As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Being realistic as a football supporter is very difficult and when your team sets out to win the title by goal swapping it almost always ends in tears.
To win things in sport you have to play in some parts a percentage game and we do not, we play spell binding attacking football and then risk it all by playing certain players in key positions who are not good enough.
We are so close to winning trophies again yet the one or two players needed are not bought to the club it is so frustating. If we had signed Given & Alonso (I know Song has been brilliant but the two could have played together) we would now be top, no question. It is that neglect of a key position like goalkeeping that I cannot comprehend. However I have never at any time even thought about another manager of our club I just want our club to be champions again and I repeat it is so close that you can almost touch it.
Tantalisingly close, yes, but without reinforcements we will not win it. That is what makes the stubbornness of refusing to interfere with "the team I created" so desperately disappointing. I hope that anyone who doubted that we need to buy a world class goalkeeper was at Ashburton Grove yesterday to watch a piss-poor performance from Almunia that caused panic in the defence, and to watch an utterly lightweight midfield at times overrun (reminiscent of the Villa game last season) by a team of decent but experienced pros (some of whom were playing out of position). We will struggle to win at Bolton, Stoke, Villa and possibly even Hull without Fab and a decent keeper, even if we manage to keep our only 2 decent central defenders fit.
Agree 100% with last two posts. So near and yet so far again. If we had bought the players we needed at the beginning of the season and then just missed out on a trophy come May, at least you could feel that we'd had a proper go at it. At the moment you just know we're two maybe three players away from having a team that give you confidence in breaking our trophy drought,