Recap: Arsenal’s rollercoaster of a season continues as the club have gone from bottom of the table to 4th on New Years Day. After a winless January they sit 6th in the league with 15 games today. Zac is still drinking his way through Islington.
Episode 4 – Back on Track II
Brentford (H)
It was absolutely bucketing down just as we flocked out of The Arsenal towards the Emirates.
The players did not let it dampen their spirits though, delivering one of the season’s most complete, controlled performances to earn a 2-1 victory.
Oddly enough, I stood in Block 7 of the North Bank next to two season ticket holders from Wiltshire who turned out to be Manchester United supporters.
They had been given the tickets through work and told me they were North Bank regulars.
Despite disagreeing with their original choice of team, I had a lovely time after the final whistle with them in The Faltering Fullback, treating them to one of London’s best pints of Guinness.
If you haven’t been there, give it a try next season, you won’t regret it!
Wolves (H) – best atmosphere of season
There was a sense of cautious optimism in The Victoria Tavern preceding a midweek match under the lights.
We had beaten Wolves at Molineux, the only blemish for them whilst they were in their best form of the season and pushing for a Europa League spot.
Consequently, we all feared the worst when Hwang Hee-Chan pounced on a Gabriel error to give Wolves an early lead.
In fact, that shock concession worked in Arsenal’s favour as Wolves sat back, seemingly intent on stealing a 1-0 win.
Yet Nicolas Pepe’s introduction from the bench changed the game.
Full of purpose, the Ivorian levelled with six minutes to go before playing an influential part in Alexandre Lacazette’s deflected winner to send the stadium into delirium.
Only four rows back in the North Bank, it was absolute bedlam.
The anxiety of the previous 90 minutes poured out from inside each and every one of us, to bring an end to an unforgettable night.
This could well be a contender for one of the best games of the Emirates era.
Recap: Arsenal have recovered from that start to sit 4th going into the New Year. Zac returns from his Christmas trip to Chile and continues his journey…
Episode 3 – (un)Happy New Year
Liverpool (A) – Carabao minibus
Coming back fresh a chilli from Chile, it was time to get back to it.
It was an early start for the minibus up to Liverpool, but due to traffic on the wretched old M6, we made kick-off by the skin of our teeth.
People who watch a lot of games on Sky say that the atmosphere at Anfield is to akin to a ferocious cauldron that bubbles away, making it hell for the visiting side.
It’s anything but.
All we could hear were chants of
‘Fuck the Tories’. This was simply ironic as the man many Scousers once adored, Jeremy Corbyn, presided over the constituency of Islington North.
Granit Xhaka had one of his all too familiar hot-headed moments, but after going down to ten men, we dug in.
That was until Takumi Minamino had the goal at his mercy, only to blaze over in front of The Kop. Enter stage right Ben White, who gave us one of the images of the season by leaping in front of Minamino to celebrate.
Anfield cleared like wind in a desert storm, aside from 6,000 Gooners, who virtually had to be forced out to head back to London.
If a Liverpool fan tries to convince you that their atmosphere is unmatched, they are lying. Their support was worse than even Southampton’s, but that’s for another day.
Liverpool (H) – Carabao pins
Still on a high from an unexpected draw in the first leg a week earlier, the Arsenal faithful had strong reasons to believe they would make it to Wembley come the end of the night.
Catching up with an old school friend in The Twelve Pins was a lovely way to start proceedings, but it only went downhill from there.
We were abject on the pitch, certainly undeserving of a place in the final, but the fact that we got ourselves in a position to do that after the first leg made me incredibly proud of Mikel Arteta’s men.
Burnley (H)
In the Pins for the pre-game once again, a scarcely believable occurrence took place.
We were moved outside for “chanting too loud” and refused entry back inside. Needless to say that was the last time I went there before a match for the rest of the season.
The game was the most nondescript affair of the whole campaign. Burnley stuck 10 men behind the ball and were disciplined enough to earn a point.
A winless January with one goal scored across the entire month, combined with zero signings despite numerous outgoings, meant this month can rightly be looked back on as a missed opportunity.
Recap: After 3 defeats in the opening 3 games and 0 goals scored, Arsenal’s 2021/22 season could not have got off to a worse start. Zac continues to follow the team up and down the country in the hope his team gets back on track.
