It’s time that we just go ahead and admit what we all already know: when it comes to the sport of football, the officiating is almost entirely vibes. There are a few “objective” calls, like foul throw, but even those are almost always ignored or called depending on the feelings of the officials. What constitutes a yellow card, red card, or even a foul is entirely at the discretion of the referee. And they are asked to judge each incident in a football match based on factors like intent (did a player mean to do that, for example stamping), whether or not someone was being unsporting, and whether or not an action was “reckless” or “malicious” among many other factors. In essence, referees have no choice but to read the vibes of a game.
It’s vibes and reputation. If it gets stuck in the craw of the officials that one player – say a Spaniard who likes fashion, mullets, and pencil mustaches – takes throw-ins in a less-than-perfect manner, the officials might start calling borderline calls on him more often. Are they right to do that? By the letter of the law, yes. But it also feels deeply unfair to the player, the team, and their supporters when they see similar events ignored while their man gets punished.
And so it is with the Arsenal. Last night, we saw a referee get swept up into the moment of a game, we saw players getting swept up in the moment of the game, and we saw one of the most unusual refereeing decisions of my lifetime, a double-yellow card for two relatively light yellows. It was a collision of vibes and reputation.
The vibes part is pretty easy to see. A few minutes before the big controversy, Michael Oliver booked Ruben Neves for a foul on Lacazette. Both teams surrounded the official and demanded “justice”: Arsenal wanting Neves booked and Wolves wanting leniency or perhaps suggesting that Oliver had let one of Arsenal’s players off before for the same foul.
It was a good contest at this point. “Tasty” as the Brits will often say. Both teams were fighting for the ball, there were fouls but nothing too egregious, and Oliver actually, I thought got that Neves call wrong: Neves had won the ball and there was no rash lunge or anything. And then Oliver followed that decision up with one of the softest yellow cards for time-wasting I’ve ever seen, booking Gabriel for taking too long on the free kick which from the previous yellow card scrum.
From the outside, it looked to me like Oliver had gotten the vibe entirely wrong. These weren’t two teams about to murder each other, Arsenal were trying to be chippy and waste a bit of time, but they were still attacking as often as they could and frankly I don’t think Gabriel wasted enough time to warrant a yellow.
It was 10 seconds from blowing the whistle to giving the card, which was probably to the letter of the law the correct decision. But Gabriel had been shouting orders at Thomas who was refusing to do what he wanted and then Gabby looked at the bench and Oliver just got sick of it all and gave the card. Even the Wolves players seemed surprised because normally an official gives a warning about time-wasting.
Gabriel looked confused rather than deliberately wasting time highlighted by the fact that Tierney took over and took the free kick after the card. In a game where teams routinely take 30 seconds to take free kicks it was an unusually short-tempered yellow card for a time-wasting infraction that virtually no one thought was time-wasting.
The strange thing about the next series of events is that again, yes, both teams were contesting and Wolves were getting frustrated (especially the crowd) but right before Martinelli gets two yellow cards, Oliver called a foul for Arsenal. And during the free kick, Arteta subbed off Odegaard for Smith Rowe. Then Arsenal took a short free kick and Martinelli gets the ball in a bad area, goes down easily and looks at the ref for a foul.
When he doesn’t get the foul, Martinelli goes over and shoves the player taking the throw-in in the face. Oliver acknowledged the foul and waved play on, and then Martinelli did something which at the time made me laugh: he sprinted down the pitch and shoved a Wolves player over from behind.
Martinelli had clearly lost the plot. Shoving a player in the face because you’re mad that you didn’t get a foul call is a clear yellow card. Running over and shoving a player down from behind because you’re still mad is also a yellow card. And the entirety of that emotion was essentially directed at Michael Oliver. The vibe here is “fuck you, ref” and hey, if you’ve played the game, you’ve seen this happen. Maybe you’ve even been in the middle of it.
In the moment, I thought “that was dumb by Martinelli” and “he’ll definitely get a yellow” but I admit I was shocked to see Oliver waving the yellow card at Martinelli like a bible at a tent revival. I’ve only seen double-yellows like that given in those crazy “fight” videos that sometimes come out on Twitter and YouTube. Never in a real match (though it has happened).
