Joshua Clements
Well...where do we start? How good was that? Just, how good was that? It is not an overstatement to say that the team and crowd on Sunday were unbelievable, fantastic, amazing, incredible and excellent. Okay, time to stop, breathe and have a think. At the Arsenal, we have endured a horrendous past year. No mistake about it, we have suffered. Yet, this is the moment we can all justifiably become completely bi-polar and go absolutely manic. I, with my celebrating, have done my very best to push several Spurs acquaintances to suicide. Such was their attitude before yesterday’s game, they deserve nothing less. At 2-0 down, it was a case of same old-new Arsenal, but what we than saw was real Old Arsenal, Wenger’s Arsenal of '04, '02’ and '98. It was a joy to behold.
This game had very close similarities to when Liverpool came to Highbury in '04. Back then, the Invincibles were on the ropes after losses to Chelsea and Manchester United. Now, after one and a half cup exits, this Arsenal side faced an even greater challenge. The enemy was at our gates and, after some audacious luck and monkey-faced cheating, the enemy were 2-0 up. The crowd, magnificent as they were, could not be faulted for being discouraged at this point. Theo Walcott flirted dangerously close to having an ‘Eboué moment’. We in the crowd were growing frustrated with him, and, even though I don’t partake in abusing our own players, I have to wonder if it wasn’t the catalyst for him. He took those negatives and used them as his motivation, an incredible character-trait which few believed he possessed. He managed to pick himself up and surprise everyone with a second-half performance that was among the very best we have seen at the Grove.
Spurs’ approach was arrogant, to say the least. Except for Barcelona, few other sides dare come to our home and play a high-tempo attacking game. That is to say, few teams come to the Arsenal and try and beat them at their own game. Even Manchester United and Manchester City do not dare take such a cavalier approach when visiting our stadium. The key generally, as we witnessed against Sunderland and AC Milan, is to stay compact and hit us on the break when we commit too many men forward. It seems that Spurs believed too much of their own hype. Our team, boosted by two fully-functioning full-backs and by Thomas Rosicky channelling the spirit of Bobby Pires, looked something else entirely. Wenger’s sides of late have been so poor, so lacklustre and so slow, that perhaps they were beyond the pale. Perhaps it was Arsène’s time to go, and there remains a lot of evidence (Squillaci) to suggest that this is still the case, but also, perhaps, that by smashing Spurs 5-2 he has earned himself another go of things. I’ll let you decide.
Right now, it is all a little hazy. I re-watched the whole match on Sunday night, if only just to see the moment again when RvP made fools of the whole Spurs midfield (which was somewhat criminally left off Match of the Day). It remains somewhat all a bit too dreamland-esque to compose an article of substance. I’m still singing the slow version of “We won the league at S**tehart Lane”. There is so much to enjoy from this win that we should all take our time and savour it. And I’m sure some bitter, twisted Spurs fans will come to you this week and quietly muster, in response to the devastation of their team, how RvP will depart in the summer. Well, just remind them that no matter how precarious RvP’s contract situation is, he remains arguably far more likely to stay at the Arsenal then Adebayor, Modric and Redknapp look to be staying at Spurs.
If this was the game where we pulled it all back from the brink, then next week at Anfield has to be where we show we are capable of reproducing such magic. Liverpool will be buoyed from their cup final win but with Spurs at United it will be a huge opportunity for us. Whilst we are speaking of very fortunate Wembley wins, Birmingham City are no longer Carling Cup holders. The past year has never really improved upon that day until now. And although none of us believes that fourth is a trophy, coming back from the dead during our worst campaign in well over a decade to topple Spurs to finish third... well that is not a trophy either, but it would be a hell of a lot of fun!
Have a fantastic week; North London is ours... of course it always has been!
And if you are inclined to tweet please feel free to follow me @ClementsJosh
