For many football fans, Arsenal winning the Premier League might seem like a doomsday scenario.
But is it really that bad?
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Maybe we’ve been looking at it all wrong.
Arsenal winning the league is a moment that has been a long, arduous 22 years in the making.
Of course, their name is far from being engraved on the Premier League trophy, even if they are six points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
That margin could shrink to three if City beat the Gunners on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium in what is shaping up to be a title-deciding contest.
Given Arsenal have not won at the Etihad in over a decade, conventional wisdom points towards a City result, sparking a significant title twist.
But, as eSPORTY’s Angelina Kelly argued in the latest episode of Fiery Fridays, is there any excitement in City winning the league for a seventh time in nine years?
Gunner get behind them
“We’ve seen a lot of people poke a lot of fun at Arsenal, if they’ll bottle it,” Manchester United fan Kelly began.
“A lot of support for super Pep Guardiola and his side’s recent good form. But let’s be honest, the neutrals should be 100 per cent be rooting for Arsenal.
“Are we not all bored of Manchester City winning things? They’ve proven time and time again, they’ve been a wonderful team under Pep Guardiola. But do we not want a change? Even if it is, as Adrian said last week, the robots that are Arsenal?”
Hot Rod
Kelly also argued part of City’s resurgent form, which has taken advantage of Arsenal’s slip-up against Bournemouth last Saturday, has been inspired by Rodri’s presence in midfield.
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She pointed out that, in a parallel universe, Rodri may not have featured for City in recent fixtures had he been suspended rather than fined for questioning whether the referee was ‘neutral’ during a 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
“He didn’t even apologise, he tried to justify the comments,” Kelly added.
“Had he been banned, let’s say for two games, he would have missed the West Ham draw and the League Cup final which kickstarted Arsenal’s recent dip. Who knows, had he not been available, the results could have been different.
“Do we really want a team winning the league whose players can just come out and imply referees are biased and try to influence them like that?
“It’s far worse in my opinion than Arsenal standing near goalkeepers at corners.”
Kelly also defended Arsenal against the notion they are boring, pointing out they have scored just one goal less than City in the league this term.
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Ultimately, Kelly believes ‘whoever wins the leaguer will obviously be deserving.’
“But the blind loyalty to a club who wins it all the time versus embracing an exciting moment in the history of the Premier League just baffles me,” Kelly said.
Unfortunately for Kelly, her Fiery Fridays co-hosts Adrian Durham and Alex Crook returned serve with what might be the view of the wider footballing public, especially given how many enjoyed a cheeky City fan drinking from an Arsenal bottle.
Durham: Arsenal’s football is terrible and Arteta is so dislikable
“Where’s the exciting moment with Arsenal,” Durham replied.
“I just don’t get it. Where is the excitement with Arsenal? They are so terrible to watch. They are not even going to get to 90 points even if they win the Premier League.
“When people were saying earlier in the season, ‘These are going to be the worst champions ever,’ I was thinking, ‘That is really harsh’. But now we’re getting to the run-in, I’m thinking, ‘It’s right.’
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“If they do win the title, they are the worst champions ever because their football is so terrible, their manager is so dislikable. And they basically are cheating their way through these niggly little fouls and little dives here and there to a title.”
It’s not just the Premier League title Arsenal are in the mix for, as they booked their spot in the Champions League semi-finals thanks to a 1-0 aggregate win over Sporting in what was, in no uncertain terms, a rather drab display.
The victory against Sporting means, for now, Arsenal can still pull off the double.
But even if they don’t manage the remarkable feat, Gunners fans no doubt will be overjoyed with securing at least one piece of silverware, which will be their first since the FA Cup in 2020.
Be humble, or don’t
No matter which trophy they win, if that transpires, Crook fears just how ‘unbearable’ Arsenal supporters will become.
“If they (Manchester City) win the league on that Sunday afternoon in May, we’ll forget about it on Monday tea time,” Crook said.
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“If Arsenal win the league, they’re never going to let us forget about it, especially if they go on to win the double and win the European cup, which they’ve never done.
“They’ll be unbearable, Arsenal fans. They are unbearable, because I mentioned before, they try to be humble but they are anything but.”
