So, Arsenal have lost. And not just lost once, but lost twice. Overnight the Gunners have been transformed by the media from an invincible team storming towards global domination into a tired bunch of no-hopers well past their best. It's clearly the end of the red-and-white world as we know it, and an excuse for acres of negative newsprint.
I'm always disheartened by the way in which the media portray football teams to be only as good as their last game. Win your last game and the world loves you. Lose and the manager's job is on the line, the goalkeeper is past his prime, relegation is in prospect and there are mutterings that even West Ham could beat you. In Arsenal's case the record-breaking triumph of thirty Premiership games without defeat is forgotten overnight, purely because the thirty-first wasn't quite so good. It seems that too many football pundits have the short-term memory of a goldfish.
This negativity in mood and reporting extends into many other areas of football. Back in the summer England were knocked out in the quarter finals of the World Cup. And were the media impressed? Oh no. There was national gloom and depression at losing against Brazil, rather than rejoicing at the genuine success of being one of the top eight footballing nations in the world. All knockout tournaments run like this - if you're the one team that eventually wins the final then that's fantastic, but otherwise you end up dumped on the scrapheap somewhere along the way as one of the thirty-one teams that 'lost'.
I've been a fan of Arsenal for more than thirty years, ever since the glorious day of the Double-winning FA Cup final of 1971. OK, so I may have been at infant school at the time, and I may have been swayed by Arsenal's kit being better looking than that of Liverpool, and my brother may have chosen to support the wrong team in that particular match and cried for the rest of the afternoon, but it's good to know that I picked a winner. And the kit still looks great too :o)
So, Arsenal have lost. So what? They're still a bloody good team and they'll win again, frequently. It's this recognition of the past and an optimism for the future that provides comfort and hope for all genuine fans of Arsenal, and indeed of all other football teams. Get real - not every team can win all the time. Not even yours. And sadly not even mine.
