Written by Wenger Boy on Monday, 28 February 2011 12:31

So it was not to be. Birmingham’s 89th minute strike condemned me to yet another 2-1 loss in a final - my fourth in four finals (Zaragoza, Barcelona, Chelsea, Birmingham) and still the only scoreline I have experienced at that stage of a competition. 

I am still yet to see Arsenal win a trophy despite having officially been a fan for over fifteen years. It is difficult to put into words what that means.

The pain I felt was a strange one. My default position after an important loss is visibly distraught; full of anger and unable to talk to anyone for a significant period of time after the match. This time however, devastated as I was, I was somehow able to pick myself up not ten minutes after the final whistle. Thirty minutes later I was cracking jokes, engaging in conversation with my Spurs supporting flatmate and generally trying to make the most of the evening.

But this only tells part of the story.

I know now, as was fairly obvious at the time, that my joviality was a front. The pain of this loss is not like that I have experienced in football before - it is a lingering, background grief, providing a sentimental soundtrack to my every thought, action, movement. Whatever I say or feel is tainted with sadness and I can only compare this emotional ransom with that experienced in the aftermath of arguments with loved ones. However far my mind strays from Sunday’s events I am always aware of their effects on the edge of my consciousness, ready to leap into full swing at the slightest moment of weakness. It would have been all too easy for me to descend into complete darkness had I not had just enough will left to fight it off, and had I not already prepared myself for the worst.

Unfortunately I fear my temperament pre-match may have had much to do with the eventual performance of my beloved team. While the papers screamed ‘expect’, and Arsenal fans wrote ‘believe’, I could do little more than hope, so lacking in confidence was I that I would finally get to see Arsenal celebrate. They say that art mirrors life, and nowhere was that more true than Sunday. I was far more nervous for this game than I had ever been for an Arsenal game before and I knew then that if I was feeling this way then the players would be feeling the same. I knew that if I was lacking confidence then they would be too and I knew that if I had only hope then I could not expect more from them. 

The game played out how I feared it would but it was that initial fear which brought about the result. 

I guess it’s true that you only get out what you put in. 

But as I was sitting on my sofa last night - my mind teetering and threatening to spiral into full blown despair - I read a single sentence that changed everything. Scouring the internet for others to share my pain with I encountered a collection of words which fills me with hope and puts a smile on my face every time I read it. In a split second, a lifetime of agony had been replaced with a glimmer of hope. 

The sentence was this:

“the only thing to regret about today is when we look back at the end of the season and realise it would have completed the quadruple.....”

Wow. 

The sheer defiance. The pure optimism. The unwavering belief. 

There is absolutely nothing to fault in that statement. There is no mention of ‘picking up the pieces’, no talk of uncertainty. There is only the onward march to bigger and better things.

Whether the sentence turns out to be true or not remains to be seen but however hurt I am I can find no better statement to hold close to my chest through the battles beyond. 

The war is not over and we cannot give up. Many a fight has been won against the odds through belief and belief alone and we have so much more to offer than just belief. Against the odds is what we do best and the weight of expectation cannot lay blameless when Sunday’s history books are written. If anything this loss may throw off the shackles of expectation and allow belief to shine through. 

Should that happen we will be unstoppable. 

No one believes we can win anything anymore and therein lies their weakness. We have gone from overestimation to underestimation in the blink of any eye. It is time to capitalise. 

While everyone is talking about collapse what could possibly frighten them more than a resurgence? While everyone is predicting our downfall what could send out a greater message then us rising up and fighting back?

We are at a crossroads now and it’s time to make a decision: do you stand and fight or do you walk away? Do you throw away years of hard work for the sake of ninety minutes or do you stand up tall?

If it’s all too much for you then you are free to walk away now. You can crawl out of the battlefield and immerse yourself in criticism, doom and disappointment. That is your choice.

But if you want this team to succeed like never before then you have a duty to support it. And support means more than just watching a game. It means picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and fighting 110% to transmit your passion and belief to any eleven players that walk out on the pitch in the red and white of the mighty Arsenal FC. 

