Since Arsenal’s disastrous run of defeats to Watford, Chelsea and Bayern Munich saw our team left with just the FA Cup to play for once again. Luckily we drew Sutton United in the last round and have again been blessed with another tie against a non-league team to win us a place in the semi-finals.
Our midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says that the players are more than aware of how the fans feel from their reaction when Arsenal are playing, and he promises that the Gunners will try to still make this season a success. “We want to be able to respond for the fans,” the Ox said. “They want to win as much as we do. We’re all in this together and we all want the same thing, so we’ve all got to stand up and be counted.
“People have been doubting us and it’s important that we pick ourselves up to try to turn the tide into a more positive one.
“Our fans are great home and away. They’re very loud so we hear them when they’re happy and when they’re frustrated, but that’s part and parcel of being at a massive club like Arsenal,”
“They want us to win the league, so when we’re losing games and it seems like it’s slipping out of our hands, it’s going to be frustrating. That’s understandable because we’re a massive club and we’ve got a great team that is more than capable of competing for the title.
“They want to see us doing that just as much as we want to be doing it. We understand their frustration but we share the same frustrations as them.
“The only difference is that, as players, we have the direct opportunity to change things and make things happen. I think that, with the fans helping us by getting behind us, it will definitely help us do that.”
I sincerely hope that the fans get behind the team for the upcoming clashes, and spur them on to a Top Four place and an FA Cup Final, but I think it is a little too late to stop the fan’s protests about our failures in the League and the Champions League, as they seem to be the only trophies that matter to most Arsenal fans nowadays.
If there are any more defeats (like at Liverpool next weekend) I can only see the fans frustration growing even further. I just hope the Ox and his team-mates understand that they need to sytart showing some fight or they will lose the support of the crowd altogether.
Darren N