I woke up on Sunday morning with a sense of dread - I'm familiar with this feeling; I've had it every match day since Arsenal won the championship. I had it before then as well, but ever since it looked likely that Arsenal would go the season unbeaten, I started to think that the next match would inevitably have to be the one match where the amazing run our team has been on would come to an end.
As Sunday's match approached, though, the unbelievable half century beckoned, and our opponents were the team against which every team in English football has been measured since the disaster of 98-99. Hence the sense of dread. Like any good gooner, I couldn't stand the thought of our run being ended by that team from Manchester. It would have been as awful as if our run had been ended by Chelski, or the Tottenscum from down the road. I almost couldn't bear to watch the game.
In the aftermath of Sunday's game, Mssr. Wenger (as well as the outstanding folks at Arseweb and Arsenal World) have raged enough at Riley's circus-level refereeing. The point is, Manchester United has won this battle. As Rooney scored the goal that marked his 19th birthday, I slinked out of the pub with my heart somewhere around my stomach. I never liked Rooney - he's ended unbeaten runs for the gooners before. Now I really, really dislike him.
While we may have ended our unbeaten run on one of the sourest notes possible, however, let's not lose sight of the fact that we're still two points clear of the team that lost their sponsorship deal to us, and eight points clear of the team that beat us. Up to the loss, we'd been having our best start to the season in goodness knows how many years. Wednesday's match against Manchester City also clearly demonstrated the wealth of talent we have in our under-21 squad. If you look at things that way, it's still a wonderful time to be a gooner. If things go the way they have up till now, we're probably in line for one of the Arsenal's first back-to-back league titles since 1935. The way the team's been playing, it's hard to see anything but three points from Saturday's game when we entertain Southampton. I'm certainly looking forward to that match, and, for once, it will be nice to wake up on match day without that familiar sense of dread.
As Sunday's match approached, though, the unbelievable half century beckoned, and our opponents were the team against which every team in English football has been measured since the disaster of 98-99. Hence the sense of dread. Like any good gooner, I couldn't stand the thought of our run being ended by that team from Manchester. It would have been as awful as if our run had been ended by Chelski, or the Tottenscum from down the road. I almost couldn't bear to watch the game.
In the aftermath of Sunday's game, Mssr. Wenger (as well as the outstanding folks at Arseweb and Arsenal World) have raged enough at Riley's circus-level refereeing. The point is, Manchester United has won this battle. As Rooney scored the goal that marked his 19th birthday, I slinked out of the pub with my heart somewhere around my stomach. I never liked Rooney - he's ended unbeaten runs for the gooners before. Now I really, really dislike him.
While we may have ended our unbeaten run on one of the sourest notes possible, however, let's not lose sight of the fact that we're still two points clear of the team that lost their sponsorship deal to us, and eight points clear of the team that beat us. Up to the loss, we'd been having our best start to the season in goodness knows how many years. Wednesday's match against Manchester City also clearly demonstrated the wealth of talent we have in our under-21 squad. If you look at things that way, it's still a wonderful time to be a gooner. If things go the way they have up till now, we're probably in line for one of the Arsenal's first back-to-back league titles since 1935. The way the team's been playing, it's hard to see anything but three points from Saturday's game when we entertain Southampton. I'm certainly looking forward to that match, and, for once, it will be nice to wake up on match day without that familiar sense of dread.
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