Following Arsenal’s victory over Marseille this week, there was a row between the club and Mathieu Flamini as the midfielder had cut off the sleeves of his shirt again. Flamini had also done this for the Manchester United game and it is a club tradition that dates back to the 1920’s whereby all the players were the same length sleeved shirts as that picked by the club captain for that day.
Flamini defied the club’s tradition twice and Arsene Wenger was not impressed and said that Flamini would not pull off such a stance again. But the French midfielder responded by saying, ‘I’ve been playing at the top level for 10 years and I like to wear short sleeves.’
The Daily Mail reports that the majority of the Arsenal squad back Wenger’s stance. Arsenal consider Flamini’s sleeve-cutting to be an oversight rather than a challenge to the club. And there is a belief the issue has been resolved after the rule was explained to Flamini.
So what is the solution for Flamini and Arsenal going forward? Flamini could roll up his sleeves, something team-mates including Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have done in the past. That way, it can feel like he is wearing a short sleeved shirt.
Former Arsenal and England right back Lee Dixon chipped in on this issue and said, ‘I liked to wear short sleeves too. But I wore the same as the captain. Club tradition must remain at all costs. Rodders (Tony Adams) used to ask the players to vote. If it was long then I rolled them up.’
Hopefully this issue is now put to bed and we can move on from it!