They day after an Arsenal defeat is always raw, especially in cyber space, and so it was yesterday.  The unfortunate thing was it seemed to be less about the actual defeat and more about some people’s insistence of finding a scapegoat.  A large number of Arsenal ‘fans’ seem to have settled on the idea that it was all Ramsey’s fault and the abuse, which included death threats and people wishing upon him broken legs after the match finished, continued yesterday.  It was sickening,  I fear for Jack should he need some time when he returns from his long-term injury should he need any time to find his feet.  What surprises me about some people’s insistence on turning on Ramsey is the severity of his injury.  I don’t remember this sort of abuse being sent Eduardo’s way who suffered a similar poor run of form after initially coming back and looking strong.

Footballers are human.  They respond to human strains and stresses like the rest of us.  Imagine, if you will, that you had almost lost your leg, feared for your career, managed to work incredibly hard to get back to fitness only to lose one of the closest people in your life to suicide.  How would you react? Would you carry on through life without ever making a mistake and being able to do your job without it having any impact?  If you could, well done to you for being perfect.  Perhaps science should study you.  That people then argued fiercely that Ramsey had not been one of our top players before he’d had his leg snapped was laughable and shows me just how selective memory can be for many. Pick a position, then change your recollection to reinforce it.

On top of that we had a collective hissy fit because Robin had been seen at the Barcelona hotel.  Apart from the fact that he would have to be incredibly stupid to be so open about it should he be allowing himself to be tapped up, the fact that Cesc and his other good friend Afellay were there seemed to be lost on some people who just really seemed to want something else to be outraged about.  It wasn’t helped by some sections of the media who, once again took something and tried to make it look like something else even though they knew the truth.  I don’t know about you, but when it comes to a large section of sports journalism, there might actually be a profitable market in telling things how they actually are rather than always looking to spin a headline for shock value while the truth lies discarded in the corner somewhere.

Urgh. The internet. I both love and hate it.

Post defeat and there has been very little coming out of Arsenal which is perhaps best. Talk of handbrake’s, tiredness and lessons which haven’t been learned despite sitting the exam 5,000 times are sound bites I’ve grown tired of.  The news that Arteta is possibly gone for the rest of the season is not good, especially when it’s added to Jack not only being out for that length of time too but being ruled out of the Euro’s and Olympics, that speaks to me of more than just a ‘little’ set-back.

It’s Chelsea up next and we can’t rely on them being tired after their midweek excursion’s against Barca.  Luckily, after we lost to QPR we bounced back with a stormer against City and we can hope for the same though the quote from Arsene about us not having enough petrol in the tank is a concerning one.  We had a rest for five days before Wigan came and only have that same amount before Chelsea show up.  Also, why are we always a car?  “There was not enough petrol left in the tank anymore. We didn’t see anyone who could make a difference” this is concerning to me more than the fact that we lost.  I get that we lost, Wigan were excellent and fully deserved to take the points and I didn’t think that we were that bad.  We were not, perhaps, at the level we had been when we played City, but we were certainly far from ‘shit’ as many described us post match.  We need to find a way to get the players refuelled before Saturday and can hope that the fact that it is Chelsea will add that little spark. Sparks and petrol, they always go well together right?

Finally, Reading sealed promotion last night and Arsenal will finally have an ex-player managing in the Premier League.  While I’d love to say that’s a guaranteed six points for us like United’s ex players are for their old side, they will be a promoted side and I’m pretty sure we’re still taking part in a charity scheme which sees us obligated to give promoted sides a certain number of points each season.

We’re nice like that.

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