Arsenals Mental Metal by John Picco
The quote that “Champions are propelled by desire, not compelled by fear” is one that rings true in my head this season. I find myself so desperately wanting to be all in with 100% confidence that this will be the season that, after such a long wait, the Gunners will once again take their place as champions.
And boy is this team exciting! Having the youngest average age of any squad in the Prem this season is definitely part of the reason why the energy is so high. It is also part of the reason why nervous energy remains. How do we truly measure, with confidence, the capability of a group so young as we enter the dog days of the season? And I am not sure I mean statistically.
Hear me out…
Take Liverpool and Man City in recent seasons. Game after game you would never lose confidence in the upcoming ability to change the game in a moment’s notice. Both teams could be non-existent for 80 minutes and trailing by multiple goals. You knew it was coming… You knew they would collect all 3 points!
The mental metal was so strong that it would eventually show, and weaknesses in the armor of those of lesser strength would begin to crack. And now we have that same desire about our Gunners!
Yet, when they met the former mentioned “Cityzens” last we looked like the youngest averaged aged squad in the Prem, however….not in the same way. The Tomiyasu back pass to Ramsdale that neatly fell at the feet of the ever confident and capable Kevin De Bruyne was living proof that we were in fact watching a young and nervous team building their own mental metal.
A lesson that must happen by the way to build a team capable of contending season after season for the long haul. Yet it takes me back to the opening of why and how I was nervous to act confident. I was anxious to watch them complete the journey….Until today!
The Bournemouth game today hit me in all of the feels that come with the confidence of mental fortitude at its finest! In a match where we easily could have been down 3-0 (or beyond!), that also had roughly 98 non-called potential handball offenses by the Cherries, (which could have caused mental lapses for the players themselves by the way), our Gunners came through! To the last moment, the last play, the last touch of the ball!
They held it together despite the clock against them, despite the fact that City gained 3 points earlier in the day, and despite the fact that the youngest average age squad in the league should struggle with this.
I know there will always be bumps in the road, bad luck turns and injury woes that forever plague sports at this level. Yet this squad is propelled by desire, and I for one desire feeling the emotions that I felt today over and over again until the trophy is raised.
I am a proud Arsenal fan today!
John Picco
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