So how did you spend the football free Easter break? Tiptoeing Wordsworth like through the sudden yellow rush of spring blooms? Blowing the cobwebs off the lawnmower and wondering if that Argos garden furniture was going to last another season? Perhaps you read a book or two, planned a holiday or just filled the empty days with endless pointless arguments on Twitter. If so I hope you won, on points. You’ll never actually win of course because nobody ever changes their mind based on the opinions of someone they despise, but, if it helped pass the time then I suppose that’s all you can hope for.
I’ve done nothing of worth or merit I’m happy to say. Frivolously tearing the days of the calendar into tiny pieces and scattering their confetti to the wind as if I will live forever. Yesterday I found myself in Paulton with an hour to waste. I wonder what the condemned man, his final sixty minutes on earth laid out before him and racing away too quickly to catch, would think of my casual frittering of our only precious resource. I’ll tell you one thing I bet he wouldn’t want to spend it in Paulton.
I had dropped my son off at the local hospital and decided to see what the adjacent village had to offer. Hardly the stuff of Bill Bryson never mind Alfred Wainwright but I dutifully passed through the graveyard of an uninspiring parish church, crossed the park and marvelled at the tiny fire station unexpectedly squashed between the village hall and the swings and roundabouts of a near deserted playground.
I then chanced upon a public house. It sits opposite an imposing Methodist chapel which advertises three different forms of exotic marshal arts and a baby and toddlers group. The pub is called The Lamb and at once a wash of Arsenal fuelled memories burst across my near somnolent synapses and brought me, miraculously, back to the land of the living. It was the first week in May, 2002. John Rench and I were pondering where to watch the big game. Arsenal were due to travel to Manchester where a win would seal not only the title but another double as the FA cup had, unusually, already been won before the end of the league programme.
In the end we decided to support an old pal. Tony Teal had recently taken over the Lamb in Paulton and had installed a projector and a big screen and managed to get the Sky to work. Despite it being a school night we got ourselves dropped off in that remote, Godforsaken backwater of North East Somerset and watched Arsène clinch another famous victory, breaking more records along the way. It was a strange night. Not many people there, John and I the only Arsenal fans and the title celebrated with a shrug and a little drunken jig on a sticky carpet.
You see, back then winning the league, while not commonplace, wasn’t an entirely unexpected outcome. As I contemplated The Lamb yesterday morning, with its two obligatory old guys waiting for the doors to open, I couldn’t help but wonder how things have changed. At the turn of the century we thought nothing of going unbeaten away from home, winning our last thirteen fixtures and beating Man United in their own back yard, despite the absence of such luminescent talents as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams – all missing on the night.
Nowadays we nervously bite our finger nails wondering if a near full strength team can overcome Watford, at home, and whether such a feat will be remotely enough to keep us in touch with Spurs and Leicester at the top of the table. In a way I can see how so many of our supporters, both the lowly humdrum types such as you and I and the immense über–bloggers on their golden thrones, paint this season as a disappointment. Despite it not nearly being over yet and despite us still being in with a shot at the title, many have already written it off. I realised as I wandered from The Lamb, passed the empty café and forlorn charity shop to the boarded up bakery opposite the site of the old boot factory, that to many, Arsenal, like Paulton, has seen better days.
The very success on which Arsène’s magisterial reputation has been built casts a shadow over his present day achievements. Achievements like back to back FA cup wins are instantly forgotten with the first home defeat of the new season. Memories count for nothing. With attention spans as short as that of a hyperactive four year old many modern fans see nothing but circling vultures in dark skies and dream of a magical new world where money flows from a bottomless transfer budget and a new manager leads a shining new team to endless success and prosperity.
Even though I’m sober these days and do not set foot in places like The Lamb I find myself content to sit among that delusional, carefree set of fans who are actually delighted to consider the possibility of another title this spring. As remote and unlikely as that possibility might seem right now, I’m happy to contemplate it and savour the spice it adds to every remaining fixture. While others take their joy discussing the break up of our team, who we must sell, when the manager must go – and that is their prerogative, I do not deride them for it – I prefer to revel in the run in, to delight in this welcome distraction from the woes and the humdrum of my real life.
