Kevin Whitcher
Phew! It is actually Friday evening as I write. Spain v Turkey is on the box in my Toulouse hotel room, and I have seen three matches since my last offering. However, I am taking this day by day to ensure some web content most days, so we are now looking at Wednesday and the 6pm (local time) kick off between Switzerland and Romania.
First the journey up, leaving from Feurs a little north of St Etienne. An old style guest house where the hosts spoke not a word of English. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at my ability in the local tongue to actually communicate and, even more incredulous, understand the principles of what was being said to me. Wonders never cease. That long forgotten French ‘O’ level lurks in the background of my mind somewhere. I left at around 8.15 and arrived at my Paris hotel a little under 6 hours later. I could have made better time, but stopped more than once on the way up. I’ll spare you detail, but I have an intolerance to wheat. I can eat a limited amount, but too much and my stomach lets me know it is not happy. Unfortunately, if you are on the move in France, and going to matches at football stadiums, the options that do not involve bread can be very limited when it comes to refuelling. I tell you this people. I have come to the conclusion that wheat is not good for you. And I think, in the UK at least, more people are catching on. Try cutting it out of your diet for a week and see how much better you feel. There is one thing that you may need to consider though. A lot of beer is made from wheat. I think it’s the bread stuff that does for me though. That and pasta.
What kind of football diary is this, I hear you ask? A personal one is my response. Anyway, Paris. A hotel within the peripherique not too far from Pere Lechaise cemetery (where Jim Morrison’s bones lie), and no parking offered. Or at least I thought. A forum I checked out recommended parking near the zoo just outside the peripherique (the orbital ring road that marks the city centre) and walking to the nearest metro. My SatNav actually took me in this way by chance and I noticed the signs that said anyone parking there between 10pm and 7am would be towed away. Why I cannot work out, but the signs were clear enough. So great for daytime parking (except Sundays and public holidays, when you will also get towed away) but useless for my intended idea of leaving the car somewhere for the duration of my stay where I wouldn’t have to pay anything. However, I can confirm, there is a God. On arriving at the hotel and parking up in a delivery bay so I could at least check in and dump my luggage, I asked what the local parking options were. The hotel had a space for hire in an underground car park nearby for 10 euros a day. And in the centre of Paris, that is a result.
My 6pm game was a metro ride away on the west side of the city at Parc Des Princes. Now older Arsenal fans may have memories of the police that work the stadium from 1994 and 1995, and in terms of fan friendliness, pretty much nothing had changed. And the security at Parc des Princes was more intense than at any other stadium so far. The usual format is ticket check, security search and ticket at electric reader to be in the stadium. Not in Paris. Before the first ticket check, you had to go through two different cordons of police barriers, being searched if they did not like the look of you. It took a long time to get through both of those, and I reckon a good few people missed the opening minutes of the match due to these extra barriers. The fans were good natured about it. No-one pushed and shoved, but tolerance was definitely tested.
The Parc des Princes hasn’t changed too much over the years. Sure they have put new seats in, but essentially the stadium is as it always was. The huge gap behind the goals always throws me. Fortunately it didn’t affect the distance between myself and the pitch as I was near a corner flag pitchside. I guess that maybe rugby matches need more length, so the distance between the goals and the supporters behind them is probably due to that.
Anyway, the thing I was most looking forward to was my first sighting of Granit Xhaka whilst actually having a clue who the player is. (I did see Switzerland v Honduras in Brazil 2014, but my main memory of that is Shaquiri’s hat-trick, and the Brazilian crowd boo-ing Sepp Blatter when he appeared on the stadium big screens. Looking back at the game on the Wikipedia entry on, it Xhaka played as the advanced midfielder with Valon Behrami and Gokhan Inler holding behind him. Two years on, and Xhaka has, positionally, replaced Inler, pairing up with Behrami to protect the Swiss defence (which still includes a certain Johan Djourou, although these days Philippe Senderos is nowhere to be seen). So, a 4-2-3-1 formation, pretty much what Xhaka will find at Arsenal.
I was amazed at the half time stat that revealed he had covered more distance than any other players, because to me, he more or less held his position, with Behrami the one that would make advances to join the attacking players. He was certainly tidy, and efficient, but in fairness, pretty unspectacular. He is an upgrade on Francis Coquelin, but I would be surprised to see Arsene Wenger start the pair of them in the same line-up. I suppose another way you can look at Xhaka is to call him a poor man’s Gilberto. He definitely seems that type of player. Nothing wrong with that – he could become a key component of a successful side, as Gilberto was (he practically held together the Brazil 2002 World Cup winning side). But more will be needed to steel Arsenal’s resolve than Xhaka. It’s a start though. I could see him being paired with Mohammed Elneny, although that could preclude the involvement of Santi Cazorla. Nice to have options though, isn’t it.
The game was pretty even for my money and neither side could complain too much at getting a 1-1 draw. The Romanian fans behind the goal let a series of flares off early on, and I can honestly say I am amazed they got them past security. The France game was the final one on Wednesday evening. Their late win means that the game between France and Switzerland at the weekend will decide the group winners. I can’t see the Swiss pooping the party, although they could probably get a draw out of the game, which would confirm them in second place. It was a pleasure to get to my hotel room knowing I would not have to pack up and leave the following morning. Mind you, it is on the 6th floor in one of those quaint old Parisian buildings, with no lift. It’s all good exercise, I guess…
More tomorrow, most likely in the evening unless I rise earlier than I suspect I am going to be able to…
