Win, Lose, Draw : We're Gooners For Life!

'Oh to, oh to be, oh to be a Gooner!' is a fairly common chant amongst us Arsenal fans, but what is a 'Gooner'? Who exactly qualifies to be one? What traits should he/she exhibit for him/her to be proudly referred to as a 'Gooner'. Questions, questions, bagful of questions. Answers to them, well, I'd say a 'Gooner' is any Arsenal fan who is just happy see the boys in 'Red & White' play football. Win, Lose, or Draw. Just play beautiful football, week-in & week-out. Don't our boys do that!? Hell yeah. Don't they play the most exquisite brand of football in Europe (matching only Barca per say)? Hell yeah. So aren't we all Gooners then? Well I doubt this for now. Hmm..

Conor Valentine is back on 11G showing his undisputed loyalties for the team from London Coleny. Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911

Today Arsenal drew 1-1 with Birmingham City, & the many so-called 'Gooners' complained on Twitter; “that’s it, now we’re out of the title race” was actually a common tweet. I was personally surprised at some people saying this. What is a successful result in a football game, when your chasing a title? 3 points is obviously the best option, but ask any professional manager and he'd say 'the most important thing is not to lose'.

Now, last time I checked, a draw, gets your team 1 point. So instead of this being two points lost in the title race, Arsenal have gained 1 point. It is impossible to lost 2 points which you never held. Arsenal have earned a valuable point in the title race today, and while Chelsea did pick up 3 points (and 7 goals) thanks to Aston Villa’s brilliance (!), & United further 3 points (and 4 goals) thanks to Bolton's ignorance (!), Arsenal by no means are out of the race for the Premiership just yet.

Today marked more than just a Premier League game where 3 points were 'vital'. Today was the return of Birmingham, who haven’t been particularly friendly to Arsenal over the last two games. It was in the season before last, at a similar stage of the campaign, in February; when Arsenal travelled to Birmingham, top of the table, and looking like winning the league. At around the 30th minute mark, Eduardo lost his leg. By the end of the game, Gallas lost his cool. We could only manage a draw & most crucially, that result shattered our hopes for the league title at a psychological level.

Now fast-forward from that horrific day to last October, when Arsenal welcomed Birmingham to the Emirates stadium. Theo Walcott was tackled from behind by Ridgewell after 15 minutes or so, this led to the winger needing treatment and eventually leaving the pitch. He didn’t play again until January.

Today marked a game where, although Cesc Fabregas picked up an injury, he demanded to stay on the pitch. This game was significant because Arsenal were returning to what has been a bogey team, not result-wise, but injury-wise. Arsenal were already without the steady defensive pairing of Gallas & Vermaelan, who was suspended for  this game, which was harshly awarded in the first place. Ramsey suffered that Eduardo-esque injury a few weeks ago, and striker Robin Van Persie remains injured, not to mention the other CB who is yet to feature this season, Johann Djouru. Now I'm not, in any way, reminding you of our massive injury concerns. But when you take these key players’ absences, it is a good away result to take. With no 100% Centre-Back available, and Sol’s age being his reason (!), Wenger was forced to use Song as a CB.

The positives to take away from today's game are:

• We managed to get a point out of the game, which is all Manure & Chelski got!
• Mathematically, we're still very much in the title-race. Game between United & Chelsea becomes all the more paramount now. Hoping for a draw in that one.
• Most importantly, we now have a chance to gain lost confidence by beating the reigning European Champions in Barcelona, on Wednesday evening. Confidence, Pride, as you prefer.

So now, if any of you still doubt the teams potential, & whine about the so-called '2 dropped points', all I can say is 'Get a life, will you?'.

Go Arsenal, make me proud, a proud Gooner at that.

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'Oh to, oh to be, oh to be a Gooner!'

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Originally Published for - 11Gunners: The Unofficial Arsenal FC Blog