It has not been a good season for Arsenal so far. Laughing stock of the league at the beginning of the season, I’d 8-2 be an Arsenal fan, it still rings in the ears of us connected to the club. Every defeat and slip up feels like a further punch in the gut while trophies that used to come on a regular basis seem like distant memories. It’s hard to believe for me, my 7 year old brother has not seen Arsenal win a trophy while I grew up with doubles and the invincibles. Question marks are being raised about the man that we never thought would leave while our star players consistently seem to think the grass is greener elsewhere and move on. It’s painful.
After turning around the turmoil of the beginning of the year things seemed to be on the rise, led by talisman Van Persie we had new found hope but the introduction to the year has seen that fade away. Arsenal are yet to win a Premier League game in 2012 and there always seems to be something that turns the game. Sometimes it’s easily identifiable, like Djourou’s red card at Fulham and the substitution against Manchester United that is becoming infamous. There’s still a long way to go this season, we can still achieve a top 4 finish but with performances at the moment it feels like Mission Impossible.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. A home tie against Aston Villa this weekend in the FA Cup beckons, in what is surely our only realistic chance at success. We also have a Champions League clash against one of Italians finest drawing closer and closer, as we prepare to face off against the Rossoneri.
This clash and the competition itself are key to Arsenal’s season. I’m not expecting success in the cup but a good run would do us a world of good. Clashes like this brighten up the dark days, form books go out the window and anything can happen. This is the chance to prove we are no pushovers. With the two Manchester clubs already out of the competition, England’s representatives are the two from London. Arsenal and Chelsea.
If Arsenal can last longer in the competition than the Blues, we can restore our dignity once again. AC Milan will be tough opposition, but we beat them before so we can do it again. If we overcome that obstacle we can hope for another of Europe’s elite, preferably Barcelona or Real Madrid. We beat Barcelona last year and should have advanced. We still remember Van Persie’s sending off in the same way that Chelsea fans remember John Terry’s slip and the ‘goal that never was’ in the 2005 semi-final against Liverpool.
It’s a longshot to win the competition but if we can go on a good run and show some good performances it will give us some fond memories to look back on, while also enabling us to rub it in the face of the others. You may have finished in the top 4 this year, but we lasted longer than you in the Champion League and toppled some of Europe’s top clubs. If we don’t finish in the top 4 then this is surely the next best thing.
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To win a game and trophy you need a strong defnce. Frankly the gunners defence is a big joke barring some dramatic improvement.I don’t know. The gunners defence has been poor since 2005 with a sub std gk.
I am afraid the gunners flatter to please. It’s better to lose at the qf/sf than final where the pain will be immesurably great and intolerable.
@Jeremy, Yes we had a sub standard GK and defence since 2005 but this problem has been addressed. Our defensive problems lie across the whole teams’ attitude without the ball. We dont work hard enough as a unit and this leaves us exposed. Koscielny will continue to grow into one of the most consistent defenders in the league alongside the main man TV. We have the best right back in the premier league (as proven by his selection in the team of the season last year) and we have a new LB in Santos that needs bedding in. Behind them we have what I beleive is one of the best keepers in the league and his potential is second to only that of Joe Hart.
Our problem now is (as everyone knows) finding a second striker and probably a ball carrying attacking midfielder to add to the rotation of the squad throughout the season . Rosicky is not up to standard