Southampton and Prices: A Tuesday Round Up

We play Southampton and their Jester between the sticks later so I'll come on to that. Firstly though there was a story today which I found pretty important.

The drawing of Liverpool in the FA Cup opened several cans full of even more worms. I'm no expert on the inner workings of the club or even ticket pricing structures so the simplified way that I saw it, is as follows:

Arsenal recently announced that next season would see a 3 percent rise in season ticket prices, I think. This was supposed to be in line with inflation but the inflation of what was far from clear. Previously, having reached the knock-out rounds of the Champions League, the home tie with European Champions Bayern Munich was penciled in as one of seven designated Cup games included in the price of a season ticket. After that occurred, we beat Spurs in the FA Cup, earning a tie with League One Coventry and pushing back the game with European Champions Bayern Munich in the fixture order, leaving it as the seventh, and last, of these designated games.

That's when things got interesting. Unsurprisingly, we beat League One Coventry almost as comfortably as we'd beaten Spurs in the previous round. So, when we drew Liverpool and that fixture was added to the list, the bout against European Champions Bayern Munich was pushed back even further chronologically, to the extent that it now fell outside of the seven designated games. If season ticket holders wish to watch their club play the German side, they will have to pay for it with the cost of their ticket renewal next season.

That's caused a little bit of controversy. With respect to League One Coventry, it would be truthful to say that every single Gooner would prefer to watch European Champions Bayern Munich play at the Emirates than the Sky Blues. But because of the order of the games, many will not be able to and those who can will have to stump up for it, after watching the predictably uncompetitive FA Cup game for free.

The one bit of good to come from this centres around the aforementioned Liverpool game in the Cup. In response to pressure from some fans groups who were upset for various reasons, the match has been changed to a Category B fixture, reducing prices for everyone.

Yes they were forced into it a little but it's still nice to see a gesture like this from the club. I've had a feeling in the past that the fans loved the Arsenal but the Arsenal didn't really love the fans. This isn't exactly a unique opinion so many people will be pleased that the club have acted to assuage it.

Southampton. We beat them last time thanks to a penalty and and a howler from a gloved buffoon. It wasn't exactly a tricky fixture but it was hardly a nail-biter either, as far as I remember. This time round I expect a challenge but one we're perfectly capable of conquering, should we choose to accept it.

All the Southampton talk in the past few days has been about Luke Shaw and whether or not he'll be leaving. A United friend of mine was talking him up as if he had signed for them already, burbling about how he was far superior to Kieran Gibbs.

Let me set something straight. I like Luke Shaw. I think he will go to United or Chelsea and have a long and successful career. I have a minor 'I knew him before he was famous claim' which means I always route for him a little bit too and to be performing week in week out the way he does, at the age of eighteen, is very impressive.

But at the moment, Kieran Gibbs has a far, far greater claim to inherit the England Left Back role than his Southampton counterpart. He is one of the most underrated players on the books of a top four club and we have a right to really show him off. Not in the way we might have made statements like 'Denilson's one of the best midfielders in the League' in the past to hide the deficiencies of the player, but in a genuine way. He's quality and I fear he won't get as many England caps as he deserves because of the hysterical clamour that will inevitably surround Shaw's bid to replace Cole/Baines when the time comes. And £25m, one reported fee for Shaw in this window, is a joke.

The team for the game has just been announced and the only surprise for me is the continued inclusion of Gnabry on the right hand side. With players coming back to fitness we could feasibly have rejigged that three to include at least one of four players who aren't starting tonight. I love the depth. While I like Gnabry, I would have maybe routed for a Rosicky tonight in a very fluid three. But the boss knows best. I hope no-one gets the hump though. I'm thinking of Podolski especially, who I expect to feature at some point tonight.

Three more routine points please. For now.