I was never a fan of the taking a knee “protest” that started around a year ago to highlight racism in football.

My opinion was that it was a hollow gesture that would do nothing to combat racism across the world.

A footballer taking a knee would not stop an immature 15 year old in Darlington racially abusing a footballer on Instagram thinking it is “banter”.

It would not stop someone in Nigeria or India racially abusing players on social media, using intolerant language that is acceptable in their countries.

And it would not stop an Eastern European footballer racially abusing a black player.

Hollow gestures do not change the world. Education does.

Taking the knee made it seem like racism was a problem in English football. A problem in England. That was simply untrue.

The UK is one of the most tolerant countries in the world.

There have been countless studies and reports commissioned by all sorts of bodies including the EU which always show the same thing. The UK is one of the least racist countries in the world.

The racism problem in the UK is always blown out of proportion.

What to see real racism? Go to Eastern Europe, to China or Russia. Go to India or visit many African nations.

In many of these countries, racism is rife. People of a different ethnic background are routinely discriminated. Treated as less individuals.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup stadiums are getting built by slaves imported from South Asia and East Africa.

Over in China we see the genocide of Uighur Muslims. And you only have to see the abuse of Glen Kamara for Rangers against Slavia Prague to see the problems Eastern Europe face.

And Africa is a whole different kettle of fish, where a lot of the abuse and discrimination is based on even finer ethnic groups and religion.

In the UK, racism still exists, but it is not a huge problem in comparison to those mentioned.

Taking a knee was always just a gesture. It does nothing to change the views of people in Eastern Europe, in Asia and Africa, China or Russia.

The only thing that will change those peoples views is better education. But that has to come from the governments of those countries. And the feeling is they have no interest to change things as the leaders share the views of their citizens.

Wilfried Zaha highlighted how pointless taking a knee is last week.

His key point was that taking a knee had become something players now “just do” and the meaning behind it had now been lost.

He also mentioned the lack of action.

What is the point in a footballer taking a knee if social media continue to allow racist posts appear on their networks? If they fail to take action?

What is the point of taking a knee when it is a 12-year-old that can not be named who is racially abusing Zaha? The youngster will be arrested but unlikely to see any further action be taken.

What is the point in taking a knee when many of the countries where the racist comments come from have much deeper, racial issues?

In the game between Rangers and Celtic, both sides “took a stand” rather than a knee. But this again risks becoming a hollow gesture of Slavia Prague go unpunished for the behaviour of their players and fans.

The Instagram post from Slavia Prague racially abusing Kamara sums up the situation.

Taking a knee will make new difference to these people when racism is so ingrained within their society.

We need action, not gestures.

We need the FA, UEFA and FIFA to give out long bans to players that racially abuse others. I would go as far as saying life bans.

You racially abuse an opponent, you are banned from football for life.

We need social media companies to do more.

On social media, racism is not just aimed at footballers. It’s aimed at musicians, actors, influencers and the common man. By Twitter or Facebook saying they will “work with football” shows they are choosing to ignore the problem of racism on their platforms. They are attempting to shift the blame to football.

And then we have societies.

We will only see racism across the world eradicated if all countries, all societies follow the like of the UK in education and punishment.

It is all well and good the UK being a tolerant, accepting country but there are hundreds of nations out there who have no interest in becoming so.

The combination of intolerant countries and social media creates the toxic mix.

Twitter has made the world a smaller place. 20 years ago Bulgaria’s racism problem is people remain in Bulgaria. But now we see those racists on social media tweeting abuse to someone in England.

Sadly I do not think racism will ever be eradicated. There will always be someone in every society that is hateful.

Footballers taking the knee was never going to change racist views across the world. Only education and real action will do that.

Time to stop taking the knee and force the authorities to take action.

Keenos

West Ham United (3) 3 Arsenal (1) 3

Premier League

London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2ST

Sunday, 21st March 2021. Kick-off time: 3.00pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Calum Chambers, David Luiz, Pablo Marí, Kieran Tierney; Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang; Alexandre Lacazette.

Substitutes: Gabriel Magalhães, Dani Ceballos, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Mohamed Elneny, Emile Smith-Rowe, Mat Ryan, Gabriel Martinelli.

Scorers: Tomas Soucek (own goal) (38 mins), Craig Dawson (own goal) (61 mins), Alexandre Lacazette (82 mins)

Yellow Cards: Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 63%

Referee: Jonathan Moss

Assistant Referees: Marc Perry, Dan Robathan

Fourth Official: Graham Scott

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Martin Atkinson; AVAR Scott Ledger

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

After the incredible success of last Sunday’s North London derby at the Emirates, we travel a few miles down the road to the London Stadium to lock horns with West Ham United today, who are, at the time of writing, lying fifth in the Premiership table, seven points and five places above ourselves. The good thing about today’s match is that we have claimed thirteen points from London Premiership derbies so far, more than any other side this season, and we have accrued twenty away points in this campaign, equalling last season’s entire tally! The omens are good, so let’s start as we mean to go on, and finish victorious. Let’s go! 

