Kevin Whitcher
I’ll start with the highpoint of the evening. A text from Doktor Schneide, right back in form…
I’d chat to the bloke next to me about how poor Bate are, but it’s rude to shout.
There were certainly swathes of empty seats at the Emirates, notably in the upper tier, although you won’t have seen too much of that on TV. The game is on the season ticket, so 45,000 seats were sold before the draw for the Europa League group stage was even made. Arsenal claimed an attendance of 50,000 based on tickets sold. No wonder they no longer announce the crowd at the game. The derision that would have greeted such a claim yesterday evening might have been worth the admission price alone. There might have been just over 20,000 there, but it was probably a little under. The season tickets holders weren’t interested in coming. Neither was anyone else. One neighbour said his friend had offered his seat for free to 60 different people – and got no takers. A Europa League group game featuring the second stringers with nothing at stake on a chilly December night? No thanks.
Still, at least those that did turn up were treated to a few goals. Bate were so poor, at times one wondered whether they were in fact playing for a far eastern betting syndicate. A man in the row in front of me said he had put a fiver on both a 4-0 win (16-1) and a 5-0 win (33-1). He was optimistic at half-time but left after Elneny’s goal. He obviously wasn’t in on the plan.
The goals were spread around evenly – it was nice to see Debuchy score. His, Jack Wilshere’s and Elneny’s were the pick of the six. Captain Theo, OG and OG (that’s own goal and Olivier Giroud) also got on the scoresheet.
Really, there is not much more to say. At times it felt like a bit of an exhibition match. Things will get more interesting in the knockout stages, and we may even get a few more season ticket holders turning up if Arsenal draw more notable opposition. One interesting suggestion I heard was that all the fans who did make it last night should be guaranteed a Europa League Cup Final ticket in Lyon should Arsenal get that far. But, it’s a moot point. We all know they won’t.
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