And this part is important: watching it live, Oliver himself looked swept up into the emotions of the moment. It was as if he knew that what he was doing was unusual and that it made him uncomfortable to do it, but he’d already decided that course of action and nothing, not even his own common sense, was going to stop him.
The laws of the game are written in such a way that referees are required to vibe the game. And yet, the difficulty of being a match official at the highest level is that you can never let the vibes control you. You, as the referee, need to be in control of the vibes, you can’t take things personally and you can never contribute to the vibes.
There was an episode of the Every Little Thing podcast in which they speak to a former NFL Line Judge. He said something in that interview which I think applies here. Talking about players getting penalties for dissent he said that he always gave the players a second bite at the apple. If they called him a son of a gun, he said that he always asked them something like “are you talking to me?” And if they said “yes!” Then he gave them the penalty. His theory was that he wanted to give the players the chance to earn the call.
I think that was Michael Oliver’s crime here. Instead of controlling the game, instead of giving a young man a chance to earn football’s ultimate punishment, he rose to Martinelli’s petulance, he fell himself headlong into the vibe, and sent Martinelli off.
Post Script about the match:
Arsenal played some really good defense after being down to ten men. I only felt like Arsenal were close to conceding a goal once. In the past, I think we lose this game 2-1. There was very little of that nervousness that I’ve seen from us in the past.
And credit for that defensive performance goes to the fact that we have the most experience in the League in playing with a man down. But also credit to Arsenal for buying an entirely new defensive line, including a top quality goal-keeper. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not but almost all of those defenders also have a ton of experience in matches like this where they are attacked relentlessly and defend with all hands at the pump. And then also, credit to Arteta. His positional football has us well drilled in how to withstand attacks.
And we also created an incredibly good chance for Lacazette in this match. Now, I didn’t for one second believe that he was going to score it – because he seems to have caught Ozil syndrome – but it was at least a good chance. And if Martinelli and Oliver don’t lose their cool out there, then we might even have scored.
Good write up. Enjoyed that.
It’s my hard and fast opinion that defense trumps offense in sport. Pitching/bowling and fielding over batting. Boxing out, blocked shots and defensive rebounds over three pointers. Shutouts and clean sheets in (ice) hockey and football.
And I think we can finally say, after the Wenger years, that we have an Arsenal side that is absolutely solid defensively. The problem all season long has been at the other end. We score goals, whatever the ref does or doesn’t do matters less.
We ground out three vital points to keep us in the chase for that 4th place trophy. Now if we can just put the ball in the back of the net more than once every fortnight or two, imagine the possibilities…
We could score more if we do not play with the handbrake on. And we should, having the security of partey and solidity of odegard and to some extent xhaka we could have more men piling into the dangerous areas in the name of martinelli, saka, lacazette and the overlapping runs of tomiyasu and tierney.
Of all the controversial ref decisions that have gone against Arsenal over the years, and there have been probably too many, this one for some reason doesn’t rank that high for me.
Probably because ,like you said, in isolation both offenses were clear yellow card fouls, with the first of the two being especially dumb.
In 2015 Chris Baird was sent off for Northern Ireland for two yellows within seconds of each other, with play not stopped for the first foul. And that decision was probably more controversial because you could make a case he had no way of knowing his first foul was a bookable offense.
Try making the same case for Martinelli’s first with a straight face.
Good result though thanks to some resolute defending. Arteta should get praises for that.
Poor going forward with a few chances created and no goals from open play in five matches played.
We are still a small margins outfit attack-wise, which is disappointing considering we are the third season into the project.
With martinelli out, Arteta could hive pepe a chance to to play a bit more in the next outing. I know that ESR might be the first choice then but we need a dribbler who can run at the defence and create havoc.
Do not get me wrong, ESR is good at running into spaces and has the goals in him as well and he shoild start ahead of Pepe.
I wonder if we could try Pepe in place of lacazette. Please do not stalk me over this suggestion.
The ultimate the ref lost the plot Arsenal player sending off is still the RVP’s second yellow vs Barca at Camp Nou.
Martinelli’s doesn’t even make the top ten.
Yeah, that one was very high on the ridiculous list. Might have actually won that match without that.
That still hurts to this day. Ref wanted to be the most important figure on the field.
Or the ref was bought and paid for.
It really bothers me that when we are under pressure we cannot make a few succesful passes. Is it a matter of the way we are organised or the personnel that we have?
