Booing at Spurs and players abused by strangers - football is healing

[ASFN Admin]

Around 10 minutes into Arsenal’s match against Crystal Palace on Thursday night, Kieran Tierney collapsed to the floor after receiving a little kick, off the ball, from Palace defender Joel Ward. The incident happened directly in front of a large group of Palace fans who, it is safe to say, did not take kindly to Tierney’s reaction. From then on, Tierney’s status as the evening’s pantomime villain was assured. Every touch was booed and every challenge on him was cheered. As a veteran of Old Firm derbies, Tierney would not have minded one bit. If anything, he probably quite enjoyed it. It added to the general edge of the game, which was noticeably more aggressive and competitive with fans in the crowd. It was the same across the Premier League this week. That edge was certainly there for Chelsea’s match against Leicester City on Tuesday, which ended in a mass touchline brawl between the two sets of players. Would that incident have flared up without supporters roaring them on? It seems unlikely. Would Graham Potter have reacted so exuberantly to Brighton’s goals, in their dramatic victory over Manchester City, without the fans behind him? Would Brighton have even come back from two goals down, as they did on Tuesday night, without the added motivation provided by the crowd? After the game, the usually mild-mannered Potter — a man who has barely raised an eyebrow at most goals this season — even felt compelled to apologise for his conduct on the touchline, where he argued with Pep Guardiola. “I was a bit emotional and it wasn't my finest hour, I have to apologise for that," said Potter of his reaction to Brighton’s first goal. “It wasn't meant with any intent or anything against anybody, it was an emotional response from me but it wasn't a good one. So I apologise to them. No offence meant from my perspective but again I understand it wasn't a nice moment." Alongside this heightened sense of competitiveness, the return of supporters also brought back much of the colour and fun that British football had taken for granted before the pandemic. At Tottenham Hotspur, the home fans sang about Ledley King being better than John Terry, now a coach at Aston Villa. Terry responded by holding aloft an imaginary trophy, a clear dig at Tottenham’s lack of silverware.

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