The Show Must Go On

The best part of our run to the Champions League final last year were those gleeful mornings finding the sports pages filled will everything Arsenal. And only Arsenal. That we were the last English club left in the biggest club competition in the world, gave us the fullest stage and spotlight with which to win fans and fanfare across Europe with our football. Coffee in hand, I pored over countless articles praising the philosophy and application of Wengerball with special mention of the majesty of Henry, the vision of Fabregas, the poise of Gilberto and the stature of Lehmann.

So how galling is it now to have slipped at the first proper hurdle, finding the club on the outside amidst the media's hysterics of three English clubs in the (gasp) Quarter Finals. But my morning coffee is not now bereft of Arsenal commentary. Quite the opposite. In spite of now not playing a realistic role in any football competition, Arsenal Football Club are being written about and discussed as much as ever.

Everyone rubbernecks at a car crash.

And so it is that all and sundry have felt obliged to discuss death of Arsenal's 2006-2007 season before rigor mortis has truly set in. This has mostly included the currently relevant assertion that our problem is our lack of composure in the final third. Yes, we have had a crucial difficulty in front of goal. Scoring a single goal in matches is only enough for victory if combined by a clean sheet. This has been the simple story of our season. I read through my blog this afternoon sadly noting the frequency of the phrases like a message must be sent to the players that inefficiency in front of goal will not be tolerated . This has been a season long issue from beginning (1-1 Villa) to end (2-1 Chelsea, 1-0 Blackburn, 1-0 and 1-1 PSV).

The fashionable school of thought seems to be that a combination of our style of play and our youthful squad is to blame of this poverty of goals. And dont forget that Arsenal miss _______ this season (fill in the blank with Bergkamp, Pires, Vieira, Reyes and Cole).

We must hold our nerve through the darkness of the brooding media clouds that currently rain upon the club. The slingshots casting outrage at the supposed impotence of our attacking play (6 goals at Anfield??!) or the arrows thrown openly wondering about our apparently Plan B must be met by the shield of belief in the philosophy of our football. With the youth collected within the club we will certainly improve. There is an inevitability of the emergence of yet more young stars for the club (step forward Merida, Van Den Berg, Simpson, G Hoyte, Vela, Connolly) to combine with those already present.

Let us not forget that our current absense of silverware was at least made more exciting by Cup finals in both years as well as an impressive collection of victories against the likes of Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid, and this year's rather easy double of possible league champions Manchester United.

Our football has much to develop as Diaby, Fabregas, Walcott and Denilson mature. Let us put our faith in their talent as well as in Wenger's ability to polish their talent. We must not turn our backs to our style of football because of a fortnight of disappointment, no matter how gutting that disappointment may be.

Next season the show must go on. Our football must flow and enrapture. And score.