UNTOLD ARSENAL » Blog Archive » The past was not as good as some imagine

So, five league games unbeaten.  Not perfect by any means, but certainly better than the two defeats that preceded the change of captaincy.   And certainly not bad when the run includes three of the teams currently above us.

And even more so not bad when you remember that the heart of our team has been ripped out of us either by wreckless insanity, a kick around on international “duty”, insane yellow cards and the inevitable sheer bad luck.   Eduardo, Rosicky, Walcott, Fabregas, Adebayor, Clichy – these are the people who make a champsionship winning team and none could start against Aston “if you go down and they’ve got the ball, hold your head” Villa.  Take out the young up and coming players like Djourou and Song, and you can see how far back we are being pushed.

Two things occurred to me last night as I thought over this.  I happened to glance at the Championship league table, and saw Charlton preparing themselves for the drop into League One.   That reminded me of the time when Charlton were punching way above their weight, challenging in the top half of the EPL.    But after the club failed to get into the Champions League, after challenging for a place, the muttering started.  The common phrase was “Curbishley has taken us as far as he can – time for someone new.”

Curbishley eventually had enough, left the club, and they went into freefall – and now look where they are.

The other thought arose from reading “Arsenal: The Official Biography” which I was given for Christmas.  It made me think, following all those endless “best 50 goals” type DVDs, just how easy it is to forget.  Somehow the past is an eternal Unbeaten Season, in which Henry scores a wonder goal in every game, and Pires gets a tap in.

But just read the ups and downs of 1999/2000, as an example, and you’ll see what I mean.  It was not all wonderful – it had its ups and downs – but ultimately Wenger delivered everything he promised and more.

There is a danger. a danger that the mumbling and muttering of discontent will eventually make Wenger think, “I’ve had enough” and go on to take any one of the million other jobs he could walk into.  It would give me no pleasure to watch the subsequent decline.