Facebook announced over the weekend that they will be assisting football in an attempt to “stamp out racism in the game”.

This makes it appear that racism on social media is footballs problem. It is not.

Racism on social media – whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube – is social media’s problem.

The abuse online is not only aimed at footballers – it is aimed at cricket players, boxers, musicians, actors and “ordinary folk”.

For too long, social media companies have not done enough to tackle online abuse.

They realise that a lot of their Daily Active Users (DAU) only log on to abuse others.

If they took a tough stance against abusers, their DAUs would drop, which in turn would see advertising revenue and therefore profits drop.

These companies Rey on advertising revenue to survive. Without that revenue they would not have the income to operate. They literally need abusers logging on each day with multiple accounts to boost their DAU statistics.

Facebook, Twitter et al literally turn a blind eye to online abuse in favour of profits.

The recent abuse of Marcus Rashford, Reece James, Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial is disgusting, but not new.

Online racist abuse hidden under a cape of anonymity has existed for as long as the internet.

It predates currently social media and goes back to internet forums, IRC chat rooms and MySpace.

All social media has done is bought us closer together and made it easier for someone to sit online and directly abuse someone they do not know.

For a long time, the stance taken by social media companies stance has been “if you are a victim of online abuse, report it to your local authorities”.

This is literally them washing their hands with the situation. Saying it has nothing to do with them.

Yet they provide the platform that the abusers use. And they could work a lot harder to stamp out the abusers.

By Facebook saying they will “work with football” shows once more they are trying to shift the blame.

They are saying the issue is for football and they will help. The issue is actually the social media companies.

Solutions are easy.

Take Twitter, for example.

Instead of leaving “verification ticks” for celebrities, journalists, etc; they could have them for everyone.

You upload a valid ID and that then allows your account to be verified.

Stage two is then allow you to mute unverified accounts and restrict them from sending you a DM.

Overnight that will clean up your timeline – as most of the abusers are “burner accounts” set up by teenagers across the globe to only send abuse.

It is unlikely people would tweet abuse knowing that Twitter knows exactly who they are.

“But I don’t want social media to have a copy of my ID” will be a response by many.

You don’t have to give it. It would be optional. It would then be a users choice whether they want to mute unverified accounts or not.

You chose not to verify, then your abuse falls on deaf ears. You are basically shouting at a post on your wall.

So simple. So effective.

Much of the racism that footballers face online does not come from the UK – which makes it even harder for local authorities to act.

We have seen an actress in India racially abuse Alex Iwobi, and much of the racist abuse comes from African’s. Literally black people racially abusing other black people.

“We need better education” is good in theory. But when much of abuse is coming from children that think “it’s a joke” or people outside of your jurisdiction, authorities can do little.

The kids will eventually grow out of it and probably be ashamed of a tweet that they sent at 14. Your 25 year old who is still messaging abuse is beyond education.

Arsenal can not do anything about someone in India abusing Alex Iwobi. Great Manchester Police can do nothing about someone in Nigeria racially abusing Marcus Rashford.

Even when the abuse happens within the UK, clubs and authorities can do little when it is a 14 year old doing the abuse.

Whilst Twitter, Facebook, etc allows people to set up anonymous accounts, abuse will continue.

Instead of “working with football to stamp out racism in the game”, social media needs to look at itself and stamp out racism on its own platforms.

Keenos

Against Southampton, with Kieran Tierney out injured, Mikel Arteta had 2 choices to play at left back. Cedric Soares or Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Arteta opted to go for the Portuguese international, leaving the Hale End product on the bench.

Last summer Maitland-Niles was on the verge of signing for Wolves in a deal worth around £20million before Arsenal pulled the plug at the last minute.

At the time there were rumours that Hector Bellerin could be off to PSG, so it made sense for Arsenal to keep hold of Maitland-Niles; who would then compete with Cedric at right back.

There was also the conundrum at left back.

With Tierney’s injury and Sead Kolasinac looking for a move away, Edu and Arteta clearly made the decision to keep Maitland-Niles so that they would not be short of numbers.

Up until the victory against Newcastle in the Premier League, it had been Maitland-Niles coming in for Bellerin and Tierney when injured.

Against Newcastle, Cedric replaced Bellerin at right back, with Maitland-Niles not in the squad. Cedric making his first Premier League start of the season.

