There is something about late-season football played in sunshine that makes you philosophical. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that the campaign is drawing to a close, that the rhythms and routines of Saturday afternoons and Tuesday evenings will shortly give way to the aching void of summer. Perhaps it’s simply the warmth on your face and the cold beer in your hand. Either way, as we secured three points on a glorious afternoon, I found myself thinking less about the result and more about what it all means.
The match: efficient, professional, fine
We won. Three points, clean sheet, job done. In the context of the season, it was precisely the kind of result we needed — not spectacular, not dramatic, just quietly efficient. Santi Cazorla pulled the strings in midfield with that casual brilliance that makes him look as though he’s playing a different sport from everyone else. Olivier Giroud worked the channels, held the ball up, and generally made a nuisance of himself in the way that Giroud does when he’s in the mood.
The goal, when it came, was well-worked. A quick exchange of passes on the edge of the box, a clever run from Aaron Ramsey — who has been magnificent this season, truly magnificent — and a finish that was more assured than spectacular. The Emirates erupted, or at least stirred from its slumber, which in the context of that particular ground amounts to roughly the same thing.
The season in microcosm
This match, in many ways, told the story of our season. We controlled possession, created chances, looked comfortable for long stretches, and then — inevitably, maddeningly — allowed the opposition a sniff. Per Mertesacker, who has been outstanding for most of the campaign, had one of those moments where his lack of pace was cruelly exposed, and suddenly what should have been a comfortable afternoon became briefly uncomfortable.
We survived. We usually do, eventually. But the fact that a mid-table side can cause us problems even when we’re playing well tells you something about where we are as a team. Good enough to challenge, not quite good enough to dominate. Close, but not yet there. The story of Arsenal since 2006, really.
The sunshine makes optimists of us all. Sitting in the late afternoon light, watching the players do their lap of appreciation, it was impossible not to feel that something is building here. Whether that feeling survives contact with the transfer window remains to be seen.
What this season has taught us
We have learned that Mesut Özil is a wonderful footballer who needs time to adapt to the physical demands of the Premier League. We have learned that Aaron Ramsey, when fit and firing, is one of the best midfielders in England. We have learned that our defence is good enough on its good days and alarmingly fragile on its bad ones. And we have learned, once again, that Arsène Wenger’s commitment to a certain style of football is both our greatest strength and, occasionally, our most frustrating limitation.
The transfer window looms. We need a striker. We need a defensive midfielder. We need, if we’re being honest, a centre-back who can run faster than a moderately fit postman. These are not new observations. They are the same observations we have been making for three or four seasons now, which is precisely why they induce such weary frustration.
But today, in the sunshine, none of that matters quite as much as it usually does. Today, we won. Today, the football was good. Today, Cazorla did things with a football that made you remember why you fell in love with the game in the first place. And tomorrow, the sun will rise, and the season will end, and we’ll spend the summer refreshing Twitter for transfer news and pretending we’re not bothered.
A word on philosophies
Wenger is often accused of being too wedded to his philosophy. Too stubborn. Too committed to doing things the “right way” when a more pragmatic approach might yield better results. There is merit in this criticism, and I’ve made it myself on occasion. But on days like today, when the football flows and the passes find their targets and the movement is sharp and intelligent, you understand why he does it. You understand the vision.
Football is not just about results. It is about the manner of the result. It is about creating something that elevates the game beyond mere competition and into something approaching art. Wenger believes this, genuinely and deeply, and while it sometimes costs us trophies, it also gives us afternoons like this one — afternoons where you leave the ground feeling that you’ve witnessed something worthwhile.
Three points. Sunshine. And, if we’re lucky, the FA Cup final still to come. This season, for all its frustrations, has not been without its pleasures. I’ll take the optimism while it lasts. Summer is coming, and with it, as always, the questions that never quite get answered.
But for now, three points. Sunshine. And the quiet, stubborn belief that next year could be the year. It always could be the year. That, I suppose, is the philosophy.