LAST Saturday was a busy day for me as I covered Watford vs Liverpool, then attended Brentford vs Chelsea as a punter, primarily to catch up with old Blues mates over a few beers, but also to chart the ongoing progress of the Bees.

Racing over from the lunchtime game at Vicarage Road to Brentford for the 5.30pm start, it suddenly dawned on me that I might be able to squeeze in a 3pm game somewhere.

Scanning the fixtures, I noted Wealdstone were playing Dagenham in the FA Cup fourth preliminary round. Immediately, I contacted a couple of Stones pals who urged me to come.

For a few seconds, although it seemed longer, I was genuinely about to  make a detour from Watford to Ruislip Manor to take in Wealdstone’s game.

However, a very small (non-sporting) voice in my head reasoned that, surely, two games in a day were enough, even for me. Not to mention the fact that I had my pals’ tickets for the Bees and if I was late they’d be waiting outside, rather than watching an absorbing game unfold inside Brentford’s wonderfully compact and atmospheric new stadium, that is somehow hemmed in next to Kew Bridge.

For once, when it came to sport, I let my head rule my heart, and, reluctantly, I headed to Brentford from Watford, but not via Wealdstone.

I only mention this because of Ben White’s comments last week. When the Arsenal defender admitted that, away from “work” he doesn’t watch football.

A sportsperson who doesn’t enjoy watching sport? Even now, I’m gobsmacked.

Yes, football — or any sport at the top level — is so intense, so it is vital for a player to switch off. For their emotional wellbeing as much as for their physical and mental health.

In the week when Newcastle axed boss Steve Bruce, who then movingly revealed that abuse has taken a great toll on him, sport means nothing compared to your health, nor is it a matter of life and death, as many seem to believe on social media.

I would positively echo the fact that sportspeople should take time away from the game. The pressure, the intensity of play — as much as preparation — the daily and weekly treadmill of training then playing week in, week out is enough to wear anyone down.

Look at cricketers from Ben Stokes and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, to Jonathon Trott and Marcus Trescothick.

Yet, there is a difference between switching off and not actively taking an interest in your chosen profession.

A relaxed White on his day off, opting not to watch a game in favour of, well, whatever it is that footballers do on their day off, is one thing, but actively deciding never to watch a single game of football, or any sport, is quite another.

I would have thought it would have been useful for a player, even to casually watch a game, in the hope of picking up information by watching fellow professionals. Or viewing a match to spot a weakness in a rival, or a tip or technique they could adapt in their own game. Or how about just simply because you enjoy watching sport?

During Arsenal’s frustrating 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Monday (making it three games in three days for me, which, incidentally still wasn’t enough to slake my thirst for more games to cover and/or report from), I actively sought Twitter’s views on the matter.

I have to say the responses were instructive, with the majority insisting White was correct in not wanting to watch football away from work.

I received from HGV drivers and IT professionals effectively saying: “You wouldn’t catch me watching HGV drivers/IT professionals/office workers on TV on my day off.” Yes, quite.

But, as I replied, football and sport are curious cases, not least because you wouldn’t catch me travelling 500 miles in a day to cover HGV drivers/IT professionals/office workers ply their trade, because it’s not sport. And it’s not that interesting. That said, it did make me try to further analyse why they answered the way they did.

It’s not just about context. It’s not about your profession. It’s not about money. It’s not about status. It’s simply about whether you enjoy your job.

If you enjoy your job, it never feels like work. Ergo, it doesn’t feel onerous. It doesn’t feel like drudgery. Or a waste of time. It doesn’t feel like you should be doing something far more interesting — even if you are handsomely rewarded for doing whatever it is that you do.  

Disclaimer: I am so lucky to be a full-time journalist. I absolutely love it. I love everything that I do. So that the long hours I work, often to the detriment of other things, don’t feel like the long hours you’d work if, say, you worked in a warehouse.

As an aside, when the first lockdown hit, I signed up to work in a factory that helped make ventilators for the NHS for a few months, as I absolutely hate sitting around doing nothing. It was tough, manual work, and the hours were long.

Despite feeling like I was giving something back, and despite working with good people, some of whom I still keep in touch with, the days dragged. I didn’t enjoy the work itself.

It was boring and I viewed it as such. It didn’t mean I failed to give my all. I did my best at all times. O course, I’m proud I stuck at it during an uncertain time, I just didn’t relish what I was doing, when I was doing it.

An Arsenal youth team player once told the story about Thierry Henry asking him after training, if he would be watching “the game tonight.”

After quickly scanning the fixtures in his head, the youngster replied that there weren’t any Champions League games on. Henry replied, irritated, that he was referring to a Johnstone’s Paint group stage tie, annoyed at the thought that the kid didn’t seem to think that counted.

And it’s the same with White for me. Yes, take a break, Yes, switch off for your wellbeing as much as anything. But for a sportsperson, not to take an active interest in his or her profession away from work, suggests that they don’t really enjoy what they do.

Because, I would have thought, to get to the top in any trade you have to live and breathe your work, your job, your profession. At “work” and away from “work” too.

When I was there to cover Jurgen Klopp’s Reds producing an outstanding performance against Watford last Saturday, the match included a beautiful, breathtaking goal by Mo Salah that, as a lover of good football, raised me to a level of genuine animation whenever I spoke about it all weekend.

Are we saying White — who will be facing the world class Salah in November — was completely unaware of the result and the goal until he headed to Ashburton Grove before the Palace game earlier this week?

Surely it would’ve been beneficial for White to study his future opponents away from “work,” not least with Arsenal’s match at Anfield looming large next month.

Of course, he will be well-versed by the amount of analysts the Gunners have, not to mention his boss and immediate support staff, but there is always more you can do to improve. Even away from work.

Arsenal’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Palace certainly suggests that.

Which is why I am still annoyed at myself at not making it to Wealdstone last Saturday.