Being the best at second best

It's really easy to be a football fan when (almost) everything is going well for your team. They're winning consistently, playing more fluidly, less injuries, trophy potential stuff. There's such a joy and security in your team that you're almost literally itching to see them at the next game. then you have match reviews, previews, news, tactics breakdowns, podcasts and you just can't get enough.

I remember when I first started falling in love with Arsenal. it seemed like they could do no wrong. and even when i was a football noob i could tell that the way they played and the club environment was just so different. 

But I guess the more you invest yourself and the more time passes, you get more jaded and the inhibitions just pile on. and over the many disappointing years, the disappointments collect. the mild drama of losing beloved players (fabregas, vermaelen, even lansbury!) and people you thought you could trust but are actually evil backstabbers (rvp, nasri, adebayor).

The so close yet so far moments like losing to birmingham in that cup final, being top of the table for the first half of last season only to topple down so easily, being so resurgent in certain champions league matches only to exit on aggregate. 

My father once commented on my support of Arsenal as a tendency to support the underdog. at that time i was like heh yeah okay dad you know nuts about football plis shhh. but after the many many years at being above averagely decent but never near winning potential, i realize it is a sad sad cycle of mediocrity to be in.

I don't know at the moment (or ever) how it feels like to be a Liverpool fan, or a Tottenham fan or any fan in the mid-table or relegation battlers. would be any more or less infuriating? who knows? I can't bare to read or hear a single Arsenal related news snippet after a loss or a bad draw, i don't know it'll be like losing like half the time lol. 

sometimes when things get bad you just think ah well, i'll take it game to game. just the bare minimum of fandom i assume. i'll love the wins, ignore the draws, shut out the losses. 

but i've never been one the ride the 'bare minimum' wave. 

thank goodness for the last sputtering cough of the FA cup trophy last season. thank goodness for the run of form that we're having so far. thank you Lord for Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla and boyfriend in the midfield. thank that almighty handsome frenchman Giroud that he is front striker material. thank the heavens that we've so far managed to beat united, city and liverpool.

you know what this shows? some sort of upwards direction. yes. that's right. I'm daring myself to hope again. be gone cynicism! we have a fighting chance for greatness in the future!

well at the time of writing, we have yet to beat Mourinho's Chelsea, and have not yet beaten Aston Villa to win the cup. I'm not saying these performance indicators will immediately cause me to go back and be the bitter, cynical, negative fan that i can be, but i wish my team all the best and my love for them will still remain. 

i will continue to drink my milo in my arsenal cup. i will continue to open my front door with an arsenal keychain on my house keys. i will wear that arsenal jersey out in public.

ps. guys, i also want an arsenal towel for me to wipe my eventual sweat and tears.

pps. we are the greatest team, the world has ever seen.