by Arsenal Tone » Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:15 am
Terraces and safe standing alone will not improve the atmosphere at games. The issue IMO is that people are allocated seats. Whereas in the good old days large groups would leave the pubs, the atmosphere would build up on the way to/outside of the ground and then inside the groups would all stand together, now you get a good atmosphere outside the ground, but people are dispersed as they go to their seats which are all over the ground.
We all saw the BSM march and the atmosphere they produced outside of the ground. Now imagine if they all entered the ground and had been in the same area, all sat together. Then you'll have an idea of why the atmosphere at matches used to be so much better - it wouldn't matter if people were stood or seated.
Rather than terraces or safe standing areas, I'd like to see people sold tickets to 'areas' of the ground rather than specific seats. That way large groups meeting up in pubs could all arrive together and bring the atmosphere with them. It would also encourage fans to get in their seats earlier - as it would be first come first serve.
The issue is that police and the club want to be able to pick out trouble makers which is why they want people to be allocated seats. If safe standing was introduced I'd imagine you'd be given a designated place to stand and the atmosphere would be just as bad.
Raya/Ramsdale
White/Tomiyasu--Saliba/Timber--Gabriel/Kiwior--???/Zinchenko
???/Jorginho
Odegaard/Smith Rowe----Rice/???
Saka/Jesus-------------------Martinelli/Trossard
???/Havertz