It is over for Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea? Actually it’s just beginning « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does
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by Walter Broeckx
After a sleepless night I was waiting for the sun to come up again. I was sure this was not going to happen again. This was the ultimate doomsday. The end of the world.
And when my alarm clock told me it was time to go to work I had been living the game over and over and over again. Still the same final score at the end and still not the best of performances during the game.
But when I look at the league table for the moment I see:
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Pts |
| 1 | Manchester United | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 34 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 19 | 15 | 32 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 32 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 12 | 19 | 31 |
And this hardly is looking doomsday to me. Oh yes, it could have been better and sweeter. But it always can be better. You can be unhappy with our defeat (I am unhappy) and you can be unhappy with our performance (I am unhappy) but does this now means that it is all over?
Does this means that it is all over for Manchester City also. They haven’t even won the same amount of games as we did. Or is it all over for Chelsea? They even couldn’t get as much points as we did.
Is the title decided and can we stop playing football until the next season? When I hear some people we could. But those are the people who stop with every set back in their life, sit on the floor and moan and cry a bit and tell how unfair live is to them and then just wait for things to get better.
Well let us take a look at how things stood last season around this time. Last season after 17 games we were 8 (eight) points behind the league leaders. And now we are 2 points behind. I know United have a game in hand but unless they have played it and won it they haven’t got the points. And remember last season we were in the title race until the whole team (well almost the whole team) got injured at the same time and we dropped out in April. So should we stop playing and forget it like some suggested?
And let us look at our players. We all had high hopes of players like Vermaelen (our best defender last year AND a notorious goal scorer as a defender), Cesc (one of the best midfielders in the world) and Robin Van Persie (when fit one of the best attackers around). We all expected them to be the spine of the team.
Vermaelen has started 3 of our 17 games. And he will be missing a few before he can come back. And note that we do not only miss his defending but also the fact that he scored 8 goals in his 45 appearances last season is something we must not forget. He can defend and score and we don’t have this for the moment.
Cesc has started 9 games of our 17 games. Just more than half of our games. But as he had to be taken off with an injury he hasn’t finished them all. And every time when he looked like getting back to his better playing levels he got injured again and had to start all over again. And last season he was our provider and goal scorer and got us through some tough games.
And then Robin Van Persie. Last season at the start of the EPL he was on fire. Distributing assists and scoring goals. And now he has had 1 (one) start in the season and had to be replaced after half an hour.
And yet with those important players who have only played 13 of the possible 51 starts between them we find ourselves in second place. Who would have thought this would be possible before the start of the season when we didn’t know that they would be out injured for such a long period?
And yes other teams have had their injured players. And did it affect them? Hell yes, it did affect them. Just look at Chelsea with not as many players out compared to us they struggled without some key players. For the moment we have been delivering results depending on the game of a young lad like Jack Wilshere. And he has done exceptionally well so far but you can’t expect that he can carry the team the whole season long. This is not possible for a young player like him. But he and we will benefit from his many starts in this season in the future. He has been having a master class education in a few weeks time and he did very well.
So for all these shouting like morons about lack of this, lack of that, managers that should be fired or that has lost it I would just suggest to take a step back and look at it again.
And things can only get better if you ask me. Cesc will become the player we knew and will deliver again. Van Persie has had his half year out with injury by now and will come back to his level. And if God allows it the mystery injury from Thomas Vermaelen will go away and he will be back firing on all cylinders and be important in defence and attack starting from January.
And hell, let us not forget Diaby is coming back and will add something to the team and will produce another option in midfield and attack. And if there is a good God somewhere around he will bring us back Aaron Ramsey and he will fill in the gap and become as good as he promised to be when he got kicked off the field.
We have had our fair share of injury bad luck so far this season and are still in second position at the half of the season. So those who want to give: just give up and sit back and feel sorry for yourself.
Those who will not give up: just join me in our support for our Gunners. After all, that is the only thing I can do. It is the only thing I will do. It is the only thing we can do. I will be there, in victory and in defeat. That is why I am a Gooner. No way will I give up until the final whistle, so should all of you. There still is too much to look forward to.