Of Football, Fragility and Self

Frankly, i’m feeling a little infuriated now.

i can accept Arsenal losing, i know we can’t be invincible all the time.

What i can’t accept is being profligate and over-elaborate and then laying down meekly without putting up a fight.

There’s a certain frailty about the football club i so love and i fear that’s part of the reason why i support them as fervently as i do.

I mean, we play the best football on the planet – the most entertaining side on our day bar none – but even then we lack the cold, clinical efficiency and ruthlessness that Man Ure used to have and which Chelski now project in their play.

Sadly, it seems to be the way of geniuses – brilliant but a touch of the fragile, that makes their brilliance all the more precious precisely because of their fleeting, gossamer nature.

i long for the day when someone akin to Tony Adams, the rock of The Arsenal’s famous back five and, for me, the greatest captain ever in the history of The Arsenal, will rise from the ranks of the youths (he has to be Gunner born and bred) and show every other player day in and day out just what it means to wear the badge of The Arsenal with pride and with honour.

Yet, even in the days of Tony Adams and George Graham, when The Arsenal were known for their defensive solidity as much as their grinding, attritional style of play, we always chose to do things the hard way (watch Fever Pitch if you want to know what i mean).

i realise it’s a pattern that cuts across the sports that i bother to follow and in the teams and players that i support.

The Sacramento Kings – choked against the LA Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

Mary Pierce – save her Australian and French Open wins, just about choked every other major tournament and Grand Slam.

Elena Dementieva – one of the best all-round games in women tennis but fatally crippled by her candy-floss serves which kinda reflects her volatile mental game.

Boris Becker – one of the most talented tennis players ever and a legend but could have won so many more Grand Slams, if not for a, you guessed it, fragile temperament.

Mercedes Mclaren – Best driver (Kimi Raikkonen) and the fastest car but also the most unreliable car. (The only reason Fernando Alonso will win the Formula One title this season is because Raikkonen was let down by the car too many times and failed to finish the race on a number of occasions.)

Ye Zhaoying and Zhao Jianhua – Arguably the most gifted badminton players in their time but, as usual, let down many times by their weak mental game.

AC Parma – My fave Italian football club. Finished second in the Serie A a few times in the years when they were still capable of challenging for the scudetto.

It’s so frustrating to support players/teams that are so inherently mercurial. Absolute genius one moment and horrifyingly abysmal the next. When they triumph, the victory tastes that much sweeter but it also means a lifetime of nail-biting dread and horro that at any time (many a time) they’re going to come so close but ultimately disappoint you.

Perhaps it’s because my performance in real life is so often like that as well. Always coming close but never actually winning the top prize.

Mr 2nd Place.

The perennial bridesmaid (or a little more appropriately – the eternal best man?).

Mr Close-But-No-Cigar.

Sigh.

The Arsenal lost 2-1 to Middlesborough at the Riverside Stadium today.