The Dying Embers of the Game

Hi I'm back.I know- I've been on self-exile long enough-again.For this-i apologize. Well i guess I've been about,learning the ropes-kicking it!Arsenal,the object of our affection-us gunners.I think I'm going to talk about her in a novel manner this time round.For the first time,since i could remember,I'm discussing Arsenal from well not so changed circumstances.After Mesut Ozil's ambitious 42.5 Million Pounds purchase,we followed it up with the acquisition of 35 Million Pounds star man Alexis Sanchez.We all agree to love this new Arsenal,that can splash around +70 Million Pounds on two players.Crazy?Maybe.The ever exciting season has kicked off and so far we've only made it 1 win out of 4 games-so maybe things haven't really changed have they?Against Crystal Palace,we fought back well coming from behind to win in the dying embers of the game.Then we traveled to the blue half of Merseyside and got slaughtered early on in the first half before recouping in the second half to salvage a point thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsey and none other than Olivier French boy Giroud.We would go on to lose the latter to a serious ankle injury again in the dying embers of that game that's going to keep him out of action for more than 3 months.So that's 1 win and 1 draw for the first 2 games and we would still have reason to be optimistic for a turn of fortunes.Except we would go on to draw again after surrendering a 1-0 goal advantage albeit this time not in the dying embers of the game though with the equalizing goal coming just two minutes after Alexis new boy Sanchez had scrambled through his first goal in the BPL for Arsenal.Optimism now beginning to slowly wane away until an unexpected lift of fortunes saw Danny Welbeck switch colors from Red Nike to Red and White Puma on transfer deadline day.He would quickly announce his arrival with a subtle swipe at his former employers by declaring that he always saw himself playing for Arsenal during his first official club interview.He almost totally won over the hearts of all Arsenal fans when during his home debut against the reigning champions he chipped Joe Effing Hart once a glorious opportunity presented itself but watched agonizingly as the ball hit the outside of the post and rolled comfortably back into Joe Hart's arms!However,Alexis the man Sanchez would go on to give a man of the match display which culminated into his first goal at the Emirates - a sweet volley from another contender of man of the match Jack Wilshere's cleverly executed headed pass that sent the gunners into a well deserved 2-1 lead against the reigning Champions.But then again the dying embers of the game would have the last laugh as we went on to surrender our lead to the undisputed kings of Manchester and had to settle for a disappointing point.To make matters worse we lost yet another first team star Mathieu Debuchy to another serious ankle injury that will yet keep him on the sidelines for another 4 months just like his fellow compatriot.In summation there you have it 2 draws in the next 2 games to make a total of 4 games played 1 win,3 draws.Title winning form?Far from it.The gaffer insists our attacking frailties have been well addressed and where we've been lacking defensively after conceding  a couple of goals from set pieces in the games played so far will be addressed too.Believable?For sure debatable.Anyway just like our beloved Arsenal,i know I'm still not at my best with this piece.There is certainly room for improvement...

