Yet Another Defeat for Arsenal: Two Blows To The Head

Using my proud Arab heritage, more specifically, Egyptian, I fished out this apt saying, which, in looking at it, conveys a lot of meaning in determining one's future after past misfortune:"two blows to the head hurt."

While many of you might look at the literal meaning behind the saying without really gauging the wisdom behind it, there is a real significance in using the number two. Why not just the one blow? One blow to the head is painful, and, while a headache might ensue, it is not enough to knock one for six. Sure it will lead to a lot of blurriness and disillusion, but one can stand tall again. Not after two blows. Already weakened and blurred, this repeated hard hit could vanquish anyone.

The same could be said of Arsenal's ever-faithful support, if not Arsenal Football Club itself.

Having recovered from a defeat that should never have been, largely thanks to the obligatory Old Trafford penalty, the highlight amongst many other samples of refereeing incompetence, we entered the international break full of confidence in our squad. Not worried one jot that the injustice dished out to us at Manchester United would derail our campaign or make us destined for underachievement under the wings of our rivals yet again. On the contrary, anyone who knew anything football simply knew that we were not the team who should have come out defeated that evening.

Then came Saturday, also in the city of Manchester. I knew, as you all knew, that this would be a key match in many respects. From Adebayor, who behaved disgracefully in everything he did by the way, right up to testing, both; city's and Arsenal's objectives and credentials; the former, backed by their Arab benefactors, in fighting for the title or at least breaking into the top four, and the latter, the beacon of football tradition, in holding onto their top four status and, dare we say it, fighting for the title.

Little did I know that we were about to witness an embarrassing show of amateurish football, flagging up the now old and terribly boring cliché—we have not learned from last season. Or the one before that. Or the one before that. And not even from the one before that!

Here's another of the all-time favourite post-2004 Arsenal clichés—"For all their possession and flair, Arsenal just cannot kill the game off." Oh how true that was on Saturday! Imagine telling any Joe Bloggs who hadn't watched the match at Eastlands, or who just doesn't have a clue about football, that we lost a match 4-2 and deserved to win hands-down. Funny, isn't it?

The reality is we actually controlled the match, but aside from an unlucky goal to concede on Manuel Almunia's behalf in the first half (who incidentally I am starting to believe just cannot cope with any top match), there was nothing unlucky about our miserable thrashing at the hands of the team most likely to usurp us in the Champions League positions.

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