Super League?! How you gonna have Arsenal in a Super League?!?!
Well, a game happened today. Obviously, they blew that penalty review—Reus was clearly taking a dive, and then was too close on the ensuing spot kick. This is exactly the kind of stuff VAR was meant to avoid, but I suppose that’s missing the point. VAR, being ultimately run by, well, referees, is just as fallible as, well, referees. And with this fallibility in mind, VAR hasn’t done awfully. Despite some absolute howlers from Cologne, VAR in the Bundesliga has generally kept to a minimum of short reviews, and generally trusted the on-the-field referee when a situation is just too close to call. All of this to say, they absolutely screwed up, but by expecting anything more than a marginal improvement in officiating, we’re being too optimistic.
Besides, it wasn’t as though the call decided the game. Dortmund missed plenty of big chances, and while we had a few of our own, theirs were far more numerous, and it was no fluke they took home all three points. Hats off to Andy Luthe for his first penalty save—even if it ultimately went in, the save still counts, and that’s something to build on. In fact, he had a great game overall, unlike his adversary Haaland, whose increasingly visible frustration became increasingly comedic as the match went on.
It wasn’t our best game, but neither was it our worst, and if we keep this trend up, I’m predicting a 1-0 win for us next time we’re in the Westfalenstadion. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a luxury to be this frustrated after what felt like a narrow defeat.
And now for the obligatory thoughts on Super League, which was the best thing that could happen for UEFA, because it allowed them, of all people, to play the heroes…
We saw, with the Super League attempt, what individual teams will attempt when the safeguards are not strong enough. In a future world without 50+1—and such a world is terrifyingly possible—how will clubs respond when they are no longer constrained by league-wide rules? It will, of course, fall to the individual clubs—and that’s why the Super League failed: the fan pressure was enough to convince them out of it. But without real rights, the fans could not force the owners to do anything. Thus it is entirely believable that where this group failed, a larger, better organized, and more committed group of owners with a better strategy and slick PR campaign might succeed. That they came this close suggests the very possibility.
If this whole shenanigan has taught us one thing, it is that fan rights are precarious, and it is ultimately up to the individual clubs to define who they are. And we should realize that the only thing between us and a nightmare scenario are Dirk Zingler, who will eventually retire, the 50+1 rule, and the right—or, as the case were—wrong person at the helm. We should be honest with ourselves that it is possible, and ask ourselves how we can stop it. My personal suggestion would be a club-level 50+1 of sorts, combined with a “poison pill”: this will secure continued fan ownership even if the DFB does not require it, and result in the disbandment of the club as we know it if some sale or other attempt to undermine the democratic basis of the club occurs. It may seem harsh, but it may be one way (and I’m always curious to hear others!) to preserve our rights in a worst-case scenario, because it is both realistic and prudent to assume that the forces who would corrupt and steal our beloved sport will find ways to manipulate the existing structure (*cough* Makranstadt *cough*). Just an off-the-wall thought, but one worth committing to writing before the whole theme blows over.