The last time Arsenal won a trophy- the danger words

Its been a while since i wrote anything.Then that's something all writers have in common right?
Anyway it's been a while since Arsenal won anything,that must be something football clubs have in common too right?So trophy droughts are to clubs what writing droughts are to writers.Except trophy droughts are subject to more scrutiny from the public eye.Particularly when speaking about a big football club like Arsenal.For instance you don't need to look further than the infamous Twitter to see for yourself just how much scrutiny Arsenal has attracted for the club's trophy drought."The last time Arsenal won a trophy..."is how most of these blogs written and posted on twitter everyday by frustrated Arsenal fans will begin.Well the last time Arsenal won a trophy,i had just graduated from high school.Now I've been through years of college-graduated,university-graduated,and I'm now on my third job since graduating from University.That should explain the exact period of time we're looking at when we talk about Arsenal's trophy drought.However,my intention is not to follow a similar path as the aforementioned twitter blogs(although it's easy to see just how quickly one can get carried away when starting a story with the 'danger words')Very 'dangerous words' indeed.Quite frankly,as a writer,I'm jealous of all the attention Arsenal has been receiving,negative or not.Why-because writers crave for this attention,they want people to read their work-isn't that the point of writing in the first place?So I'm sitting here thinking how i cannot go a day without reading about Arsenal's trophy drought somewhere yet no one cares that i haven't written in a week,in a month,hell in a year!Not a fair comparison?Maybe.Of course Arsenal is a world renown brand and I'm just some writer no one's ever heard of.The truth is i always enjoyed writing.At first i did it to impress my friends(i wrote very good compositions in primary school,stories in high school,articles in university for which i always scored very high marks-this always earned me plaudits amongst my peers)I reveled in the attention,adulation,adoration.My English teachers and lecturers would make me read out my work to the rest of the class and everyone was just told bluntly to write like me.I was the benchmark for excellent writing.Up until i lost my audience.After graduating,i realized there was no longer anyone to read my work.Well i guess i have the 'danger words' to thank for giving me new found self drive and the urge to get back to writing ways.I'm on a search of my long lost glory.I sometimes imagine what it would be like to log into twitter and read hundreds of blogs condemning and bashing my writing drought.Questioning the superiority of my writing art.Claiming it's time for me to hang up my boots,that I'm just not as good as i used to be.Alleging that i have refused to change with the times,that my ways are of eons and eons of old age.Challenging my authority and mastery of the craft.Calling for my high profile departure from the writing industry,disregarding what i have done for the art,unappreciative of all the joy and pride i have given hundreds through my work in the past.Disrespectful of my once lauded articulate ways of expressing my work.Don't you see the impact of the 'danger words'?Don't you see how they threaten my very mere existence?Can you not see that their intention is to do me more harm than good?Isn't it crystal clear that they're very short-term looking?Don't they border more on the emotional front instead of really looking at things in greater perspective?Don't all good things come with time?Doesn't good wine mature with time?Did Moses not eventually pat the water with the cane?Did it not take him ages to lead the children of Israel out of bondage and slavery?I wonder how long it took Hemingway to write the Old man and the sea,Shakespeare to complete the story of Hamlet and Sophocles to come up with Antigone.Is a 7yr drought the worst thing you can bear with yet what will come out of it at the end is a masterclass,a masterpiece?I mean did it not take me this long to do my second piece and wasn't it worth the wait?

Only Time Will Tell

They say Time Heals All.Well that's exactly what all Arsenal fans will be reminded of given their stop-start, Topsy-turvy season so far.Last evening, after a much successful trip to the blue half of Liverpool,where the gunners emerged 1 nil winners over Everton and ensured their assent to 3rd position in the Barclays Premier League table this all but confirmed the aforementioned saying. The humiliating 8-2 result against Manchester United is now well forgotten. Then there was that January collapse as well that saw them lose three on the trot which will also have been long banished from the memories of most if not all gooners.Not to forget the biggest European defeat suffered at the hands of Zlatan led and inspired AC Milan which was quickly followed by the FA Cup exit at the hands of Sunderland. The greatest pain though perhaps that made life very much worse than it already was for Arsenal was the fact that their bitter-most rivals, Tottenham Hotspur had commanded an unassailable 10 point lead over them in the table at some point in the season. Arsenal were subsequently not only in danger of losing out on the top four slots in the EPL table available for Champions League qualification but also set to finish below Spurs for the 1st time in 17 years.However,time now seems to have healed all the doubts surrounding the clubs future,at least temporarily, halted much of the stick directed towards arguably the Premier League's best ever gaffer by his own supporters, and restored the club's status as first and foremost the best club in London, England's Jewel city and capital. It feels very good and although the season is still a few games away from completion and nothing is decided yet, the future does look bright indeed. The other two London's best club pretenders Spurs and Chelsea lock horns in this weekend’s high profile North-London Derby which will certainly see either one or both of them drop points further while the gunners will entertain Aston Villa at the Magnificent Emirates stadium a venue where Arsenal have only lost two Premier League games this season. As it stands now, its Arsenal in 3rd place,1point ahead of Spurs and six ahead of fifth placed Chelsea. Not so bad for a side so badly written off so many a times already, wouldn’t you agree?