From the moment Theo shoulder barged some geezer three times his size right off the pitch and into the advertising hoardings you received the impression that we were in for a treat last night. Even when the inevitable Twitter meltdown greeted Mike Dean’s goal there was never really any reason to panic. You see, like Theo, this squad has come of age. Our number fourteen won’t be pushed around and knocked over, his double shoulder injury is behind him, and I believe his change in fortune is neatly analogous to the development of this Arsenal team. A team that has learned not to expect anything from the authorities, the football establishment, the media and even a sizeable minority of it’s own support. This is a team which goes on proving that if they have to beat not just the opposition but the corrupt and/or incompetent officials trying their best to help the other side, then so be it. I’ve felt for a little while now that once partnerships and understandings are built between the players and a balance exists then the raw courage and determination to overcome apparently insuperable odds are there in abundance. Would it be immodest of me to suggest that the events of last night indicate I might have been on to something?
If Theo out muscling his man in defence was a portent then the performance of Aaron Ramsay was little short of a revelation. I know we all have our favourites. Tomáš Rosický is mine. This favouritism makes us biased towards certain players and yet simultaneously raises our expectations of them. I thought TR7 was relatively quiet last night but then he was playing high up the pitch and faced a wall of Wigan players fighting for their lives. Aaron who is fast becoming my favourite player (we are talking full on man crush here, believe me) was, on the other hand, starting deeper with some big green spaces to run into. Apart from a couple of wayward passes I thought he was sensational. I put the first goal down to him. He harried Wigan in possession, he tackled fiercely and instigated the counter which led directly to the corner from which Lukas stooped to score.
Surely it is Arsène who should take a bow for his careful handling of the former Welsh captain. He clearly knows which players become stronger when forged in the fire of competitive matches and which need to be eased back into the fray. Aaron has grown harder, seemingly taller, and more confident with every game. When he scored, a goal of which any striker in the league would have been proud, he did more than simply usher in the demise of a celebrity. Think about it. Think about the near misses from him lately. There was one in this match, also a toe poke that went tantalisingly wide a few weeks ago. But nothing fazes the boy. He shrugs off his mistakes and gets on with it. The cool, unhurried calm with which he put that ball away was for me the final piece in his jigsaw of recovery.
I didn’t want to single out any individual player from last night’s performance. Honestly this isn’t supposed to be the Aaron Ramsay show, I genuinely thought everyone fought hard from start to finish. I apologise – but I am an emotional guy and after the hell that young man has been through I think he deserves every bit of credit I and everyone else can give him. Having said all that, indulge me while I single out one other moment and one other player. I’m referring to Laurent Koscielny’s ridiculous acrobatics with the score still at 1 – 0. Would you call it a tackle? Interception? He picked the ball out of the air at about seven feet off the ground whilst seemingly sandwiched between centre forward and out rushing goalkeeper. And he did it not with his head but with a deft flick of his size twelves. He plucked the ball from the sky with the apparent ease of a boy scrumping an apple from a low branch, he made it vanish like a conjurer. It was part martial art, part ballet and all genius. Again I pick out these players and these moments as metaphors for the development and growth of the team as a whole.
Compare Kos and Szezzer’s decisive, no nonsense intervention in that instant with the hesitant, disastrous league cup final moment. Just as those two have come of age, just as Theo looks like a man and no longer the unsure little boy of yore, and just as no demonic referee can dent our determination to overcome all odds, so has the team grown, hardened and learned the habit of not getting beaten. Make no mistake these are the qualities we shall need next season. We need a settled summer, we need niggling injuries sorted out and first and foremost we need to win our last game on Sunday. Then this set of players will know how it feels to put a long run together. That’s what wins you titles. Consistency and belief. It gives you the edge and conversely seeps into the other team’s psyche acting like a goal head start. Remember how Tony Adams used to say he could see the other side’s shoulders droop if Arsenal scored first in a match, because they seemed to know they would never get back into the game? You can’t teach that feeling on the training pitch. It comes from doing it week in week out whether at your best or not. That is what the team have been doing ever since we went to Bayern and bearded them in their lair.
