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Let’s get it out of the way. Arsenal were horrid in the Carabao Cup Final. They were outplayed and outclassed. I purposely stayed away from Arsenal Twitter after the match, as I really didn’t need to drown my sorrows in a negativity overload. More than 24 hours later, though, and the abject team performance is still eating away at me.
Rather than seeing what the usual malcontents had to say, I wanted the perspective of a longtime Arsenal fan. I reached out to Charles Barber. His Twitter bio reads, “Silver member of THE ARSENAL, supported through thick and thin since 1950.” That’s 68 years of supporting the Gunners!
I sent him a message asking what he thought of the current state of the team.
I encourage Arsenal supporters to read his replies:
We are going through a crisis of confidence right now, it has happened before, it will happen again. I have seen our club threatened with relegation and regularly finish around the middle of the table. The great back four, Merson, IW etc finished 10th and 12th, 1/2
— Charles Barber (@cwb1365) February 26, 2018
2/2 can you imagine the vitriol from our flaky basefans if social media had been available. There is no doubt in my mind of the desire amongst the players and staff to succeed. I also know that abusing them is not going to help. At their level the game can be easy or impossible
— Charles Barber (@cwb1365) February 26, 2018
I felt a lot better after getting Mr. Barber’s tweets. Did they make the pain of this lousy season go away? No, but they certainly put things in perspective.
I looked up past Arsenal seasons and saw that in the inaugural Premier League campaign the Gunners finished 10th. The 1994-1995 season was even worse, with the team ending up in 12th.
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The point of all this is that sports, like life needs to be put in perspective. I am not saying that fans should accept mediocrity, but that old saying “win some, lose some” is true.
My reply to Mr. Barber’s tweets pretty much sums up how I personally look at the current Arsenal situation:
I guess I look at the @Arsenal situation from a US sports fan's point of view...I support the @Mets & @Jets & both have a long history of SUCKING. As a fan you just suck it up & hope. So while Arsenal are not doing as well as they used to they are a far cry from the Mets & Jets.
— Jocelyn Taub (@JT4Mets4Arsenal) February 26, 2018
It’s true. No matter what happens, at least Arsenal are not the Mets or Jets.