Yeah, we had lost some really calibre players in the off-season before the season even started. But then, the young players performed encouragingly and deservingly of some plaudits that they received then in the beginning, seeing off teams that their predecessors would have fumbled against with aplomb and swagger. Yeah, there were those Fulham and Hull occassions, but then we thought there were just early season jitters.
Stoke came next, and on the back of a precarious draw against Tottenham.
But then we beat Man United next in a most breathtaking match, and people though we were back. I had then begun to look forward to our future games with more enthusiasm. The Gunners to go all the way now? I couldn't be blamed for being optimistic.
Then the naive side of the team showed again against Aston Villa last week, and the whole optimism that was in the air after the Man United match crumbled again. And last week, the revelations made by the now former captain William Gallas of internal strife gave the young team another smack in the face. And last night, we got swept by Man City's team in construction aspiring to be another Chelsea.
The professorial Frenchman will have a huge task taking the team out of the mud they're in at the moment. In Arsene we trust!
With all the above happening in just a third of the season gone, Arsene Wenger has a gargantuan task ahead of him to bring the team back on track. Heck, I've always had faith in the thoughtful Frenchman, but for the first time ever since he surprised me and almost everyone else in the footballing world by bringing the Gunners to the title from nowhere in 1998, my resolute faith is somewhat tested.
Only time will tell if all Arsenal's fan out there will have reasons to celebrate come May 2009.
