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The Football Blog

Opinion

It is no longer enough to have beautiful football, we want to win

May 5, 2016 09:13
1 min read

Usually the Emirates stadium is filled to the brim with eager fans lapping up the Arsenal football. But last Thursday night, large portions of the stands were left vacant, season-ticket holders opting to stay in rather than watching the 2-0 victory.

It could just be the inconvenience of a Thursday night kick-off, but I think that there is a deeper reason for the sparsely populated stands.

The familiar placards reading 'Time for a change: Arsenal FC, not Arsene FC' were out in force again. Arsenal fans are disillusioned. Under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool fans once showed this same sense of resignation. I fear that we’re sinking deeper into a similar hole of mediocrity. To paraphrase the advert, we're good, but not quite Carling. We don't have that spark that ignites Leicester, or the hunger and desire that Jurgen Klopp has brought to Liverpool. It is no longer enough to have beautiful football, we want to win the Premier League.

The Arsene Wenger era seems to be coming to a grinding halt. The short-lived euphoria of two consecutive FA Cup victories put a handsome gloss on the recent years of failures. Now that the joy has subsided, it feels like we have woken from a dream and have to face the harsh reality.

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