Third Place: Let's Enjoy It, But Keep Perspective

Some turnaround eh?

Last night was yet another fine evening of results for us Arsenal fans, with Chelsea and Liverpool both losing to Man Citeh and QPR respectively, and Sp*rs relying on a last minute equaliser to spare their blushes at home against Stoke City RUFC. On the other hand, Arsenal won our sixth Premier League game on the bounce and we now sit pretty in third place in the League, after a hard fought 1-0 away win at Everton.

I didn’t watch the game unfortunately, as I was too busy embarrassing myself on the sporting arena, and seeking an expansion into new social groups. Yet I was following proceedings as close as possible, and was utterly delighted to receive the full time score lines that I did.

I hear we rode our luck somewhat. I saw the disallowed goal, and yes, it was a shocking decision. But we’ve had next to no luck for the majority of this season due to unfortunate injuries, and tragic refereeing decisions, so we were due quite a bit of fortune. That’s not paranoia, as some hacks might suggest, merely obvious observations to anyone who has followed our season in any great amount of detail.

But the three points are all that is important, and as we all now know, we’re into third place and finally above that noisy-come-deflated mob from up the road.

As you can tell from the title of this blog, I’m going to talk about this occasion and our rise to third from two different viewpoints.

The enjoyment factor, firstly. And quite simply, we deserve to enjoy this moment as two months ago we weren’t given a hope in hell of ever catching Sp*rs, after a series of defeats against Fulham, Swansea and Man United in the League in January.

A fair enough assessment too, probably. We were playing crap, losing, and this combined with the lack of serious spending that so many were crying out for in January to strengthen a fragile squad, resulted in unhappiness amongst the Arsenal supporting camp.

Sp*rs were gone. 10 points clear, and it was looking like becoming 13 points until Bacary Sagna’s ‘I’ve had enough of this shit’ goal scoring moment that brought us back into the North London Derby that we eventually won 5-2. Smashed the bastards, I like to say.

Sagna's goal in the North London Derby

Sp*rs haven’t won in the League since then. We haven’t dropped a point in the same period.

For all the early/mid season jibes from them, and certain corners of the media too, about how there was a ‘power shift in North London’, how we were done as London’s premier football club, would never finish above them again, and one hilarious hack (who I won’t embarrass by mentioning his cold, seasonal name) suggested that only Robin van Persie would get into the Sp*rs side. They were assholes to us. They mocked us, laughed at us, and actually believed in their thick minds that one half season of moderate success actually counts for anything compared to the decades of domination we’ve had over their miserable excuse of a club.

For all the shit we’ve taken, and there’s been a lot, it has made this comeback all the more enjoyable. No one gave us a chance. Even some Arsenal fans probably thought it wouldn’t happen. I always looked at the North London Derby as the key match of the season. Lose that, and third would be gone. Which it would have been. Now, not even a full month on, and we’ve already hunted them down. Overtaken them. And plans for a St Totteringham’s Day 2012, which seemed so unlikely just two months ago, are now already being discussed.

But wait, as there’s a long way to go yet.

That’s the plea that comes with the second point of this blog. Yes, we’ve tracked them down, and they currently sit hiding in their lounges, re-watching Jurgen Klinsmann and Glenn Hoddle videos clutching on to half empty bottles of Holsten Pilsener, or whatever shit beer it was that sponsored them. Convincing themselves that the past month hasn’t actually happened.

And this goes to show how quickly scenes of jubilation can turn to shit. We need to maintain perspective of the current situation.  This season has had twists and turns at every corner. It takes one moment to ignite or put out a challenge mounted towards the goals you’ve set for the season.

In recent years, we’ve had more of the latter sadly. Horrible injuries, throwing away leads, being knocked out of competitions. We’ve seen it all. And weirdly that is the advantage we have, as hindsight is a wonderful thing. It always worries me that Arsene Wenger and Arsenal don’t make the most out of learning from the mistakes that have been made in recent years. And let’s not kid ourselves, there’s been a lot.

Now, I’m never going to be one to tell anyone how to do his or her job. Football related or not. But it does now appear that Wenger is learning from the mistakes of previous years both on and off the field, and it’s resulted in a strong end of season run (so far), as well as progression in transfer negotiations ahead of the start of the summer transfer window. Promising, right?

The man who knows how to do it in the end of season run in

Wenger also has the edge as he’s seen it all and done it all before. Knows how to handle the pressure of the end of season run in. Forget the past few years, and the fuck ups we’ve had. This is a man that has seen us home to three Premier League trophies (once as Invincibles), and four FA Cups. He knows how to end a season strong. Despite being the media darling of the 21^st Century, Harry Redknapp doesn’t. Unless ending the season strong means bankrupting clubs, and getting them relegated. Yeah that’s right, you twitching bastard.

This can only be a positive for us. And for all the years Wenger’s banged on about ‘mental strength’ without any demonstration of it on the field, now we have players who are personifying it to the max.

We have a fit squad. A strong squad mentally. And a squad full of leaders and warriors. Also a squad that's playing exceptionally bloody well at present. Wenger’s call last night after the match was for them to ‘keep humility, focus and fight for each other’ in the remaining nine games of the season. Spot on, boss.

I fully believe in them, but the point is that there’s still a long way to go starting with Aston Villa at home on Saturday, so the celebrations can’t start yet. Sp*rs are spiralling down now, but after they visit Chelsea on Saturday they don’t have many tricky fixtures left. We still have to host Man Citeh and Chelsea, and travel to Stoke City RUFC. In current form, they are all winnable. But current form can quickly turn dire, if the focus and concentration disappear.

Having said that, let’s still enjoy the fine run of form we’re having now. And appreciate the effort and performance levels that the players are putting in, and give them the credit they deserve for this impressive turnaround. Third place is now in our hands. Let the celebrations come if we’re still there once the season is finished.

Keep playing and believing as we are now, and they will be might fine ones for sure.