That’s that then, it’s all over, we might as well all give up and start following another sport instead. Arsenal are going to win everything....for the next ten years!
There was something depressing - okay Sunderland fans might disagree - for football fans everywhere in Arsenal’s victory over Newcastle United in the Carling Cup, that horrible sinking feeling when you think to yourself, ‘what is the point?
This was Arsenal’s reserve team, it wasn’t the same set of players who have put the Gunners at the top of the Premier League, it was a bunch of kids - average age of the starting XI was under 21 - who already have the ability, tactical nous and spirit to beat a decent rival team who, nominally at least, are in the same division.
Ask yourself this question and then let me know how it makes you feel. How many of Newcastle starting XI would have got into Arsenal side on Tuesday night and how many of Newcastle’s players would have got into Arsenal’s? Shay Given? Jose Enrique? Obafemi Martins? Charles N’Zogbia?
Newcastle United are fifth in the Premier League, their squad is full of senior internationals, but a team packed full of players just out of puberty still out-played them and Arsenal supporters lapped it up - crowing, joking, mocking. It was humiliating, for the lack of a better word.
The gap between the rich and the poor, the best and the rest has never seemed bigger as I write this and Newcastle have about as much chance of winning the Carling Cup as Elvis Presley has of a starting his comeback tour at the Carling Academy (I know I used this in my match report from the game but I liked it so much I thought I would use it again!)
Of course, giving up is not an option. History tells us that the balance of power in football, as in all sports, shifts with time, but can you see anyone breaking up the Big Four’s monopoly of silverware in the next three years? Even if Chelsea have appointed some old duffer who looks like Uncle Fester with hair as manager, are they going to allow a Newcastle, a Tottenham, an Everton or an Aston Villa access to the riches and prestige of the Champions League? I doubt it.
However, at these times of manic depression, I feel I have to take a deep breath and find some cause for optimism. Newcastle do have the potential to muscle in on that group, Sam Allardyce has only just arrived, he is building something for the future and, who knows, Mike Ashley might do an Abramovich - that’s invest lots of money in star players and not sack the most successful manager in club’s history because he won’t play your pal up front - and the Magpies will construct a squad to rival any in Europe.
Unfortunately, Newcastle have had the potential for the last ten years without effectively realising it. The same is true of Spurs, Villa and Everton but if you can’t live in hope what’s the point in living? Seriously, lads and lasses, don’t take that too literally, I don;t want any suicides on my conscience thanks very much.
We know Newcastle are well behind the likes of Arsenal at this stage, but maybe Allardyce will be the man to close the gap, although I’d urge him to ditch the excuses when he loses.
When the Magpies lost at Derby we got an excuse about tiredness because of international games and a lack of preparation time even though the players had been given three days to prepare after their return from their national sides, the normal amount for a Wednesday game after a Saturday one.
And, after Arsenal, we got, oh yes, that’s right, another tiredness excuse because Newcastle had to play two games in 72 hours. To be fair, Allardyce’s argument carried a little more weight this time, it was harsh asking them to play on a Tuesday after a Sunday.
However, the reason Newcastle’s players tired so badly in the last ten minutes when Arsenal scored their two goals had as much to do with the fact they couldn’t hold on to the ball and had spent the previous 80 minutes chasing it and Arsenal’s players as it did with a tough fixture schedule!
As for Obafemi Martins’ finishing, I’ll leave that for another day...
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