At the start of 2020, despite the feel-good factor of Mikel Arteta’s late-December appointment as our new manager, I had concerns and questions, a worrying emotional distance, and a healthy dose of the scepticism that stems only from a much-burned, long-suffering sports fan. And, yet, by the time the final whistle rolled around on that New Year’s Day, I was back in that pit. Wholehearted and reckless, well aware of the dangers—despair and heartbreak be damned.
After the match, I spoke about how I was struggling to explain that “elusive, tangible something that separates the right fit from everyone else”. At that point, all we had was a draw, a gut-punch loss, and a heady win. So what, you say? One match, or even five, is too minuscule a sample size for any sweeping declarations. Statistics can be misleading and twisted; then again so can narratives.
Yet, and yet.
January 22, 2023. Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United. Here I am, talking about my third fixture between the two for an Alternative Match Report. I’ve spoken previously about narrative cycles in football. But even I have to pause for a moment and bask in how effortlessly last night’s performance and result—arguably vital in context of this season—slots into the larger narrative around the club.