY more points in the Premier League season.<\/p>\n My final point is when did football simply become about winning? When does this Machiavellian mindset enter the game ? We tell kids to think about the spirit of the game. Sportsmanship is important. Camaraderie. Respect for your opponent. Not everything is about winning, it\u2019s how you win.<\/p>\n But then we get to the professional game we just throw our hands up and say well it\u2019s all about results. Humanity has reached a place where the results justify the means, no matter how many people are hurt by people\u2019s actions or how the game is brought into a state of disrepute and lowered to a state of \u201cdo what thou wilt as long as the results come in \u201c<\/p>\n Morality, ethics and the aesthetics of a sport that\u2019s is supposed to predicated on entertainment rely on the means to how outcomes are achieved. We all want to watch a sport based on fair and honest competition. Watching the most rubbish champions league final I have seen since 2003 vindicates the position it was much better for football that the negative, Machiavellian dross that Arsenal have dished up all season wasn\u2019t rewarded. After getting away with murder against Atleti, this is justice.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s get onto the next season and I\u2019m looking forward to Arsenal shifting from their stopped clocks being right twice a day and get their just desserts. Cheating b**tards. Nobody likes you. \u00a0<\/p>\n Why can\u2019t you enjoy your own team?<\/p>\n The schadenfreude in football<\/a> has been taken to levels never seen before this season. Arsenal in particular have generated unrivalled levels of hate from people who should be objectively neutral or at worst have no skin in the game. But we\u2019re not alone, the hate watch or rage baiting has gone in to overdrive and it is not going to end well.<\/p>\n With the rise of 24\/7 football and social media fans are becoming even more fanatical about their club and if you make your living as a wind up merchant then don\u2019t be surprised if one day someone takes things a bit too far in retaliation to you.<\/p>\n Where has the class gone in football? Even clubs and players are in on this now. Hardly any clubs sending congratulations messages to each other, many more interested in trolling a supposed loser<\/a>. The weird behaviour of a \u2018haha you lost the champions league final, a competition we can only dream of being in and you\u2019ll have to settle for being league champions after we told you all season you\u2019ll bottle it\u2019 \u2013 and this being seen as a win for the troll? Goodness me.<\/p>\n Fans and access to football is probably at the best and lowest it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n When England inevitably get knocked out of the World Cup fans of any club will find a scapegoat from another club and use it to troll them. \u2018Haha, I\u2019m hurt by the thing we both collectively were supporting but it\u2019s your team\u2019s player who cost us so I\u2019m happy to laugh at you\u2019 watch it happen in the mailbox.<\/p>\n An historic season for Arsenal against the greatest pressure a manager and set of players have ever come under to win a title. The fact that Arsenal is all anyone could talk about all season shows the levels of jealously reeking out of rivals. You fear us. You say we\u2019re unbearable but it has been created by you. You have been relentless in the criticism of Arsenal for years, do you not expect the fans to defend the club, the players, the manager? Perhaps that collective feeling of \u2018us against them\u2019 has driven us on. And also you have to expect it back in spades when we\u2019ve won.<\/p>\n Next season you\u2019ll shift the goalposts again, find another minor thing to be unbelievably offended by, but the need to feel better about yourself by trying to bring down the joy of others is getting silly and doesn\u2019t work, you end up living for negativity when there are so many more fun and positive things to focus on in life and football. Just enjoy your team people! \u00a0<\/p>\n Mixed messages<\/p>\n Even though I\u2019m not an Arsenal fan I was hoping that they would win it as it\u2019s always exciting to see a team win who haven\u2019t before. I think it\u2019s great for the game regardless of the team you support.<\/p>\n Well that\u2019s what I told my son but we all know that\u2019s a load of shite. Secretly laughing. \u00a0<\/p>\n No schadenfreude festival here<\/p>\n I went into the final on Saturday hoping to the heavens that Arsenal wouldn\u2019t win the game but something happened mid-game that I didn\u2019t expect. I started becoming okay with Arsenal winning the thing.<\/p>\n I guess mid-game Arsenal gained something even more valuable. They gained my respect and acceptance that they belong at this level.<\/p>\n I think any Arsenal fan should be proud of their team. You showed up and played well against a great all-time team. Arteta and the boys didn\u2019t bottle that game and can count themselves unlucky.