January 15 – Arsenal win Sp*rs lose

Maybe I’m childish. Maybe I’m mentally challenged. Maybe I’m immature. But this one felt like a victory. Fuck the moral victory in losing 2-1 to Man City. Ignore the fiasco against Forest. And even the Battle of Anfield resistance. This is up there with 3 points at WHL. No game tomorrow. Outstanding. Better than a draw. Better than 3 points.

Just think of all the gnashing of teeth and angst amongst their fans. They loose match day revenue (for now). They lose the chance to play against our depleted team. Their chance to crush us in retaliation to our demolition of them at our place. Oh, how pissed off they must be. Tee fucking hee. Best possible outcome this. And we don’t even have to lift a finger. We don’t have to sit on the edge of our seats and bite our nails. I can relax and enjoy my Sunday. Nope, care of the FA we’ve ruined their day. We’ve ruined their weekend. It does not get much better than that.

I have not checked – and I will – but I can only hope they are all complaining about the unfairness of it all. The injustice. And I’m sure the pundits will have a field day. Well, fuck them. Where were they when we were robbed against City? Exactly. Please let them all suffer. Please let them all wind themselves up into a hysterical state that leads to their heads exploding.

To watch them all degenerate into a mass of catatonic anger is priceless. To see them fume and decry their inability to play us when the odds were clearly in their favor. How sweet is that? There is nothing like watching other people suffer. And when it’s that lot down the road it’s even better. It’s better than better. It’s fucking brilliant. I’ve always said watching them suffer is more enjoyable than watching us soar. But that’s just because I’m a petty, bitter man (child). I can’t help myself. It’s just way too much fun.

I didn’t expect this outcome. I assumed the FA – as they usually do – would deny our request. So, finally we get one form the FA and we put one over on them. Sweet. And, if I was to try and be objective – and there’s not possible reason for that – I would also argue it was borderline stupid. For the good of the game the match should have been played. But then for the good of the game the Saudi’s should not have been allowed to buy Newcastle, Man City should have been deducted 21 points for financial dropping and the WC should have been awarded to any other country than Qatar. So, again, fuck the good of the game.

Our squad is depleted. But, we knew this would happen. The ACN was not news to us. Those 4 players were destined to not be with us. We should have been prepared. And then we lose a few players to injury. That’s the nature of the game and no-one else’s fault. It’s just the nature of the beast. And then we have a few cases of COVID. Not rampant. Not like how it was against Brentford at the start of the season which should have been postponed. And then there is the red card. That red card – given the impact in the game – turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Without the red card we might not have seen this game postponed. So thank you Xhaka. You are a star.

How the FA could agree to postpone though is baffling. Prior to the pandemic, this would never have happened. But here we are with only a few COVID infections and we get the game postponed. Perfect. Not only is it exactly what we needed but it’s exactly the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. The FA have been true to themselves. Incompetent and inconsistent. And for once it’s worked in our favor.

Tomorrow would have been a fiasco. Without a midfield we would have been battered. Without ESR and, possibly, Saka, we would have not outlet. And without Pepe we’d have had no….oh, right forget that. Sure, when the match is rescheduled Son will surely be available and he’ll likely score the winning goal in retribution. But we’ll have Partey back. We’ll have Xhaka back. And we’ll have a fit ESR and Saka. And, maybe, just maybe, we’ll have another midfield player and another striker.

And now we have a clear week until Liverpool return for the second leg. Time for us to recharge after that defensive master-class. And they will still be without Mane and Salah. Could not have planned it any better. And, after that, we have Burnley minus the monstrously ugly Wood in their line-up. And no Xhaka to concede a penalty.

That all folks. Just a short one today; that’s what she said (see earlier reference to being childish please). What a great day.

-LB7