Magpies 1 Arsenal 0 –time for perspective

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By Boris Mellor
December 11 2005

Not so long ago, though its ancient history to many younger readers, Arsenal lost 9 games in a season. In fact it was 1999-2000. Away from home we were a soft touch.

The reason for this, according to some, was that the Gunners had soft foreign fancy dans in the midfield that didn’t like it up em. You know the sort Vieira, Petit, and Grimandi.

After winning the first double the team went through several transitions, and eventually Wenger decided one of the fancy dans had to go, so Petit joined Barcelona. In Europe things got even worse and Arsenal failed to qualify for the second round, and went into the UEFA Vase. Arsenal scraped 73 points by the end of the 2000 season, and the next was even worse, with only 70 points. True they got to the final of the FA cup, but the Gunners lost the final. According to the pundits Arsenal were the nearly men, they lacked spirit, they lacked English steel. They would never achieve anything; they were one off wonders.

Pre 2001-2 no pundit forecast Arsenal would win anything, indeed Man U had bought RvN and Veron, they would scoop the pool, favourite for second was Liverpool, and the Gunners would have to fight Chelsea for the scraps.

Stubborn Wenger stuck to his guns, well almost, he did buy Jeffers, and continued playing that fast flowing football that had been "found out", but he wouldn't change.

Well by the end of the season Arsenal had the double. Of course all the pundits admitted they were wrong and that Wenger was indeed right (I made that bit up).So what’s the point of all this?

The point is that transitions are painful – although Wenger has never admitted they are taking place. Wenger has always been stubborn, not always right, but stubborn. When everyone yells crisis he refuses to believe it – he works on his own ideas and stays true to them. A true leader cannot give in to the whims of the press, where the attention span is slightly longer than that of a Goldfish (bit unfair on Goldfish. Ed).

So lets not get carried away by one defeat, or even five. The performance was not that bad yesterday, they produced far worse in 1999-2000, maybe the team didn’t do enough to win, they had 55% possession, and shared the shots on goal. Conceding on 82 minutes was cruel, it was the one time that being a man down mattered, Newcastle switched the ball to where the Gunners were a man light.

Neither side had that many great chances; and Given dealt with Henry’s rocket shot very well. Most days that would have gone in.

True the referee was appalling, and Shearer was lucky not to be sent off, and that’s not just an Arsenal view check the press. Don’t let the carthorse get you down, he can polish his one medal, Arsenal’s foreign fancy dans have a shed full at all levels.

So Newcastle got three points, yes it’s a piss off, but do those fans who think this is a victory for physical English football really want to see Arsenal copy this kind of thing? Should Arsenal give up football in exchange for anti-football? If they do I don't want to watch it.

No doubt the Gunners need an experienced midfielder, but they are not far short of being a great team again. Transitions are painful – Arsenal fans must get used to it. The last time it took four years.