Tim. Excellent post. Your are absolutely correct that almost every decision made I. Football is a judgement call by the refs and really every decision is debatable. That’s why fans of every club in the league believes they get the wrong end of more calls then they should. I know you don’t believe it but a lot of our fans believe the refs have it in for us which I think is ridiculous but it’s never going to end because the rules and the ways the refs interpret them is always going to be nebulous
Want to give a shout-out to Rob Holding for his performance yesterday. He was a beast back there and was vital in securing the win. May that form continue for the next 16 games.
Defense was good, though Wolves aren’t exactly a free scoring outfit. Even Cedric did OK. And kudos to Partey and Xhaka for behaving themselves after both getting yellows. Partey in particular is getting hard done by…2 of his last 3 fouls are yellow?
But the scoring thing wasn’t really any better. Lacazette isn’t fast enough to play on the break with our other players. And not only did he miss the 1-1 in the second half, he had a great chance in the first half that he kicked straight at the keeper. He does help with link up/hold up play, but if we wanted a slow CF to do that, we should have just kept Giroud, who was much better at both.
With Martinelli out, one of either Pepe or ESR is getting more time next match, and hopefully will step up.
According to Orbinho, it’s three yellows in three fouls: (https://mobile.twitter.com/Orbinho/status/1491877433825546247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Gabriel tried super hard to get sent off!
from the laws of the game ( https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/5371a6dcc42fbb44/original/d6g1medsi8jrrd3e4imp-pdf.pdf page 55, in the PDF, or 108 if it were a printed book):
“Once the referee has decided to caution or send off a player, play must not be
restarted until the sanction has been administered, unless the non-offending
team takes a quick free kick, has a clear goal-scoring opportunity and the
referee has not started the disciplinary sanction procedure.”
to me, applying this to martinelli situation means that if the ref wants to issue a caution for the attempt to delay the throw-in, he has to stop play. page 46 (or 91) says “The ball is out of play when:
• it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or
in the air”
so the ball was out of play. martinelli tries to impede the throw. the ref decides to caution him. then the ball enters play, but it should not have been allowed to because “Once the referee has decided to caution or send off a player, play must not be
restarted.” this means the entire passage of play leading to martinelli shoulder-checking the other wolves guy should not have happened according to the rules.
all that said, props to arsenal for holding out, i agree that the we would likely have lost this game in years past. re: laca, which of his chances are you calling “incredibly good”? the cutback on 43 minutes or the one where he’s one-on-one with the keeper in the second half? honestly i feel like the cutback is actually the easier chance to score from, though clearly we’d just like him to have buried one or the other or both.
This is actually wrong
https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1491911781618532359
… but as is the thrust of your article above, the actual decision to issue two yellow rather than just one was a subjective one.
And… I and many others might add… a highly unusual one, irrespective of whether or not it was legally permissible.
no way is that second yellow card martinelli received legal. there’s a reason we’ve never seen that before. a yellow card is a warning or caution to the player that continued infractions can lead to a sending off. in the spirit of the game, you can not award a second yellow card for behavior that happened before giving the player the warning that a first yellow card is meant for.it can’t be legal and if i were arsenal, i’d try and appeal this sending off. i know you can’t really appeal a sending off from two yellows. however, if it’s not a red card offense, you have to caution a player before you send them off for an action they commit.
Josh, if you’re talking about the spirit of the game, those were two clearly bookable offences, and Martinelli knew that.
You may argue the ref should have stopped play after the first offence (though it’s debatable), but once the ref waves play on, it absolutely doesn’t mean the player supposed to be booked get’s a free pass.
i won’t argue that both offenses were bookable but, as tim has alluded to, it’s all subjective. we’ve seen plenty of “bookable offenses” that have not been given and that’s part of the game.
my point is that martinelli made the “tactical foul” with the understanding that he hadn’t been booked. it was reasonable to expect to be booked for the tactical foul; in essence, he took one for the team. the question is does he make that foul if he’s already been booked? conventional wisdom says no. this is where you have a dilemma.
Where’s the dilemma ?
That attempt to stop the throw was a yellow all day, every day . Referees let the play go on and book players later all the time. How could Martinelli not have known this ?
