Good afternoon, fellow internet discussion pub-goers! I was thinking back over the Arsenal-Chelsea match earlier this week and a few moments came to mind: Gabriel Martinelli racing up the pitch to join Kai Havertz on the goal-scoring attack at the death, William Saliba and Gabriel celebrating and pointing to their badges after Kepa fell on the ball late in extra time, Kai Havertz pointing to his badge after scoring.
Hm. Apparently, I like badge-pointing.
We spend so much time talking about the big
things that happen — wins and losses, goals and saves, transfers, etc. that we can sometimes lose sight of the smaller pieces that fit together to make those moments. So with that in mind, today’s topic:
What are the little things that happen in a football match that you really enjoy?
I’m a sucker for hustle-plays. I love it when a guy makes a lung-busting recovery run to chase down an opponent and win the ball back, to knock it into touch to stop an attack, or even simply to slow things down to let his teammates get back and organized. It shows a selflessness and a commitment to the good of the team. You want as many of those kind of players as you can get.
It’s a large part of why Mikel Arteta likes the aforementioned Gabriel Martinelli — the dude has endless energy and runs himself ragged. Kai Havertz does, too. He literally ran himself into a season-ending injury last year. I’d prefer if he didn’t, but that’s the kind of player he is.
As for other things, I’ll leave those to you to share. But I’ve got a suspicion that there are more than a few “little things” that Arsenal players in particular do that will come up and I wholeheartedly agree with you on them.
