Well, that was that. A couple of days on and I obviously still can’t think about anything other than Arsenal’s season. The end of a season feels so final; you’ve pored over every detail for 10 months, everyone involved has poured everything they have into those 10 months, and now it’s all over. When things restart, we start from zero.
But we really don’t. The construction and development of this Arsenal team hasn’t been with 2022/23 or 2023/24 as the be-all and end-all, not will 2024/25 be that. Teams are built over time and they continue to develop, to take steps backwards and forwards, as time goes on. I have loved living those steps over the past few years and I’m looking forward to seeing the steps that are coming next.
But for just I just keep coming to Sunday and everything that preceded it. There are too many competing feelings and thoughts to process. The updates filtering through the ground during the 90 minutes were mostly bad, the final whistle didn’t feel good, but it was a great day all the same.
It’s fair to say wasn’t much expectation around but its place was taken by hope - What if? Why not? - and by pride. The hope was gone by the end of the game but the pride had only grown. The devastation seemed to hit the players a lot harder than the fans and the consolation that went from the stands to the pitch was beautiful. The overwhelming majority of Arsenal fans don’t feel they are owed anything by the players or the manager. That’s not a feeling we're used to.
And even then, in that embracing atmosphere, Martin Ødegaard again referenced the belief we have and Mikel Arteta demanded we don’t allow ourselves to feel satisfied. More is coming our way and they have no doubt they will deliver it. Nor do I. I suspect i’m not alone, given how busy, how loud, how buoyant the pubs near the ground still were hours later. There was no title but people clearly still felt there was plenty worth soaking up and worth celebrating. This season is going to live long in the memory and we’re going to look bad fondly.
You don’t need me to run through the numbers - wins, goals, clean sheets - because that’s been done to death, but this season was the third in a row I’ve absolutely loved. The investment - emotional, financial, the time that goes into watching every game all season long - didn’t feel remotely worth it for a while. It was tied up in duty, in personal identity, in force of habit. Because you can’t just abandon the club when things aren’t good.
The struggles, so much more recent than they feel now, have made these three years so much sweeter.
I think it’s interesting how long a season feels when you look back. Gabriel didn’t start in the opening weeks, Fábio Vieira was briefly keeping Kai Havertz out of the team. Suddenly Jakub Kiwior was playing every game, only to disappear again just as abruptly as he burst through, and Havertz - back in the team but up front was starring every game and Leandro Trossard (again, olé, olé) couldn’t miss just when we really, really needed someone to not miss, and Gabriels Martinelli and Jesus could barely get a look-in. I'll try to write something about all of that over on Arseblog in the next couple of weeks.
This team has evolved and will keep evolving - formations, approaches, new faces - in front of us and I’m really looking forward to seeing how.
Maybe there’ll be a midfielder, or a winger, or a striker arriving this summer. Or any combination of the above. Maybe we’ll get to enjoy a full season of a fit Jurriën Timber. Throw in the return of personal favourite Wojciech Szczesny and maybe a surprise somewhere, it’s all very exciting. But I think I want to let 2023/24 breathe more before really starting to think about all that and what’s ahead of us.
Now, sitting in the airport on Tuesday - a day later than I’d have liked to fly, but I couldn’t risk missing a parade, I’m just grateful for another weekend doing the thing I love at a place I love with people I love. I can’t wait to be back in the north London sunshine and I am absolutely convinced this Arsenal team will be back fighting for major honours again and again over the next few years. We’ll get our parade.