Welcome Back - First Date Nerves
And a season of masterpieces to come
Welcome to the new season fellow Wonderlanders! This is likely to be an absolutely sensational season so buckle-in for a wild ride. Nothing valuable comes easy, and there’s no way we’re going to just waltz onto the Champions podium in this modern, perpetually shifting football landscape without a fight (famous last words?).
So, let’s think of this season as a book of short stories with each coming match being a story. Imagine if each the 38 stories is a dramatic, brilliantly written and exciting masterpiece packed with drama and beauty. Would it really be a crappy book if another writer won the Best Book Prize? Nope. It wouldn't. I’m not writing off our chances, I’m just saying let’s take this season one story at a time and love this team as they write their beautiful games into history, or not, either way were facing another Arsenal masterpiece in the making. Or at the very least an Arsenal Wonderland Masterpiece in the making ;)
One more thing…what have you got to look forward to here at AW this season? I’m going to write some of my longer more in-depth analysis of individual players and all things Arsenal, and I’m going to write some shorter punchier opinion pieces on games…so more of the same then ;)
OK. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…
Have out ever noticed how some people, as they get older, get stuck in a time, in an era? There is a period in so many of our lives from which we struggle to evolve. I have some friends, an older couple, and they’re anchored in the 1980’s, the house is decorated in an Eighties style, the music they listen to is mostly from the Eighties, the values and references they feel most comfortable with are from the Eighties. They’ve even got cigarettes on offer for house guests in a Eighties glass cigarette dispenser.
I get it. I had a similar experience with Arsenal. I got anchored in the Invincible’s, a team that because ether touchstone for everything. How does this new midfielder compare to Viera? Would this new striker ever match Henry? And Bergkamp? No one could get close. Our iconic Iceman was forever frozen into my heart as The Man. Arsenal changed and moved on but in some ways I didn’t. I was always harking back to my/our glory days. If the Invincible’s could be rammed into a glass cigarette dispenser I’d be offering them up on my living room table.
But then my old certainties fell apart. My love for Wenger’s team hasn’t lessened but I’ve learnt to love again. I’ve redecorated my inner Arsenal home. A couple of season ago I wrote here on AW that Ødegaard might be the new Bergkamp. Now I just think Ødegaard is the new Ødegaard. I’ve subconsciously moved form whistling Viera’s song, to humming North London Forever.
When Vieira popped up Arsenal.com's pre-match show (Live From N5) I realised once and for all that I’ve moved on. The man is a legend, but I’d rather have watched Adrien Clarke discussing our current team tactics. Arteta has transformed being an Arsenal fan so that for the first time in decades those of us who lived through the Invincible’s glory days are no longer looking backwards with a nostalgic yearning, we’re now looking forward with joy and anticipation.
Normally I would say that the first game of the season is a bit like a first date. Lots of nerves, too much self-awareness and a strange anxiety about the future, with the occasional flash of the real you shining through. I’d say never make too many judgements based on first date performances. But something has changed, where Old Arsenal might have got drunk, made some fatal errors and gone home alone, Arteta’s Arsenal are made of sterner stuff.
On the whole this was a nervy game. Some players weren’t fully relaxed. Others were maybe a teensy bit overwhelmed by the occasion (this was more of a date night than a Partey night). But when Wolves got a bit cocky and actually tried to equalise (the cheek) Arteta’s Arsenal rose to the challenge. Instead of ordering another bottle of wine, they started actually paying attention. No fingers were pointed (except into Jesus’s nethers). No heads went down. Instead our tenacity increased and our class shone through.
But I’m getting ahead of myself…firstly lets just wallow for a moment in the perfectly manicured pitch, the wide stripes of gorgeous green, the choral joy of North London Forever. Watching the match was like finally arriving home after months away. The deep familiarity of things known. Comfort food. The seductive drug of optimism and expectation. All those feelings generated from The Unbearable Lightness Of Being A Football Fan. It felty good to be back in N5 again.
Once the game started, and the familiar feelings rushed in, it was like we never left. Even the referee got in the mood by immediately making “ref decisions”, siding with Yerson “The Strangler” Mosquera and yellow-carding the poked instead of the poker. Power blames victim? Oh yes. We’re back.
Of course our usual superstars performed at stratospheric levels. Raya’s save was superb. Ødegaard's magical dancing feet made Baryshnikov look club-footed (whoops, there’s another “stuck in an era” reference!) Saka jinked his way to a the first of an avalanche of coming goals and even below his best he’s dominating the left side. Havertz scores again. 60,000 million? Ha! Timbre looked superb in his role of attacker cleverly disguised as a defender. Zinny played solidly. We weren’t at our best, but that was good enough. Our best is a few dates away, but it’s coming.
I love these players. They are superstars. Full on footballing skill machines. And I want more of them. Maybe even a Isak or Osimhen type before the end of the season. But football (and life) is a team game and if it’s Saka’s boot that delivers the final jinking twisting screamer it’s also because he’s one powerful blast in a hurricane of red.
Yes, when things got a bit cold it was Little Chilly spiced things up with his individual piece of brilliance, but Arteta’s Arsenal are more than individuals saving the day. They are a real team with individuals acting like lightning conductors through which the whole team scores. Long may it continue!
So, 3 pointed bagged, and things are looking good for that second date…with some old ex from the Basque Country who’s moved to Birmingham. What could possibly go wrong?
So there you are Wonderlanders. Here’s to the new season and thanks so much for taking the time to read Arsenal Wonderland. I hope your first date nerves are quelled and let’s look forward to a season of pure romance!