Being a supporter is not easy, it is tough. You can fight and fight and put all of your strength into a team only to have your dreams shattered year in year out. You might seem on the cusp of something special and never quite reach the heights and you can drift through divisions without even the slightest hope of winning anything. But you must continue to fight because that one time you do win something it will be the most special feeling of them all.

And you can ask Birmingham how that feels. 

Arsenal have no divine right to win anything and we as Arsenal supporters are not entitled to success. It is for this reason that we must always fight, win or lose, because we know not when our victory will come. 

But we do know that the victory will taste that much sweeter if we have put everything we could have into the struggle. 

Because we can win again. And we will win again. And that again can be as soon as this season. Last time I checked we did not play a Premier League match or an F.A. Cup match or a Champion’s League match this weekend so can someone please tell me how we can possibly be any worse off in those competitions than we were on Sunday morning?

The answer is that we cannot and are not and anyone that tells you otherwise is wrong. 

It seems cliché to come out and stay ‘we still have so much to fight for’ but it is cliché  for a reason. There is still so much to fight for and I for one am going to fight to the death.

And if anyone wants to fight with me you’ll know how to find me. I’ll be wearing a red and white shirt with a cannon on it and screaming at the top of my lungs...

COME ON THE ARSENAL!!!!

WB

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Comments (16)

• 28-Feb-2011 13:06 | | Anonymous
  

  Perfect...

• 28-Feb-2011 14:07 | | M12AHP
  

  Firstly I've supported this club since the '80, so i've seen the ups and downs.
  
  Mate finally someone has shown some sort of fight! We really do have other chances to go out and win something. Due to the fans being spoilt over the years, does not mean we have every right to win every game/cup. Support the club through thick and thin and you will get rewarded when the time is right. Even when the season has ended and nothing has been won, i'll be supporting my Red and White till the day I die.

• 28-Feb-2011 14:26 | | Gino92
  

  They say old habits die hard. That certainly proved to be the cause of our demise yesterday. I kept telling myself all night, "Why didn't Szceszny just scream I GOT IT, I GOT IT" to warn off Koscielny. Why couldn't they just talk to each other???? So simple and basic, right? Same old mistakes that we used to have with Almunia, Gallas, and Toure. Very infuriating, but life goes on.
  
  I read a lot of bad stuff on other sites and that left me feel even more depressed than I already am. I am tired of some people wanting Wenger sacked, as if there is a better manager out there to take over. I am also sick of hearing about how we haven't won a trophy since "the beginning of time", blah blah blah... I understand that we are all feeling very sad and depressed "the day after", but blaming any one player for a collective team failure is not going to change the result or the fact that we lost shamefully to a mediocre team (which did absolutely nothing all game long except to have their goalie punt the ball forward into our box on every single occasion) on the biggest stage so far of these young guns' career. One can easily point out the fact that Bacary Sagna played a wayward pass to Wilshere that wasn't even close, and since young Wilshere was expecting the ball at his feet, he didn't react quickly enough to win the ball back, which ultimately led to Zigic's goal from the resulting corner. Or the fact that Rosicky is not Fabregas by a long shot and sucked yesterday, or the fact that aside from the assist and a couple of decent runs, Arshavin was pretty much invisible and almost useless. Etc, etc... There are certainly plenty of blames to go around but there is no point to that. We just have to stay strong and help support our team because they need it now more than ever. This is much more than a loss. It can have a negative psychological effect on the whole team, especially on Szceszny for the rest of the season. I think Wenger needs to put on his "shrink" uniform and councel his players as quickly as possible or we would be headed straight to disaster. Again, yesterday demonstrated the importance of one Cesc Fabregas to the Arsenal game. There is no way we would have lost with him playing. It just sucks that he had to have his hamstring injury just before this monumental Final, but that is life. We get on with it. We need to do whatever is "arsenally" and "wengerly" possible to keep him around for next season, and beyond.
  
  I don't know about you but I am also very concerned about Van Persie's knee injury. We can't start having our important players injured at this crucial stage of the season. I hope it is nothing serious and he is okay for the Barca game, but knowing how fragile Robin is, I won't hold my breath...
  
  So to all those supporters out there ready to throw in the towel, I say cheer up and do what you are supposed to do. Support the team through good times and bad times! Besides, we are still in 3 other competitions and hopefully we will lift at least 1 of them come end of May. All is not lost yet. There is still a very good chance of getting some silverware this season...
  
