Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Dies Ist Meine Box



The most striking component of the Invincibles side [no pun intended] was their collective attacking ability, representing the epitome of Arsene Wenger’s footballing philosophy: score first and ask questions later. Although not quite held to the same high regard, there was a much-vaunted resilience in that Arsenal team that became a hallmark as well. While Wenger has managed to achieve some similarly breathtaking attacking play since then, we have all witnessed a massive decline in that latter quality.

There is an all too familiar scenario: a tough road trip after a grueling run of games against the likes of United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, traveling ‘up norf’ to play on a less than ideal pitch, towards the end of a long and difficult season. It is the kind of cocktail that would mean almost certain defeat to recent squads. In 2004, it was the kind of game that threatened the unbeaten run.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

We Won A Golden Trophy


These days you just about cannot turn around without someone reminding you how long it has been since Arsenal last lifted silver. Just recently as I took in a match down at the Factory with the NY Gooners, we had the misfortune of having to stand next to a bunch of Chavs watching their match. But it was the one against Southampton, so we had the good fortune of watching them lose that match. Early doors, TJ made a joke about Torres’ face-mask, then started be-bopping and skatting all over it. One of the Chavs took umbrage and asked how many trophies we had.

Historically the Arsenal sit third in terms of league titles at 13, since you asked. And the last one, as long ago as it may seem to some narrow minded twits, is made of gold. There’s only one such trophy in the history of the Premier League, and it’s ours by virtue of competing for an entire season without losing a single match. That we did so against the likes of commercial behemoth United and oil-daddy funded Chelsea, makes that gold shine just that much brighter. That we did it just a year after Wenger was lampooned for claiming we could do it, even more so. Deserves a chant no? The color and winning the league in May ties in nicely with “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.” 



We won,
We won,
We won a golden trophy
We won a golden trophy in the merry month of May

And when
 They asked
 Why was the trophy golden
We said it’s for the Arsenal ‘cos we never lost a game

Not a game,
Not a game,
We won a golden trophy ‘cos we never lost a game

Not a game,
Not a game,
We won a golden trophy ‘cos we never lost a game