FOOTBALL WORLD RATTLED BY ARSENAL

HAD A CRACK AT THE 'WHY EVERYONE HATES US' QUESTION

Heads still gone. It’s a day later, and I’m still stinging from that last-minute goal, but I’m also sensing an energy shift amongst our fanbase.

Arsenal fans know something has changed... fans of all the clubs that should hate City but don’t also know this is a new Arsenal they’ve not seen in 20 years.

They hate it. They really hate it. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but it has infected the pundit class. Is it because everything they thought they despised about us in the past has now been transformed into a strength they’re struggling to cope with?

We’re no longer the artisans of the Wenger era, showing uncultured, beer-drinking local boys what ‘technique’ means. We don’t play in a library. Our manager believes more in pragmatism than aesthetics. The boys aren’t there to be bullied... they want to bully, and they f*cking relish it.

We’re not a foreign entity... we’re Stone Island-wearing thugs who have day jobs as lawyers and doctors. Respectability and fear to those in the know. This team has it all: the technical respect of the hipsters, the thug respect from perverts who laughed at ‘soft Arsenal’ when legs were being snapped.

Sometimes you can be so surprised by a team, a manager, or a player that it shocks you. It shines a bright light on everything you didn’t know. For the curious amongst us, that’s a joy. But when you’re paid to know what you’re talking about, and you’ve been actively working against an idea you were totally wrong about, it’s hard to jump out of the mud onto the golden slabbed righteous path.

United fans hate us because we’ve moved closer to glory in four years than they have in ten. Chelsea fans hate us because we are what they were when their base loved them the most: cynical, aggressive, pragmatic, and devastating. Liverpool fans hate it because they went toe-to-toe with Pep and ended an entire era with just one Premier League title... and they fear we’re going to do better. Who gives a sh*t what Spurs fans think.

Arsenal are hard to stomach because when people saw us beaten down, they were desperate for it to be a knockout blow. They wanted concussion. Brain damage. Irreparable damage. What Arteta has built makes them pig sick because they know he’s not going to be caught any time soon.

City are not the same team after that 90. They couldn’t turn us over with 10 men, and that is a massive assault on their reputation. To add to the sleight, they’ve likely lost their best player for the rest of the season. There’s no one in the Arsenal team who carries the importance Rodri does for City. They don’t have anyone who can cover for his aura, his power, his disgusting winnertivity. He is one of the greatest players ever to have played the number 6 position, and now he’s not there, for a whole year.

I won’t celebrate that sort of thing. Rodri makes the league better. I feel deep sympathy for anyone losing their capacity to move at 28 years old, especially after complaining last week that he plays too many games and thinks the schedule is so bad, he could see strikes coming.

But... this is sport. I said when Martin picked up an injury, that’s just the way things go at the highest level, and the best teams find a path.

City have to find a path without Rodri, and Arsenal have to find one without our captain and chief creator.

I don’t want to labour on the refereeing debacle—you’ve seen the devastating case being made against Michael Oliver. Even if you breezed past the disgraceful conflicts of interest, it’s hard to ignore how many red cards he’s given to Arsenal, how few to City, how few penalties... or how he has shown no consistency on what delaying restarts should mean across Liverpool and City infringements. Don’t even get me started on letting City get away with red cards last year to avoid spoiling a big game... and then forgetting that.

Being a professional in any industry or sport is getting paid for your high level of consistency. If you aren’t consistent, you shouldn’t be a professional in the Premier League. PGMOL needs to be removed, and a new system needs to be put in place. Will that ever happen, or are we just willing to let Howard Webb and his Greater Manchester buddies ruin the Premier League every weekend from now on?

Ok, short post today. See you in the comments. xxx