Josh – take a look at the twitter thread Tim posted above. It’s pretty compelling. The biggest issue is that Oliver perceived – correctly – that Wolves had advantage with the throw. Since that’s the case, he shouldn’t stop play on Martinelli’s foul on the thrower. There’s no question they had advantage. He shouldn’t penalize Wolves because Martinelli needed to be booked. The reality is that you reward Martinelli for intentionally trying to stop an attack if you stop the play to book him. Wolves would have had every right to be aggrieved there. So when Martinelli then attempts a SECOND time to thwart their attack, he earns the second yellow. At which point there’s no choice but to send him off. That’s the line of thinking, and by the letter of the law, it’s right.
Having said that, all Oliver needed to do was give Martinelli one yellow card after the second foul, and no one is going to complain. Not Arsenal and not Wolves. That was the smart call.
But like Tim said, Oliver got swept up in the moment. He was probably annoyed by Gabi’s going to ground, as if fouled, and then popping up immediately and committing two fouls. That’s not smart by Gabi, to say the least. While I agree it was harsh, it’s far from being unmerited.
And that’s exactly the point LA. One yellow card was subjectively the correct call – the one that would have had all Arsenal and Wolves players; and all Arsenal and Wolves fans in agreement.
Whether or not he was legally allowed to is not the point; Oliver chose to punish more strongly than he needed to
No doubt, but Martinelli really provokes the ref with his actions. He flops/dives. Then when he doesn’t get the call, makes an egregious attempt to stop a throw in. Then makes a flagrant foul from behind. That’s inviting trouble. You can’t just keep intentionally fouling people and not expect serious consequences.
I suspect we’re underestimating the degree to which the flop factored in for Oliver. He may have thought Gabi’s falling to the ground before the throw was simulation that warranted a yellow in itself by the letter of the law. It’s pretty clear simulation. He dives, holds his leg like he’s mortally wounded and then pops up, tries to intefere with a throw, then starts chasing a guy down the field. That’s pretty glaringly bad behavior. If you’re going to dive, at least writhe on the ground in pain to make it look respectable, right? And no, that alone doesn’t get a yellow, but when you combine it with 2 other bad fouls, you get to a tipping point.
Let’s say Oliver doesn’t book him, after the 2nd foul. Then Gabi screams at the ref and argues the call. Should he get a second yellow then? Where do you draw the line?
I think in Oliver’s mind, he gave the kid a break on the simulation. Then he commits the first foul, and then the second. Oliver thinks the kid is out of control and needs to be sent off. I don’t like that, but I just don’t think it’s so far gone as everyone here does.
I have not seen a yellow for simulation, and certainly not near the halfway line, for at least 10 years.
Agreed Zed – as I said above, it doesn’t get a yellow on its own. It’s the accumulation of 3 things the sets off Oliver and makes him think he needs to yellow 2 of 3. I get that. I don’t agree with it, but I think there’s a rationale that makes some sense. It’s being made out as this outrageous, entirely undeserved thing and I think it’s harsh, but not absurd. As Calude says, “What was Gabriel thinking?” That’s not getting enough scrutiny from our fans.
Do the Arseblog test – if the opponent had done that, wouldn’t we all be saying it merited 2 yellows? It’s pretty egregious behavior, IMO.
I definitely think what you said is fair. I didn’t watch the game so only have replays to go off. I may not like it, but I can see where it is coming from (and the point you made). I agree with Arteta that the ref has to want to give it, but there’s not enough to make a case to have it retracted. I guess I’m more sanguine than I could be because, barring any further injuries, we really should be able to win the next game without him.
i haven’t argued that the offenses martinelli committed weren’t bookable. likewise, i’m not arguing that the referee should have denied wolves their advantage. i’m arguing that, as you stated, a caution at the end of that play was reasonable. i’m arguing that sending someone off for a yellow card offense when they haven’t been booked yet is both unmerited and unprecedented.
yellow cards are meant to be cautions to the players about their actions. i’m arguing that if martinelli had been booked, he probably wouldn’t have committed the last foul. as he wasn’t booked, he committed the tactical foul to stop the wolves attack. should martinelli have expected to be booked? absolutely. did he expect to be sent off? absolutely not! why? because it’s never EVER happened before so why would it happen then? no unbooked player would have expected to be sent off for a yellow card offense.
while i don’t condone martinelli’s behavior, i don’t think a sending off was warranted. the decision to send someone off is too big a deal.
