The incident surrounding Arsenal‘s left-back, Kieran Tierney during the close match against Watford reminded football fans of an incident of a similar kind where Rivaldo tumbled like a pack of cards after he was passed the ball by his opponent to take a corner.
Although the stakes and the plot were different, the one unifying thing that both of the incidents were in sync with was the proper usage of the ‘dark art of football’, running down the clock.
After a sudden resurgence by Watford to find an equaliser, the Gunners decided to utilise the newly established street smart brand of playing and utilised every moment to further bring the moment of final whistle closer.
Cucho Hernandez, the scorer of the exquisite first-half bicycle kick goal tried to negate the tactics and put the game into motion by handing Tierney the ball for a throw-in. Meanwhile, Tierney who had his game plan ready to execute made the most out of this situation by exaggerating the contact and dived, thus bringing forth the agitated players from both ends.
Where Arsenal players tried to minimise the damage control, as an animated antics like this could have resulted in a card, Tierney spent no time standing his ground literally and invited Hernandez to “settle it outside, after the game”, amusing fans from both ends alike, considering the fact that the same footballer went ballistic at Darwin Nunez for diving, a year back.
These animated displays of tactics and techniques not only provides an entertainment factor to the beautiful game but also highlights an important fact that the 90 minutes are what one must seize to one’s best capacity to achieve the desired result, no matter the means.
Mikel Arteta’s astute tactics have slowly but steadily started to make progress as Arsenal can stake claim to a European spot, which all their fans have been patiently waiting for.
Now time will tell if Arsenal can push through the struggles, but by looking at what the players have been ‘instructed’ to do, we are in for an entertaining end to the premier league in the days to come.
