Hope Springs Eternal

We've had this feeling for the last 6 years; yet it still seems to be a surprise to some supporters when it sneaks up on us and takes a Jaws-sized bite out of our arse.

This annual spring collapse is right up there with the best (worse) of them. We've put in some truly woeful performances this year, but in years gone by we would usually respond to said performances with a much needed morale boost. This season however after the Carling Cup defeat it seems our club has had a shotgun permanently pointed at it's feet, finger on trigger; they've lost their belief, and so have the supporters.  The post match reaction after the Villa game was polar; some knew another insipid performance was due and put (smart) money on Villa winning (leading to a mixture of emotions), others seemed to be in complete shock that this Arsenal side could play so poorly and get beat by Villa, and in turn started banging the usual drums....Walcott....Bendtner....Eboue....Wenger....

The anger in the pubs of N5 afterwards was frankly bizarre, people kicking and screaming in disbelief that our full-backs were providing heading practice for the Villa defence or that Walcott thought he was in Hampton Court's maze (again), must have been on holiday with Osama Bin Laden  for the last 9 months. This game summed up the Arsenal season in 45 mins, and how (sadly) these people didn't see this coming is beyond me.

Delighted to see Vermaelen back in the side, it all went wrong within 20 mins, Squillaci and Sagna the main culprits to let Bent score 2 very clinical goals. Sagna did a 'Clichy' and fell asleep, but can be excused, as he's our most consistent defender, and his mistakes are generally few and far between; Squillaci on the other hand showed that he's not good enough for the Premier League. Bought as an experienced head for the defence and never expected to play that many games as 4th choice, Wenger's loyalty to his compatriot has probably been the single biggest factor to us (once again) finishing nowhere. Is that all 8 league games we've lost this season he's started? I feel sorry for him.

After giving Villa a 2 goal start we tried to get ourselves back into the match without ever creating any chances. RVP hit the post and Ramsey should have had a penalty, yes the referee was shocking, but we know the standard throughout the league isn't good enough, why do we expect any different?

So 45 mins that contained: shoddy defending = goals, a lack of penetration from our front 3, a lack of creativity from a midfield without Cesc, missing the golden opportunities we were afforded, hitting the post and a shit referee.

Yep that's Arsenal's season alright.

That said the 2nd half was 45 mins we dominated. Why? Why do they do this to us? Play like fucking donkeys before deciding they want to try and win the game. West Brom (twice), Newcastle (h), Wigan (a), Leeds (h), Birmingham (cc final), Man U (FA cup), Blackburn (h), Liverpool (h), Bolton (a), Stoke (a), and now Villa (h). As a fan I just can't comprehend that the players would go out onto the pitch, needing motivation to win a football match, yet this bunch of players do. Even our best players get pulled into this malaise and play like absolute mugs before the switch in their heads is flicked into "winning" mode.

But here's the crux of the problem; we have SO many talented footballers at the club, but they are supported by shoddy backing singers, It's like going to see [enter best band in the world here] and ending up with Jedward.

Arsene won't change. I want him to change, but he won't. However, if Arsene could get rid of the sub-standard squad players (naming no names), keep the best we've got and supplement them with a supporting cast of players who want to play for Arsenal, will fight for 90 mins each week and aren't happy to just sit there collecting £60K a week whilst displaying all the characteristics of a crab (it's all sideways!!) then this team could become champions again.

But what are the chances of that? who knows, but we need to live in hope don't we?