10 years is a hell of a long time. When someone says something happened ten years back or longer, I switch off. Because 10 years back is a long time back. I was a suckling baby back then. No clue what was happening in the world. Oblivious to the .... WAIT! 10 years back I was in 8th standard!
I have perfectly clear memories of all the stupid things I did in 8th standard. And I wasn't 2 feet tall then. So, 10 years back I was actually quite grown-up. I'm old? Crap. :(
The English Premier League starts today and I realised something - it will be my 11th season following Arsenal and the Premier League in earnest. Yes, I followed the 07-08 season reasonably closely, Arsenal's great win at AC Milan I remember feeling thrilled about. Adebayor scored 30 goals. But I don't have any "I remember where I was when so and so happened" moments from that season apart from watching Bacary Sagna give Arsenal the lead against Chelsea and then switching off the TV. to go sleep. (We would go on to lose 2-1, with Didier Drogba doing the damage). Then there was John Terry's slip in the Champions League, bahahahaha! So let's go on a trip down memory lane, with the games and moments I remember most clearly from the past decade of watching Arsenal. I'm not going to check Wikipedia for any details, so feel free to correct me and point out any great stuff I missed.
The 08-09 season, I remember the excitement of the first day of the season, swooning every time Fabregas touched the ball. Even then I couldn't name 11 Arsenal players, but by the end of the season I would be reeling off the names of 17 year olds impressing behind the scenes. Adebayor was big back then. Ronaldo was the best player in the league. Aston Villa would spend a large part of the season in 4th if I remember right. Carew, Agbonlahor, Nigel Reo-Coker (I think) ruled the show! Samir Nasri was an exciting 19 year-old talent procured by Arsenal. Promoted Hull City shocked Arsenal at the Emirates. Nasri scored two past Van Der Saar to give Arsenal a 2-1 win against United. Arsenal signed Arshavin on deadline day in January. Liverpool smashed Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford and I fell in love with Fernando Torres. Even back then, I knew instinctively that Liverpool were alright but Manchester United were scum. Liverpool gave United a huge scare in the title race, but Arshavin scored 4 goals and an epic 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool practically gave the title to United. In the Champions League, Arsenal would go to the semi-finals, going past Roma and Villareal before being outclassed by an inspired Ronaldo and Manchester United. Almunia pulled of an absolute masterclass to keep the score at 1-0 at Old Trafford with John O'Shea scoring the only goal of the game. In the return leg though, Ronaldo tore Arsenal to shreds. I still have a grudging respect for him. Unbelievable player, too bad he was born in Messi's era.
The 09-10 season is a bit of a blur. The comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League to draw 2-2 at the Emirates was memorable, the Barcelona defence had no clue how to handle Theo Walcott. Yes, Theo Walcott terrorised Puyol, Abidal and co. The return leg had a horribly depleted Arsenal squad losing 4-1, but not before taking a 1-0 lead via Nicklas Bendtner. Oh God, those days. I believe we somewhat challenged for the title. Arshavin scored a worldie at Anfield again to give Arsenal a 2-1 win. Iconic commentary - "It's Andrei Arshavin at Anfield. Again!". The attacking unit was great - Walcott, Nasri, Fabregas, Arshavin, Van Persie, Adebayor. Or had Adebayor left by then? Manchester City's new money had gotten them Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz, Jolean Lescott and a 3-0 win against Arsenal. Chelsea with Ancelloti as coach romped to the title.
Aah, the 2010-11 season. This season has particularly fond memories as well as disasters. What we must remember here is that I still had "school nights", so watching games wasn't always straight-forward. It was either sneaking and watching the game without alerting my parents or missing them altogether. Marrouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri led the scoring charts at the beginning of the season, Fabregas and Wilshere formed a gorgeous midfield partnership and the Arsenal's league form was phenomenal, apart from a bottle-job against Tottenham, when Arsenal from leading 2-0 at home, lost 3-2 with Johan Kaboul scoring a header and Rafael Van-der Waart being great for Spurs. Wenger threw a water bottle. Ugh, makes me puke. I remember a few things clearly. Somewhere in January of 2011, we played Birmingham on a foggy evening and Arsenal absolutely destroyed them, sumptuous passing combinations between Fabregas and Nasri. We were in the Carling Cup final. Beat Barcelona at the Emirates in a stunning performance with Johan Djorou at centre back. Now, beating Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in 2011 was an achievement by itself, but beating them in a Wenger-esque way, with Emmanuel Ebuoe bombing forward on the overlap from right back is an achievement of a different level. I confess, I didn't watch this game live. That was the high point. I remember a game at the Emirates soon after that. Arsenal had just beaten Barcelona, walked into the Carling Cup final and were league leaders. The camera panned to the sign reading "2005" at the Emirates to commemorate the FA Cup victory in that year. The commentator said, "The world has gone dry ever since. That could all change in the coming weeks though." Euphoria gushed through me and I think that was the day that confirmed I would love this club forever. The rest is history of course.
