Time to stoke up that fire in the belly again
Walking into the office on Sunday was always going to be hard, but not as difficult as it actually turned out. Being a Gunners girl, the writing was on the wall that we’d end up a point short at least 10 days before the final day of the season. But somehow, we just don’t give up. We just don’t.
With most of the games kicking off at 4pm, deciding which feed to follow on SuperSport also soon developed into a prickly affair. On a Sunday we really aren’t choc-abloc when it comes to manpower, but the few of us poor sods present all happen to support an array of teams ranging from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United.
Luckily for me, the top-four puzzle took preference. I mean, it was the talking point of the day, who would grab that crucial fourth spot? So off I trotted to put the TV on SuperSport 7.
The scoreline made for decent reading, but the red card hanging above the 1-0 at the top of the screen above Arsenal didn’t. Laurent Koscielny had been sent off in the 14th minute but the home side were forging ahead nicely one man down and with matters under control for the time being, all attention turned to Anfield.
All Liverpool’s inability to score during the first half did was reignite that teeny weeny inkling flickering deep down that just maybe the unthinkable was about to transpire. That was soon extinguished minutes later however. And just to rub further salt into the deep, gaping wound, Arsenal hung on for a gutsy 3-1 win over Everton at the Emirates … all for nothing.
This is when it really became rather challenging because it didn’t take long for the dissing and the derision to start flying about. And this all because of one, silly, single point?
It was then suggested that perhaps Arsene Wenger announc- es his resignation following the Gunners’ failure to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. I soon allayed all the fears and calmly told my colleagues that I’d handle it. At that stage of Sunday evening, I was ready to tackle anything considering the rather miserable few hours previously endured.
And yet, here we are again looking forward to Saturday when the footballing world will come to a standstill one last time this season when the two London heavyweights face each other in the FA Cup final. Can the hungry Gunners stop the rampant Blues?
Desire can never be discounted when it comes to silverware but unfortunately, injury, mainly in the defensive department and suspension concerns are hanging over Arsene’s side, pretty much like the anti-Wenger banners hovered over the Frenchman’s head all season.
Koscielny is out after his red card and Gabriel as well as Shkodran Mustafi are both serious doubts, bringing Per Mertesacker back into the fray, so Wenger will have his hands full in perfecting the back three combination.
Whatever happens, Wenger’s counterpart Antonio Conte – who says Arsenal are favourites to lift their 13th FA Cup – is spot on when he says it will require a certain fire in their souls to stop them.
Damn right sir, it’s that exact fire in one’s soul that keeps the ball rolling.
Ask us fans, we know best.