Good logic JoshuaD. The view covers both technicalities and spirit of the game
Sending a player off with two yellow cards in rapid succession (shown at one stoppage of play) is absolutely not unprecedented, we have Chris Baird’s double tackle against Hungary after which IFAB made a statement: “In referee education, match officials are reminded that playing an advantage for a cautionable offence runs the risk that the offending player may commit a second cautionable offence, but the spirit of advantage should be considered especially if by stopping to issue the caution, the non-offending team loses a clear promising attack.”
Good vibes kind of article. Yep, the ref got sucked into the game’s emotional vortex.
I’m fine with Gabriel’s caution for time wasting. More of that in the game please, or stop the clock when the ball is dead (games will have to be shortened, but that is another debate for another time). Lacazette spoke of Gabriel (and White and Tierney) as future captains. If so, there’s one thing he needs to adjust in his otherwise excellent play. After clotheslining Jesus in the City game, he needs to be careful of developing a “reputation” among trigger happy officials.
On Martinelli’s swift twin cautions, I agree with Arteta. You have to want to give that, he said. The ref in that moment needed discretion, not harsh application of the letter of the law.
Oliver is one of the better refs in the EPL. Notwithstanding the dismal standards of refereeing in England, I was surprised. God help the rest if that was Oliver’s display.
‘The ref in that moment needed discretion, not harsh application of the letter of the law’
If we’re counting on referees being charitable to avoid sending offs, there’s something very wrong at Arsenal that needs to be addressed.
Gabriel, for all his physical and technical capabilities, is showing hints of ‘Luizness’ about him.
LAGUNNER explained the issue fairly and well, I thought. I also agree with LA that it was a good 3 points earned. The issue was battling with 10 men again. Either we’re continually unlucky, or we have a problem. We seem unable to calibrate a proper balance between intensity, fight, and going OTT.
Leaving aside the rightness or not of Oliver’s decision, what was Martinelli thinking? 🤯
Lord knows i dont want to be perceived as having a go at Mikel, but this part of the Guardian match report was compelling
“There is an argument that Arteta’s agitated nature on the touchline transmits to his players on the pitch. At one point in the first half the Arsenal managed raced out of his technical area to cajole four players – Martinelli, the fit-again Cédric Soares, Martin Ødegaard and Kieran Tierney – into hounding Daniel Podence”
Fair or foul? Is this a part of it? You decide.
I read that too and thought it was quite perceptive. There was another comment under the match report suggesting Arsenal don’t do enough to win referees over. As Tim says they’re human an it’s a subjective game
I think it’s high time Arteta addressed the mentality problem in the squad.
We started to lose our heads, similar to the Man City game, and stopped playing football in the second half. I didn’t understand the shithousery when we had the lead and needed to control the game. You could feel there was something coming, and the usual suspects (Xhaka, Partey , Gabriel) had all racket up yellow cards, ready to be sent off on a moment’s notice. But Martinelli being the competitive lad that he is, decided to do the honours himself.
Also, good on Lacazette for clearing up the CF situation. He was complete garbage last night. I don’t see what he offers to the team. People keep saying ‘hold up play’, but he has none of the physical attributes to be a reliable hold up player. More often than not, he’s eaten up by the centre backs. No pace whatsoever , inconsistent finishing. I don’t think he’s anything to write home about in the leadership aspect either.
The alternative ? Eddie f****ing Nketiah. Why would you bring on a guy who can’t keep the ball and is liable to rash decisions when you have someone who thrives in counter attacks on the bench ?
I agree with some of this. There is definitely a bit of a weak mentality in the squad.
Alternatively if you set a list of non-negotiables wouldn’t don’t get sent off for petty reasons be right up there?
Could youth be a factor? There is fight and bite, but perhaps a lack of maturity to ensure your response is measured?
Before Martinelli, it was the relatively senior players who’d been sent off 😂
So I doubt lack of experience could be a significant factor
Dull game. Good 3 points. Only 16 games left to shit-house to 4th place.
nah, great 3 points. arsenal needed that win. do you realize that if arsenal win their games in hand, they’re only 2 points behind chelsea for 3rd place?
Matt – I’m with Josh on this one. This was a great 3 points.
