Well hello there again readers. I’m safely back in the land of Oz after my first foray afield. My holiday was to the US of A, specifically California, Nevada and Florida + a Caribbean Cruise to top it off nicely. The US is equal measures cool and insane, but I had a fantastic time and I’d recommend going to anyone thinking about it.

Right, that’s the gap between blog excuses covered. On to the Arsenal.

I thought I’d have an easier time catching the games stateside due to the kickoffs taking place as one wakes up on a Saturday or Sunday, rather than requiring a stay up until 2am on Sunday or Monday morning as it is here on the opposite side of the universe. However this was made difficult for two reasons; 1. The Americans barely know about round ball football or “soccer”, meaning that trying to find a place with the Fox Soccer Channel or Fox Soccer + (which is where the Arsenal games were more often than not) was really frustrating. Not only that, but as I’m sure you holiday makers know after walking and jumping and driving and jetskiing and laughing and drinking all day means you are rarely up at 7:30am on holiday for fear of dying the following evening.

When I left our results were as low as I can remember since supporting the Arsenal these last 15 odd years. We had lost to Blackburn, a defeat symbolic of our ugly problems and shortcomings, and our fearless leader, Arsene Wenger, was one of the leaders for the bookies “sack race”, a horrible thought and terrible times for gooners everywhere.

I am very pleased to report that from that point things got much much better. We went on a run of wins, Sp*rs defeat aside. Although that defeat was spoiled for me by a local pizza shop owner near Union Square in San Francisco. As we were running to make the start of the game at a friends house that had Fox Soccer, we saw dinner at this shop. While we were in there, amazingly we noticed AC Milan jerseys throughout the shop, and that in the back he had highlights of European matches on a TV playing. Huzzah! As I watched the highlights of the Arsenal game came on and the pizza-man noticed me celebrating Ramsey’s equaliser. His response was “don’t bother watching that game, Tottenham won”.

….

“AAARRRGGGHHH!”. Needless to say the pizza tasted like ash after that. Both the friends that were with me (Liverpool fans) found that exchange at the pizza shop hilarious.

In any case, our phoenix like rise from the despairing depths of recent results continued. Robin van Persie, a man on fire, scoring like almost no Premier League forward has in recent times. Every kind of goal, he has shouldered the burden of captaincy with aplomb, and has dragged us to three points on many many times this calendar year since his deep purple patch started, often kicking and screaming at times.

And of course we come to recent results, most notably and most entertainingly, the Chelsea game. The stats have spoken for themselves, not in something like 15 years has a team gone to Stamford bridge and put 5 past a Chelsea side. However I wouldn’t act like it was an easy game for us. The game was more akin to a game of basketball, each team running up the end and then scoring. It was a thoroughly entertaining affair and there were many times where I was throwing things around the lounge room and shouting expletives at the top of my lungs while my dog howls along.

Leaving the memories of Old Trafford behind

More than once I thought our ugly collapsible ways would rear their heads and we would lose all points. When Santos was blocked by running back Reggie Bush…. erm I mean Lukaku, Mata picked up the ball well outside the area on the right hand side and fired one into the opposite corner past Szczesny, making it 3-3, I was sure the momentum had shifted Chelsea’s way. I’m sure for any of you gooners who have watched the deflating Wigan capitulation of two seasons ago, the Newcastle 4-4 last season, would have had your heads buried in your hands expecting the same.

But these boys showed grit, steeled their nerves and bombed forward for a fourth. However it wasn’t truly time for celebration until RVP smashed one past Cech at his near post. Much has been said about this game by better bloggers than I. Suffice it to say that the warm afterglow of this game followed me everywhere for days afterward. Nothing feels better than walking around in team colours and just basking in the happiness of a landmark victory against a quality opponent and leaving dark days and thoughts behind.

Unfortunately even the scintillating mind and legs of van Persie need a rest sometimes, and with a haul of 28 goals in 27 games or something of the sort, I’m sure Wenger and the physio’s are just wearing their lucky rabbit’s feet to each game, kissing their lucky eggs and praying that Robin stays fit for a season. His talent is undeniable, even 4 years ago, but what he can do with momentum and fitness was unfathomable and only just now at 28 is he showing us was he can do with week in week out games. Long may it continue. 

Ultimately resting him was seen by the press as a gamble that didn’t pay off. He brought him on late to try and snake a goal from an organised Marseilles side, and failing to do that the press were all over Wenger as to why such an in form striker wasn’t playing, prompting this from AW:

He was very tired after the game on Saturday so we planned to rest him and make him come on later.

He had the chance though – so if he scores that then it looks like perfect play – but overall we did not create enough.

Overall I couldn’t fault the manager’s decisions. Not sealing up top place in the CL group is annoying, and yes we could face Barcelona or the like again should we come 2nd in the group, but equally if not more important is getting into the top four in the league to ensure we can be there next year. It’s all well and good to throw ourselves at the Champions League, but I think that can wait until the knockout stages, and I think most realistic gooners among us would know it would take an amazing string of results and luck to get to the final, let alone win it. I’d prefer we just keep soaking RVP in champagne baths after league games and then straight into his bubble wrap suit, only to be unwrapped for the next league game, or to go to the toilet and stuff.

Anyway, it’s good to be back. This wasn’t so hard to write, I don’t know what I was procrastinating about..

Talk soon. Go the gunners.