How are Arsenal fans meant to feel after hope was followed by brutal reality check?

The thing about miracles is they don’t come around very often. The dictionary definition pretty well sums up the chances: “An extraordinary and welcome event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.”

At 3-0 down at the Etihad Stadium last night with over half an hour to play, someone shared a stat that came up on their phone. Arsenal had a less than one per cent chance of winning the game. A draw came in at about three per cent. Well! It’s a chance! 

It’s brilliant believing in miracles. It’s a lot better to retain a shred of optimism rather than go through life anticipating the worst. It is revealing, though, that even before the match against Manchester City kicked off, most people of an Arsenal persuasion were thinking along the lines of comparisons to miracles past rather than giving themselves the kind of fighting chance usually associated with a team who are top of the table. 

Trying to absorb the reality of what unfolded in Manchester yesterday is not easy.

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This is not really a time for gallows humour, blaming scapegoats, ranting and raving, or even forensic analysis. It is a particularly weird scenario because it feels over, and yet technically it isn’t. It seems reasonable to react with a kind of mourning for Arsenal’s beautifully promising season but it still has a pulse. You can’t have a post-mortem when the person is not actually dead yet.

Still top. Five more matches. Fifteen more available points. There still exists a possibility, however improbable, that the stampeding elephant trampling all in its midst unexpectedly tumbles. 

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Arsenal’s bruised players have to get up today and crack on. They have to close out the noise, try to put aside their emotions, and go back to work. It’s OK for Arsenal supporters to have weirdly mixed feelings — sad and frustrated but also proud of the wonderful and hopeful upsurge this team represents. It’s also OK for Mikel Arteta and his squad to feel some similar emotions — but not for long. The intense world of elite performance means the time for a human reaction is limited.

The chasm that opened up between the teams occupying the top two positions in the Premier League during Wednesday’s 90 minutes hurts. The body blows were too easily conceded. At this particular moment in time — low on form, key performers misfiring, damaged confidence piercing the freedom to play their best football — Arsenal couldn’t summon the fight, never mind the finesse, to make it competitive. That hurts too. That much was obvious in Arteta’s reference to duels. An uncontested duel is one of his basic no-nos. 

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In time, he might also reflect upon his part in this game and whether he might have tried a different strategy, or changed something earlier to try to dam the tide. Kevin De Bruyne explained how City started with an unusual double pivot, with the freedom to spring from there. Arsenal could — and maybe should — have done the same to try to provide a bit more stability. You live and learn. 

A highlights reel of Arsenal in their pomp this season shows how extensively they have raised their own bar, and come the end of it in a month’s time they might well curse that the fixtures computer placed their two matches against City during their two dips.

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All of Arsenal’s players have had better days than Wednesday, felt more buoyant, more sure of touch, more ambitious on the ball. Combinations have been more instinctive and quick. Passing moves have flowed better. Interceptions have been more precise. Individual errors have felt less likely. How many Arsenal players were anywhere near their best at the Eithad?

Compare what we saw yesterday to a match that felt pivotal last season, when they went eyeball to eyeball with these same opponents at the Emirates before losing 2-1 to a stoppage-time goal. While in the league as a whole Arteta’s team have been a tougher proposition in 2022-23 than they have for years, against the strongest they took a lot of punishment. 

As one fan said in the aftermath of their rude City awakening, “Oh my god we are fucking miles away, but also cut them some slack. They are the second-youngest team in the league and they are top. Let’s not belittle what they’ve done this season.”

Right now, the team have to refocus and remember what got them to the point where they have led the league for most of this campaign. Arsenal with the wind in their sails have recharged the whole club. When the wind dropped, they have stalled.

But Arsenal have rediscovered love this season. The fans fell for this team big time. That is so important. Especially in an era where the most dominant team are so powerful it is asking a lot to get ahead, and stay ahead, of that. Enjoying your own team and the moments and memories they produce matters. 

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What comes next? Short term, it’s preparation for the visit of Chelsea next Tuesday, and endeavouring to get back to their best levels. Longer term, it will be about consideration for the next stage of this team’s development.

Recruitment will be fascinating. Arteta, sporting director Edu and the rest must consider the shape of a squad which will have the Champions League on the agenda for the first time in seven years, as well as another go at the big Premier League monster to see if they can get their claws in a bit deeper next time. 

A couple of years ago, they focused on bringing in players to elevate the squad. Last summer it was about players to strengthen the first team. Arteta wanted that level or better.

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Now, maybe, it is a combination of both needed to push on from here. 

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(Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

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