I genuinely thought that I would never get to say this, but Arsenal’s match on Saturday against PSG is simply a ‘free hit’. Anyone who has read my articles over the past few months will know that nothing has mattered more to me than winning the League. Being Champions of your own country is simply the highest honour that any club can achieve – and that is a hill that I am prepared to die on!
The winners of the League always deserve it
38 games over nearly 10 months, through rain and shine, from Newcastle to Bournemouth and at the end of it we are top of the tree by seven points. This past week has been immense, a seismic shift in not only our own psyche, but also that of every fan in this country and beyond. The impromptu crowd at the emirates last Tuesday followed by the scenes inside and outside every pub in the proper parts of London were unprecedented. They were something that neither Liverpool or Manchester United could reproduce, let alone Chelsea, City or the N17 swamp dwellers. And we still have this Sunday to come!
The Premier League is the pinnacle
And that is the crux of the matter, win or lose on Saturday, will not make one jot of difference to how I perceive this season. It has been a total an unmitigated success. We had one aim this season and that was to be the Champions. None of the above means that I wouldn’t be delighted if we upset the odds in Budapest and lift ‘Old Big Ears’, but this is not like in 2006! Then it was everything, losing hurt and the circumstances around the game led to the demise of the Invincibles and eventually the long, slow death of the Wenger era.
This is the end of the beginning
People know that I love to quote Churchill and never has a quote been more appropriate for Arsenal right now!
“This is not the end, nor is it the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning”
The process is not complete, nor will it every be. We must never stand still again, we can learn from both Fergie and Pep that we must constantly move forward. Some heroes will have to leave (except Bukayo) but never be forgotten and new ones will join and make new memories. We should have gone on and dominated after the 1991 title and again in 2004, but we didn’t. In fact we haven’t since the 1930s when only the minor inconvenience of World World II halted our longest period of league dominance ever.
Budapest and all that…..
So in summary, wherever you are, enjoy Saturday, it’s a free hit- win or lose – we’ll be back in Final’s to come.! This season’s League victory has set the foundations for years to come, had we not won it, I would have feared for the future. But now the future is bright, the future is red and white.