Football is a hard sport to follow sometimes, not because it’s complicated or anything like that but because of the range of emotions it can cycle you through in the shortest period of time.  Last night, as Newcastle travelled to Chelsea and Sp*rs faced Bolton, Arsenal fans, for the majority, were left feeling incredibly nervous as our lead in third place was cut to just one single, solitary, Stoke-earned point with just two games to go.  It speaks volumes about the inconsistency that this side has shown over recent years that with a home game against Norwich, an away trip to West Brom and our fate very much in our own hands that anxiety was the over-riding emotion on show last night.

That’s not to say we are or were being negative, just that we’ve paid attention over the past few seasons.  We know that we have a self-destruct button and we love to press it every now and then just for the giggles.  Whatever happens between now and the end of the season we simply cannot rely on favours from anyone else and we could, of course, be in a much worse position, actually needing others to drop points rather than merely wanting them to so that we can all relax a bit and give our nails a break.

What will be will be I guess.

It’s easy to point to the QPR or Wigan games and say ‘if only’ but we’ve lost ten and drawn six over the course of the season so there are many points that we can point to and say ‘those would have made a difference.’  Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of Newcastle means that they now have even more incentive (as if you need more) to win the Champions League and steal that fourth spot in what would be the ultimate double-whammy should we fail to hold on to third.  Slipping to fifth is a possibility, but it’s not one I’m prepared to give much credence to at this point.  With our match being the only one on Saturday we will have a far better idea of how this season is going to end up.

In actual news and now just panic-induced ramblings, Theo has been talking about he wants to be more than just a speed merchant.  At 23 and with his injury problems (shoulders) seemingly sorted, he has enjoyed what is perhaps his best season at Arsenal since his arrival scoring nine goals in all competitions and grabbing nine assists as well.  Speaking to Arsenal.com he said

“At times people just expect me to knock the ball and run but it is not as easy as you think to be honest. As soon as you start doing that, the defender knows what you are doing every time. You need to change it because you can’t just be one-dimensional. I am always going to be known for pace, I know that. But the next step is the finishing. I have a lot of assists this season but I don’t think I am ever going to lose that.”

Knock the ball and run you say? Wouldn’t that be known as the ‘Bale manoeuvre’?

Wenger has been talking about referees which is sure to land him with a ban for talking sense about treating each case on its own merits.

In other news, Sol Campbell announced his retirement from football and it prompted quite an hilarious response from the bitter Sp*rs fans who still loathe him to this day.  In his time with Arsenal Sol won as many league titles as Sp*rs have won in their entire history, plus a few FA Cups and managed to not only play in more Champions League matches that the whole of Sp*rs ever have but also score in the Champions League Final.

I still can’t watch that goal.

Thank you Sol for everything, you really did give it your all every time you stepped out on to that pitch in an Arsenal shirt and the fact that your arrival at Arsenal annoyed so many Sp*rs fans was just the icing on the Arsenal cake.

Finally, if you missed it yesterday, I launched a new site called ‘LadyArse Gossip’ and, well, it doesn’t really need much of a description.  There’ll you’ll be able to read Arsenal rumours, speculation and gossip, and there’s a nifty little feature which people seem to be enjoying at the end of the posts.  You can also follow the account on Twitter @LadyArseGossip

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