For this blogger, the match vs PSG was perfection. A commanding first half and two goals to the good, a second half of majestic defending – a skill I have always loved and why Tony Adams is probably still my favourite ever Arsenal player (along with Thierry, Dennis, Frank McLintock, Anders Limpar, Lee Dixon…… continued on page 94).
I get moved from my usual seat in the East Stand to accommodate the great and the good from UEFA, and watched last night’s from above the PSG fans. What a performance – shirts off, lustily singing from first to last. Did the rest of the stadium make any noise. We couldn’t hear it.
But back to the match. Watching from behind Raya the way the defence operated was magical – one player moves out, another slots in to fill the space. A thing of beauty. When the substitutions were made, I worried that the smooth operation might dislocate. None of it. Business as usual. And by defence, I include Saka and Martinelli who worked tirelessly. And while there were a couple of hairy moments, coming to the rescue there was always a swift, clean tackle from Saliba, and safe hands of Raya.
There’s much more that can be said about 90 minutes of an engrossing match, but the fundamental of getting ahead then controlling the play without needing to take risks is an ideal way to control the nerves – nerves that have been shredded by years of flaky defending and grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. The only downer was the realisation that Newcastle won a similar fixture last season, 4-1.
Of course, 2-0 at half time isn’t necessarily a good thing, as we discovered against Leicester. So I was intrigued by the club’s messaging both before the match and as the players left the field at half time. We were being asked to be sure to be in our seats before the start of the second half, creating a wall of noise. Are they blaming late returners for the goal and two bookings against the Foxes? Despite the requests, people were missing again last night and the stadium hadn’t filled fully when there a very close call when PSG missed an almost open goal.
What are we to make of it? Are players really distracted by empty seats or streams of supporters moving down the aisles back into place? Do they feel unable to concentrate or are demotivated by our temporary absences? ‘If you can’t be bothered to watch, why should we bother to play!’ Surely not! You can’t tell me a professional footballer is disconcerted and distracted because he’s kicking off when a third of the stadium is still finishing its pints.
Yet it seems odd that this would be raised by the club. Interesting to see if they ask again for people to vacate the bars and loos in time for the kick off of the second half on Saturday.