Morning all.
I didn’t watch the England game last night. Not because I’m not patriotic but because it was a pointless friendly. The only thing which interests me through this international break is the health of our players.
I’m not stupid, I know not every football fan agrees with a managers team/squad selection, that’s quite apparent on any footballing forum each week but to boo a player when his name is announced, when he comes onto the pitch and staggeringly, when he scores a goal, is disgraceful. Yes, I’m talking about Ben White and the way the England fans treated him last night.
When players come together to represent their respective countries, club football should go out the window. Whatever happened between White, Southgate and his coaching staff a few years ago is irrelevant and quite frankly, it’s no one else’s business other than those involved but whatever it was, it was enough to cause White to leave the England camp. Thomas Tuchel wiped the slate clean and so should the rest of the England fans. Why pay an arm and a leg for a ticket to watch a game only to then boo a player before he’s even kicked a ball? Shameful in my opinion. This isn’t about White being an Arsenal player, it’s about fan behaviour towards players.
Thomas Tuchel:
_“There was a mixed reception which I’m disappointed about because we protect our players. He’s been excellent in camp. He deserved also to start and got us almost the winner, but I also understood that it happened to other players before here. He needs to take it on the chin. We will always protect him and hopefully we can put it behind \[us\] because he is ready to write some new chapters and we are ready to give him the chance, so hopefully everyone can move on and accept it.”_
Both Phil Foden and Noni Madueke were on the receiving end of nasty challenges leaving both unable to play on. I read the referee had a shocker, as did VAR. As for the penalty conceded by Ben White, he got a touch on the ball first apparently but after a couple of seconds of looking at the pitch side monitor, the German referee overturned his original decision. The World Cup should be interesting then if the officiating last night was an example of what to expect in the competition.
England play again on Tuesday and it’s widely expected that Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka will feature. Hopefully a better set of officials will be appointed and the England fans focus on supporting their country instead of booing an individual player.
Catch up in the comments.