Hello.
Unsurprisingly given my line of work and what I do, random thoughts of Arsenal pop into my head on a regular basis. Very often, I wake up in the morning and the first thing I think about is the opening line of the blog, especially when it’s a big day. By that I mean a major win, or even a tough loss.
After Man Utd’s win on Sunday, I was playing around watching post-game stuff like I’m sure almost everyone else did. I was looking for comments that I could remix for the introduction of Arsecast Extra. I rewatched the final minutes, because when you’re live blogging and putting the finishing touches on a match report at the same time, you can’t really absorb it all while it’s happening.
The soak. Soak-soak. The thing is, no matter what happens in a game, there’s always a bit of focus on this part. If you lose and only a few of the players take a moment to acknowledge the fans, there may be a bit of a pushback. However, when you win, you feel like you want to be a part of the celebrations. If you are at the stadium, you stay there to see the players, to enjoy those minutes of fellowship with the rest of the fans. If you are at home, you are watching to see the interactions.
After United there were beautiful moments. Gabriel Jesus at the side of the field to support Eddie Nketiah, the man who has taken his place since he was injured. Mohamed Elneny, who wasn’t even in the team, had a big hug with Arteta and then he gave us a big ‘EEEDIIIIEEE! while the two-goal striker headed to the locker room. The coach’s face when embracing Aaron Ramsdale, who will know that he should have done better against United’s second. Miguel Molina enters the post-game celebration group of the coaching staff with a huge “VAMOOOOOOOOSSSS!”.
Anyway, my point is that while all of this was going on, that quote from Fever Pitch (the movie, I think, not the book), just popped into my head, like my head was Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the thought was Eddie. . Nketiah.
“Look, after a while it all gets mixed up in your head and you can’t remember if life sucks because Arsenal sucks, or the other way around.”
I guess that’s a feeling a lot of people can relate to, especially when you’ve been through some rough, tough and sometimes traumatic years supporting this club. But if that can be true, the opposite can also be true, right?
And I realize that maybe this is giving football too much weight, because at the end of the day it’s kind of strange that we invest so much in what is completely out of our control. That’s the beauty of it, but we never really do it for anything else in our lives. You don’t show up at a taxi rank, hop in a cab, and tell them to take you to any number of potential destinations; then buckle up because the driver could make it a pleasant ride or one where you crash into the reservation center. , rear-ends half a dozen cars, before falling off a cliff.
However, I don’t think any significant research is necessary to suggest that a football fan’s mood is often directly related to the most recent result. Win = happiness. Not winning = unhappiness, to varying degrees. It’s simplistic, I know, but it’s no less true for that.
The day-to-day difficulties and realities, the things we all have to deal with, really aren’t that much easier or better with soccer. But when it’s a big part of your life, as it is for many of you reading this, I think it’s very important to allow yourself to enjoy the good times when they come. I think part of the ‘Okay, but…’ mentality is self-preservation, because we know it can get better. Better. There is nothing like winning a title. Everyone’s favorite type of bus is the ‘open top’, and yes, there is a long way to go.
Except what you feel at the end of a thrilling 90 minutes is nothing, either. It may end up being a small part of a larger celebration, but it’s also something to be enjoyed in its own right. Why does someone celebrate a goal in the first minute, for example? There are still 89 minutes to go, and in the end, that early goal might not make any sense. However, that does not stop the scorer or his teammates.
Soccer is about a lot of things, but essentially it’s a game where a lot of things don’t happen for a long time, and then there’s a moment. And other. And another, good or bad. But those are the things that define the game.
The victories against United and in the derby in recent weeks are moments in a season that promises a lot. Our taxi driver is taking the scenic route (in a nice way, not ripping it off because you don’t know the city), the car purrs, the windows are rolled down, and the air is warm. However, who knows what lies ahead. Roadworks? A traffic jam? A deviation? Godzilla? Nothing can be ruled out in football.
Sit back, enjoy the ride and let’s take it as it comes.
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