Kevin Whitcher
Yesterday evening, a significant number of the crowd voted with their feet, as they did for the first home Europa League match against Cologne, and stayed at home. In a sense, the format of European competition these days – group stages making matches less individually significant – has killed a lot of the drama in the first half of the season.
So even for Champions League group matches, often there are a good number of no shows. For the lesser Europa League, the attendance is even less. I’d estimate it at around the low 40,000s last night. Almost a third of the seats empty.
The last time I saw Red Star Belgrade play in the flesh (I didn’t attend the recent Arsenal visit in Serbia) was 26 years ago, in Bari, southern Italy. They played a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes in a European Cup Final against a Marseille side featuring Chris Waddle and Jean-Pierre Papin, before beating them on a penalty shoot-out. It was the greatest night in their history, although a betrayal of the marvelous football that side were capable of as they played a no risk defensive game. European finals were often like that back in the day, and we still see them occasionally in the Europa League.
I’ve now seen two Red Star Belgrade matches in person and have yet to see a goal outside of a penalty shoot-out. Frankly, Red Star should have scored last night, guilty of missing two gilt-edged chances as well as producing a wonder save from keeper Matt Macey, who was far more convincing than he looked against Norwich last week.
Arsenal, fielding a customary second string eleven for this competition, never really got going in the first half, with misplaced passes and a general lack of cohesion. In the group stages, with the quality of the opposition, it’s a policy they can get away with, but once the knockout stages begin, a re-think will be required. Aside from the goalkeeper, the standout performers were Jack Wilshere and Chris Willock, but we are talking meagre pickings. Theo Walcott was captain for the evening, and did nothing to persuade anyone that he deserves another shot in the first team. It’s almost as if the side is handicapping itself by starting with him, such is the paucity of his contribution. It is one of the great mysteries of modern life how this player has got rich based on his footballing ability. It is certainly difficult to believe he will get another contract when the current one expires in 2019. For me, the post-Highbury period under Arsene Wenger will always be known as the Walcott Years. Meaning, we, as fans, were sold a pup. The promise of greatness, the reality –overpaid millionaires nicking a living. The decline of a contender into an also-ran.
Let’s lighten the mood with a couple of text message offerings from Doktor Schneide, who hasn’t been in touch for far too long…
I wish their keeper would stop falling over – it’s distracting me from counting the empty seats
And turn away now if you don’t like bad taste humour…
Nearly finished. Funny, but if you draw a line between the empty sections it reads ‘Remember folks – plenty of bargains at Wal Mar…‘
So anyway, just one more of these tortuous Europa League group matches at the Emirates before things start getting interesting (although in fairness, the Cologne game was a hoot). I am predicting an attendance of under 35,000 for the visit of Bate Borisov, which will be a dead rubber by the time it comes round. The club failed to sell out last night, even with ticket prices as low as they were. Of course, they did not have the option of putting them on general sale, unlike the League Cup, although with West Ham in opposition for the quarter final, that option may not be open to them there. I think they will chance it though, with the game not being on the season ticket.
Eddie Nketiah came on to work the magic he delivered against Norwich, but the fairy tale hit the brakes and he was as frustrated by a resilient Red Star defence as his colleagues had been. Positionally, it would have made more sense to play him on the right side of the attack as opposed to the left, but that would have meant either subbing or moving Theo Walcott. Arsene Wenger did that last week, moving the espresso kid to right wing back, but not last night.
Red Star eat the clock very efficiently with rotational injuries, their fans made a lot of noise and jumped up and down in unison. I hope they enjoyed their visit to London more than I enjoyed the game. Think we’ll see more goals on Sunday for some reason…
The current issue of The Gooner sees the fanzine celebrate its 30th anniversary and features an interview with Tony Adams. It will be on sale at forthcoming home and away matches until Huddersfield when the next issue is planned. It can be bought online for £3.60 including postage. The price is higher if you are outside the UK due to the extra postage costs.
Alternatively, you can simply pay £3.60 (postage included) (or £15 for a five issue UK subscription which gets you all the remaining issues before we (possibly) cease publication at the end of the current season) via online bank transfer to –
Account name: The Gooner
Sort Code: 20-76-90
Account Number: 03004112
Please follow up the payment with an email to [email protected] stating your name and address, ideally with proof of payment such as a screen grab or pdf, or at least the reference that you used for payment (e.g. 267Smith). If the payment was made from an account with a different name, definitely inform us so we can match the received payment.
If you want to buy a five issue subscription to receive the current edition, you can subscribe through the Gooner’s online store here (or here for Europe and here for the Rest of the World)
You also can bypass the online store by simply making a PayPal payment to the email address [email protected]. Pay either £3.60 or £15 for a five issue subscription. If doing this, please make your payment a 'friends and family' / personal gift payment – this helps keep our costs down. (Overseas buyers add £1.25 per individual issue for Europe or £2.50 per issue for the rest of the world. Five issue subscription costs are £24 for Europe and £30 for the rest of the world).
Finally, you can pay by cheque made payable to ‘The Gooner’ to the address below, for either an individual issue or a subscription…
The Gooner
BCM Box 7499
London
WC1N 3XX
DIGITAL ISSUES
The Gooner is also available in digital form, through The Gooner App on iPhones and iPads, the Exactly App for Android devices and now Kindle Fire owners can also get their fix by searching the Amazon App Store for The Gooner.
You can also subscribe at www.exacteditions.com and read it through your internet browser as well as receiving a code which will enable you to access issues on all the above devices.
All digital subscriptions include access to our digital back issue library which dates back to August 2010.
