MMS - good summary.
I've argued on several occasions that because the football world is so inherently unequal, supporters will tend to take much more joy from outperforming expectations in relative terms than in making positive achievements in absolute terms - so, for example, a West Ham or Southampton fan may have enjoyed their Top 7 league finishes more than a Celtic fan may have enjoyed winning the Scottish league in relatively disappointing style last season. As an Arsenal fan, expectations are such that I think relative enjoyment basically means the following (would you agree?):
1) Short-term: Decisive home wins or any away wins over good teams we may not have expected to beat at all, or thumping multi-goal wins against lesser teams
2) Medium-term: Going on a lengthy run of good results and good performances with no obviously bad performances mixed in (e.g., something like getting at least 25 points out of a possible 30 in the league, with no bad losses part of that mix)
3) Long-term: Winning a domestic cup, seriously challenging for the Premier League title over the entire season, or reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League
Saturday's win obviously falls into that first bucket - what a joy to finally break the Chelsea hoodoo in such style (and with Chelsea looking so catastrophically bad). That said, stylistically I think Chelsea was a pretty good matchup for Arsenal as the two teams are currently constructed; as such, I'd like to see the club start moving toward a longer run of medium-term achievement before I get too excited. That result means Arsenal have now won five domestic matches in a row (at Watford, vs. Southampton, at Hull, at Forest, vs. Chelsea) while also drawing at PSG within that run, and next up are eight eminently winnable games:
vs. Basel (Champions League)
at Burnley
vs. Swansea
vs. Ludogorets Razgrad (Champions League)
vs. Middlesbrough
vs. Reading (EFL Cup)
at Sunderland
at Ludogorets Razgrad (Champions League)
If Arsenal can do no worse than winning six and drawing two of those games before the much tougher stretch of vs. Tottenham, at Man Utd and vs. PSG, then I'll start getting excited about longer-term prospects.
I've argued on several occasions that because the football world is so inherently unequal, supporters will tend to take much more joy from outperforming expectations in relative terms than in making positive achievements in absolute terms - so, for example, a West Ham or Southampton fan may have enjoyed their Top 7 league finishes more than a Celtic fan may have enjoyed winning the Scottish league in relatively disappointing style last season. As an Arsenal fan, expectations are such that I think relative enjoyment basically means the following (would you agree?):
1) Short-term: Decisive home wins or any away wins over good teams we may not have expected to beat at all, or thumping multi-goal wins against lesser teams
2) Medium-term: Going on a lengthy run of good results and good performances with no obviously bad performances mixed in (e.g., something like getting at least 25 points out of a possible 30 in the league, with no bad losses part of that mix)
3) Long-term: Winning a domestic cup, seriously challenging for the Premier League title over the entire season, or reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League
Saturday's win obviously falls into that first bucket - what a joy to finally break the Chelsea hoodoo in such style (and with Chelsea looking so catastrophically bad). That said, stylistically I think Chelsea was a pretty good matchup for Arsenal as the two teams are currently constructed; as such, I'd like to see the club start moving toward a longer run of medium-term achievement before I get too excited. That result means Arsenal have now won five domestic matches in a row (at Watford, vs. Southampton, at Hull, at Forest, vs. Chelsea) while also drawing at PSG within that run, and next up are eight eminently winnable games:
vs. Basel (Champions League)
at Burnley
vs. Swansea
vs. Ludogorets Razgrad (Champions League)
vs. Middlesbrough
vs. Reading (EFL Cup)
at Sunderland
at Ludogorets Razgrad (Champions League)
If Arsenal can do no worse than winning six and drawing two of those games before the much tougher stretch of vs. Tottenham, at Man Utd and vs. PSG, then I'll start getting excited about longer-term prospects.