Oh yes! Losses happen! And a loooooooooooooooooot of times!
Even to a once-Invincible team. Because even though the team in invincible in your head and heart, life couldn't care less about either!
And that's not a very nice or easy thing to deal with. Because as a fan you love your team. You want to see your team win no matter what. Even when they play like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=585476861507765&set=vb.217066871682101&type=2&theater
You want to believe that they played well even if it clearly didn't look like it. You want to be able to blame the referee for wrong decisions. You want to go out and proudly wear that Arsenal jersey and give sly, smug looks to supporters of other clubs. You want to be able to say Arsenal is the best football club in the world (it obviously is) and not be laughed off. But awesomeness doesn't happen always!
Didn't happen for a few matches until Arsenal's game yesterday. And as far as winning silverware is concerned, awesomeness hasn't happened for 8 years now; and there is no saying when it will! Till then, and even after winning, losses will still happen and they will need to be dealt with!
My personal opinion is that in the current situation, Arsenal's new fans (like yours truly :D) are much better equipped to deal with losses than more veteran fans. The simple reason being that we have only heard of the angst of losing for eight years. We have not truly felt it. We have not seen the repeated cycles of losing focus mid-season...getting THIS close but not winning. Our stint with Arsenal has only seen them play reasonably well, as a result of which we don't really give that much importance to losing one odd game. Of course that's not to say that we are fine with losing. We feel terrible. We hate it. But we just don't end up thinking it's THAT bad. We are blessed with the inherent optimism and hope of victory that comes with not having had to live through a series of losses. And I think that makes us a very very very important link in the collective chain of Arsenal supporters. It's the only thing that can, if at all anyhing can, balance out the cynicism that a lot of veteran fans end up feeling after a loss.
They say, "Damnit, it has always been this way. This is always the time we lose focus." We say, "This year is going to be different." They say, "There are arguments among team members. The unrest won't do us good." We say, "This is the worst of the unrest. Our team will be back soon." They say, "This is bad. And it could get worse." We say, "This is bad. But it could get better!"
And I'm not making these up. These are real conversations I've had. The more I have them, the more I am convinced that new fans are less disturbed by a loss. And it's not because they care less. It's because their eyes are more full of dreams than experience! Which by the way is not a bad thing at all!
The world has always worked that way. There are dreamers and then there are realists. You would expect dreamers to stick with dreamers and realists to stick with the realists. But more often that not, the opposite is true. Because dreamers need realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun and without the dreamers, well, the realists might never get off the ground.
It's us new fans who are the dreamers and veteran fans turned cynics at times, our realists! We need them to keep our feet on the ground and they need us for their hopes to soar a little higher than what seems rational!
When conversations begin with us asking, "So, this Group of Death that Arsenal needs to face in the Champions League, on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is it?" and end with them answering "9.5 if we are lucky and worst case we might not even make it"; we know they are doing their bit very well!
And when conversations begin with them saying, "I am really worried about team morale. We need more than faith now. We need goals and wins." and end us saying, "I will pray for wins and goals. And 3 goals against City is not bad at all. Hi-5!"; or begin with them saying, "We got 2 out of a maximum 9 points. 2nd does not make you champions." and end with us saying "My sweethearts, Giroud and Ramsey, losing their magic, is just to make way for your sweetheart Podolski to come show some magic"; we know we are doing our bit well too!
That's how it will always be! Some of us might not be as dreamy eyed next season, or some of them might get deliriously optimistic and dreamy, depending on how this season goes forth; but there will always exist a perfect balance of love for Arsenal between those who abandon all care in the world, plunge into proclaiming Arsenal Invincible Forever; and those who think, worry, and gently push open a parachute of real statistics and facts, so we land safely on the ground!
Even to a once-Invincible team. Because even though the team in invincible in your head and heart, life couldn't care less about either!
And that's not a very nice or easy thing to deal with. Because as a fan you love your team. You want to see your team win no matter what. Even when they play like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=585476861507765&set=vb.217066871682101&type=2&theater
You want to believe that they played well even if it clearly didn't look like it. You want to be able to blame the referee for wrong decisions. You want to go out and proudly wear that Arsenal jersey and give sly, smug looks to supporters of other clubs. You want to be able to say Arsenal is the best football club in the world (it obviously is) and not be laughed off. But awesomeness doesn't happen always!
Didn't happen for a few matches until Arsenal's game yesterday. And as far as winning silverware is concerned, awesomeness hasn't happened for 8 years now; and there is no saying when it will! Till then, and even after winning, losses will still happen and they will need to be dealt with!
My personal opinion is that in the current situation, Arsenal's new fans (like yours truly :D) are much better equipped to deal with losses than more veteran fans. The simple reason being that we have only heard of the angst of losing for eight years. We have not truly felt it. We have not seen the repeated cycles of losing focus mid-season...getting THIS close but not winning. Our stint with Arsenal has only seen them play reasonably well, as a result of which we don't really give that much importance to losing one odd game. Of course that's not to say that we are fine with losing. We feel terrible. We hate it. But we just don't end up thinking it's THAT bad. We are blessed with the inherent optimism and hope of victory that comes with not having had to live through a series of losses. And I think that makes us a very very very important link in the collective chain of Arsenal supporters. It's the only thing that can, if at all anyhing can, balance out the cynicism that a lot of veteran fans end up feeling after a loss.
They say, "Damnit, it has always been this way. This is always the time we lose focus." We say, "This year is going to be different." They say, "There are arguments among team members. The unrest won't do us good." We say, "This is the worst of the unrest. Our team will be back soon." They say, "This is bad. And it could get worse." We say, "This is bad. But it could get better!"
And I'm not making these up. These are real conversations I've had. The more I have them, the more I am convinced that new fans are less disturbed by a loss. And it's not because they care less. It's because their eyes are more full of dreams than experience! Which by the way is not a bad thing at all!
The world has always worked that way. There are dreamers and then there are realists. You would expect dreamers to stick with dreamers and realists to stick with the realists. But more often that not, the opposite is true. Because dreamers need realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun and without the dreamers, well, the realists might never get off the ground.
It's us new fans who are the dreamers and veteran fans turned cynics at times, our realists! We need them to keep our feet on the ground and they need us for their hopes to soar a little higher than what seems rational!
When conversations begin with us asking, "So, this Group of Death that Arsenal needs to face in the Champions League, on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is it?" and end with them answering "9.5 if we are lucky and worst case we might not even make it"; we know they are doing their bit very well!
And when conversations begin with them saying, "I am really worried about team morale. We need more than faith now. We need goals and wins." and end us saying, "I will pray for wins and goals. And 3 goals against City is not bad at all. Hi-5!"; or begin with them saying, "We got 2 out of a maximum 9 points. 2nd does not make you champions." and end with us saying "My sweethearts, Giroud and Ramsey, losing their magic, is just to make way for your sweetheart Podolski to come show some magic"; we know we are doing our bit well too!
That's how it will always be! Some of us might not be as dreamy eyed next season, or some of them might get deliriously optimistic and dreamy, depending on how this season goes forth; but there will always exist a perfect balance of love for Arsenal between those who abandon all care in the world, plunge into proclaiming Arsenal Invincible Forever; and those who think, worry, and gently push open a parachute of real statistics and facts, so we land safely on the ground!
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