📢 On angst
The two Arsenal fans in me have a chat after the PSG loss
Following Arsenal’s Champions League exit in the semifinals to PSG on Wednesday night, the two Arsenal fans inside me reconvene on the morning after.
Check out their conversation from earlier in the season here.
Hard Nosed Shubi: Another season, gone. Another season, trophyless.
Sports Romantic Shubi: Is it weird that I’m not gutted? I just feel completely blank. This loss feels different to the 2nd-place finishes from last season.
HNS: That’s the withdrawal from the Hopium. Don’t tell me you actually thought we’d win the Champions League?
SRS: I could just see the whole narrative man. An injury-ravaged team beating the odds à la Chelsea 2012. Going full throttle in Europe after a disappointing league campaign à la Liverpool 2005. The crowning glory to compensate for those second-place finishes … it just felt right. It felt like sporting justice.
HNS: Get a grip. Haven’t you realised by now that you don’t deserve anything in sport? This run in the Champions League has papered over a truth that we can’t admit to ourselves.
SRS: And what is that?
HNS: That we still aren’t an elite team.
SRS: Hmm, why do you think so?
HNS: Because if we were, we’d have spent that 80 million and bought Ollie Watkins in January and pushed for the league. If we were, we would have scored in the first 20 minutes last night. We lack that killer instinct, on and off the field. We talk about being a big club but when it matters, we don’t act like one.
SRS: Are you forgetting the quarterfinal against Madrid? Even the Rice free-kicks aside, we absolutely played them off the park at the Bernabeu.
HNS: That’s what I’m saying. We are a very good team but we aren’t yet elite. Because an elite team would have seen that Madrid win as a springboard for their campaign, not their peak.
SRS: That’s lazy psychoanalysis - ‘Oh Arsenal didn’t want it enough’. We ran ourselves to the ground in both legs against PSG. Not one player can be faulted for not fighting hard enough. We didn’t wilt under pressure. Donnarumma had a blinder and our midfield lacked that extra bit of potency.
HNS: Exactly. It’s why I don’t even feel that sad about the loss. Ødegaard is the most technically-gifted player on our team but he wouldn’t start in that PSG midfield. The gulf in class felt stark last night. People keep saying we’ve come of age but we still feel so far off.
SRS: Ødegaard’s drop in form this year has been concerning, agreed. But, the fact that there is still a way to go isn't a reflection of Arteta’s work. It just shows how far we’d strayed in those late Wenger years. And to me, the season hasn’t been a waste. Progress isn’t always linear and this was an important step in our journey. I feel we’ll look back on this season positively in a few years. To experience occasions like those at Parc des Princes and Bernabeu, Merino’s impact and the way we dealt with injuries, Nwaneri’s emergence. Myles Lewis-Skelly!
HNS: Myles is a baller tbf. Man, I don’t know … I just feel after five years we need something tangible to show for our progress now. I haven’t lost faith in the project but I am losing patience.
SRS: Would you take the FA Cup or Carabao Cup?
HNS: This year, I would have. But not for next year. We need to win either the Premier League or Champions League next season. The hunger for major honours is gradually turning into angst. I’m just scared we’re going to end up being like….
SRS: Spurs under Pochettino, yes I am aware. Okay let me ask you this - would you take the last three years we’ve had or what United have had? If they win the Europa League this year, that is.
HNS: I’d take ours but I won’t lie, it isn’t as obvious a choice anymore. And I think that really says it all doesn’t it?