I thought we played pretty aggressively until we went down to 10. We won on XG in a very tough away fixture to a team that’s 5th best defensively. That’s never going to be a high-flying, wide-open goal scoring bonanza. The commentators said in the first half mentioned what a hard-played match it was and I agreed. It was a very compelling match. We had to shithouse when we went down to 10 (which was really harsh), and we took care of business. Not sure what your expectations were, but that’s a huge, hard-fought win.
Gents, I’ll be delighted if Arsenal get top 4. I think Arteta can smell it. I think he also knows his side aren’t the most creative or potent. Don’t be surprised if we play backs-to-the-wall stuff in all away games ‘til season end.
A week ago I’d have called the Wolves game 50:50 settled by an error or moment of inspiration. Wolves don’t concede many but they’re really, really poor at scoring. Then I saw Wolves against Norwich at the weekend and they were abject and deservedly lost. When I saw Moutinho (their little magician) was out I think the odds were more like 70:30 in Arsenal’s favour. So I actually went into the game optimistic the team would get the job done.
Great post Tim, I’m with you on the defensive prowess this team has shown. Very impressive to be so good when we have all bemoaned how bad we have been in the late Wenger and Emery regimes.
We had a lot of rusty players. 18 days without a game really showed in several moments. And as much as that’s 10 of our preferred 11, they haven’t played as that lineup since New Year’s day. That’s a long time. In some ways, our first half looked better than I expected. But Odegaard, Partey and Tierney all seem like guys who take a while to play into form. They were all ok to good, but they weren’t firing on all cylinders. This might be the downside to having so few fixtures from here on out. We lack rhythm, even if we are rested. Now another 9 days till a match. It will be a challenge for the manager to get us playing more cohesively.
Starting to have that crazy hope again. Regardless, I’m enjoying this team’s swagger, spirit and, as you said – vibe.
9 seconds – the time between Oliver giving a foul and the yellow card to Gabriel for time wasting.
ZERO Card for the deliberate lunge, felling Martinelli who was on a full speed break away..
Also, at one point, the Wolves keeper raced out with ball in his hands and didn’t relinquish the ball (to kick it) until he was at least two metres outside the penalty area.
The throw in that resulted in Martinelli’s first card was a foul throw. Both feet are off the ground when he throws the ball in. Why didn’t Oliver stop the game, book Martinelli and award the throw to Arsenal?
Perhaps Arsenal fans need to crowd fund a QC to look at some of these cards and how our opponents are NOT carded for the same offence? Then send a report to the police and to FIFA, for investigation into possible Calciopoli?
i, too, noticed that the foul on martinelli should have been a booking and the goal keeper taking that punt well outside of the penalty box.
Yesterdays game was a huge 3 points. Despite everything we have a realistic chance to finish 4th this season which is truly surprising to me. This weeks results are model for how we can finish in the top 4. Its not a secret that we are not a high scoring teams but hopefully we can find ways to nick a goal and win A lot of 1-0 games and hope the Spurs and ManU will continue to implode the way they Spurs did against Southampton.
I think a manager with a squad as clearly short of firepower as ours, who despite red cards and other distractions has us in a position where we have a realistic chance for 4th must be doing a very good job. It seems to me he probably deserves credit rather then criticism.
Haters gonna hate, Bill. It’s beyond irritating but it’s not going to change.
This message is to no one in particular.
I love the self righteous objectivity. I see this time and time again with Arsenal fans when a controversial call goes for us or against us. There is always a camp that takes the moral high ground. It’s a fascinating psychological quandary: faced with the competing urges to support your team or be seen as objective and unbiased, a substantial percentage of Arsenal supporters choose the latter despite it clearly flying in the face of the best interest of the team they love. I personally don’t get it and it annoys me more than it ought. I saw it with Eduardo’s dive against Celtic, the penalty awarded to Santi Cazorla against West Brom and pretty much every Granit Xhaka foul. The only one we seem to all agree on is Van Persie’s Camp Nou yellow. The rest I’ve seen defended to the hilt by Arsenal fans. This is just the latest. I think the reason it kills me is that there’s an underlying air of purity of thought and objectiveness that no human being let alone football fan has the right to claim. We are all hopelessly biased in one direction or another because we are human. It’s just a matter of being able to admit it to ourselves. The rest is just posturing and I find that more reprehensible than getting caught up in the moment like Oliver did.
