When the counting of the fouls in the box in the last seconds of West Ham’s defeat to Arsenal has reached a conclusion, when the freeze-frames have been exhausted, when the integrity of the referee has been completely traduced, when the many drawbacks of VAR have been fully explored, when the spectacle of wrestling in the box has been comprehensively deplored, it is clear that one underlying theme remains.
There are an awful lot of people out there who simply cannot handle the idea that Arsenal might just do this. There are an awful lot of people out there losing their minds because Mikel Arteta’s team just moved one step closer to winning the title for the first time in 22 years.
And there are an awful lot of people who were so confident that Arsenal were going to bottle it, who were so adamant that their nerve would fail them in the final furlong, that they are looking for any reason they can to explain the fact that the league leaders are now just two victories away from winning the Premier League.
You can expect an awful lot more of this in the next two weeks as Arsenal approach their final two games against Burnley, at The Emirates, and Crystal Palace, at Selhurst Park. I’ve got my bingo card ready. We all know the phrases we will hear from those who are desperate for Arsenal to blow it.
‘Red Cartel’ is my favourite. The ally of red cartel is ‘Corruption’ and it will also feature heavily. In fact, I have already seen a couple of prominent and particularly overwrought Manchester City fans alleging dark forces at play in the decision to disallow West Ham’s last-gasp goal at the London Stadium on Sunday evening.
‘VAR’ is on my card, too, of course. The need to try to devalue the achievement of another runs strong in our game and VAR is at the kernel of many a conspiracy theory. Remember ‘LiVARpool’ when Liverpool won the title?
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is fouled in the build up to West Ham’s ‘goal’ at the London Stadium on Sunday. The decision to disallow the strike has angered fans of other clubs
Arsenal are not top because of VAR, they are top because, among other things, they have the best defence in the league
I do. I remember that some actually went to the trouble of working out an alternative league table that showed where each team would be without VAR. Everybody hates VAR, but they really hate it when it makes a decision that benefits a team that might beat your club to the title.
‘Client Journalist’ will feature, as well. That is applied to pretty much anyone who expresses admiration for anything or anyone not related to your team. ‘Set Piece FC’ is on my card as well. I will fill up the rest of it with ‘Bent’, ‘Bottle Jobs’, ‘Worst Title Winners in History’ and various terms of endearment that will not make it into print here.
Look, no one enjoys the spectacle of the wrestling in the box that has been allowed to become a feature of the English game. It is ugly and it is absurd. But everyone does it. Everyone exploits the referees’ lenient interpretation of the rules. It has got nothing to do with Arsenal being top.
It all comes down to this: there are a lot of people who can’t come to terms with the fact that however confidently they predicted it, however often they asserted that it was in their DNA, Arsenal haven’t cracked yet.
They are five points clear at the top of the Premier League this morning, not because Darren England, the VAR, correctly advised Chris Kavanagh, the referee, to look again at his decision to allow West Ham’s goal.
Nor are they five points clear because Kavanagh, correctly, decided to rule out Callum Wilson’s strike. David Raya, the Arsenal goalkeeper, was fouled by Pablo. The vast majority of people accept that. So, in the biggest call it has had to make since its introduction in the Premier League, VAR got it right.
Arsenal are top because they have been the best team in the Premier League so far. They are top because they have a brilliant defence. They are top because they have a leader in Declan Rice who has had such a fine season that many are outraged he did not win Footballer of the Year.
They are top because they have such a deep squad they have, just about, been able to cope with injuries to almost every key player in their side. They are top because they have Bukayo Saka.
Raya is a brilliant goalkeeper who pulled off a series of critical saves on Sunday and that is another reason Arsenal are top
Manchester City are not quite the team they were – as shown by their 3-3 draw at Everton
They are top because Raya is a brilliant goalkeeper who pulled off a series of critical saves on Sunday. They are top because, no matter how much fans of other teams seem to hate him, Arteta has done a fine job marshalling his resources this season.
And they are top because even though Manchester City are a fine side, even though Pep Guardiola is the greatest coach in the world, they are not quite the team they once were. They may well return to the summit in the next couple of seasons. They may yet win the title this season. But they are not there quite yet.
Their 3-3 draw at Everton showed that. Conceding three goals in 13 minutes at Hill Dickinson Stadium showed that. This team is not yet the team that could reel off 10 or 15 wins on the spin when it was duelling Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool for the title. It has vulnerabilities that team did not have.
That is why Arsenal are top. Not because VAR got a big decision right at the London Stadium. Arsenal’s detractors can shout and scream all they want, they can do their worst with their whataboutery and their irrationality and their anger and their angst and their refusal to accept that Arsenal deserve to be clear at the top and it will not change a thing.
Arsenal may yet come unstuck against Burnley or Palace but until they do, it is time that the rest of the game stopped suggesting football is undergoing an existential crisis just because Arteta and his side refuse to choke.
At least Rashford is flying form ahead of World Cup
There are plenty of concerns about some of England’s best players losing their form as the World Cup approaches.
Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham are all enduring difficult periods with their clubs. So it was particularly pleasing to see Marcus Rashford, who had been forced out into the cold at Manchester United, prospering at Barcelona, where he has been on loan.
Rashford scored a sumptuous free-kick in Barcelona’s victory over Real Madrid in El Clasico at the weekend, a victory that sealed the La Liga title for his team. Others may be struggling but Rashford is looking very much like a player who has nailed down a place on the left side of attack in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI this summer.
Marcus Rashford scored a sumptuous free-kick in Barcelona’s victory over Real Madrid in El Clasico at the weekend. He is in the sort of form that will win him a starting spot in England’s World Cup team
I don’t get why Brady has abandoned the Hammers
I am still finding it hard to understand why Baroness Brady, the West Ham vice-chair, should have left the club in the very thick of a relegation campaign that could have such huge repercussions for the club’s future.
However unpopular she may have been, however damaging the move to the London Stadium has been to the club, walking away as West Ham stare at the looming prospect of the Championship feels like a strange kind of leadership.
