Demand is softer.
The directors notice that, care about that.
There are thousands of empty seats.
Tickets that were not on general sale last season are on general sale now.
But demand is soft because the team isn’t as exciting as it was last season.
There are 7,000 corporate seats up for renewal this summer.
Every time there is a recession, the boards of companies meet and decide how to reduce costs. They cut corporate entertainment, reduce advertising and travel, stop going first class, cancel the new computer system, and prepare plans for redundancies. By June, our recession will be worst than it is now. And those budget decisions will have already been taken at board meetings.
In this climate, Arsenal need a couple of new stars.
The City is a big part of the UK economy and firms there are banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, and associated inter-acting enterprises. Loads of Gooners work there and have pairs of season tickets. When they can’t go to a game these fans sell their tickets or give them to friends. But for a recent home game, a guy had no friends who wanted to use his tickets free of charge. So he put a card on the office noticeboard: Do you want two free tickets for Arsenal v Bolton ? There were no takers. He couldn’t give them away. He has a friend in another company who did the same thing and there were no takers there either.
So while the team is unbeaten in eight games, it doesn’t excite people any more. Expectations are lower, the anticipation is not so enjoyable, Arsenal doesn’t have the edge, the frisson that it once had. Discontent, which began last summer, is coming from fans who have never doubted Wenger before.
Arsenal need to put bums on seats because if there are empty seats next to you, it’s less of an event, less exciting. You tend to think : If other people can’t be bothered, why should I be bothered?
What I’m saying is something very simple and obvious : if Arshavin had been playing against Bolton, that guy could have sold his tickets. He wouldn’t have been trying to give them away.
Big clubs need big stars and big games and big nights but Arsenal might not have a big night this season. They could beat Roma 3-0 but a Champions League game can’t be a big night unless you get through. The Roma game will not be over. It will only be half-time.
That’s why Arsenal need Andrei Arshavin and I hope they sign him.
The Russian looks like a fabulous footballer who could zip past people like Limpar, score goals like Overmars, see openings like Bergkamp, and fit in quite quickly. He wants to join Arsenal because he’s seen the way they play and he likes it. Overlapping full backs will suit his game, Nasri and Denilson could feed him nice passes, and he could settle in comfortably. Arshavin has never played with six foot four Africans before, so that would be interesting for him.
Big clubs have to change the menu to keep big crowds interested. In the media, nobody talks about Arsenal any more. They just report what Wenger says about Kaka, Man City, the title race, blah blah blah.
Last night’s Liverpool result keeps the Three/Three scenario bubbling along.
It’s been looking like a Big Three/Next Three battle and with Rafa making a tactical mistake and throwing the game away, Liverpool 1 Everton 1 is the result that keeps things interesting.
Typical tight derby, very little in it, Stevie G slams one into the bottom corner from 30 yards, Rafa takes off the anonymous Robbie Keane to bring on Benayoun, then takes off Torres, who got 84 minutes to help build his match fitness, and brings on Lucas. So he’s taken off two strikers and put on two midfielders and said to Everton: You have the ball for the next six, seven, eight, nine minutes.
Benayoun concedes a silly free-kick on Liverpool’s right flank, fussy Arteta takes a long time over his free-kicks anyway, Liverpool go cold, everybody stands still, Tim Cahill ambles to the near post as Arteta fizzes the ball in hard and flat. The unmarked Cahill ducks to glance in for 1-1 in the 87th minute.
It’s Three and Three, for me.
Liverpool play Everton in the FA Cup. It’s at Anfield again. It will be very tight again. Expect Rafa to play 4-5-1 this time.
Poor Robbie Keane’s artistry is wasted there. He’s a flicky player who darts here and there, bends his runs, suits a 4-4-1-1 system, which Rafa only plays twice a year. He likes 4-2-3-1. Keane doesn’t fit into a defensive power team who play with cut and thrust and a strict shape.
President Obama will be sworn in today. He is a very good orator.