I’m not a fan of Ben Shapiro, but there’s one well known saying, attributed to him, that I agree with… facts don’t care about your feelings. And objectivity is the one human condition that we should all strive for. Something is either a red card, or it isn’t. We can and have disagreed here on interpretation, but it absolutely shouldn’t be coloured by the colour of the shirt we wear. And someone who doesn’t see red against an Arsenal player is not a better supporter than someone who does. Doc, the loyalty that you’re signaling here isn’t a virtue.
Quick aside. Two years ago in the country in which I was born, the governing party lost the elections, and they tried every trick in the book not to leave office. It threw the country into turmoil. Civil war seemed a possibility. My parents were strong supporters of that party, and my mother had campaigned for it in the past. I publicly spoke out against their attempts, and them. It was distressing to see some of the country’s best and brightest — friends, old school ties for decades — throw their support behind a blatant attempt to steal an election, because that was their team. Facebook rows ended some of our friendships. Before the Trump administration tried to do the same in 2020 (appealing in part to the same “my team” mentality), a small country in Latin America did. Eventually the elected government took office 5 years later than it should have.
So Claude, you’d say, I’m just talking football, old chap. Chill out. But this👇….
“there’s an underlying air of purity of thought and objectiveness that no human being let alone football fan has the right to claim. We are all hopelessly biased in one direction or another because we are human. It’s just a matter of being able to admit it to ourselves. The rest is just posturing and I find that more reprehensible than getting caught up in the moment like Oliver did”
…needed a deep response. Objectivity causes us to honesty, rationally examine whether Oliver got it right or wrong, and to resist reaching a lazy, easy, tribally convenient conclusion. A failure to be objective stops us from thinking things through. And it leads us to reducing good but certainly contestible arguments to “hate”, and rational, thoughtful people we disagree with to “haters”. We’re better than this. This, far as I know is an Arsenal blog… not an Arsenal fan site.
BTW, I know and respect the fact that youre of Hungarian extraction (or was born Hungarian) and some of these political lessons are probably lived ones… being re-lived in the age of Orban. I’m not trying to out-totalitarian anyone, OK?
When I’m in the Emirates watching a game, I yield to no man in my blind tribalness. But if I’m assessing the game after, it’s different. BTW, Xhaka has been playing well of late, but is given to bouts of on field indiscipline. Objectivity leads you to a place where you can appreciate his play, and criticise his dumbassery. That’s a good place, in my view.
**Correction: 5 MONTHS later than they should have….
Well said Claude
Worth pointing out that I supported Arteta on the Martinelli card — but did go on to concede that LA had made a sound argument. I didn’t like the decision, but that’s not because I support Arsenal.
I reject Doc’s thesis. Supporting your team and being clear – eyed about decisions against it is a false choice.
Doc, I remember you preaching about objectivity and “considering both sides” not long before ? Or was I mistaken ?
Anyway, regarding the red cards issue specifically, you’ve misread the situation, and hilariously so.
For example, the argument that Martinelli deserved sending off was not made to appear objective or ‘defend’ anybody. How is ranting about every decision that goes against be ‘in the best interest of the team they love’ ? Unless something radical happens, none of us can do anything to the PGMOL. Should we point out obvious wrong decisions ? Absolutely , but raging that every 50/50 decision doesn’t go our way has no utility.
Against Wolves, the players clearly let the atmosphere get to them, and I honestly saw something like that coming. This wasn’t the first time this has happened either. Players loosing their cool and getting sent off is clearly a problem that’s going to affect our results, and maybe it needs addressing . But by making the conversation entirely about the officials’ decisions, we’re failing to address our own shortcomings. (Btw, liked how you slipped in a defence of your boy Xhaka in there).
It was not an appeal to objectivity, but functionality.
”Players loosing their cool and getting sent off is clearly a problem that’s going to affect our results, and maybe it needs addressing . But by making the conversation entirely about the officials’ decisions, we’re failing to address our own shortcomings.”
Exactly.
7 Arsenal players back in position to defend that counter vs 3 wolves players who are as far from prolific as it gets, but no one is talking about how needless his foul was in the context of the play, where actually by committing it he put Arsenal under unnecessary pressure of the free kick.
Well, our fam the Rams are Super Bowl champions. Premier league winners next season is surely our destiny 💪😊 Make it happen, Enos.
‘Premier league winners next season is surely our destiny’
Premier league ? More like Champions league
Super League