An Outing For The Kids

 

Dundalk 2 Arsenal 4 

Europa League Matchday Six

Thursday 10th December 2020, 5.55pm

It would, of course have made a great away trip. I mean… Dublin (although granted, December might not be the most pleasant month, weather-wise, to be visiting Ireland). As it was, Arsenal completed their Europa League group stage commitments in an empty Aviva Stadium. Apparently, in spite of the lack of fans allowed to watch, their European matches were switched from the far more characteristic Oriel Park (pictured) due to the facilities required by UEFA – I am guessing for the media. It certainly can’t have been for the quality of the playing surface, the rugby union markings all too visible. The irony of this was that Dundalk certainly didn’t play in the style of Ireland’s international team back in the days of Jack Charlton, who would have used a roughed-up pitch to their advantage. 

Thinking of Charlton, who passed away earlier this year, it’s interesting how the death of footballers is marked habitually before matches these days, compared with the times when a lot of those we are now losing played themselves. We had a tribute to Diego Maradona before Arsenal’s recent game against Wolves and last night it was the turn of Italian striker Paolo Rossi. Given the huge number of big name players that have graced UEFA’s competitions, and the inevitability that their deaths are going to happen over the course of a football season, perhaps it is time to re-think these minutes of silence for the clubs that have no connection with the departed. There can be a mention on the big screens pre-game, 10 seconds of spontaneous applause, and then get on with it. The taking the knee gesture is so brief it is not invasive (and in the case of Millwall, highly indicative), and for the marking of the majority of football deaths, we don’t need generally need a minute – unless there is a connection with one of the clubs participating. 

Anyway, onto the match, and there were starts for Emile Smith Rowe, alongside more familiar younger players such as Nketiah and Willock. We saw more of what the future might look like in the second half when Balogun got half an hour, and Cottrell and Azeez got some gametime too. Cottrell didn’t see too much of the ball, but Azeez’s composure was impressive, and Balogun looks to have more about him as a forward than Nketiah, who he replaced. Yes, we have to remember that Dundalk were the opposition and tiring towards the game’s conclusion, but these lads have to start somewhere. The concern is that Balogun may not be around in 12 months’ time. 

It was also a positive to see Calum Chambers return to first team action after a long lay-off. It gives Mikel Arteta more options at the back, and it was perhaps significant that, given the level of opposition, the manager played with three central defenders after weeks of using a back four. It suggests the formation will be used at the weekend against Burnley. Arsenal enjoyed early success going two goals up before 20 minutes were on the clock. Nketiah’s goal a bit of a gift, with Elneny’s long range effort partially compensating for the multitude of times we have seen that particular effort sail over the bar from the Egyptian. 

Credit to Dundalk for fashioning a tidy goal not long after, although the tightness of the visitors’ closing down was not exactly Atletico Madrid in terms of conviction. It was the kind of evening that Arsenal could afford to concede twice, a formality of a fixture, an exercise in match fitness. It has to be said though that only a Chambers block prevented the Irish side equalizing in first half injury time. The second half saw the Gunners increase their lead twice, Balogun involved both times, setting up Willock before scoring himself. The club need to secure this lad as they did with Bukayo Saka. He really does look to have a bright future and a good footballing brain. 

We had a little reminder about the need to mark better at set pieces as Dundalk scored a late consolation goal. The commentator told us a number of times that 14 of the players in their squad would be out of a job this morning. I assume partly a consequence of the financial damage done to the club through the lack of paying spectators. There’s not much by way of broadcast revenue or sponsorship deals to carry smaller clubs along, and you have to feel for these players as human beings, the same as everybody else that has lost employment as a consequence of lockdown. Premier League players are richly rewarded, but the majority of professional footballers earn very modest wages in comparison.

Dundalk failed to win any points in the group, but they scored eight goals – a sign that they had a go and didn’t go with a policy of shutting up shop. Their displays in the games against Arsenal are worthy of credit, and given what some of those who turned out last night were facing job-wise, even more so. 

Arsenal progress as group winners, with their opponents in the next round being one of :
Krasnodar
Red Bull Salzburg
Dynamo Kiev
Olympiakos
Young Boys
Slavia Prague
Benfica
Granada
Real Sociedad
Braga
Lille
Maccabi Tel Aviv

Royal Antwerp
Wolfsberger AC
or Red Star Belgrade

So it’ll be Olympiakos then…

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