The 'worst Arsenal team ever' isn't doing too badly

It’s never fun being sick. Yeah, sure, when you were a kid being sick meant you could skip school, be waited on hand and foot by your mum and you could lie in bed and watch TV all day. But now that I’m an adult, being sick is not fun. Stumbling from room to room with a blinding headache is not fun. Staying in a room with crumpled tissues filled with gross ickiness is never fun. My mum isn’t one who believes in Western medicine, which was why I was being dosed with continual concoctions of haldi-doodh with pepper and cardamom. And sure, you’re able to breathe again, but there’s nothing like Arsenal winning to provide a very apt shot in the arm. [caption id=“attachment_276362” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“People say this is the worst ever Arsenal team to grace the Premier League. Reuters”] [/caption] I was asleep when the game began and my mum told me it was seven o’clock (I’m currently on holiday with my parents in the Middle East, which is ninety minutes behind Indian Standard Time) and I’d missed the first two minutes of the Manchester City game. The first incident I saw on TV was Yaya Toure being booked in the second minute, and in doing so, probably became the person who broke the record for the fastest-ever-dispelling-of-grogginess-after-sleep. This was a game both sides had to win. Arsenal needed to climb back into third place, having recently ceded it for a brief period of time to Spurs once again, while City needed all three points to ensure they could still contend the Barclays Premier League title, no matter how mathematical the possibility come May. The Gunners came out of the traps running and were camped in City’s half for long stretches of the first period of the game, and only Vermaelen’s unintentional intervention in front of the City goal prevented Arsenal from taking the lead through Robin van Persie. It was about thirty minutes through the match that City remembered that they could attack too, and for about ten minutes through the second, looked like they could take the lead and fifteen minutes from the end, it looked like one of those days when Walcott’s scuffed effort bizarrely eluded both Benayoun and Vermaelen who only had to sneeze on the ball to ensure it went into the net. But by this time, Arsenal were controlling possession again and looked menacing every time they forayed into the attacking third. And sure enough, three minutes from time, Mikel Arteta robbed David Pizarro of the ball and fired home a piledriver that Joe Hart had absolutely no chance with, and there was me, jumping up and down and ha-ha-ing in elation, sore throat and stuffed up nose be damned for all I care. And sure, there were many incidents in the closing minutes that could have had me laughing all the way to the final whistle. And the one that did tickle my ribs till the final whistle was not the Arsenal fans doing the Poznan which the City fans used by way if celebration, it was not them chanting “Nasri, what’s the score?”. It wasn’t even Balotelli being sent off, which meant he could miss the rest of the season. It was my dad. You’ve met him before: read the Spurs article. In the 89th minute, the cameras panned to a shot of City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak and the administrative suits sitting in one of the boxes, looking as though somebody had died. My dad chose that moment to exclaim, “they’re sitting there looking like morons.” I couldn’t help but laugh, because a truer statement I hadn’t heard all season. It was funny because it was true. Speaking of the truth, this is when all Arsenal critics would be eating their words. What I wouldn’t give to shush them a la Andrei Arshavin right now. Soon after the 8-2 loss at Old Trafford, Arsenal were hovering above the relegation zone, and the anti-Arsenal rabble said Arsenal would be relegated. But here’s the thing: Arsenal have NEVER been relegated since their move to Highbury. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, who owns Manchester City, has invested a total of 1.003 billion pounds, inclusive of last summer’s transfers, and realised a loss of 197 million pounds last November. Arsenal, on the other hand, declared profits of 49.5 million pounds. The chants for Arsene Wenger to leave were getting louder as the season progressed, culminating in chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” and “Spend some f***ing money” during Arsenal’s 2-1 loss at home to Manchester United. But there is no one better suited for Arsenal than Wenger to lead the Gunners forward. But the forces of good have always rallied behind Wenger. Lee Dixon, who played more than 600 games in 14 years at the club, said “We’ve seen protests and booing at other clubs, like Wolves and Blackburn, and it doesn’t do anybody any good. Everyone needs to stick together. The fans have huge power and that shouldn’t be underestimated. I’ve always backed Arsene and I always will. He’s the heart and soul of the club, he’s doing it the right way and for the right reasons. I think it’s frustrating at times. Being a fan, you want to see the best players playing for our club but you have to stay together. “I think the important thing for Arsenal in the last few weeks has definitely been getting results under their belt. But I don’t think they are out of the woods yet, by any means. It could only go one way for Arsenal after the awful start they had.” Emmanuel Petit, who was once part of Arsenal’s engine room, has acknowledged that Arsenal were going through their worst period under Wenger but states that the man from Alsace is the best person for the Arsenal hot seat. “Arsene is still the solution. The players have to look in the mirror, be honest and ask questions of themselves.” Seven months on, Arsenal are now in control of third place, and with six games left to play, that is all that one can ask for. Yossi Benayoun, who has contributed with some very solid performances in the middle of the park, is fully aware of that, saying after the City game, “It was a big win and a very important three points in the race for the Champions League spots. Especially against a big side like Manchester City so we are delighted with the win.” “We had to take three points to open the gap back to five points. It will be very close until the end of the season, we have to continue to play like this. At this time of the season I think every game is a difficult one. Teams will fight for their lives in this league and it is harder to play against them, especially when you play at their ground.” People say this is the worst ever Arsenal team to grace the Premier League. People also say this is the best Spurs team in the club’s history. Given the current stats, Arsenal’s worst ever team are better than Spurs’ best ever. Should Arsenal continue their form, not only will games like the one against City provide me the best antibiotic in the world, I will be so buzzed I won’t ever fall ill again.