Arsenal’s Berserker’s - a new found invincibility.
The truth had it’s boots firmly on!
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting its football boots on.”
― Mark Twain
In the middle of this emotional hurricane stood Arsenal, hastily constructed media storm remontadas flying past their heads. 80,000 Los Merengues pleading to the Football Gods to once more favour them with a good goal crop. The Bernabéu heaving with entitlement. Media studios the world over singing Madrid’s praises in a chorus of certainty. It was the huge improbability of a Madrid win that made a Madrid win so undoubtable, they said. There’s magic in the air, they cried. Make way, make way, Madrid are coming through!
But there on the pitch stood an almost forgotten Arsenal, their feet on the ground, their eyes on the ball. 11 non-believers in Red and White calmly waiting to rewrite the Book Of Football. The Great Lie had travelled half way around the world but the truth had it’s boots firmly on, waiting patiently for the whistle to blow.
And then it happened. Arsenal entered that truly magical place where only players and fans can tread, where football has the power to conjure up a new reality as the physical world falls away and only joy and wonder and screaming and silence remain. The Arsenalverse entered a place of shared experience and shared dreams as we merged into a undivided community. We entered the Footballing Promised Land.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Easy Fucking Peasy!”
― Arsenal Wonderland
Where is football played? On the pitch? In our heads? In our hearts? All of the above? "The fans went berserk,” is my favourite description of this magic. In ancient Viking culture to go berserk was to become invulnerable, to be defiant, to be immune to attack and to enter a kind of trance where the boundaries of fantasy and reality merge. Sound familiar? Arsenal players at the Bernabéu went berserk. Arsenal fans at the Bernabéu went berserk. The gates of Valhalla opened and we all stormed through.
They say that football is about silverware. And I understand that. But silverware is only a destination on a journey of infinite emotional complexity. Silverware is the excuse, but that feeling, that explosive communal emotional experience, that’s the true goal and the entire reason for football. Arsenal may have slayed Madrid on the pitch but football is played as much in our heads and in our hearts as on the grass.
And that’s what Los Merengues were appealing to before the match started, the romance and the magic. That’s what the invocation to the remontadas spirits was all about. To rewrite reality and let the myth triumph. And I love that. It’s kinda beautiful.
But in this case the Madrid fans and the world’s talking heads hadn’t been paying attention. There was romance and there was magic swirling through this tie, but it was dressed in red and white. The Footballing Gods were smiling down at Arsenal’s Berserker’s and their new found invincibility.
We haven’t got our hands on that coveted treasure yet. We’ve got to prepare for the next game and keep our feet on the ground. There are a thousand Artetaesque mantras to chant. But there’s something in the air. Something spooky. Something magical. Something that might deliver a pulse straight into our hearts!
Onward and upward Wonderlander’s. Next stop in this Champions League journey, The Emirates and PSG. And of course a trip to Portman road on my birthday! Have a wonderful week and keep believing!
Excellent post. I like the phrase Berserkers ! North London forever !
Really clever and well written, loved it 🔴⚪️