Will Arsenal's History Repeat Itself?

Feb. 28, 2008 was a good day for football.

The mild sun and wintry weather were pleasant.

The Arsenal supporters had left from London to Birmingham to see their team. All the team needed to do was take three points from that game, and they would be eight points clear at the top of the English Premier league.

Many had written them off at the beginning of that season, criticizing them for not replacing their talisman, Thierry Henry, who they sold to Barcelona for a fee of over 16M GBP. The verdict on Arsenal in August 2007 was that they will not qualify for the Champions League the next season.

Wenger had, after selling Henry, brought in a little known striker with a great ratio of goals scored against games played.

The striker was Eduardo da Silver, a Brazilian born Croatian.

Many Arsenal fans remember his goal against them when they were paired in the Champions League qualification series for 2006-2007 season. It was the first Champions League goal to be scored at the Emirates. The gunners went to to win the leg 2-1 and 5-1 on aggregate.

Arsenal went on to have a successful start to that campaign, going unbeaten in the league till the end of that year when they lost at Middlesborough. This was with players like Adebayor, Hleb, and Van Persie. Not to mention the Mid-field combination of Cesc Fabragas and Flamini was a joy to watch. 

Significantly they were playing well, quieting their critics, and winning matches they would have drawn or lost in previous seasons.

They ended the year at the top of the table ahead of the likes of the favored Manchester United and Chelsea.

Then came Feb. 23 at Saint Andrews.

The players were all fired up and ready to take a significant lead at the top of the table. A few minutes into the match, Eduardo, who had become the "fox in the box" having already netted 11 goals for the season, was on the ball and was tackled by Matthew Taylor.

That tackle would cost Eduardo over 12 months of his career.

What happened on that day was a significant turning point for Arsenal's season. They had come from behind to lead the match 2-1, and in added time Gael Clichy made a tackle in the area and the ref awarded a very soft penalty, which was converted by James McFadden.

The rest of what happened that season is well documented history. Arsenal went from being first in Febraury to third at the end of the season.

Fast forward to February 27, 2010.

Aaron Ramsey, a promising 19-year-old Welshman, was on the ball in another away game at Stoke (where Arsenal has failed to win since 1982) and he was clumsily tacked by Ryan Shawcross. This was a similar tackle to the one of Eduardo two years ago.

The shock on the players' faces was the same.

But after Ramsey left in an ambulance, The Arsenal Players led by Captain Fabregas went on and banished the ghosts of Feb. 27, 2008.

All the players were up for it and in the end they got a result that Ramsey will be proud of and which will help his wounds heal easily.

The Gunners are now just three points behind leaders Chelsea, who have a fragile one-point lead over second placed Manchester United. The run in to the end of the season looks delicately poised.

Thanks to that victory, Arsenal now has an easier run than the other two top teams.

Arsene Wenger will be licking his lips and telling the boys "we can do this." Let's win all the games in front of us and let's see how it plays out.

However this plays out, followers of Arsenal will know that this is certainly a winnable season for them if they don't implode.

They will know that this is totally different from 2008.

They will know that this is Arsenal's time to conquer.