In his latest column for the Guardian, Clive James, still with us despite being told by the doctors quite some time ago to get his affairs in order, writes “…for someone in my condition, even a good result is a reminder that you have to go on throwing a double six to stay in the game”. As I read his words I thought how well he summed up our position right now. Almost at once I felt ashamed for conflating a man’s tenuous grip on his very existence with the trivial diversion of following a football team. I read on and James spoke of his delight in the simple pleasures of unexpectedly being alive to see spring flowers and the birds and squirrels in his garden.
I realised that taking delight in watching our favourite football team is perhaps not such a frivolous pastime. If passing time is in fact all we have to do during our brief moment here on earth then passing it in eager anticipation, pleasure and optimism is perhaps as good a way as any. If Arsène astounds everyone and pulls yet another success from his magic hat won’t the vicarious delight we take from his triumph be all the sweeter for having been on his side throughout? Perhaps. Either way I’m happy and grateful for all the memories and eager to see what more he will bring me however long he decides to stay. The future is neither bright nor dark, it just is. Enjoy the ride or don’t. It’s always been a choice, nothing more.
Positively Arsenal 
Just read somebody saying they hope Arsene doesn’t ‘ruin’ Iwobi. Like he is in no way responsible for the player’s development and place in the team. Like Iwobi has been parachuted in and Arsene mustn’t be allowed to interfere with the boy’s progress.
I’m not even angry or shocked, it is simply too ridiculous.
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COYG!
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Bellerin makes it 3-0 with a big deflection
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they are only a poor little Hornet…
Goooooonnnnnerrrrssss!
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“My” boy Hector.
Class.
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ooooooooooooooooooooooo
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Love those parody accounts, Steww.
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stew it shows the lack of reality in these peoples arguments against wenger, they are willing to say anything, as long as its an attack on AW, facts, reality, have no place
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some wonderful football from Arsenal, just need to score a few more and close the GD on spurs
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Alexis and Mesut fucking with the pass stat guys.
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the party tricks are coming out now, Ozil and Alexis with some great tricks and flicks
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starting well is the key it seems?
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disgraceful tackle on Ozil there, watford lad rightly booked, commentators with their usual bullshit about Ozil’s showing his skills is “taking liberties” and is “one trick too many”, English football will never develop to what it should as long as excuses are made for thugs, and skilled players are blamed for being too skillful for opponents.
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yeah steww, that little run of one twos between alexis and ozil really slants the stats.
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played Danny. Come on Larry!
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68 minutes – Giroud on for Welbeck
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Ospina with a fine save from Deeney
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played Iwobi, well deserved ovation.Come on Theo!
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played Alexis! Come on Joel!
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78 minutes – Campbell on for Alexis
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Smeagles back in it at Wet Spam.
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Interplay twixt Mesut and Joel a joy to watch.
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THeeeeeeeeeeeeeoo!!
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Theo’s celebration a little muted.
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walcott makes it 4-0 from a campbell pass
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Stew as it was against Hull re the crowd thats for sure.
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Class, had that feeling we would whip the Orns today, the Cup match was a one off. Still in it!!
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FT: Arsenal 4-0 Watford
a dominant display, Iwobi very impressive again, Ozil and Alexis very good too, Coquelin really up for it, and the goals came from Alexis, Iwobi, Bellerin and walcott.
Arsenal play West Ham next Saturday, with AFC 7pts ahead we really can kill off their CL hopes with a win there.
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Well come on you scallies!
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Steww @ 4.00
Safe to say old Jay Jay knows a little more about the footy then our online Experts. Okocha last season:
“I’m very pleased with my nephew’s progress under AW”
Imagine how pleased he must be after that first half display today from the rookie! Beaming I’d imagine.
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Great day to be an ARSENAL fan, great day to be a positive ARSENAL fan, Rocky well remembered.
