Arsenal recently drew 0-0 with Liverpool in what was a rather drab and uneventful affair. The ‘highlight’ of the game came towards the end when Northern Ireland international Connor Bradley went down with what looks to be a serious injury. As he lay stricken on the floor Gabriel Martinelli, in an attempt to get the game back up and running as quickly as possible tried to push the unfortunate Bradley off the pitch. Let’s be very clear here. Martinelli shouldn’t have done it. Whilst it wasn’t exactly a Royal Rumble style shove of an opponent out of action zone, it should still be said he was wrong and I think most people, including Martinelli himself, have acknowledged that. However, the extent to which the media, especially Gary Neville on Sky Sports, has beaten this relatively minor incident to death has been quite ludicrous. It’s almost like parts of the footballing punditry world has come to the conclusion that what Martinelli did was so repugnant that he should be banished from the game itself. Neville, who I still believe to be better than most, said that he wanted one of the Liverpool players to ‘thump him’. While it is obviously unnacceptable for a pundit on one of the UK and Ireland’s biggest sports broadcasters to advocate violence it is also another example of media overreaction. Comparatively, the opposition manager Arne Slot said that he was 100 % sure that if Martinelli knew how bad Bradleys injury actually was that he wouldn’t have taken the action he did. This to me reinforces the idea that incidents such as this matter far more to the media, as to some extent the fans, than it does the players on the pitch and the managers on the sidelines.
It is not the only time the footballing media has become deeply invested in something really quite trivial. Just recently the Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was spotted drinking from a cup with the Arsenal badge on it. Whilst admittedly hilarious I don’t believe it warrants a huge introspection. Look, I’m not here to come to the defence of the manager of that lot across the other side of North London but I do think it’s quite weird that we’ve reached a stage where journalists are asking a manager about paper cups. This type of thing should really be reserved for memes on social media not serious articles in newspapers. Should there be a series photoshopped images of Thomas Frank with an Arsenal cup that gets gradually bigger with every image?Absolutely. Should said manager be asked serious questions about it in press conferences?No.
There are countless other examples, most of which I have forgotten because they really don’t matter very much. You see the pearl clutching every single time a player celebrates ………or doesn’t celebrate against his former club. You’ll have one chap who thinks footballers should celebrate every goal they score no matter what and another who thinks it’s disrespectful to celebrate against your former club. My view?I really don’t care. Celebrate or don’t celebrate-it really doesn’t matter that much. Don’t get me started on the Celebration Police by the way. We can do another articles on that when Arsenal get accused of celebrating like they’ve won the league in May…….even if they do actually win the league. The reason why this stuff grates me so much is that there is so much in football that really does matter. It’s just a game of course but it’s a game that has brought to much joy…..and pain to millions of people around the world. That joy and pain has generated so many stories…both tragic and joyful….but stories that deserve to be told and news that should be reported rather than this constant obsession with minor things. Is it too much to ask that we should celebrate the stories of love and generosity and condemn the greed, racism and concerning actions of certain governing bodies rather than obsess over nonsense?
I’m fully aware that this article is unlikely to change much. I just hope we don’t go fully down the rabbit hole. I know in the grand scheme of things the media’s obsession with things that don’t really matter…………doesn’t really matter that much but it annoys me and I decided to write an article about it. I’m looking forward to the next thing that gets everyone talking and talking and talking until I question whether I really like this whole football thing anymore. I can already picture the Sky Sports two hour special programme where they discuss Mikel Arteta coming 2 inches outside his technical area. I can just about hear reporter get 85 year old Eileen’s view on Bukayo Saka’s disgracefully un-firm handshake with an opposition player.
TheGoonerStation 