On Friday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed during a pre-match press conference that he had been the subject of death threats. Not only that, but his family had also been targeted by such vile messages. Arteta went on to mention that he had informed the club about it and they had attempted to intervene. At one point during the presser, the boss stated, “if we were reading everything that was written about us, we would probably have to stay in bed most days.”
Arteta is far from the only person to receive abuse during the pandemic. Newcastle manager Steve Bruce was recently on the end of “vile and obscene” threats, according to The Guardian. Players such as Anthony Martial, Axel Tuanzebe, Marcus Rashford, and Reece James have received abuse online. Even Premier League referee Mike Dean requested not to officiate any matches this week after he and his family received death threats.
Arsenal is no stranger to death threats and other abuse, unfortunately. Leading up to the infamous Crystal Palace match in October of 2019, Granit Xhaka received threats against himself, his wife, and even his young daughter. Aaron Ramsey was on the receiving end of similar abuse, and even horrific jokes involving Gary Speed’s death, during the player’s drop in form after the Wales manager sadly took his own life. Gabriel Paulista received death threats for accidentally giving Jack Wilshere a hairline fracture in his ankle during training in 2015.
The age of social media has forever changed how fans and football clubs interact with each other. This has resulted in Arsenal players periodically sending birthday wishes and messages of encouragement to fans online. Fans are more tuned in to the goings-on at the club, with Arsenal regularly posting photos and videos of trainings and other behind-the-scenes moments. On New Year’s Day, Arsenal became involved in efforts to contact Jake Coare, a fan who had tweeted about attempting suicide after others had reached out to the club on Twitter. Arsenal would later tweet out that the police had managed to make contact with Coare as well as thank the fans for their support.
But having a direct channel to the club and its players has proven to be a double-edged sword. Fans can tweet out devastating and traumatic messages to players, coaches, referees, and club staff from behind the cloak of a made-up name and profile picture depicting anything but their own faces. This anonymity has allowed members of the fan base to harass and abuse individuals within the club for the better part of a decade now.
The pandemic, aside from the more pressing matters of mass death and a devastated financial landscape, has also caused online football culture to become even more toxic. As Tim Stillman of the Arsenal Vision Podcast has stated on several occasions, being unable to physically experience matches, be it actually at the Emirates Stadium or watching it on TV with others thousands of miles away, has resulted in fans consuming football entirely through social media.
From start to finish, the matchday experience is online now. Fans follow team news and developments in the days before a game. They receive news about lineups and voice their opinions on their teams’ starting XI. Fans live tweet or read others’ thoughts during matches. Once the referee has blown the final whistle, they will get online if they weren’t already there and consume a plethora of media and content: immediate reactions by pundits in written or video form, post-match podcasts, emotional takes of others online, and match reports that discuss the highlights and controversies of a particular game.
This is how most football fans, Gooners included, have consumed football for the past several months. It is a constant vortex of information and emotions. And given how matches have come thick and fast, mostly being played with only a few days in between, that vortex has been incessant. Once an Arsenal match is over, there are likely several other time slots containing other matches for fans to watch. Once those games are over, there is more content being churned out by writers and podcasters, the number of which has grown during the pandemic — likely because we’re all confined to our homes for the foreseeable future. By the time a fan is done consuming that content, another Arsenal match is just a matter of hours away. Rinse and repeat.
These days, ball is life, quite literally. Whether you’re aware of it or not, it is a stressful way to enjoy football.
Fans aren’t the only ones who are suffering from how football has been handled during the pandemic. In November, the Daily Mail reported that Premier League injuries had risen by 15%, with muscle injuries increasing by 42%. A recent graphic made by The Athletic has indicated that every club is dealing with multiple injuries. It’s plain to see that players are knackered. For Arsenal, this has manifested in the form of Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey often dealing with injury this season.
On top of that, referees are likely overworked too due to the frequency with which games are played. The current schedule prevents officials from being properly rotated, which undoubtedly has resulted in some level of burnout among Premier League referees. While the standard of officiating is desperately in need of improvement, such exhaustion contributes to the inconsistent decision-making that has grabbed headlines this season.
All of this creates a vicious cycle: players break down or fail to perform at their expected level due to not getting enough rest, referees make bad calls and decide games at least partially because they’re overworked, and stressed fans lash out at them. Many take it to an extra level and exhibit flat-out cruelty.
As we have seen from Arteta, this has affected our club recently. In addition to the abuse of the manager, Joe Willock revealed in a recent interview for Newcastle’s TV channel that he has had to endure his fair share of it. Eddie Nketiah has also been targeted at points this season. In the wake of the leaking of William Saliba’s controversial Snapchat video he, Hector Bellerin (who has received anti-gay abuse in the past), Alexandre Lacazette, and others have been the subject of supremely homophobic jokes. Even Connor Armstrong, Arsenal’s social media manager, has received abuse on numerous occasions this season.
The pandemic has been tough on everyone. The playing and coaching staff at Arsenal are no exception. It is important to remember that, not just now, but always. These are people with hopes, fears, and emotions. While they are professionals who should be able to take proper criticism, they cannot be blamed for wanting people to stop sending them death threats, messaging them vile insults, and tagging them in malevolent posts. Such dreadful online experiences have a long-term impact on their mental well-being. You cannot call yourself a good person if you think being mean to them online is worth that.
Many trolls online will engage in this behavior regardless of the existence of a pandemic. Obviously, social media abuse and death threats predate COVID-19. Those who treat this behavior as a pastime are stains on our club and on our fanbase, and should be condemned and punished. Hopefully, both of these things will start to happen more often in the future.
But if the vicious cycle of pandemic football is causing you to consider this harmful behavior as a viable release for the first time, perhaps it’s best to step away from the grind of this season for a little while. Maybe, just for a bit, you should lay off the constant content and online echo chamber. You’ll be doing yourself and many others a favor. It really is okay to take a break.
One day, things will return to something resembling normal. We will be able to attend matches again, to gather with others as fans, to enjoy football and Arsenal outside of an electronic device. It’s up to us in the meantime to protect not just our mental well-being, but the mental well-being of those who represent our club as well.
If you enjoyed this article, please follow me on Twitter @dopegooner for more Arsenal thoughts and opinions.