OK that’s enough from me, how about we end with a song? When I was a boy I was sent to a religious primary school and there was necessarily a whole lot of hymn singing. There is one anthem that came back to me when I thought of Aaron’s courage and Arsene’s single minded determination not to be ground down by the naysayers. If you’ll allow me, I shall share John Bunyan’s words with you now. For twas he who penned the lines which came unbidden to me from the long lost days of my callow choristry. If it helps substitute the word pilgrim. Think winner gooner instead and it kind of works. In fact I’ll go further it should be the club hymn. Wait, clubs don’t have hymns do they? OK strike that. Anyway most of my early my religious education left little impression on me but these words hit the spot right now.
Like I said , I’m an emotional guy.
Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather;
There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound:
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright;
He’ll with a giant fight,
But he will have the right
To be a pilgrim.
No goblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then, fancies, fly away;
He’ll not fear what men say;
He’ll labour night and day
To be a pilgrim.
Positively Arsenal 
Does the hymn really use “goblin” and “foul fiend”? How appropriate! Especially when I got home and saw headlines like that in The Times which said “bastards Arsenal relegate the heroes” or some shit. The teamwork last night was wonderful, felt very proud. So today Stew I will mostly be singing: There’s no discouragement, will make her once relent, her first avowed intent, to be a Gooner…
LikeLike
That’s the spirit Jane. And yep, those are the lyrics. No wonder I loved it. I’d have learned it at the same age as I first read The Hobbit so it was a neat fit! I’ve changed winner to gooner as your way works much better – thank you!
LikeLike
And that, my friends, is the match write-up of the season.
Positively. Brilliant.
LikeLike
Aah, to be a RASER..brilliant Steww….
He’ll not fear what men say;
He’ll labour night and day
To be a RASER!
LikeLike
ONE game to go, 3 points on the table
There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His last avowed intent
To smash the barcodes.
Newcastle must be downed!
(sorry steww)
LikeLike
Brilliant.
That what I want.Emotion and support .
I dont understand why bloggers give us a blow by blow account of the game ,incidents and goals.?
We all watched it.I dont need someone to tell me what I saw.I fucking saw it.
LikeLike
“Beware them shiny things”, should have been imprinted on Messrs. Whelan & Martinez.
They never had the squad size to compete ably in more than one competition
I think they played too many games & fell off the cliff.
Oh well, “at least they’ve won something”, and will be playing in Europe next season, though I wonder how many of their current squad will remain.
I could think of 1 or 3 that we could be useful to OUR CAUSE.
hmm…?
not now…after Newcastle
LikeLike
Can someone PLEASE give me a link or gif of Kozzer’s kung fu tackle? The one in the blog post doesn’t work -__-
LikeLike
Congratulations to the ARSENAL…
great team effort. I still can’t really pick MOTM.
I HAVE narrowed it down to five or six. Will let you now in a few more hours. One thing for sure, when we play and win like this seldom you will get a referee brave enough or stupid beyond words that would still try to change the outcome or influance the game in other ways. That’s right, outscore the opponents by three maybe four goals each time.
LikeLike
Very nice writeup by the way S18…..
LikeLike
Kos was my MOTM.
He was absolutely resolute in the 1st half.
(I kept seeing the armband switching between him & Arteta, my 2nd most resolute in the 1st half).
They both kept the force strong till Santi could synchronize our intentions
Santi Carzola…my POTS.
LikeLike
kosher was imperial. Thou shall not pass.
But santi had four, count them, four assists.
Aaron was immance and wojo kept us in it with wonderful goalkeeping.
And
And
And . I could go on . Theo was irrepressible. Etc.etc.ect
I wish I could have walk away from work and headed to the pub. Must have been electric.
LikeLike
That’s just wonderful Steww. Ta.
