I heard many Gooners question the atmosphere on Sunday, not quite being able to put their fingers on what didn’t feel quite right?
The sense of a lack of awareness from a section of our fanbase makes me cringe.
I know the very same supporters who complain about a strange mood in the NLD, who in the next sentence say randomly; Arteta has Revolutionised Arsenal; we can win the Champions League; Odegaard is better than Jude Bellingham; Nketiah and Nelson deserve contract extensions, etc.
When your positive for the sake of positivity your opinion becomes disingenuous.
What reason to hear your point of view if I already know you can’t have a balanced discussion?
By making out what we have is better than our reality, it impacts the team. Players suddenly think they are special having achieved nothing.
A manager over-complicates decisions because he believes he’s smarter than the facts prove he is.
It leads to thousands rocking up at the Emirates taking three points for granted, being complacent, acting like we have a divine right to win.
I heard some of my peers mock Man United for celebrating lifting the Carabao Cup, like we, with our 4 FA Cups in 20 years are somehow above that trophy?
If a rival fan had that attitude with that record, wouldn’t you call that arrogance?
That’s what causes those showing up at our stadium not as vocal and then not knowing how to respond the moment they view adversity.
It’s such a shame as one of the things dramatically improved in the last couple of years has been the noise at our home ground.
At the weekend, the mood reminded me of how it used to be.
Let’s be clear, since moving to the building, our win/loss record has always been impressive, yet it’s been played to a backdrop of anxiety.
Customers crippled by the fear of failure, educated to think the worse due to the number of times they have been burnt by disappointment.
Unless you had been in attendance it’s hard to describe the feeling, yet you sense it in the air.
Opposition would include it in their team talks, the longer you stay in the contest, the quicker home fans will turn on their own, often youngsters not with the mentality to deal with the grief.
In that era, the expectation was such that we felt we were superior to being a team who ‘only’ finished top 4.
So, it’s no coincidence that the arena was at its loudest in a period where we accepted our limitations.
Whether it be trying to qualify for the Champions League or being involved in title races, we were the underdogs.
Against Man United, Liverpool, etc, we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Spectators realised it was counterproductive to criticise their own.
It led to late winners, a connection between those on and off the pitch, and even visitors commenting on the improvement of the decibel levels.
It can’t be a coincidence that the moment we face our rivals with fans getting carried away those same individuals go quiet the moment something goes wrong.
Compare that to this fixture over the years where fans put emotions to one side, unbiasedly accepted Spurs have improved in the last decades, and therefore there was a collective will not to lose this game.
12 months ago, when Spurs equalised, home fans composed themselves and went again.
This time last year, with the score line equally at 1-1, make comparisons to then and now.
Both times Spurs got level, instead of acting like there were still at least 40 mins remaining, there was an act of panic like we were losing with seconds left.
Those in the stands lacked composure and it seemed to translate to the player. Hence, Gary Neville’s argument we ‘play with too much emotion’.
It’s why there’s been such an overreaction over a draw at the weekend, you would think we had lost given how some have been talking.
It’s like some needed that result to make them snap out of this malaise they have been in.
You didn’t need this weekend to know that Eddie Nketiah, our lack of leaders and our manager are not good enough to be champions.
If your humble enough, the evidence has always been there.
If the past few days leads to fans showing up at games with a bit more humbleness, then it’s worth the dropped two points.
Dan
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