Literally, another disaster

I went to my first away game for many a year yesterday. My brother, here from Australia for a short while, got us tickets in the Graham Taylor Stand, and there we were - a genteel walk from the shopping centre to the ground and with little or no security in evidence on entry - surrounded by families and lots of friendly people. I actually found myself next to two genuine 'tourists', who ate and video'd their way through the first half and then left at half time - it's not just at our place that this happens, clearly.

Here's my brother, really deep undercover... and we were very well behaved throughout. No, honestly.

Our seats were at ground level and not far from the halfway line, so I got a really good feel of Arsenal's performance and attitude. And it stunk! I remarked very early on that we needed to work harder and get stuck in, but it was all too predictable as we swung the ball from left to right, with no penetration and no running between the lines. Xhaka swung 40 yard balls to the wings, but to no effect whatsoever; it might look pretty, but that's all it was. Lacazette looked frustrated and was rarely found, his short, sharp runs ignored. We didn't have a single effort on goal until Elneny shot over from long range after almost half an hour. And whilst it was easy on the eye, if predictable, the issue was that it was typically ineffective as Arsenal created literally nothing until they scored - from a corner, would you believe?!? - and could easily have been behind by then in any case as Watford clearly appeared to 'want it' more. Time after time I watched the Arsenal wing backs bomb on and get caught out of position, having to scramble back and occasionally not bothering to do so. Iwobi was our best player - for what it's worth - up to half time and we were fortunate to go in leading 1-0. Nonetheless, for the 10 minutes or so after the goal the team looked confident and started getting properly on top, and we were optimistic about going on to win. I was hoping to get to see some creativity from Wilshere at some point - the sort of creativity and ability to transition play that Xhaka cannot bring - but we were denied that. The team performance was crying out for it.

I'm not sure what happened at half time in the away dressing room (I guess the usual relaxed complacency often exhibited against so-called 'lesser' sides), but Arsenal were second best throughout the entire second 45 minutes - despite the occasional sporadic moment when class shone through and only Gomes - and Ozil's awful finish - kept Watford in range. But these moments were few and far between and with their substitutions Watford pushed Arsenal further and further back. Yes, OK; the penalty was dubious and there was perhaps an element of offside to the winner, but it was nothing less than they deserved, and equally nothing more than Arsenal deserved. The manager's substitutions again made little sense, and he appeared once again unable to rouse the players from their inertia and into 'work mode'.

But this is nothing that anybody who saw the game on television wouldn't have seen anyway. it was just 50 times worse being there to see it in the flesh. And this is, of course, utterly symptomatic of the state that the team - and frankly the club - are in. That appalling performance against Liverpool masked and partly forgotten as the team put together a short unbeaten run against largely inferior opposition, a series of fortunate clean sheets racked up, and some sort of hope that another corner has been turned. All laid to waste by a typically lazy and complacent performance in a match that the fans are entitled to expect the team to win. Yes, Sanchez and Ramsey were missing, but we should really expect the team to have enough without them to win a game such as this. But without the drive that Sanchez gives the side, Arsenal are nothing more than a mid-table team these days, and a battle for 4th is the very most that we can expect for the rest of the season.

So how did we get into this state? How did expectations sink so low? Well, I think we've covered this before; the regime has stagnated from the very top down, with those people with the power to do something about it either blind to it, or simply riddled with self-interest. If it were the former, we'd be entitled to be annoyed; after all, WE can see what the problems are. But I feel that it's just as much the latter. 'I'm all right, Jack' is the attitude.

Just here, I'm going to go a bit Book Club. Bear with me: 

Unlike Voltaire's Candide, who finally realises that contrary to his preconceived beliefs all is not 'for the best' in 'the best of all possible worlds', Arsenal fans know where this is going to end up; which is back in the doldrums of the majority of the  70s, 80s and 90s, to which there is literally no excuse for returning bearing in mind the riches available to the club. Whatever ills befall the eponymous 'hero' of the novel, he tries to remain optimistic that it'll all be alright in the end. Unfortunately, the parallels end somewhere, because even Candide rebels against his master Pangloss who continues throughout to state that 'I still hold to my original opinions because, after all, I'm a philosopher, and it wouldn't be proper of me to recant, since... pre-established harmony is the most beautiful thing in the world'.

If one draws a parallel with Candide, one could say that some fans reached the end game a lot quicker than others and the continued protests are a way of desperately trying to 'cultivate our own garden', and those who continue to believe in the current regime, like Pangloss, are becoming fewer and fewer with every embarrassing performance and defeat.  For Pangloss, read Kroenke/Wenger. They will drag the club into relative destitution as all the main characters in the novel ended. But were they happy? Actually, NO, they bloody well weren't!

Unfortunately, whilst a novelist can influence the plot of his own book, we can do little about it apart from reading on whilst all the time knowing the ending. To a large extent, we Arsenal fans are mere impotent bystanders. Every new defeat makes me sadder and more frustrated; I love my club and always will, and I cannot bear to watch the inexorable and unnecessary slide it is in. It's not too late, provided that the owner finally gets to grip with the fact that the club is not in 'the best of all possible worlds' - as it was 12-15 years ago. Or. preferably, buggers off before we end up the victims of the football equivalent of banishment, earthquake, rape, torture, the pox and finally utter disillusion. In the short term, goodness knows what Manchester City are going to do to this team in a few weeks time; probably everything in the previous sentence!