We foiled Mike Dean’s not so cunning plan (love that pic) in style. I mean could he have made it look any more f*cking obvious? Nil pwa Mike, nil pwa. Of course there is no such thing as dodgy referees or conspiracies, so move along now, nothing to see folks. Arse.
I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness for Wigan. Didn’t want them to relegated, not whilst the Stoke Orcs still roam the land. Ah well. I’m over the moon nonetheless, was a fantastic match and also a great atmosphere.
Let’s also give massive respect to our often beleaguered manager, he’s turned this squad around in a short space of time, proof, once again, if proof were needed, of his enduring genius. He’s essentially rebuilt yet another squad, and it’s starting to purr now. The team are on a hell of a run, and we could, possibly, even end up third (behind the richest club in the known universe), who’d have thunk that a few months back? I’ll be honest, I didn’t think we had a hope in hell this season. I started to have my first creeping doubts about AW after that miserable afternoon at Old Tatford. Arsene has proved me wrong. All it needed was a little patience, and the ability to step back and see things in context. Proving irrefutably that I do indeed, know f*ck all.
Now to Newcastle…
LikeLike
Great commentary Stew on what was just about the perfect game to finish the season on at home. An important victory, well deserved, comfortable in the end after a good tussle with an opponent who had so much to play for and never lay down. We all went home wanting more and that has to be what football is about.
Like Kam I struggle to pick a single MotM – one of those nights when it would be ‘the team’ as every single one contributed important parts to the final outcome.
One nice moment I had last night was with my youngest son. He has been going the Emirates opened a few games a season. He is 14 now so supporting AFC has had a few ups and downs in recent years. When the singing and the chanting starts, or stops, at home games before last night he had always taken his cue from his Dad.
Well no more – he is finally his own loud independent Arsenal fan, the first voice to join in and the last one shouting.
LikeLike
HARRY your a big man to admit it. I knew I liked you for a reason.
LikeLike
nil pwa? purqoi? le dean c’est un ref extraordinaire…..
tres beau steww, tres beau
aaron les enfant magnifique, les spunts j;adere oup de cole
LikeLike
Well done to your son ANICOLL. well done. Kids like him and his dad will yet turn the NEW HIGHBURY into the fortress it should be…
LikeLike
Hahaha. Extraordiner caca…
LikeLike
Cheers Goonerkam. Just being honest really.
LikeLike
All this team needed was time gel and right combination of players to cement their places in the team. After the transfer markets we have been through these past four years patiance was always going to be a virtue. As STEWW stated this run is incredible and this team under AW HAS COME OF AGE…
Cheers Harry..
LikeLike
By the way ,I thought shitty is the richest club in the world now followed by chelski and psg and Rubin cazan and lately anzhi machocolat.?
LikeLike
Another brilliant job by papa Steww. Is it age creeping up on us when even grizzled veterans we get all sappy and emotional at moments like this? To answer my own question, it is Steww ‘s ability to evoke that unmitigated love of the game that we all have until it was corrupted by our selfish ego and desire to win at all cost lest we ridiculed by our friends supporting another team, by the media or by the know-it-all blogger who thinks coming 4th is only putting a “conciliatory gloss” on our season.
Anicoll – I was trying to play your Twitter vid on my Tablet but the Telly app refused to work. Any other app for the desktop. Good job with your son.
Harry Flowers – Doubts? Who has doubts? Hah.
ZimPaul – We are past the final bend and coming down the straight. We have drowned out the naysayers, no? Come on you Gunners! Come On!
LikeLike
I’ve put it back up on TwitVid Shotta – you may need the Telly app to view it – its 15 seconds of goal celebrations after the Theo goal from Block 22
LikeLike
Ive checked it and it runs Uk 🙂 http://telly.com/J1E28Z
LikeLike
anicoll5, works for me, starkly beautiful with barely a soul to be seen, my kind of place.
MOM just impossible, give them all a bottle, but keep it on ice till we beat the barcodes.
steww, with your faith i’m surprised your not a priest…. nice write up though.