<\/p>\n Looking forward to next season when we get to play you as defending champions in the Premier League.<\/p>\n Well done on a great season. READ: 16 Conclusions from Arsenal losing the Champions League final: Arteta, Saka, Odegaard, Gabriel<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026As expected there has been a fair amount of chuckling around Arsenals \u2018failure\u2019 to overcome PSG. Let\u2019s clear this up. So, yeah, they didn\u2019t have a great deal of the ball, didn\u2019t make too many chances and didn\u2019t press on when they took an early lead but there are many ways to win a football match. We all marvel at Barca and Peps Barca light tika taka. We doffed our caps when Jose went a whole season conceding nothing at Chelsea. Ranieri stole our hearts and Jurgens gengenpressing was often a joy to watch.<\/p>\n But take nothing away from Arteta and his team. They\u2019re been the best in the country by a distance all season. It\u2019s sometimes a hard watch with their sh*thousery and reliance on set-pieces but they\u2019ve been damn fine at it, it would be a poor manager that didn\u2019t play to their own strengths. So yes, it might not be everyone\u2019s cup of tea but let\u2019s give the Gooners a little respect folks, they were a roll of a dice (and 1 stupid stuttery penalty) from overcoming what is currently the best team in world footballl and deserve a bit of respect. So yeah, hat tip to all involved at Arsenal FC. \u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019re all just bitter<\/p>\n All the fans slating Arsenal\u2019s performance in the Champions League final<\/a> are bitter Tottenham, Liverpool and Man United fans who\u2019s teams never got a sniff of winning anything this season and just can\u2019t take the fact Arsenal are Premier League champions. That\u2019s all that needs to be said really. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026As devastated as we are today, being so close to glory and some terrible refereeing decisions mainly going toward the opposition, then to have it go to pennos is heartbreaking to say the least. But we completely expect the Schadenfreude, it\u2019s part of the norm as soon as Arsenal drop points or lose in whatever manner. It\u2019s literally all that the small-minded have left, and ragebaiters need to make their social media dolla yada yada yada.<\/p>\n Even still, Arsenal have still had much more success than your team has had this season, and we still get to enjoy that shiny Premier League pot that the team worked so hard for \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0<\/p>\n London Pride<\/p>\n Thank you Chris, Croydon<\/a>. I could not have said it any better.<\/p>\n But let them continue to mock our team. Bottom line PSG, did not look like scoring the whole game till that penalty.<\/p>\n I am sure Arteta and the team will learn from the defeat and I hope it will give them more fire to go again next season.<\/p>\n I am proud of my team and the goal was to win the league and now that is done, we now need to get few players out and few in to make the squad better. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026Couple of things. All those armchair managers criticising Arsenal. Went 1-0 up after six minutes. Best attacking team in Europe playing best defence in Europe. What would you really do in that situation? Easy to throw s**t, isn\u2019t it, when you\u2019re not actually responsible for doing the job?<\/p>\n And secondly, Paris SG win the Champions League Final and there are riots in Paris. Arsenal lose the final and go on a parade. Thousands of fans having such a great time, fantastic atmosphere. I was there and it was brilliant! I\u2019m proud of the club and proud of the fans. \u00a0<\/p>\n Small details<\/p>\n Hard luck Arsenal. They very nearly did it. But the very small, minute detail that derailed them was letting a (very good) central defender take the 5th spot kick. It\u2019s absolutely bizarre and I still can\u2019t get my head around it.<\/a> Gabriel had never taken a penalty in his life. In fact I doubt hes ever had an effort on goal that didnt involve his head. Arteta will have sleepless nights over it for a long time to come. SMH. \u00a0<\/p>\n One of F365\u2019s biggest fans writes\u2026<\/p>\n Firstly, before I put forward my thoughts I fully understand I am being duped here. Rage engagement isn\u2019t a new methodology. Make a bunch of rage inducing statements then stand back and milk the clicks. I\u2019m going to respond anyway.<\/p>\n
Andy, Spurs, Eire<\/p>\n
Disgruntled, RSA<\/p>\n
Rich, AFC \u2013 Champions<\/p>\n
Ralph, Montreal, LFC<\/p>\n
Manc In SA (genuinely felt bad for them)<\/p>\n
Jim (LFC. Wish my team were as big a failure as Arsenal have been this season)<\/p>\n
Dan, London<\/p>\n
Cpt. Cucumber [Next season maybe, but please don\u2019t park that bloody bus]<\/p>\n
Lwazi, Cape Town<\/p>\n
John (North London)<\/p>\n
Derek, LFC<\/p>\n