 By
Nick MacWilliam
What a strange few
weeks it’s been to be
an Arsenal fan.
I haven’t known whether to laugh or cry as the
pendulum of fortune has swung from jubilation to despair and back
again. From Highbury high to Catalan low. After all the curse-uttering,
mate-hugging and general squeaky-bumness of the previous nine months,
my blood pressure was nowhere near the levels that any doctor would
recommend as things came down to the crunch.
While it had been bad enough that it was looking like
the Totts were going to pinch the last Champions League slot, the
coming end of the sacred ground of Highbury really brought dark
clouds overhead (although I won’t eulogise too much, as the
Home of Football is [sort of] fondly remembered by an ageing Gooner
on page 30). The silver lining came with Henry’s tender moment
with the grass and, of course, Lasagne-gate. So, even if the last
game was a sad day, it was a fitting, not to mention chucklesome,
finale to a wonderful stadium. I’d like to say I felt sorry
for Spurs but it’d be a complete lie. And I don’t like
Martin Jol, anyway. He’s too likeable (yes, even when he’s
pissing off Arsene). I much prefer it when they’ve got fruitcakes
like Hoddle or Santini calling the shots.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get to Paris for the
final, mainly due to not having a spare sixty-three grand (or whatever
the ticket and Eurostar prices were). My heart was truly wrenched
by the end, but I was proud of the boys.  They
played their hearts out and, as the clock ticked into the early
seventies, I really started to believe. Ronaldinho was rubbish but
Larsson changed the game to a painful extent, although the pain
was more or less numbed after about five days of continual sorrow-drowning.
The news that the great man had finally put pen to paper helped
as well. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of Adebayor
leading the line next season. It was a shame to see Pires end his
Gooner career the way he did. He deserved a better swansong than
being substituted so early, even if he had had a poor season.
Anyway, Arsene’s brought in little tricky Rosicky,
who looks set to continue the recent tradition of skilful, but featherweight,
wingers (a la Bobby, Reyes, Hleb). I suspect le Prof has a couple
of other plans in the pipeline, which will be necessary if Arsenal
are going to seriously challenge next season. Most areas could do
with a bit of beefing up, particularly as the long-predicted Blues
implosion at the Bridge has yet to materialise. One thing to remember:
no team in the world has more players than the Arsenal on their
way to Germany this summer. Bring on next August.
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