LikeLike
Great piece Steww
I despair at the thought, ‘What would I do and where would I go, if PA did not exist?’. Forgive me all ye positivistas but I am seething….I scanned the Arsenal newsnow blogg aggregator this morning and couldn’t resist the temptation of looking and ANR’s comments after the game last night…..this time I will not post the link…guess why….
LikeLike
f******* technology
I will try again – and if this don’t work it aint meant to be
http://telly.com/anicoll5#!MT61NE
LikeLike
Steww a really great article…again. Have to say my heart was in my mouth when Kos made that clearance…6 feet in the air of a size 14 and Kone no more than a couple of feet away? OH NO…here comes a red for Kos…again. Phew how did Read miss that opportunity? Fair enough he got us back later but we were too good for him…and/or perhaps the crowd at last got through to him that his cheating ways would not be tolerated this time.
Harry F and Anicoll great comments. I too was a little sad that it was Wigan we relegated (Stoke next year maybe?)…good manager, great Chairman and they try to play football despite their pitch and the environment they play in. Your son sounds a good ‘un…go have some more!
LikeLike
gf60..I take it when you typed “Read” you meant “Dean”, as in the milky-clean referee?
I’d been crying for Wigan all week.
Didn’t want one of the principled few to be relegated, but alas…
They went down with their heads high, a shiny metal cup, their name forever etched in history, Europa qualification, and some (immediate & future) extra cash in the bank.
8 years in the PL for a tiny club like the Latics ain’t too shabby…
Best of luck to them…could be back in the PL in no time.
LikeLike
Well done number 10, great stuff. One small negative from last night was the usual ‘leave 10 minutes from the end’ brigade couldn’t be bothered to hang around for the lap if appreciation, I know not everyone lives in London and has a train to catch but surely at the end of a campaign like this one you can spare 5 minutes? I reckon we’ll nick it on Sunday- Arteta’s a big miss though.
LikeLike
Mel I was worried when Mikel came off last night, he looked troubled. He and Aron together protect the back four and turn defence into attack so well
LikeLike
Aman. Quite right. Read and Dean get mixed up in the old timer’s brain! They were both vertical smiles.
LikeLike
Yep, like I said Stew, he’s gonna be a big miss- he talks Aaron through games-I think tr7 could play there on Sunday with Santi playing in his best position as an attacking midfielder leaving Podolski OG & Theo up top.
LikeLike
Great, steww.
They even look more grownup – puppy fat gone from Theo’s face, for example. The desire and resolution runs throughout the side.
@ Jane
I’ll join you in that hymn.
One more win.
LikeLike
What a club – the pitch, after a full season of games this season, looked immaculate last night, as it always does. Puts my lawn to shame. Good players have no excuse at all to perform poorly on that and blame the surface.
And this morning the club are taking it up to relay a new surface for next season.
It is relentless attention to detail that gives an extra edge in the battle
LikeLike
On Ramsey, have a read:
http://www.arsenalvision.co.uk/articles/4282-the-ashburton-redemption-the-resurrection-of-ramsey.html
LikeLike
I think Koscielny played magnificently last night. He and Per are giving us that sound, defensive footing from whence to launch our attacks. That play where Koscielny nicked the ball out of the air reminded me of Franco Baresi. And I’m not saying that because I’m still high from our victory.
Santi was majestic last night. For a little guy, he is no push over defensively and what he does on the ball is just breath taking. The way he draws defenders towards him and his ability to dribble past them, is fun as hell to watch.
All I’m going to say about Ramsay is that he’s my favorite youth at the club. I mean, I love the Ox, Jenks and Jackie equally, but I have a soft spot for Ramsay because if the shit he has had to put up with from our own side. When he reaches his potential, it’s going to be fun watching all the doubters talk as if they’ve always known he was going to be awesome.
LikeLike
Agree with AA. This is the write up of the season.
Great match and a write up that makes you savour the moments and abilities of the players with child-like glee.
Great poem too. Will read it again to understand it better.