  GOONERS UNITE NOW!

• 28-Feb-2011 14:29 | | MeanLean
  

  Truly inspirational stuff.
  
  I don't think an article has ever picked me up after a defeat as much as this has.
  
  Win, lose or draw I will always be proud to wear my colours. I believe massively in this squad and it is a matter of time before they come good.

• 28-Feb-2011 14:36 | | Mr H
  

  Amen brother!!! A call to arms indeed. It was a tough say to be a gooner. To lose is one thing, to stumble at the end in the fashion that we did was another. However, hold heads high and don't resort to excuses. WE LOST, but the fight goes on. And this team still has a lot of fight left in it. Just look to Jack.
  
  Thanks man, your article really picked me up.
  
  COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!

• 28-Feb-2011 15:14 | | Leebo
  

  I agree, but ultimately the problem is Wenger is not a winner and neither is his team. If you scratch away at teh surface of our first team we just dont have it in us. You mark my words Barc will knock us out, Man U will do us at OT in the FA cup and they will also get a championship winning result at the Emirates. How do I know this? Because this is what Wenger's team does its get you into a winning position, fills you with hope and believe them cocks it all up at the the final hurdle. I hate saying all this but its true the evidence is there for all to see and not just over the last 6 years but Wenger' sentire reign at teh club. But hey ho thats the way it is and I too will be there on Staurday for Sunderland screaming for a win.

• 28-Feb-2011 15:17 | | Tony
  

  We will win nothing because this team hasnt the bottle.Birmingham had it just look at Johnson.Where are our leaders?.Yesterday although nearly all our players are internationals we started like scared rabbits.Birmingham have one tactic and one tactic only but our hopeless defending played into their hands.Just look at Djourou leave Zigic for the first goal.And with out Cesc with are half a team.We will continue to be also rans until this team gets some backbone.

• 28-Feb-2011 15:56 | | Anonymous
  

  good blog post

• 28-Feb-2011 16:42 | | Denzil
  

  Wengers record in cup finals is poor.In 9 finals he has only been victorious in 4.A record of less that 50% success.

• 28-Feb-2011 17:02 | | toon
  

  sack him ?

• 28-Feb-2011 17:07 | | BimacW
  

  We are the most skilful bottlers around. There was a horrible sense of inevitability about yesterday. A goalkeeping/defensive error costs Arsenal, now where have we heard that before. Its happening far too regularly to be a coincidence. For Gods sake spend a few bucks, get a couple of DECENT defenders and be done with it. As for Barry Ferguson slapping Koscielny, I'd say if a few Gooners were in range he'd have been slapped a lot harder. No matter how upset pampered young millionaires get at losing a match, they'll NEVER be as upset as we (the fans) are.

• 28-Feb-2011 17:12 | | toon
  

  sack him

• 28-Feb-2011 17:24 | | dave
  

  Intelligently written article and absolutely spot on. Those doomers at 'le groan' should be compelled to read it. Lets get behind our boys, i really believe we are on the verge of great things.
  
  COYG!!

• 28-Feb-2011 17:48 | | Adams
  

  Beautifully written, really moving stuff and supportive of the team in the face of tremendous disappointment. That's why I love coming to this blog. Well done Wenger Boy.
  
  In other news
  
  How the F**K did Rooney get away with that blatant elbow? NO ACTION?!?!! SMH. If Clattenberk had done his job then they may have dropped points at Wigan, they'd be without Rooney for tomorrow night, and my Man U fan brother in law would have dropped points from his dream team instead of picking up points for a goal and an assist. It's a disaster! Can someone get the bloke from Quantum Leap to go back and sort that out?

• 28-Feb-2011 18:59 | | FunGunner
  

  Most goals are conceded because of defensive errors, including the ones we score. How come we are so high up the league if we don't have decent defenders? How come we have kept so many clean sheets? Why have so many teams conceded more goals than we have? And your last statement inverts the true position - of course it hurts them more.

• 28-Feb-2011 19:31 | | FunGunner
  

  And I was so incensed by some of the comments that I forgot to say - brilliant, honest article, Wenger Boy. 10/10.

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