Episode 2 – Back on Track
Norwich (H)
After the nadir of City, Norwich feels like a defining game. Win, and we might be back on track. Lose, and we might be in the mud.
The Coronet is the choice of pre-match destination this time. Cheap off-brand Jägers do a great job at easing any nerves.
It’s a scrappy game, but Premier League debutants Takehiro Tomiyasu and Aaron Ramsdale are excellent, and the three points are in the bag.
We head south to Elephant & Castle and a night of chaos ensues at The Rockingham Arms.
Two Arsenal fans, a Chelsea fan from Rutland and a Liverpool fan from Bedfordshire allow shots to be fired from corner to corner. We all stumble home as Saturday night gives way to Sunday morning. That’s more like it.
Spurs (H)
Every North London Derby matters. This one feels like it could define the season’s momentum for the two clubs. The other, well they’ve made a good start, but they never win in Islington.
Unusually, I choose not to settle in a battler cruiser before the game, instead pacing up and down the Holloway Road and sitting outside the concourse with an old pal before the game to calm my nerves.
Losing against them is not an option.
I needn’t have worried. The Arsenal come roaring out of the blocks to go 3-0 up midway through the first half. Dominance has been asserted once again.
Although I head home a good two hours after the final whistle, the platform at Finsbury Park is bouncing. The carriages have a carnival atmosphere. North London, like it always has been and always will be is RED.
Brighton (A)
After the derby win, tickets for a Saturday trip to Brighton – actually Falmer – are rarer than the sight of a stocked trophy cabinet at White Hart Lane.
Miraculously, I manage to secure one after searching high and low whilst on holiday in Denmark.
The 11 o’clock train from London Bridge is rammed, full of booze, chants and camaraderie. It feels like The Arsenal have returned.
It’s bucketing it down as we exit Brighton station, but fierce rain on the south coast does nothing to dampen our spirits. Or our vocal chords. The Bright Hemp is heaving, full of Gooners in top voice.
Around 3pm or so, we all get escorted out for a mysterious reason that has yet to become clear. The rain is worse than earlier as we descend from Falmer Station towards the AMEX. It’s lashing it down.
The only thing worse than that rain? Arsenal’s performance. We were extremely fortunate to get away with a 0-0 draw.
A shoutout to Felix, who I met on the train down to Brighton. Absolute top Gooner who I’ve gone to share many games with since. Thank God I had a spare can of lager, otherwise you might have snubbed me!
Leeds (H) – Carabao
A half-day at work, at very short notice, is granted to me by my boss at the time.
The clocks are soon turning back so of course it’s bloody freezing again. Everyone in The Tollington is shuffling their feet like an excited group of penguins. It’s the only solution to this intense cold.
Leeds are loud, but poor on the pitch, and we duly sweep them aside by 3 goals to 1. Eddie does Eddie things by managing to chip Ilan Meslier before almost surrendering an open goal as he falls over his own feet.
We don’t do things easily at The Arsenal.
Palace (H)
Not much happened before this one, aside from a few cans on the painstakingly slow SWR service to Vauxhall, as my boss forgot to reschedule a meeting.
We take an early lead through Alexandre Lacazette but let Palace back in by far too indecisive on and off the ball.
James McArthur somehow escapes a red card for a tackle on Bukayo Saka that would start an all-out brawl in an ice hockey arena. Palace lead 2-1, it looks like it’s over.
Villa (H)
A Friday night kick-off is good fun, but only if you finish work early enough.
Dangerously close to missing kick-off after having to commute from home in suburbia, I resort to taking the train to Arsenal station for the first and only time this season. That’s when fans know they really have no time!
The journey is made all the more amusing by us laughing about Villa’s predicament under the soon to be sacked Dean Smith, which their fans overhear.
We expect some heated exchanges.
Only they join in, lamenting in only the way a match-going fan can about the ups and downs of the drug that is The Beautiful Game.
A 3-1 win, which The Arsenal dominate, ensures a happy start to the weekend. Jacob Ramsey deserves an honourable mention for scoring one of the finest consolation goals you will see. That was a cracker.
Watford (H) – ???
Newcastle (H) – Hangover and post-match rave in Hackney
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 