Fulham 2-2 Arsenal: Match Report Cancelled Due to Indifference

I honestly meant to have something up either Sunday night or Monday morning, but simply could not motivate myself to do so. I mean, what do you say, really? Bullet points will probably suffice:

  • Robin scored again, from a spectacular individual effort again. Good lord, imagine if he had any help at all half the time - he'd be threatening for the Golden Boot easily.
  • Fulham got two goals thanks to Arsenal defensive miscues. I'll give you a second to recover from the shock.
  • Theo scored right at the death to give us a draw we didn't deserve, basically creating the chance himself with a lung-busting run past the sleepy Cottagers defense. His finish was a beauty, too.
  • The rest was mind-numbing end-of-season piffle. I wasn't even mad that we didn't get the stream working until the 44th minute.

There will be plenty of off-season chatter here about transfers, the season in retrospective, and so on. You can expect a post from Peter soon to kick it off, as I just don't have the energy at moment.

All I can say is that I have never, ever been as disillusioned with the Arsenal as I am at the current time. Just to be clear, being disillusioned is not the same thing as being a fair-weather supporter. If we finished 7th, 17th or 20th, I'd be behind the red and white just as much as I am when they're 4th or 1st (we did use to get there from time to time, though it feels like the Pleistocene Era when last we did). Still, it's my right as a fan to not agree with the direction the team is going, and that's where I am right now.

I'll put it this way - I mentioned to my roommate yesterday that if you gave me 10-1 odds on Arsenal finishing outside the top four next season, I would put $100 on it if the summer goes as I'm afraid it's going to. Sure, imagination is often worse than reality...that's what keeps the makers of horror films in business. But, it's at least plausible that we'll lose Fabregas and Nasri, we'll lose Bendtner and Arshavin as well and replace them with little other than this year's rumored crop of pre-teens that we're supposed to be buying (Jenkinson from Charlton and Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton, if memory serves).

Even worse would be the above happening while the deadwood doesn't get cleared out (especially if we ask too high of a fee for them). Hell, if it comes to it, we should pay someone to take Denilson or Diaby off our hands.

I don't know - I just fear that the rot is even deeper in this side than we've thought, especially in attitude and application.

On that cheery note, I'll leave you in Pete's capable hands for the next posting. I'll chime in from time to time during the summer as events unfold, and should be back with match reports for the Emirates Cup, when Thierry Henry reminds us of when we had players fit to wear the shirt.


The Modern Gooner Season Player Ratings:

Goalkeepers: Almunia 0, Fabianski 7, Szezcsny 8, Lehmann 6

Defense: Clichy 4, Djourou 7, Koscielny 6, Sagna 8, Gibbs 6, Eboue 5, Squillaci 3, Vermaelen 6

Midfielders: Fabregas 7, Nasri 7, Arshavin 5, Wilshere 8, Song 7, Ramsey 7, Walcott 7, Rosicky 4, Vela 5, Diaby 5, Denilson 3

Strikers: van Persie 9 (Player of the Season), Bendtner 6, Chamakh 6