How long has it been since we’ve had an Arsenal fanbase so galvanised and unified in purpose behind the team?
As the cameras kept rolling in the aftermath of our 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday, and the strains of ‘We’ve got super Mik Arteta’ rang out around Villa Park, it struck me that we might be witnessing something we haven’t experienced for an age…if ever.
I’ve been supporting Arsenal for more than three decades and it feels like a truly long time since we’ve had a fanbase so free of conflict and so certain of the direction of the team. If Mikel Arteta has achieved anything, it’s been the melding together of a fanbase that has been fractured and polarised for an age.
Make no mistake, there will always be those who are an adverse result away from meltdown – a consequence of the social media age – but right now, there is a 12th man feeling about our fans, home and away, that has lifted the mood and lifted the team.
And while things were unbelievable under the first decade of Arsene Wenger, we became so used to perfection and so comfortable in success that we forget what it feels like to go hungry. There’s a reason why Highbury acquired its ‘library’ tag and the move to the Emirates didn’t do a tremendous amount to change things.
Since fans have been back in stadiums, though, and with the emergence of these new, phenomenally talented Arsenal generation, we have rediscovered something. There is connection to this group that is so potent it evokes something from a different era.
The players sense it too. They’ve fostered it, they’ve encouraged it, and now they are reaping its rewards. There’ll continue to be trouble along the way – that’s football after all – but right now it feels good.
Victories like the one at Villa Park, in which the players are ready to die for the cause, and the fans are giving everything they’ve got – before, during and after the match – typifies this new era and it’s crucial it continues to build.
We’ve got a lengthy break now before Premier League action resumes and then we’re into the home straight – a final run-in that looks particularly tricky for Arsenal on paper. This fledgling squad-fan relationships – this symbiosis of sorts – is going to need to be rock solid because it won’t all be plain sailing.
However, there’s no doubt we’re witnessing something special with this group and if they can hold their nerve in these last nine games or so, they’ll forge a bond with fans the like of which we may never have seen.
Come on you Gunners!
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