Right from the start, the pace of the match became obvious as both sides showed their competitive edge in order to win this game at the London Stadium today. However, having said that, West Ham certainly started the more sparkier of the two teams, playing a close passing game, crossing balls constantly into our penalty area, seemingly at will. After a quarter of an hour, we went one down, when Jesse Lingard found himself unmarked on the edge of our penalty area; he collected a ball from Michail Antonio, controlled it and drilled it past Bernd Leno and into our net. A couple of minutes later, we were two down when Jesse Lingard caught our defence sleeping as we appeared to switch off from a West Ham free-kick just outside the penalty area. He slotted the ball to Jarrod Bowen, who took a shot from from a tight angle and the ball squeezed through Bernd Leno’s grasp at the near post and into the net. Basically, we just went to sleep at the wrong time, and before we knew it, we were two down within twenty minutes of the start. A few minutes later, Martin Ødegaard had a great shot from outside the West Ham penalty area, but the ball deflected up into the air and down into Lukasz Fabianski’s hands. After the half hour mark, we appear to have steadied a bit, but unfortunately had not really threatened the home side at all at this point of the proceedings. Incredibly, we were three down after thirty-two minutes when a cross from Vladimir Coufal found the head of Michail Antonio, who headed the ball down for Tomas Soucek to guide it into our net. We came back at West Ham immediately, and through sheer hard work and determination, we got a goal after thirty-seven minutes when Calum Chambers crossed from the right and found Alexandre Lacazette, who swivelled around and scored a fabulous, strong goal, which clipped Tomas Soucek on its journey into the back of the net. The goal was exactly what we needed, as both Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey were unlucky not to score with well-taken shots just minutes afterwards, and in injury time, Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score, when his close shot bounced off a defender and hit the side netting. So close to getting a second goal before the break, but it was not to be, sadly.

We started the second half very well, and Alexandre Lacazette was unlucky not to score when his looping shot went over Lukasz Fabianski and was kicked off the line by Issa Diop acrobatically. We pressed the home side back into their own half, and when Bukayo Saka was played through, it looked like we would get our second goal of the match, but the goalkeeper smothered the ball to deny him his scoring chance. Time and time again we were desperately trying to score, with Alexandre Lacazette setting an example to the rest of the team in his never-say-die attitude. Just after the hour, we finally got our second goal of the match, when Calum Chambers received the ball out on the right side courtesy of a quick Alexandre Lacazette free-kick, and a low cross into the West Ham penalty area saw defender Craig Dawson panic and kick the ball into his own net. Back in the match! However, the home side came back at us, and we saw some superb defending from Kieran Tierney to first block Jarrod Bowen’s shot from close range and then also keep out Michail Antonio’s goalbound shot, but he couldn’t have known much about the second shot as it hit him whilst he was still on the ground! The match became one of real end-to-end stuff now, and with eighteen minutes of the match remaining, Emile Smith-Rowe and Nicolas Pépé replaced Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka, and we pushed forward in earnest to try and grab an equaliser. We were fortunate not to concede a fourth goal when Michail Antonio hit the post from point-blank range, and as the energy levels rose, the competitive edge of both sides became frenetic. With ten minutes of the match remaining, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and almost immediately, a cross from the right hand side via Nicolas Pépé found the head of Alexandre Lacazette, who grabbed the equaliser with eight minutes of the match remaining. Can we grab the winner now? Both goalkeepers were called into action in the final minutes, with the match getting quicker and quicker as the end was in sight. David Luiz narrowly missed the ball when it flew into the penalty area from a Martin Ødegaard free-kick, and in injury time, Alexandre Lacazette received a booking for committing a silly foul that gave a free-kick away which was punched into safety by Bernd Leno, and despite one or two incidents, we finished the match with exactly how we started, with a point.

