Nobody Ever Wins Before a Match...

It's Christmas Eve. Time to get it over with, and back to the good ole crunch of English football between now and the New Year.

This post, though, goes out to a good friend who's leaving the shores nearest to me right now.

In so doing, he reminded me of something about football, and its beauty, that nobody ever wins a match before it starts; and that by extension, we can all revel in the glory of optimism and being a fan before the cold reality of kick-off and 90 minutes.

He's basically right. But I'd say only 99% right.

Yes, that feeling you get before kick-off can't be beat. You're on top of the world, nervous, twitchy, whatever. It just feels pretty good. You've probably waited a whole week, and it's probably been building for a long long time. Your damn team may still lose, you may then go through 90 minutes, plus another week of depressive hell before getting that little feeling in your stomach again before the next kick-off. We're mad, but we do it.

So that's 99% of the time.

The 1%? Well, if you're an Arsenal fan, you're pretty much familiar with it these days.

It comes before a game with Chelski or Man U (or even Barca, bloody hell). You basically know what's going to happen. You don't really get that feeling anymore. (NB: I was a nervous wreck before the Partizan game, but went into the subsequent Man U game with a half-rueful, half-resigned smile). You're more hope than nerves, and that ain't good.

Maybe that's exactly what happens when our 11 take to the pitch too. They go in with that "ah, shit, we know what's gonna happen" look in their eyes, and thoughts in their heads. That's what our Captain Cesc knows, and probably what the boss knows as well.

They have one last chance to make it right on Monday. It's our first home game against the likes of Man U, Chelski, Manciti and even Liverpool and Villa this season. We've already choked and died against the lesser lights of West Brom and Newcastle. Flub our lines again...

Anyway. We can only hope. We don't get paid the wages they do. So they should bloody well go out there and take care of the business.

But I'm not getting that nervous feeling though...