The Carling Cup final was bottled. Arsenal went to St. James Park needing a win to go top of the table after Manchester United had drawn their game. After leading 4-0 at half-time, an Abou Diaby red-card turned the game and we drew 4-4. The league was all downhill since then. As for Barcelona, well those cheating scum bribed the referee. Van Persie was given a second yellow card for the crime of shooting after the whistle had been blown because he didn't hear it. Seriously, that's your excuse for a second yellow card? In a knock-out game? Barcelona had dominated that game, but Arsenal had been given a life-line when some Barcelona player scored an own-goal from an Arsenal corner. Arsenal had just started to grow into the game, then Barcelona's 12th man struck. The less said about the rest of the season, the better. In the middle, I missed out a great 3-0 victory against Chelsea where Alex Song Billong scored, and then Fabregas and Walcott assisted each other. Also, the opening day was an exciting 1-1 draw against Liverpool with a Pepe Reina own goal. I remember another 1-1 draw against Liverpool (maybe the next season) where Arsenal took the lead in something like the 96th minute via a Robin Van Persie penalty before Liverpool scored in something like the 102nd minute after Emmanuel Eboue made the stupidest foul I've seen in my life.
On to the 2011-12 season. The Robin Van Persie season. Fabregas went to Barcelona in the summer after a prolonged "DNA" campaign by the unethical Catalan scumbags. Wenger assured the media that Nasri would stay amidst interest from Manchester City, lost to Liverpool 2-0 and then sold Nasri to Manchester City. Then we lost 8-2 to Manchester United, Arsene Wenger rushed to the supermarket and bought Arteta, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Yossi Benayoun and one other guy I don't remember. Damn, I'm missing some important name. Chu Yong Park? I remember that guy scoring a beautiful goal against Bolton in some cup game, a lovely finish, similar to Cavani's second against Portugal in the world cup, except closer to the top corner.
Anyway, buoyed by these 5 signings, we SMASHED Swansea 1-0, lost 4-3 to Blackburn where Koscielny was absolutely terrible. Then, one of my favourite games ever and the first game on the new TV at home - Arsenal beat Chelsea 5-3. First, Terry scored, Van Persie equalised after great interplay between Ramsey and Gervinho. Lampard scored. Andre Santos scored through Cech's legs after a great pass from Alex Song. Oh God, these names make me crack up! Then Walcott fell-over, the entire world except Walcott stopped, he got up and smashed it past Cech. Mata scored a fantastic equaliser. Then Terry slipped. Bahahahah! Terry slipped. Van Persie rounded Cech to make it 4-3 and then scored his third on the counter-attack. The rest of the season was Arsenal being shit and Van Persie being supreme. Power-shift Tottenham came to the Emirates, took a 2 goal lead, then Arsenal scored two just before half-time and the second half was carnage. 5-2! Rosicky was unbelievable. A 10-point lead had briefly threatened to become a 13 point lead and eventually Arsenal would finish ahead of Tottenham. Tottenham finished 4th, but Chelsea winning the Champions League miraculously meant the Spurs wouldn't taste Champions League football. In the Champions League, Arsenal lost 4-0 to AC Milan but almost completed a sensational comeback. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain emerged as a real talent and Van Persie went for a chip instead of a smash when he was alone with the bald AC Milan keeper with the score at 3-0. Abiatti or something. Well, the comeback wasn't to be. There was a great 1-0 win against City, with Arteta scoring and Balotelli getting sent off. That perennially irritated City manager said their title challenge is done for and that Balotelli would never play for the club again. Ohh, Roberto Mancini was his name. Both his proclamations would turn false as Balotelli assisted the Aguuuueeeeeerrrrrroooooooooooooooo goal to give City the title in dramatic circumstances.