A neutral observer will be thoroughly entertained by this match today, but for us, it was a total nightmare. We were literally all over the place in the first half, and conceding three goals in that manner was a disaster. We looked a side that was completely and resoundly beaten at the end of the first half, but somehow we came back and got a point from a desperate situation, in which at times, looked as if there was no hope whatsoever. Calum Chambers was superb, as was Martin Ødegaard; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appeared to be asleep for large periods of the game, along with Pablo Marí, but the worrying thing is that our defence is completely porous, and just leaks goals consistently. Mikel Arteta needs to plug this gap in the close season, otherwise this embarrassing situation will carry on well into next year. This match was not so much a point retained, but three lost. So very disappointing.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Liverpool at the Emirates on Easter Sunday, 4th April at 4.30pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

Arsenal (0) 0 Olympiacos (0) 1

(Arsenal go through to the quarter-finals, 3-2 on aggregate)

UEFA Europa League, Round of 16, Leg 2 of 2

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Thursday, 18th March 2021. Kick-off time: 5.55pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos, Emile Smith-Rowe; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Alexandre Lacazette, Martin Ødegaard, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Thomas Partey, Calum Chambers, Pablo Marí, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Mat Ryan, Gabriel Martinelli, Arthur Okonkwo.

Yellow Cards: Kieran Tierney

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 45%

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Assistant Referees: Juan Yuste Jimenez (Spain), Roberto Alonso Fernandez (Spain)

Fourth Official: Jose Sanchez Martinez (Spain)

Referee Observer: Iain Robertson Brines (Scotland)

VAR Team (UEFA): VAR Juan Martinez Munuera (Spain); AVAR Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (Spain)

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

For this round of 16, second leg match here at the Emirates tonight, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returns, and its good to see that we are playing a strong three-man line around him tonight as well, with Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos and Emile Smith-Rowe out to impress. Let’s go!

We started the match comfortably and confidently, and despite an early minor injury to Emile Smith-Rowe (in which he took a ball square in the face), we looked every inch the disciplined footballers that we know we can be. The game plan that Olympiacos appeared to be playing was one of defence in depth, and one of containment, with no real desire to attack us at this point in the match. Nicolas Pépé was unfortunate not to score when he tried to go around the goalkeeper on a one-to-one situation, but his deflected shot hit the side netting. A few minutes’ later, Bernd Leno made a fantastic save in order to stop Youssef El-Arabi from scoring when a “route one” ball from the goalkeeper caught us completely wrong-footed; thankfully Bernd Leno made a superb save with his feet to deny him a scoring opportunity. A great chance to score by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang which saw him whack the ball over the bar from close range was a wasted effort, and as we approached the half-hour mark, it was becoming evident that tonight’s match was on the verge of becoming quite a pedestrian affair. Although we had chances to score, and the majority of the first half was indeed played in the visitors’ half, we obviously found it difficult to break down a nine or ten-man defensive wall, as any team would, of course, and as the minutes ebbed away to the half-time break, our frustrations became clear, as we started to run out of ideas how to break Olympiacos down and score, ultimately.

Well, the second half certainly started off with a bit more spark, with the visitors creating good chances to score, and putting us under pressure in the first five minutes or so. Sure enough, Olympiacos took the lead when Youssef El-Arabi hit a right-footed shot from the left side of the box, which was deflected into the net, (and past Bernd Leno) by Gabriel. A few minutes’ later, Mikel Arteta decided to make changes, and quickly too, namely Thomas Partey and Martin Ødegaard for Mohamed Elneny and Dani Ceballos, in order to get some steel in the midfield area, and on the hour, Kieran Tierney broke down the left-hand side of the pitch, put over a superb cross into the penalty area, and an incoming Nicolas Pépé hit a superb shot, that ironically bounced off Emile Smith-Rowe and into the stands. We looked quite jittery when Olympiacos started to advance into our half, and it has to be said, almost fearful when they moved into our penalty area, which was more than slightly worrying. The match started to get rather scrappy, and although we had our chances, (particularly when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was left on a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper, and managed to hook the ball wide of the post somehow), our goalscoring chances looked much to be desired tonight. Emile Smith-Rowe and Hector Bellerin were replaced by Gabriel Martinelli and Calum Chambers with eight minutes of the match remaining to try and zip some life into us, and after Olympiacos went down to ten men, courtesy of some childish behaviour by Ousseynou Ba after a nasty foul on Gabriel Martinelli, it looked as if the numbers game may just work in our favour now. Certainly with the extra man advantage, our game management skills started to kick into life, and we managed to get through the three minutes’ injury time without any major dramas, and therefore our passage into the quarter-finals was assured.

Although this was an extremely lacklustre performance tonight to say the least, the main objective was achived, namely to hold the advantage from the first leg, and advance into the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Yes, we made life extremely hard for ourselves at times, and our goalscoring abilities let us down badly, tonight will be remembered (if at all) as a successful round of this year’s Europa League campaign. A word to the lads; just don’t play like that against West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, or there will be tears before bedtime, mark my words.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: West Ham United at London Stadium on Sunday, 21st March at 3.00pm(Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.