Time to lick our wounds and move on

Yesterday was a very surreal day to be an Arsenal supporter. It became mind numbing to try and sift through the mountain of noise that followed Sunday’s defeat. Everywhere you looked from the news media to the blogosphere, from Facebook to the local watering hole, Arsenal’s performance was being dissected and analysed more frenetically than the case for invading Iraq and going to war under false pretences. At least that’s what it felt like.

As much as the emotional reaction is understandable, it’s time for us to lick our wounds and get a grip of the situation – get some perspective if you will. The loss of the game to Chelsea bruised the ego of many an Arsenal fan around the world and many have struggled to find solace, or as my mother eloquently says of such situations, many have struggled to find somewhere to put their heads to shelter from the current storm of humiliation and embarrassment. For let’s face it, one of the biggest hurdles most self respecting Arsenal fans have to jump is that of facing their peers and explaining another defeat of the also-rans Arsenal be it at work, down the pub or at the gym. But we will live, it’s not the end of the title race by any means.

It would be unfair to suggest that fans feel any worse than each individual player does. Any defeat, regardless of the manner it came, affects the players more acutely and they will be aware of the noise outside London Colney that is demanding that they arrest the situation and respond positively. I believe the players are intelligent enough to appreciate that they are running out of goodwill, and my sense is that they face a more difficult task because of the indifferent support we sometimes show. My strong feeling is that we have got it badly wrong when it comes to seeking a balance between criticism of the teams performance and tactics (which is a normal and healthy part of football), and the insulting and disrespect to certain players and the manager that is so vocal and poisonous, it’s hard to comprehend how it doesn’t affect the team. The balance between criticism and support and encouragement is a delicate one, and a compromise of sorts is needed between the team and fans.

The team needs to go back to the drawing board and quickly get themselves into the discipline of maintaining a tactical balance. All the exquisite and attacking football counts for nothing if our defensive walls are cracked as often as they are. It’s like we’re a team of two extremes, one of playing the most attacking and entertaining football, and one of capitulating when undue pressure is applied on us. We undoubtedly have the personnel to do this, but especially on the defensive side, we struggle with the discipline to reign in our attacking prowess when needed. Our game strategy works well on the proviso that we break teams down early enough or wear teams down with our ball carrying and technical ability. It’s more like a strategy of ’We’ll score more than you’. But where a team is able to absorb our attack and hit us when we run out of ideas (Chelsea and Manchester City come to mind) we sometimes look woefully inadequate. It is during these times that the tactical nous to reign in our attacking instincts and protect whatever we have is needed.

I watched the match against Chelsea again, and it became more evident to me that there wasn’t much between the two teams. The difference was that Chelsea were absolutely clinical and ruthless with the few chances they had, and they came with a game plan that they executed perfectly – a strong defensive wall with two spoilers in Obi Mikel and Essien for added protection, and a strike force who wanted the ball more than we did. Because of that they were the better and more intelligent team on the day – and contrary to what folklore is building out there, we were not muscled out in any shape or form.

Our supporters on the other hand baffle me at the best of times. 12 minutes to the end of the game for example is a long time in football, especially since you’re probably looking at an additional 3 or 4 minutes for stoppages. The team has previously shown that they are capable of scoring a handful of goals in this time frame – but I’d hazard a guess that their will to fight is significantly reduced when they’re on the pitch and they see hoards of fans moving for the aisles and clamouring to make their way out of the stadium.

I so admire fans like Liverpool’s, who will sit to the bitter end of the game regardless of whether they win or lose, and even if they lose, they will passionately sing ‘’You will never walk alone’ to commiserate with the team. I’m sure they have their fair share of undesirable supporters, but on match day, when it matters most in the stadium, the supporters stand out to be counted.

We seem to have stadium attending fans who would probably come with a copy of Weathering Heights to read during the game and would even go as far as hushing the supporting fan next to him encouraging and screaming for an Arsenal player to take a shot from distance.

Wenger says that the answer to whether the loss on Sunday has adversely affected our team will be in the responses to the games that follow. They are by no means straight forward games and are an opportunity for the team to prove to themselves, the fans and the manager, that they are indeed doing their bit to get us back on track. We need to knuckle down and get the basics right. Whilst it’s safe to say that we’re still in a very good position to fight for the premiership title, such talk is pointless if we don’t beat the teams in front of us and fight for every single point. We have the players, and we should encourage and support them through this difficult patch. It’s absolutely pointless and premature to talk about or speculate on new signings and reinforcements as firstly, the transfer window is closed, and secondly, we have important games in front of us to focus on. The relationship with the players is an interdependent one, and the team needs to also show the supporters that they have reason to keep the faith.