Adieu, Gunners!

Old habits surely do die hard!

For about 15 years, my take on an Arsenal team remained constant : a couple of young dudes put together to play fancy football, entertain the neutrals with neat passes, and then come up short when push comes to shove. Though they've won a couple of FA Cups no one really cares about anymore, they've always been the nearly guys. Every season starts with the debate of what could've been and what they have to change to be title contenders.

This year they changed the narrative, albeit nearly. Ever since they placed themselves firmly in the running for a first league title in nearly two decades, they got my support for two reasons :

1. An Arsenal triumph reaffirms my faith in the fact that Man United will not remain in the wilderness forever.

2. I've gotten so tired of cross-city rivals City dominating the league so badly to the point that every season now starts with a sense of déjà vu.

Winning the league nowadays is about City having a bad season and not about another team having an excellent one. Honestly, I just don't want to see them win another title this season. That makes me sound hypocritical considering what City are now enjoying was what United used to enjoy - a period of total dominance. Or, maybe I'm just being jealous of getting knocked off our perch. But after 10 years of mediocrity, every ounce of jealousy has disappeared. I just want to see United seriously compete for a title once again.

Back to my Arsenal narrative, those young guys nearly got me fooled! After escaping their boogey months - January and February - with league title ambitions still very much intact, I felt this is definitely their season. Since then I've fiercely supported their ambition with the sole aim of taking down the monopolistic Man City. Today, with immediate effect, I'm officially withdrawing my support for them - not that they needed it anyway.

Arsenal will not win the league title this season, and that's a fact! You may go ahead with sentiments about how they can win at the Etihad. The truth remains that they bottled it at the last minute. A draw at Anfield is understandable, two consecutive draws against relegation strugglers is not excusable. It places City as the firm favourite to now defend their title. As in, they can afford to play a 0-0 draw against Arsenal and still win the league. You wouldn't want to bet against City winning the league now, would you?

Finally, Arsenal will have the benefit of staying at the top spot at least till City's outstanding fixtures are played. They'll probably stay top till May and then watch in horror as City claw them back and snatch the title. Funnily enough, that means they led from August till May and still miss out on the title. Just when you think you've seen it all, those North London dudes show you another one.

Adieu, Gunners! You just weren't up to the task.

NB : On this one, I'm open to criticism, insults and opinions. Won't hold it against ya.

Image Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/1kMNYQ_MNpY