LikeLike
Fun, the comments on that article are people wiping egg of their faces with a few detractors still holding on to their misplaced hatred of Aaron. I’m sorry, but if you can’t see how good Aaron Ramsey is, then you need to go to Spec Savers and shut the hell up. We are witnessing the emergence of one of the best young talents in Europe and those idiots pretend like they know better than Wenger about how talented this player really is. What gets me, though, is that most admit they booed him and some still do. I can’t stand that.
LikeLike
I have tried for a while not to do an analysis of the match the day after.
What is the point of me telling people who know ate least as well as me ,and likely better,what transpired.
Stew has done today what we should do every time .Just talk about emotions and the odd event that sparks debate.
I am sick to my back teeth of know it alls telling me how to interpret that which I have seen with my ever own eyes.
LikeLike
What we have witnessed this season from Aaron is that he turned from youth player with lots of potential but restricted to a place in the extended squad until he properly recovers to a key member of our team. A lot of doomers won’t like that, of course, because why can little Aaron be one of our key players when other teams have players like Parker, Huddlestone, Fletcher or Obi Mikel fulfilling that role. You know, top, top quality players, not someone like Ramsey.
But unfortunately for those doomers, Ramsey being one of our best players this season — and one of the best in the league in his position — has become reality and as much as they try to deny it, I doubt that even some of the most deluded convenience-supporters (as in, they only support the team when it’s convenient and moan non-stop otherwise) can name an Arsenal XI without Aaron getting things done in midfield.
LikeLike
Emotion, George. You’re right on it. What I feel after a match is not the desire to dissect stats and tactics and every little forward/backward/sideways pass. Eventually I will be interested in that, because I learn from it, and it helps me the next time I watch. But right after the match, it’s the emotional side that comes out, and it’s what I want to talk about. So thanks, Stew, for putting it into words for me.
I didn’t get to watch the match live yesterday, and many of you knew that I was stuck at work, only following on Twitter. I wish you all could have seen my phone blow up when Aaron scored. Tweets came in right and left. “Did you see? Did you see?” Hell even my husband texted me before I could text him! (He is a patient soul, as he doesn’t really watch English football. I’m working on it. I may yet wear him down.)
I have taken no shortage of teasing over my love for Aaron Ramsey. Any 40-something year old woman who prattles on ceaselessly about a 22 year old boy should expect such, and I take it. My husband, my daughter, my coworkers, you guys, all have to listen to me go on and on. But tell me you didn’t feel it last night. The look on his face was pure joy, and I cried just like I knew I would. And then when I saw the photos of him and Theo celebrating it together, I cried some more. Women. Emotional wrecks we are.
LikeLike
alabamagooner
May 15, 2013 at 6:43 pm
Post of the day.
LikeLike
Brilliant, Steww!
LikeLike
And the comment section is also second to none. Fitting for such a brilliant write up.
LikeLike
Having let a double of trophies visit in successive home games and come out well in both unit is nearly time to take on and complete our own final of ten finals, win and it will be a fantastic achievement. I’m already looking forward to b7 tomorrow stew on Sunday and whatever George can throw at us in between
LikeLike
Ramsey is doing nothing that we did not know he could do.Had it not been for his injury he would be seen as one of the best players in the world…I fully believe that.
He has sacrificed some of his natural flair and offensive abilities to do what the team needs and he is doing it with utmost class. He sheilds the back 4 and does it with such vigor…you just know that he is not going to get beaten easily and will take a yellow for the team if needs be. And he hasnt been bad a right back either. I really admire that kid, how he has kept his shoulder to the wheel inspite of much of the support knocking him.
LikeLike
I agree with Paul N
LikeLike
George, people can also watch extended highlights if they missed the match. You are right, there is really no need for a breakdown on the happenings of the match.
LikeLike
Hang on!
I enjoy Desigunner’s forensic reviews. When he eventually gets them up. Must have something to do with him not giving the impression that he is a know it all twitterer. Showing respect when critical. Humility is rare in the blogosphere.
LikeLike