Did you feel that excruciating pain when that ball looped over Almunia's flapping arms? Did you feel the unbearable agony? If you didn't, you are probably not an Arsenal fan.
But if you are a fan, you are probably bracing yourself for a dreadful few days to come. It seems like we are entering one of those familiar phases when we lose everything. When we get knocked out of every competition we compete in. When every big decision goes against us. When big teams hammer us and 'small' teams snatch draws. When everything falls apart. It's frightening, to say the least.
But have you ever wondered why we keep having these phases?
Its because we don't react well. And when I say 'we', I mean the players, the manager and the fans. Arsenal Football Club as a whole gets trapped in a feeling of doom too easily. We feel the world is against us. When we are pushed a little, when our backs are against the wall, we don't respond with defiance. The fans give up and boo the players. The players get frustrated. Some fans even question Arsene Wenger.
Remember 23 Feb, 2008? Even after we drew against Birmingham that day, we were 3 points ahead of Manchester United. After 5 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats from the 11 remaining games, we finished the season 4 points behind Manchester United. That means Manchester United won 7 points more that we did in last 11 games played.
Where would we be if we had shown mental strength and belief in that period? Had we converted just 2 of those 4 draws into wins, and 1 of those 2 defeats into a draw, we would have won the title at least by a point. We lost the title because our players and fans lost belief at Birmingham. Yes, it wasn't a penalty. Yes, Eduardo broke his leg. But we didn't rise above all that. The whole club got mired in an atmosphere of self pity and depression. A team that looked like champions for 7 months suddenly looked like it had no confidence, despite being top of the table by 3 points.
The players and the manager always take their share of blame, but what about us fans? Didn't we also contribute to the whole mood of disillusionment that year? Every fan lost the premier league for their club as much as the manager and the players did.
The worry is that a similar feeling of disenchantment seems to be taking over at Ashburton Grove again. The manager seems frustrated, and the players seem depressed. The fans are already discussing if Fabregas will leave in the summer, and wondering why Almunia still plays for Arsenal.
This kind of atmosphere is the last thing that the club needs right now. For God's sake, we are 4 points from the top, with Manchester United and Chelsea to play each other next week. There are still enough games where United and Chelsea might drop points (United are still to play Man City away, Chelsea are yet to play Liverpool). Its a tough league and big teams have been dropping points. For all you know Sunderland might snatch a last gasp winner against United. Why not?
I am not being naive. I know its much tougher for us now than it would have been if we had got all 3 points at St. Andrews. I know there is a possibility that Manchester United will not drop a single point. But what if they do slip up, and we fail to take advantage just because we are busy wallowing in self pity? How much will we all kick ourselves then?
Our team has already shown us twice this season that there is improvement on the psychological front. They have been dead and buried in the league twice, and they have risen like a phoenix on both occasions. They almost won yesterday at a place where both Manchester United and Chelsea have failed to win. And they have done it without their first choice centre-backs and their first choice striker, and with Howard Webb as the referee. They are still playing to win the League and the Champions League. Lets not undermine a very good side with our negativity.
Most of all, win or lose, it is our team and our club. Lets support it through thick and thin. Come on you Gunners!
Monday, March 29, 2010
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Although i agree that the league is not won till you win more points than the second in line but just to go by history, this is the phase in season when Manchester United taste blood and become unbeatable. chelsea has nothing but leage to play for(they are also figthing for FA cup)and they will remain strong for the rest of the matches. liverpool is liverpool i dont think it can hold chelsea. therefore i think barring manu-chelsea clash i dont see dropped points. But that does not mean Arsenal should not fight till the end. Because if they give up now after fighting so hard for the whole season with almost half first team sqaud out for majority of the season, it will undermine heroics of cecs, vermalene and sol(in the second part) i personally think birmingham match was not one to be lost. i was clear during whole 90 minutes that they were not at all looking like taking any point out of the match.they did not create many chances and were not at all looking threatning. what was appalling was seemingly low drive and lack of focus with some of the arsenal players. i think they took it lightly. crossess send by clichy and sagna were 1st division level and the attacking players were trying to pass the ball into net. these two issues i think need to be sorted out. i am surprised as to why nothing is done about it. i fail to understand why these guys dont shoot and look for that perfect opportunity to score?
ReplyDeletewhatever happens at the end of the season, i think arsenal would have surpassed everybody's expectations.
Hey - well said man. ManU all the way here but like this blog. Gunners really need to finish the race and not loose steam like they have been doin so consistently.
ReplyDeleteHope to read more such posts.
Hey all,
ReplyDeleteWell articulated Tanmay,All we need from team is not to lose( a win would be majestic) against Barca atleast in Home match and hammer Wolves with 5-6 goals to get back level of confidence needed in this league, if we manage to do these two things in this week, we should be able to fight till the end. Whether ManUtd and Chelsea drop their points, its really not in our hands.All we can do is hope for them to lose points. But winning our remaining matches def is in our hands. I really think We should have won Birmingham match, not because we needed to, but bcoz we had our chances...Remember Arshavin's miss hit and Fabregas creating that Penetrating Pass from half line for Samir Nasri who was too slow to think what to do with the ball and managed to just curl it back for their defenders to clear. And of course not to forget Bendtner's laziness to not to collect long ball from Nasri. A win would have been a grandiose result for us, a draw is a blow but not so sounding that we drop our shoulders and say its all over. Mind you a demolition by Barcelona@Emirates would kill us, so we need to avoid that.In the end, we cherish the majestic football gunners play and we always will but we all want to see silverware at Emirates...So lets keep our confidence high and keep supporting gunners..they have def surpassed everyones expectations coming to position where atleast they fight for title till the end of wire after being buried dead deep by Chelsea and ManUtd. ..so Cmon you Gunners....
Good article mate...
ReplyDeleteWell said about fans who need to get behind the team. Its still an open race. With neither team a out and out favorite.
I just feel that the manager needs to get his act right. A big game coming up with Barca. One team which matches Barca in the attack is Arsenal. No doubts. But the difference is in the composure. Barca is not unbeatable. Mind you!
Stop fretting over one loss and get over it. Its not going to be easy, neither its going to be impossible.
One piece of advice for all Arsenal fans. "In Arsene we trust" -- don't take it too far. It should be "In the team we trust"...
Signing off...
Mihir
Abhishek, i completely agree about the crosses from our full backs. Sagna and Clichy sometimes seem to cross to each other on the flanks. And of course I agree about shooting at the right time. Also, have you noticed Arshavin has been mis-hitting his shots a lot these days, as Sumit points out?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree when Sumit says we need to get a good result against Barca. Its important for our confidence that we do not get thrashed, and will be great if we can win the game without conceding. Even 1-0 would be ok.
Kunal and Mihir, thanks for commenting. You Man Utd fans have been having a great time for the last 3 years. Unfortunately for Arsenal, it looks like you have peaked again at the right time this year, as Abhishek points out. But yes, 'In Arsene we trust'!