Saka, Rice, Odegaard Interull stuff + time to talk about PGMOL

Morning all.

Let’s start with Interlull stuff, because we are in one right now. It’s the final international break of 2024, and England will have to do without both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice who withdrew from Lee Carsley’s squad yesterday.

Neither player finished the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday, and afterwards, Mikel Arteta said of them:

They don’t look very good, to be fair. I don’t know [if it’s long term], but they both couldn’t finish the game, so not good.

Hopefully it’s not anything too serious, and there is part of me that feels the manager’s messaging after the game was about ensuring they got a chance to stay put and recuperate before we get going again in a couple of weeks time. After a really elongated season last time out, including a summer which saw both players go all the way to the final of the Euros, they’ve played a lot this campaign already.

Saka has played 1,177 minutes for Arsenal, Rice 1,167 with additional international minutes too. They are players who are heavily relied on by club and country, and it’s understandable if it’s caught up to them a bit. Now they can put their feet up a bit, so to speak, and I suspect they’ll get a few days off to help recharge the batteries. Assuming, of course, the injuries aren’t sufficiently serious for them to require treatment/rehab every day.

Meanwhile, Martin Odegaard has travelled to Norway, but it’s unclear right now what kind of participation he might have for their games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan. He is their captain, so he might just be there to rally the troops, but there’s talk of an assessment of his injury and some potential playing time. I have to say, I am in two minds about this.

On the one hand, I can see how some competitive minutes for him would be beneficial, as it would help him get match fit more quickly after a long absence. On the other, it’s impossible not to be afraid that he’ll get crocked again. Which, let’s be honest, could just as easily happen in training or an Arsenal match, but still. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable fear, especially this season where the letter of law seems to apply to Arsenal, and it’s Murphy’s Law. Goddam Murphy.

What I would say though is that after such a long spell out for us, where his importance to the team has never been more obvious and his absence so keenly felt, there must have been a serious conversation between Odegaard, Arteta and the medical staff about this scenario. If there was high risk, surely the sensible decision would have been made to let him continue building his fitness in the relatively safe environment of London Colney. If there’s some calculated risk being taken that playing for Norway means we get a sharper Martin Odegaard after the Interlull, I can understand that.

We’ve already come close to the limit of our margins for error this season, so there’s little room for anything else when the Premier League gets going again. After this break, it’s non-stop Arsenal until March, with the league, Champions League, and both cups to contend with, and we need to start winning games consistently. To do that, we need someone like Odegaard close to his best, so whatever happens in this break, let’s hope it stands him in good stead on his return.

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The other big story of the day is the video which circulated on social media yesterday of referee David Coote. It’s labelled as ‘foul mouthed rant’, but it’s not really a rant. He calls Jurgen Klopp a c*nt, and a ‘German c*nt’ for good measure, all while someone is filming him. Whatever you think about his opinion of the former Liverpool manager, the stupidity of allowing that in his position as a Premier League referee cannot be understated. That stupidity is compounded by a second clip in which he insists the first video ‘can’t go anywhere’. Oops.

When it emerged yesterday, Coote first denied it was him, then admitted it was but said he had no recollection of it. Which, when you look at his eyes, doesn’t come as much of a surprise. It looks like a late night scenario, but he doesn’t sound … drunk. Anyway, he was immediately suspended by PGMOL and I’d be very surprised if this wasn’t the end of his refereeing career.

Let’s be clear, he’s perfectly entitled to think what he wants about Klopp or anyone else, but to allow that be made public in this fashion makes him a fool, and raises significant questions for PGMOL. I am sure that many referees hold strong opinions about managers, clubs, players, and that’s normal. This is workplace stuff. You might have plenty to say about a colleague, a boss, a contracter or supplier etc in your own place of work, and I think we all recognise that that dynamic is just as applicable to referees.

However, there has long been a strange dichotomy at play in the Premier League. Clubs from all over England are stocked with players from all over the world, managed by men from all over the world, yet refereed by a select group who come – mostly – from one very small area of the north-west of England. It doesn’t make sense, beyond the fact the PGMOL is a closed shop with little or no interest in diversification or expanding its horizons.

If the Premier League markets itself as the best league in the world, it should have the best referees in the world – not the best officials from the Lancashire area. David Coote’s foolishness will have serious ramifications for him and his career, but this moment could also be a catalyst for a serious conversation about how the game is being officiated by Howard Webb’s motley crew, and how they operate in a protectionist manner for their own benefit rather than that of the game.

We’re literally subjected to PGMOL propaganda in the shape of Webb’s TV show, certain columnists who find a way to excuse mistakes week after week, and former refs going on television to back up terrible decisions by officials – even if that means contradicting themselves based on how they’ve reacted to similar situations in the past. The media must take some responsibility for the focus on refs, nobody needs Mike Dean on co-commentary for goodness sake or to see Webb described as ‘legend’ by people who should know better, but surely this incident demands much greater scrutiny.

I think the Premier League needs to think seriously about this. My gut feeling is that you can’t go far enough by trying to reform PGMOL. They need to rip it up and start again, because there is too much ingrained in that organisation’s DNA to just turn over a new leaf and be better. Get the best refs you can regardless of where they come from, pay them attractive salaries, enable them to use technologies in the best way possible rather than grudgingly and mind-numbingly slowly, and while you won’t ever get 100% of the decisions right 100% of the time, you restore some credibility to the officials that is now fundamentally missing.

I realise none of that is likely to happen, and Coote will likely become a fall-guy and dismissed as some kind of ‘lone wolf’ character, but it should. Right, I’ll leave it there for now. There’s an Arsecast Extra for you below, and a new episode of The 30 on Patreon. Also, if you’ve left Twitter of late, we’re over on BlueSky a bit these days.

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