Morning.
Let’s begin at the World Cup and Spain are through to the final after a 2-0 win over France last night. In yesterday’s blog, I said games like this often look good on paper, but struggle to deliver the spectacle we all hope for, and I think this was a bit like that.
We know how good France can be, and that forward line is something to behold when it clicks, but it didn’t do that last night. In part it’s because Spain are so well organised and so disciplined, they went a long way to nullifying that threat. The coordination of their press is top class, their retention of the ball is ridiculous at times, and France had no answers. On top of that though, I think Didier Deschamps side just played poorly collectively, and individually. Not a single French player had a good game. Guys like Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe – who have been so impactful at this tournament – did nothing, or could do nothing, of note.
Spain went ahead from the spot via Mikel Oyarzabal after Lucas Digne booted Lamine Yamal in the box, and the French hopes weren’t helped when William Saliba’s back finally said ‘Enough’. The Arsenal man sat down on halfway around the half hour mark, and apparently could be lip-read saying ‘My back is gone’. That was a problem for France last night, but with all due respect to our French readers this morning, I’m more worried about what it means for us.
There were reports last week he wasn’t training, that it was felt this was a problem that could end his World Cup, and that he might require surgery to sort it out. This is a serious issue for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, because Saliba is, along with a few others, one of our ‘first name on the team sheet’ players. Him, David Raya, Gabriel, Declan Rice. After that, you can probably discuss all the other positions (some for reasons of fitness more than quality), so quite how we deal with this remains to be seen. With continued uncertainty over the injury recovery of both Ben White and Jurrien Timber, the right side of our defence has a big question mark over it as things stand.
Spain scored again in the second half, defensively France were all over the place for that one, in part because of the absence of Saliba, and Yamal’s brilliant finish, which would have made it 3-0, was correctly ruled out for a very marginal offside. At that point, Spain had a stranglehold on the game which they never really let go of. France rallied a bit towards the end but there was never anything clear cut, and their players knew it – hence some petulant stuff in the final 10 minutes. In the end, they didn’t deserve anything from the game at all, and Spain went through to the final on Sunday.
Spain, by the way, are now on a 37 game unbeaten run, and whoever comes through tonight’s semi-final between England and Argentina will have that record and this team to contend with. That’s a game I’m really looking forward to, and there will be obvious Arsenal interest with most, if not all, of our England contingent likely to feature. More on that tomorrow.
Speaking of the final, we’ve been aware for some time that Gianni Infantino has a real desire to make football like NFL for an American audience (many of whom do not agree, I should point out). Games are already broken into four quarters, dressed up as ‘hydration breaks’ but we all know the real motivation behind it. There’s also going to be a half-time show during the final, and it’s being reported that the break will be 30 minutes when the whistle goes on Sunday.
First, nobody needs it, this is a completely unnecessary thing which is again a product of Infantino’s giant ego. This man is obsessed with fame, so he has upped the ante with big name performers that he can be photographed with which makes he look like he is aligned with them. Four years ago the best he could do was have that Sprinkly Salt Meat Wanker creeping around in places he shouldn’t have been, this time it’s Madonna and Justin Beiber and Shakira. Make no mistake, this slap-headed, festering sore of corruption in human form, wants the world to love him as some kind of entertainment impressario, and this is the key motivation for a half-time show. I think you can also be relatively certain that the the way the TV cameras pick out celebrities at every game, as well as Infantino himself, comes at his behest. The World Cup isn’t about players or fans as far as he’s concerned, it’s about making a reality TV show where he’s the biggest star.
However, leaving aside this grifting prick who runs the football-adjacent crime syndicate commonly known as FIFA, opposition to this should also come from the elongated half-time period which will, more than likely, have a significant impact on the players themselves. They play all season long, too many games some of them, but always with a 15 minute break. Those are the rules, they have always been the rules, and these players are highly conditioned to those time-frames. Whatever you think of the music we’ll be subjected to (I will mute the TV with extreme prejudice), the fact that this unwanted and unneeded half-time show has been forced through at the expense of player welfare is a genuine disgrace.
It’s not the only one from this tournament either. From the Somalian referee who was denied entry, to the treatment of the Iranian team, to the Folarin Balogun red card debacle, to the ‘ad-breaks’/four quarters; Infantino has presided over, and been responsible for, some absolutely shameful stuff. Yet he sits like some kind of untouchable emperor, gurning and grinning at the cameras every time they’re on him, while men like Arsene Wenger – who have the stature and the reputation to speak out in defence of the game of football – just sit there, saying and doing nothing.
Infantino acts with a level of impunity and arrogance that is appalling to witness, but why wouldn’t he? Nothing ever happens. We can be as outraged as we like, but as he continues to damage the game we all love in ways that might well be impossible to reverse, he just moves on to the next disgrace, consolidating his power and influence. I really hope there are no issues for the players during the final after they’ve been deemed of secondary importance to some pop stars, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw some hamstrings suffer because they’ve cooled down too much.
The teams involved will obviously have to make a plan for this, and their medical staff will be well aware this is an issue for them to contend with, but let’s be straight up about it – after a long, grueling tournament at the end of a long, grueling season for most of these players, they should not have to worry about anything other than the 90 minutes of the game. Gianni Infantino doesn’t care as long as he’s in the spotlight, and it’s just more evidence – if it were needed – that he is completely and utterly unfit to hold the position he does.
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For some extra reading this morning, here’s Tim on Leandro Trossard whose move to Besiktas is now more or less official.
Till tomorrow.
