'Hope has not found me just yet'
It's been fascinating to watch the fanbase try and make sense of Arsenal's defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. As the internet and the algorithms demand, we must decide whether this was the final straw in a slowly collapsing title challenge, or the performance that will actually see Arsenal over the line in a few weeks time. This was probably Arsenal's best performance in weeks if not months.
[BBC] [Getty Images] It's been fascinating to watch the fanbase try and make sense of Arsenal's defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. As the internet and the algorithms demand, we must decide whether this was the final straw in a slowly collapsing title challenge, or the performance that will actually see Arsenal over the line in a few weeks time. This was probably Arsenal's best performance in weeks if not months.
The margins were slim, and if Ebereche Eze's shot had actually snuck inside the post, or if Kai Havertz had converted his last minute free header in the box, we might be talking about a different story. Lots of fans are buoyed by this performance. It has provided them hope.
I have to confess, hope has not found me just yet. This has been a very difficult few weeks as a fan. At the risk of hyperbole, I feel like I've gone through grief.
Within every waking hour I experience an anger - that my team might have let me down like this - or a depression, where I have been genuinely close to tears. Then there's acceptance. Arsenal are still top of the league and in the semi-final of the Champions League, so from an outside perspective it might seem bizarre.