Football focus?

If all I can go in about is VAR when there’s a multimillionaire narcissist throwing out Nazi salutes at a presidential inauguration and that president himself describes a bishop as “nasty” for promoting empathy, I should probably be a bit uneasy about that. 

On the other hand, you have Taylor Swift recommending that you forget about the liars and the cheats of the world and concentrate on sick beats instead. Not a new reference I know, one that actually pre-dates the first horror of the hideous beast presiding over America/Gilead (twinned with Qatar) but one worth considering.

The complication is that VAR isn’t a liar or a cheat but does have a detrimental effect on the state it is ‘serving’. It’s not so easy to shake off while it’s fucking you over every week, directly meddling with your beloved team in a sport that no lyrical composition can replace. At least you can avoid the news. 

VAR is always in there, in my thinking. Last week, while I sat down to watch Avengers Assembled with the family, Arsenal’s home game with Aston Villa provided the unseen overarching plot, the phone in my pocket vibrating six times during the film and match. I resisted checking, despite everything, keeping up the pretence that I was 100% committed to the Marvel universe. Yes, I was enjoying the family time and AA is a fun watch, but I also knew what a boost it would be to beat Villa, especially with Liverpool having seen off Brentford with two late goals in West London earlier.

I didn’t speculate the division of goals in north London, just knew they’d happened. When I glanced at the clock to see that the game was over, I considered that maybe VAR was responsible for one of the vibrations, and that if so, of course it would be us on the wrong end of it. I just had to sit it out for a bit longer to find out.

The temptation to not actually find out, to never, ever find out and just carry on with life never knowing is a phantom temptation, obviously. You’re going have to face up to it at some point. And then you do, and you discover that your team had finally found a way to score in open play, not once but twice, but then preceded to let two in at the other end due to your makeshift right back straying out of position. The fifth and sixth vibrations? Well, that was your centre forward putting you 3-2 up and VAR then overturning it for handball. 

Fast forward to Wednesday night, and I’m back on the sofa, watching the penultimate, penultimate episode of Traitors with girlfriend and daughter, and I’m all in on this tv hour, barely remembering that Arsenal are at home to Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League looking for a win that will all but avert an extra play-off game to reach the knockout stages. And thank goodness they won that one. The reason Thomas Partey was uneasily deputising at full back against Villa was because Jurrien Timber was called over to centre back in the absence of the injured William Saliba. Saliba had a hamstring injury, as does Bukayo Saka, who is  ruled out for months. Saliba likely won’t be so impacted, but like Saka he played nearly every game of last season as Arsenal chased Manchester City’s empire for the title. Saka also played every England game as they reached the Final of the Euros, Saliba every one for France as they got to the last four. There hasn’t been much of a gap in between.

The greed of the European elite, of UEFA, has the same damaging effect on football as the egos of those multimillionaires on the world, who fight to maintain the patriarchy, fuelled by their odd sense of self-worth and insecurity.

Anti-heroes, you might say.