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the AAA/WOB are at their usual bullshit that “now the pressure is off” Arsenal can play well, it seems there is no pressure in fighting for a top 4 or a top 3 or even a top 2 spot, that is if we rule out winning the title, we are 3 pts behind our closest neighbours, is that not pressure,
We must only have won the last two FA Cups cos there was no pressure on us either.
Usual nonsensical soundbite from the whingers, our improved performances can have nothing to do with one game a week, or our new signing settling into the team and improving the balance, nor the inclusion of a young lad who has also helped the balance of the team, no its much easier to throw out a soundbite that belittles the team/players and manager. To borrow a phrase from them that actually best describes their antics “12 years of the same old bollocks, groundhog day over and over”
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Andy @andyyy_1 2h2 hours ago
Fucking hyped for the MOTD feature tonight on whether that Ozil / Sanchez passing exchange was disrespectful
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bingobongo @Ndubya5 3h3 hours ago
No one wants to give the manager credit for finding a way out of it though right? Stumbled/lucky/happened by fluke maybe?
He has found a nice balance through quite a bit of bravery imo. After such a bad run with guys that he trusted.
sums up the WOB attitude perfectly, it was everything to do with AW that AFC was on a poor run of results, but now we are looking better and winning, it has nothing to do with AW, it was mere chance, luck, fluke, circumstances such as injuries caused it, but oddly enough, luck, flukes, circumstances such as injuries, had nothing to do with the poor run, all down to Wenger. The hypocrisy from the AAA/WOB is staggering.
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P.I.M.P. @PoznanInMyPants 4m4 minutes ago
Elneny – 128 passes
Coquelin – 88 passes
Coquelneny – 216 passes
Holy shit.
we had something like 555 passes from our midfield and attack today.
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Chickens losing!
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WENGER ON VICTORY, IWOBI AND ELNENY
Arsène Wenger faced the media after Arsenal’s 4-0 win against Watford at Emirates Stadium. Read a full transcript of his press conference below:
on the win…
We played well. We had a good flow in our game and a good desire to play. Our technical quality was high and we combined the fact that we played well and that we could score as well. In the FA Cup defeat we had the same domination but we couldn’t score. That makes a big difference.
on consistency…
The title is never there for the taking, you have to work for it. Everybody works for it and you have to respect the teams who have more points than you, and who have not played in as many competitions. We played Watford, then went to Barcelona on Wednesday and then to Everton on Saturday. It’s not the same [for Leicester City]. People on the outside think it’s easy but you have to earn your points, work well in every game and recently we haven’t made the most of the chances we’ve created. We paid for that.
on the title race…
We want to focus on the way we play and keep the quality very high. Then we’ll see where we are. We will fight until the end to have a chance. The only way we can achieve that is by playing games with our team quality. That is based on our movement, on our technical ability to play at the highest level and at the highest pace.
on Alex Iwobi…
We have values in our club that are maybe not rated always, but one of them is to give a chance to young people and educate them. Every year we bring players out and not many players can say that. I’m happy Alex is one of them. He arrived here at the age of seven or eight. He’s completely integrated in the way we want to play football. He’s worked with us since the start of the season and it shows because when he came in he was used to the way we want to play.
on Iwobi looking fearless…
It’s one of his qualities. He’s also very mobile and is a midfielder with creativity, but is also a finisher. The quality of his receptions is very good because he gets into good spaces.
on whether he’s England’s loss…
Yes.
on Mohamed Elneny…
He has brought something to the team. He is a very intelligent player who is also very mobile and works very hard for the team. He gives us tactical stability. He made a very good pair with Coquelin in terms of winning the ball back, and also in the distribution as well.
on winning every single game…
Let’s focus on the next game. We know what is needed and what is needed is to keep the quality very high. Next week we go to West Ham. It’s always a difficult place to go, so let’s prepare for that.
Copyright 2016 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160402/wenger-on-victory-iwobi-and-elneny#9Z9rmMYXuyGVEz0f.99
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2pts and 4 goals gained on spurs today, will take that.