Then came 12-13. Van Persie went. Arsenal signed Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla. Cazorla was a great signing. Giroud scored a decent amount but was absolutely wasteful. The season happened. Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal to go 7 clear. Arsenal fan and Tottenham manager said Arsenal were in a negative spiral and Tottenham were in a positive spiral. Arsenal had lost the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 game 3-1 against Bayern Munich at the Emirates. I remember watching the second leg with no hope instead of studying for my biology board exam. Wenger had taken some hard decisions. Sczczesny was dropped in favour of Fabianski. Club captain Vermaelen was dropped for Mertesacker. Or was it Koscielny? Either way, a defence first approach built on the compatibility of Koscielny and Mertesacker at the back would be the foundation of a 2-0 win at Munich (agonisingly close to reversing the first leg deficit, bloody away goal rule!) and a great end of the season run-in, where Arsenal won 8 and drew 2 to rein Spurs in. Bahhaha, what spiral, Tim? The grand feast of St. Totteringham would be celebrated with much fanfare. Arsenal in 4th place again. Rafa Benitez gave a great speech basically saying Chelsea fans are useless. I love that man's accent. Van Persie inspired United to the title in Fergie's last season.
Come 13-14. Lose opening day to Aston Villa. Fans in open revolt about the lack of money spent. Beat Spurs 1-0 via a tidy Giroud goal. Arsene says "we might have a surprise for you" and smirks. My Liverpool fan friend messages me on facebook and says "congrats on Ozil". There were whispers. I told him it's not official. But soon enough, it was. WE'VE GOT OZIL!!! WE'RE GONNA WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. The player Rooney had personally asked Fergie to sign and Fergie had told him to concentrate on losing weight. The man who had dismantled England's golden generation in the 2010 world cup. That was a great league season. Arsenal topped the table for 128 days before suffering humiliating defeats against Liverpool and worst of all, against Jose's Chelsea on Wenger's 1000th game. 6-0. God, that still hurts. Sitting through the game. The worst day as an Arsenal fan. But there was a silver lining. Silverware. The FA Cup. To sum it up in a chant,
2-0 down, 3-2 up,
that's how Arsenal won the cup,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack, give the dog a bone
Aaron Ramsey prodded one home.
The Welshman was outstanding this season and gave me my first taste of silverware. Oh God, it was ecstasy. My favourite video and my second favourite video. Oh God, there was no feeling like it. Even the puny FA Cup felt unbelievable. This was the season I became a profession fan. Watching every obscure cup game and Champions League group stage game. Following Arsenal blogs, YouTube channels. And there was silverware at the end of it. What more could a fan ask for? The Premier League of course.
I remember the summer of 2014. Optimism was at an all-time high surrounding Arsenal. Apart from the thrashings received at the hands of Chelsea and Liverpool in the previous season, the league season had been promising. Puma gave Arsenal a shiny new kit and Wenger made several great signings. Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers. A young crop of players had just got their first taste of blood with the FA Cup, claimed the media. And now was the time to kick on. All those hopes faded quickly as Arsenal started the season dreadfully and were too far off the pace to mount a real title challenge. Towards the end of the season, the team embarked on a 9-game winning streak and came close to somewhat being in the conversation for the title, but a 0-0 draw against Chelsea at home effectively meant the title would go to the blue side of London. Once again, the FA Cup was the source of joy. Danny Welbeck scored against Manchester United to give a great quarter-final win at Old Trafford and Aston Villa were dismantled in the final. The unlikely midfield pair of Coquelin and Cazorla would prove to be a great asset. A 2-0 win at the Etihad was heralded as the beginning of a new era when Wenger finally decided to go for a solid, defence-first, build from the back approach.
The lesser said about 15-16, the better. The best chance to win the title since 2008, and we bottled it again. Manchester United floundered. Jose did a classic third season at Chelsea. Manchester City stagnated under Pellegrini. Liverpool - I don't even remember what they were doing. Finishing 8th under Brendan Rodgers, I think. And Spurs were being Spurs. They were 2 periods that defined the season. Over Christmas, Arsenal beat Manchester City at home, goals from Giroud and Walcott giving a 2-1 win and the driving seat in the title race. Arsenal would kindly hand the keys back to the other teams the very next week where, instead of consolidating their position, they would go to Southampton and get thumped 4-0 in a listless performance. Horrendous. Some Southampton right back scored an absolute screamer to make it 1-0 and Arsenal never responded.
