» The Gooner World

- by Abdulrehman Nazar

The King of Highbury has departed and has left Arsenal in the middle of a crisis. No superstar, just some bright prospects…. as always. This was the general feeling when Thierry Henry left Arsenal to join Spanish giants Barcelona. There was even uncertainty over the future of Wenger. David Dein had left, and many (the London newspapers) really thought Wenger was going after the end of the season. There was debate about what Arsenal would do without Henry, after all rivals regarded us as a one man team. And now that ‘one man’ had left. There was no man left, literally. What remained were a bunch of talented kids only. There was no doubt about their talent, but could they possibly fill in the void left by Henry? Some even went to the extent of counting Arsenal out of silverware contenders even before the season started. This was to be the beginning of a new era in north London. Not for Arsenal, but for their rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. A mouth watering contest for the 4th place between Arsenal and Tottenham was expected. According to many, this was the season that finally Tottenham would finish 4th and Arsenal would not qualify for the Champions League.

I wouldn’t go into the details of how we shut the mouths of all rival fans and indeed experts who thought Arsenal would be down and out of the premier league title as early as December. I would just say 'take a look back at 15th September 2007'. Tottenham 1 Arsenal 0. We are in the second half, Dimitar Berbatov gets away from Alumina, open goal, only Kolo Toure to beat, and the Ivorian comes up with a thunderous tackle. Arsenal goes on and scores 3 of the best goals in the premier league this season. “Dynamite, absolute dynamite”. Really sums up our season so far.

Even now people are betting on Manchester united to win the premier league title. Apart from Arsenal fans, no one really gives Arsenal a realistic chance. 25 games played, 13 left. Arsenal on top of the table after defeating Manchester city 1-3. United drop points at White Hart Lane. Eduardo’s finish today at the city of Manchester stadium showed everyone why Wenger went out and bought him after Henry had left. I am one of those who think even after 25 games that it is too early to predict a winner. But I am just irritated at the fact that we aren’t considered as a serious title threat. Arsenal, to be really honest, have now got only 2 daunting away trips, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge. The rest of the away games are to bottom half teams. And like Wenger said, Van Persie would be like a new signing when he returns. He is back in training and would most probably return for the game against Blackburn. With Adebayor scoring goals for fun (yeah you heard it ...Adebayor scoring goals!) and the team winning games when it matters most, I see us pushing United all the way. I am not going to predict a winner. It’s too early as I said before. But if I was to bet, I’d bet on Arsenal. Not just because I am a gooner, but because I think we have more than a decent chance of bringing the trophy to Ashburton Grove for the first time.

The F.A Cup is in the 5th round and we face Manchester United at Old Trafford. Once again, Arsenal are the underdogs. Arsenal are supposed to bow out of the F.A cup in the 5th round. But how often are we ‘supposed’ to lose a match and we end up winning it? Hasn’t that been our story this season?

There has also been much talk of Arsenal’s match up against AC Milan. Out of the possible options that we had, AC Milan may well be the worst we could have got. I don’t care how pathetic they have been in the Italian league or whether they have been knocked out of the Coppa Italia. It is their ability to rise for a UCL game that scares me the most. No team keeps a bunch of oldies. This might be a little far fetched but yeah they do play only for the Champions League. Gattuso has picked up an injury, good for us? Not at all. Not a single player would want to be injured. It’s a footballer’s worst nightmare. Being kept on the sidelines hurts, and those who play football will agree with me. Also I would prefer Arsenal facing a full strength Milan squad so that our team is really tested! A mouth watering encounter indeed. But there is no way one can say that Milan will humiliate us. No underdogs in this game I think. Arsenal has as much a chance of winning it as Milan does. I can’t see why we would not put up a fight.

Carling cup is over. The defeat in the semis doesn’t hurt at all. It is the fact that we lost to Spurs that hurts the most. Having said that, let’s not forget the performance of our CC team at Ewood Park and at Bramall lane. I am sure they make us all proud to be a gooner. There are still some 3-4 months left in the season, but to count Arsenal out of any competition would be foolish. It can go all wrong for us in a matter of a few days. We may be knocked out of the F.A cup on the 16th and Milan may add insult to injury. At the same time, it could go all right for us. We may win against United and keep a clean sheet at Ashburton against Milan! I haven’t been more excited than this in years. Certainly the coming few months would tell us a lot about this Arsenal side. It’s a three horse race for the title. And as Richard Clarke writes on arsenal.com “Many expect Wenger’s side to falter when the teams turn for home but Wenger would argue, while the horse is young, the rider has been there before”

IN ARSENE WE TRUST!