Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Well it’s been a 24 hour period of reflection hasn’t it?
I think its fair to say last night was like being let down by a loved one. In response we fought and we said things about them that we did not mean in the heat of the moment. We then woke up this morning and felt guilty and anxious to make up with the one we love.
I have read a lot of posts today in addition to hearing several comments made by non-Arsenal fans at my work and I have come to some conclusions and reasons why we should not be down and have faith in the club we love.
Firstly let’s go back to 1st August 2003. Let’s be honest here, on paper things were far from rosey. Two of our best players in Vieira and Pires had not signed new contracts, we had not been able to sign a seemingly much need centre back and had only been able to spend £2 million on a new goalie. Oh and of course, our new stadium was in jeapordy.
Now remembering all that, if you had said to the average Arsenal fan that going into Easter weekend 2004 Arsenal would have:
a) Signed Vieira and Pires on new deals;
b) Discovered one of the best centre backs in the country in Kolo Toure;
c) Been able to spend £8 million on one of the most coveted young players in Europe;
d) The funding for the stadium was secured and work started on it;
e) We would reach the semi=final of both domestic cups;
f) Match our best ever CL performance by getting to the quarter-finals;
and
g) Be top of the league by four points with a game in hand having broken the record of unbeaten games at the start of the season;
They would have more than bitten your hands off for half of that, let alone of all it! In fact, really all we wanted was the title back, and frankly we did not care how we did it!
Unfortunately the press played us up as Treble winners when really that was unrealistic and a lot of us bought into it, I know I did. Sure I did not expect us to do it, but I thought we could. But after last night we are all now aware of the team’s weaknesses.
But that’s not a bad thing!
Maybe now we will realise that Henry cannot and will not destroy every side he plays against. That Pires and Ljungberg cannot be as effective as they were in 2002 in every game. And maybe just in general the team are human and are fallible. As a result, if it is 0-0 with 10 mins to go in games we will encourage them, not get frustrated. Remember this is a young team and needs supporting!
To demonstrate that point, the average age of our starting eleven last night was 26. Take out Lehmann and our outfield players averaged 25. Yes 25! If we take a players prime to be 27-31 then our team is two seasons on average away from reaching it.
Also if you take Reyes, just imagine what he will be like in six seasons time! The guy is going to be a star, you do not have be a footballing genius to see that. Add in guys like Aliadiere, Bentley, Clichy, Senderos and Cesc, who we have only seen glimpses off and our future looks fantastic! They are all hungry young players who want to play for the club and are tremendously talented. What more can we ask for?
Arsenal like we have seen are not a perfect team. In fact, they are not in contention for being the greatest team of all time, especially when you think we have NEVER made it to the last four of the European Cup / Champions League.
We have weaknesses no doubt, and this year’s team is not a Treble winning team. But I do not think we are far away from it. A bit of tweaking with new purchases and intergration of the players mentioned above and we CAN win the Champions League in the next few seasons. As this years competition has shown, all bets are now off, being a big name counts for nothing. There is a new generation of teams coming for the trophy and Arsenal can be one of those!
That is to the future, but even in the present it is not all doom and gloom. Last night made us feel the team may roll over and die in the last eight games and blow the championship. Remember the last time we felt our team like this? The game at home to Inter where we lost three-nil.
“Where was the fight?” we said. “They have no bottle,” was also thrown at them. And what happened next match? They went to Old Trafford and ground out a magnificent and gutsy draw, overcoming two very bad decisions to get a well-deserved point. Did we think they would do that the night of the Inter game?
No, we did not. But they did. The players are in no doubts now, they MUST win the league and we MUST have faith in them. Without our support they may as well be playing against twelve men every week.
But what if they do not win the league this year? Is the club as we know it over? Should we all pack up and go watch Chelsea? Heck no! It will be a blow no doubt. A major one in fact, it could set us back years. But we will have the memories. How many other teams can say they have seen football like we have? Who else has had a player like Henry skimming over the turf, leaving defenders in their wake before burying the ball in the bottom corner of the net? Who else has had Bergkamp threading balls through the eye of a needle, picking passes that seemingly are not on? Who else has devastating pace and passing, turning defence into attack in an instant? Who else but Arsenal!
So the next time Cygan slips and let’s an opponent in, I implore you, do not swear at him, remember his goal-line clearence in Rome last year instead.
When Gilberto next gives the ball away do not get abusive, instead remember his fastest goal in Champion’s League history!
When Wiltord look like he has his mind on leaving in the summer, do not mentally pack his bags for him, but remember his goal and being Champions at Old Trafford in 2002!
But most of all, whatever happens love your team, love what they are and what they stand for! Keep the faith!
Love football.
Love Arsenal
Love life.
