Of sour prunes

I don't know if you've noticed, but the same people who were moaning that Arsène Wenger was a fool not to buy a top class defensive midfielder were also the ones who were screaming for Alex Song to hurry on back from African Cup duty.

Every football team has its own bunch of lovable fickle supporters, but after four barren seasons without a trophy, we seem to have accrued quite a number of sour plums. From minor mummers that Arsenal seem to be significantly weaker than our fellow title challengers to the standard moaning that we haven't progressed as a club to wide-eyed exclamations that Monsieur Wenger seems to have lost the plot completely... I'm sure they're still Arsenal supporters through and through but the lack of trophies seems to have shaken their faith in the football club a little.

They're all coming out of the woodwork now, after the loss to United. Make no excuses about the match, Arsenal were really poor after Almunia fumbled the ball into the net following Nani's moment of magic. But surely we're no more off the pace than we were when we lost to Chelsea back in November? After all, we've still a chance to rectify matters when we visit Stamford Bridge come Sunday.

Anyway, these fervent Arsenal supporters seem to think every setback spells Arsenal's demise as a genuine title challenger, the death knell for the club as one of the big teams in England. But ask yourself, is our captain sleeping with his teammate's gal? Is the club owned by one or two blood sucking leeches who seem to be using the club's coffers as a personal fund? Or does the club have potty mouthed directors who seem to think that supporters are an unnecessary commodity?

We're doing quite well, I'd say. So don't get on Craig Eastmond's case for misplacing the odd pass or two in his second ever first team outing. Don't write Denilson off as useless due to his slow improvement rate (he's only 21 after all, and you can't expect everyone to be a Fabregas). Don't criticise our fullback's crossing ability when there's obviously no one in the box to take advantage of them (or rather no one tall enough). Instead, marvel at how many Arsenal youngsters are making their way through the ranks now. By all means criticise Denilson for his lack of improvement, but also hope he'll turn out okay one day soon. And then pray that Nicklas Bendtner turns into that world class forward Arsène Wenger believes is hiding somewhere in him.

After all, we've got a brilliant manager, decent owners, a world class ground and no chance of missing out on a Champions League spot next season. We're still in the Champions League, in with a shout (no matter how small) for the title and doing reasonably well while missing our top striker. There's plenty to be happy about. All we need is for the Arsenal supporter to look on the bright side of things and will the team on.

So when you're groaning at the thought of having Manuel Almunia between the sticks, think instead of Thomas Vermaelen playing in front of him. If you're wondering if Bendtner will ever score, hope instead that Andrei Arshavin will find some space and dink one in. If we're 3-0 down at half-time when we play at Stamford Bridge, wonder instead if a 4-3 win will be just the thing to power us to the title.

When the going gets tough, stand up for the team. When the chips are down, stand up for the Arsenal.

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