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Lets hope the Sotonists can beat the Füchse tomorrow!
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Well, well, Piers Morgan’s former yellow pages.
So Hector is a German!
Football scribblers do not do the homework, before games. Pay them the Living Wage,, never.
Has anyone, ever, ever seen a scribbler write, “Spurs have not won the League since Alec Douglas-Home, was Premier? I though not!
Come on, The Gunners.
PS. Thanks to Stew.
.
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Excellent blog today steww (as usual). I enjoyed that little sojourn from football over Easter, so it was really exciting to welcome The Arsenal back home, and the sun shone as well.
I thought of your post while I sat there at the game, just enjoying the sheer pleasure of watching highly technical players in their pomp. I love watching Ozil play; the way he just seems to glide effortlessly across the pitch weaving intricate patterns with his silky touch. He is really magnificent and I’m so glad that AW persuaded him to come to play for our team.
There were a number of good performances from several players today. It was good to see Alexis back in form, Koscielny was imperious at the back and I was very pleased for Ospina who seems to have won back the crowd after his little blip. Also I wanted to mention something I noticed about Elneny. Earlier in the match when we were trying to score he seemed to play further forward and supported the attack a lot. Later in the game when we were trying to preserve what we had, he dropped a lot deeper and played like a shield in front of the CB’s. He looks like a very intelligent player with a good reading of the game. Another gem found by the man who is past it.
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Elneny’s pass and move is simply a thing of simple beauty. His one touch passing is a joy to behold. He one touch passes around our opponents press, and has shown what our game has missed since Cazorla got injured, no I’m not suggesting he plays like Cazorla, but what he does, achieves the same result, it lets our midfield get past opponents press on our midfield, Cazorla does it with his quick feet, little dribbles and then release, Elneny does it with one touch passing and constant moving to get the ball again. Different methods, but same result, we avoid the pressing game, and our tempo is at the level we require to play the way we want. Cazorla and Elneny are completely different styles of players, but both get us moving forward at speed. Wenger got very lucky again, with this signing, its almost as if he knew what he was buying. Odd that.
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Stan CollymoreVerified account
@StanCollymore
BREAKING. Sunday Times tomorrow alludes to Premier League footballers involved in doping scandal.
feck the alluding to, name fucking names and be done with it. Which players, which clubs, or are they afraid to bite the hand that feeds them.
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Like we’re surprised eduardo – I can think of at least 2 teams riding high this season of whom questions should be asked
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off topic, but this story shows how self centered people have become
http://theliberal.ie/northern-ireland-coastguard-speaks-of-his-shock-of-how-a-group-of-bystanders-failed-to-help-a-man-drowning-in-bangor-marina/
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yeah passenal, recovering from a hamstring injury in a week, back from a knee op in 10 days,
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didn’t arsene get laughed at earlier this season when he suggested doping of players was happening
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Arsenal play WHU away next Saturday, 12:45 KO, and with a win would only be 1pt behind spurs, who face Man Utd on Sunday, LCFC have home game v Southampton tomorrow, and away to Sunderland next Sunday.
the round of games after that is LCFC home to WHU, with AFC playing home to CPFC, both on the Sunday, with spurs away to Stoke on the Monday.
then we have our game in hand on the Thursday at home to WBA.
for me we can but hope. Win our three games and LCFC and THFC drop some points in each of their games, and we’d be 2nd and right on LCFC’s tail.
For me first and foremost we must keep winning and hunt down spurs, get them done first, then if possible hunt down LCFC.
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Unfortunately, it seems that Sunday Times doping article mentions, amongst other sportspeople, players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Birmingham City and Leicester…..or so it is being said.
Apparently , not implying the clubs are involved, or the players are still at said clubs…..but we shall see what it amounts to.
Just hope there is no UKDA coverup here.
As for Arsenal, if they are involved, worth remembering 11 WADA staff made an unannounced visit during a training session , strangely, right after Wenger made his comments on doping. This suggests our players are now either clean, or alternatively,using effective masking substances.
But that aside, the boys done good today.
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