Somehow finding their way again, Wenger steadied the troops and Arsenal remained within touching distance of the top of the table occupied by surprise package Leicester. This evening I remember vividly. February 14th, 2016. The entire day, I was compering an event for my college. I'd had no lunch and I was trying to desperately to stream the match on my phone, hiding it behind the podium. No luck! But I was getting discreet messages from the audience. Leicester had taken the lead. I was shell-shocked, but I soldiered on. The event came to an end. Prize distribution, some random announcements. My mind was thousand miles away in North London. I got a chance to go off-stage because some big-wigs had to give speeches. I was restless. Then a friend told me - Danny Simpson got sent off! I had to watch the game. The event ended, but all "organisers" had to stay back for discussion and deliberation. Group photos. All that jazz. I told my co-compere she was in charge and made a bolt for the door. No one stopped me. I ran to the TV Room. I hadn't had lunch, I was standing for several hours straight for two consecutive days.
The audience in the TV room was tense. Arsenal with relentless pressure. Walcott grabs the equaliser. Still tense. Final whistle almost there. Ball goes out for a goal-kick with the clock running down. Wait, no goal-kick. Wazilewski, an absolute tank of a man and reserve CB for Leicester had barged into Ramsey. Free-kick. Ozil over it. Inch-perfect delivery. Danny Welbeck glances it into the far bottom corner! Cue pandemonium. The greatest voice the Emirates has ever been in! Just 5 points to Leicester now! They can be reeled in. They will fall away. We're gonna win the league. We're gonna win the league.
Not to be, of course. A bunch of kids you've never heard of would give United a 3-2 win against Arsenal soon after, with Marcus Rashford launching his career against a clueless Arsenal defence. Then Arsenal lost to Swansea. Back-to-back defeats and it all went to waste. All the hopes from 11 years of waiting dashed. Wenger out! The murmur became an earnest cry. There was a 1-0 win against Norwich which was the stage for a Wenger Out protest in the stadium, where the loudest protests yet were heard, mingled with the loudest chants of "One Arsene Wenger" heard in a long time. It was divided and tumultuous.
But the final day brought some cheer. I remember being on stage for my sister's wedding when my Arsenal supporting buddy informed of what had happened. 10-man Newcastle had thrashed Spurs 5-1 and Arsenal had beaten Villa 4-1. Arsenal finished in the top-2 for the first time in over a decade, and above Spurs! A delayed but still whole-heartedly welcomed St. Totteringham Day. This led to my third favourite video. Bahahaha.
2016-17 - It was really the manager's future that would dominate this season. Arsenal actually started the season well, smashing Chelsea 3-0 at home and at one point, looking like the most credible challengers to runaway league leaders Chelsea. A late late penalty gave Arsenal a controversial win against Burnley at home. The next 2 games were against Watford and Chelsea - win those two and Arsenal would be within shouting distance of Chelsea themselves at the top of the table. Instead, we lost to Watford at home and Chelsea at the Bridge, a meek surrender. The rest of the season was largely forgettable, dropping to 5th place in the league and behind Spurs for the first time. But two games at Wembley would be a source of joy, in the FA cup again.
An off-colour Arsenal faced Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. Aguero gave City the lead, but Monreal scored a thumping equaliser before Sanchez scored the winner in extra time. Arsenal weren't great, but we rode our luck. In the final, Arsenal completely outplayed and out-tacticked champions Chelsea in a phenomenal display where the 2-1 scoreline in favour of Arsenal largely flattered Chelsea. Wenger had played his one last card, and it got him a new contract. A two year extension.
I will not say too much about the season just passed. It was a season which disenchanted and disillusioned even the most ardent fans. Arsenal finished sixth, most certainly the worst of the "big-6". Despite Chelsea trying hard to be more shit, they couldn't finish below Arsenal. Manchester City completely dominated the league and Pep Guardiola showed the world he could do it in England. A grievous Koscielny error cost Arsenal the equaliser and eventually, the tie in the semi-finals of Arsenal's new home, the Europa league. Arsene Wenger announced that he would step down at the end of the season.
And so today is the beginning of a new era. And I'm every bit as excited as the young boy who had swooned at Fabregas' every touch. It was always Arsene leading Arsenal, now it is Emery leading us out on to the Emirates. Football has changed in these ten years. Arsenal has changed. But my excitement hasn't faded. I admit, when Wenger left I had my great moment of doubt. It was impossible to separate Arsene and Arsenal, for supporting one had always meant supporting the other. But slowly I've come to accept it. A few shrewd acquisitions by the new manager as well the low-key phenomenal signings by Wenger in January means I believe Arsenal have a great squad. With Chelsea delaying the appointment of their new coach and looking lethargic against Manchester City in the Community Shield, Mourinho having a right moan about his squad and players at every presser and Spurs not making any new signings, an assault on the top-4 spot looks quite realistic, though a title challenge I believe is still fanciful.
Onwards and upwards. COYG!
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