Misery loves company - no joy in victory?

For the second year in a row, my team got knocked out of Europe after seemingly forgetting that two-legged ties involve playing a first leg. A 4-0 defeat in Milan last year rendered a 3-0 home win meaningless. A 3-1 home defeat to the German champions-elect required a miracle win in Munich, and the boys came pretty close.

So Arsenal won 2-0 in the Allianz Arena. Nothing to be sniffed at indeed. A performance reminiscent of the 1994 Cup Winners Cup run. It's fairly likely that Bayern were complacent after outperforming the Gunners at home, and it's likely to have been a different game in other circumstances.

But let's repeat that again. Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0. In Munich. In the Champions League. Why were we treated to such apathy, misery and moaning?

 

The BFG applauds the travelling support

We all know the press likes to talk about clubs in crisis, especially Arsenal. And so do the fans - Arsene out, we want our Arsenal back, spend some fucking money are frequently heard. The BBC 5 Live report that evening had the self-appointed gobshite spokesman of a well-known supporters group spouting off about how nothing changes, that the club is still poorly run and there is £70m to spend.

Could we not have just one day of peace? Put our moans aside for one day. A lot of the players who turned out for Arsenal that night cost a fair penny, and when I first started supporting the club in 1986, we were mid-table without a league title since 1971 (or a trophy in seven years). Maybe this is the Arsenal the fans want back?

The assistant in 1994

What happened to enjoyment of a victory? The world thought Arsenal would get destroyed, humiliated. The dropping of the captain and goalkeeper was a white flag. But the players stood up. Giroud is limited, Arteta is out of position and Fabianski was nicknamed Flapiankski for a reason. They were excellent. Mertesacker and Koscielny are much maligned but remained solid. Even renowned German journalist Raphael Honigstein said (on the Guardian's Football Weekly) that Bayern deserved to be eliminated after the display.

The way things are going, there may not be European football next season. But do we need to be so quick to moan? To treat victory with conditions? The club is run in a strange manner, and perhaps there does need to be change.

But we won 2-0 at Bayern Munich. Chelsea got a draw there in May and won't bloody shut up about it... and look at the state of their club.

The Arsenal Supporters Trust