In light of this I may well add more words to my sentences than necessary (as you can see from the previous sentence) in order to make up for lost time. If that confuses you or puts you off in any way then I am happy to send you a vial of the saltiest and most authentic tear drops I can muster.

First off let me offer my traditional pre-ramble greeting to all Arsenal-loving humanoids in existence. As the season has wound down to what seems to be an anti-climactic conclusion my passion for ranting, raving and generally spewing forth ill-thought out ideas about our glorious team has waned ever so slightly and my words have, as a result, been absent from this site for longer than they perhaps should have been.

In light of this I may well add more words to my sentences than necessary (as you can see from the previous sentence) in order to make up for lost time. If that confuses you or puts you off in any way then I am happy to send you a vial of the saltiest and most authentic tear drops I can muster. Although that would probably confuse you and put you off even more so I might just leave it. Up to you really. Email me.

Anyway, the title of this piece is ‘What Do We Do Now?’ and it’s a topic that has been the cause for much discussion amongst the faithful since the season effectively ended a couple weeks back. People’s views seem to fall right across the spectrum – from complete revolution to careful evolution – but the one thing they all have in common is that something has to change. Another season of the same failings would be too much to bear for most and even those who preach long-termism understand that there are there certain issues which need to be rectified as soon as possible. Most of these issues will need to wait until the summer and we can only hope that they are addressed as effectively as we hope and expect.

But before the summer comes we need to think first and foremost about what we do now as in ‘right here, right now at this exactly present point of currentness’. 

There is still a season to finish, is there not? And shoot me down with your grandfather’s musket and hastily bury my half-breathing body for saying so but we do not still have a mathematical chance of winning the league?

Yes and indeed yes are the answers to the those questions and since I used the word ‘mathematical’  there is not a damn thing you can say against that without being justifiably labelled a liar and a heretic. I’m not saying we are going to win the league, I’m not saying I think we’re going to win the league but what I’m saying is that we can still win the league MAFEMATIKLY so while there is any chance at all we should be playing like we are one point off top with a game in hand, as is our duty.

Many of you probably think this is a futile exercise. Outrunning Man City or catching Chelsea should be our aim, yes? Well yes… and no. If we try to win the league then we will automatically be trying to outrun Man City and catch Chelsea, both of which would be by-products of winning the league.

It may be as unlikely as Terry Wogan giving birth to a sentient alarm clock which cures cancer by burping Christmas carols but as long as there is any chance at all of us winning the league then we should f*cking go for it in my book (RRP £87.79). Man U was a start and if we win our last three games then who knows what could happen? The gods of fate might smile down upon us for once and somehow contrive to hand us the title. Then what? Cancer-curing alarm clocks for all, that’s what.

To put it another more Arsenalised way: if Man U and Chelsea both dropped enough points but we hadn’t won our games we would be kicking, punching, stabbing and maiming ourselves for the foreseeable. And I don’t really like pain, even if I am used to it as a fully-fledged Gooner. 

The likelihood is that it won’t happen, but that’s not the point. The point is that we should play as if it is definitely going to happen. The players said after the weekend that they beat Man U because they felt free of pressure. Well now they need to use that new found freedom to push on and develop momentum in case, against all odds, they manage to drag themselves back into pressure. Nothing less will do.

The how’s, why’s, where’s, who’s and what’s of solving Arsenal’s problems can hold off for a few more weeks while we try to finish what we’ve started. Like the marathon runner who is visibly tired in the final stretch we still, at the very least, need to summon up that last burst of energy to get ourselves over the line as far ahead as possible and maintain our sense of self-respect. 

In any case, you cannot turn around and analyse the whole race until it’s finished and it is not yet finished. Let’s see where we are on May 22nd and take it from there. 

Thank you,

WB