And against Southampton, Cedric replaced Tierney at left back with Maitland-Niles left on the bench.

The key factor for Arteta when deciding between Maitland-Niles or Cedric seems to be formation.

Of Ainsley Maitland-Niles 5 Premier League starts, only two have come as part of a back 4; with 3 of 5 coming when Arteta opted for 3 at the back.

Against Southampton and Newcastle, Arteta went for 4 at the back and Cedric started.

Moving forward, the feeling is that Arteta will stick with a back 4, which pushes Cedric ahead of Maitland-Niles in the pecking order.

With the club looking at a left footed left back as cover for Kieran Tierney (Ryan Bertrand would be a good option – a blog for another day), that would leave Maitland-Niles struggling for any game time.

His good form at the back end of last season resulted him in making the England squad and winning 3 caps. But he is at risk of missing out on a place at the upcoming Euro’s due to lack of playing time.

If an offer of £20million comes in for him over the next couple of days, it would be a deal that would interest both player and club.

Arsenal would bank some money, using a portion of it to buy a left back who is better in a back 4. Whilst Maitland-Niles would get the playing time he needs to keep his place in the England squad.

Keep an eye on this one over the next few days.

Keenos

Arsenal extended their unbeaten Premier League run in fine fashion against Southampton on Tuesday night, with a convincing win at St. Mary’s.

After falling behind to Stuart Armstrong’s early strike, the Gunners never looked back, levelling almost immediately through Nicolas Pepe before goals from Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette put the game to bed.

With captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again absent for personal reasons, Lacazette put in yet another accomplished performance up front. Read on below for our breakdown of why his upturn in form has been so important to Arsenal’s resurgence.

Prior to Christmas, Lacazette had only scored three times in 11 league games. Including his penalty in the 3-1 win at home to Chelsea on Boxing Day, he has netted five goals in six appearances. This has been, in no small part, thanks to a tactical tweak in the Frenchman’s positioning.

After Lacazette found success as a deep-lying forward throughout the course of the Europa League group stages, Mikel Arteta experimented with deploying him there domestically following the November international break. However, the added structure and solidity of Premier League defences meant Lacazette often struggled to get himself into dangerous shooting positions.

The introduction of Emile Smith-Rowe in attacking midfield was exactly what Arteta needed to do to get his side back amongst the goals. When Everton were 2-1 victors on 22 December, Arsenal hadn’t scored from open play in any of their last five away games in the league. Since then, they have managed eight goals in three away fixtures. Smith-Rowe’s ability to occupy the half spaces and draw out opposition defenders has allowed Lacazette to occupy more threatening areas around the six-yard box, thanks to starting in a more advanced role.

This was particularly evident in his finish against Southampton, where a perfectly weighted ball from Saka allowed Arsenal’s No.9 to poke the ball home with his left foot. When Lacazette is allowed to drift into those pockets of space between centre-backs, he is one of the most potent poachers in the league.

He also offers far more to Arsenal than tap-ins. Firing it in at the near post after killing the ball with his first touch has become somewhat of a trademark finish for Lacazette, as he demonstrated by scoring the winner at Brighton. For a striker, this is usually a sign of a good run of form. A clinical finish after closely controlling the ball takes some doing.

The centre-forward seems to have perfected this.

Lacazette’s return to form has resulted in Arteta’s men taking 16 points from the last 18 available and, after becoming the first Arsenal player to reach ten goals in all competitions, it is no coincidence.

Lacazette’s influence off the ball is just as integral to the way Arsenal play. When their pressing was muddled and disorientated in the autumn, Lacazette often led the line in attempting to win the ball back but failed to be supported by his team-mates. Against the Saints, he was ably and consistently backed up by the likes of Saka and Nicolas Pepe, who collectively hustled Southampton into making errors.

The absence of his striker partner and buddy Aubameyang will undoubtedly be a worry to Arsenal fans, just as the skipper seemed to be finding his own scoring boots again. The premature departures of Thomas Partey and Smith-Rowe were also a concern, as is the injury that forced Kieran Tierney out of action again.

A tricky upcoming fixture list sees Arsenal face both Manchester clubs, Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds, and Leicester in the Premier League. This means the Gunners will have to be at their best to sustain this unbeaten run but, as long as Lacazette is fit and firing, they will fancy their chances against all of the above.

Zac Campbell

Follow @ZPRCampbell