After three long, long months, it is great to have proper football back at last. With no World Cup or Euros to entertain us, the football drought in the summer was significantly worse than normal. An extended pre-season, where Arsenal won both the Emirates Cup, and the Amsterdam Tournament, was an interesting diversion, but these games really don't compare to the proper competitive stuff on offer once the Premiership starts again.The summer has been typically turbulent, with Thierry Henry leaving, a virtual unknown in Eduardo Da Silva (albeit one that scored 35 goals last season - typical Arsene Wenger!) being signed to replace him, lots of boardroom shenanigans about who will own the club in a few years time, and Arsene Wenger's contract expiring in a year's time, with no idea whether he will sign a new one. All this means that this new season will be one where we see for sure if our promising youngsters, who showed such great glimpses of excellence last season, can grow up fast - they may need to.
Oh, and Freddie Ljungberg left too. He will always be a hero for getting sent off in his first game against Spurs (then flicking the V at their fans), scoring on his debut against Manchester United, and his vital goals in the run in to the double in 2002. But more than all that, for being on the same wavelength as Arsenal fans, you really felt he was a Gooner like us. I remember when we played in Valencia in 2003, and the team arrived at the airport, they were all told not to linger and talk to the fans too much. Freddie kept himself busy signing autographs, even though club officials were even busier trying to get him not to. When the team got onto the bus to drive away, fans were singing at him, and he was banging the window back at us. And of course he dyed a big red streak in his hair - a true Gooner! Thanks for the memories, Freddie, and good luck.
Usually for the first game of the season, there is plenty of time to have a few beers before the game, catch up with friends, and more importantly swap predictions for what the season is going to be like. But thanks to London Underground closing the Victoria Line on the Saturday, this game was moved to midday Sunday - so not much time to catch up before the game. Why they couldn't switch the engineering work instead of the football match, I have no idea - nice to know that 60,000 Arsenal fans (and paying LU customers) barely register on the radar when these things are being planned.
So, with a number of Saturday night hangovers still evident, and at midday on Sunday, we kicked off the season. It was good to be back in the stadium, even though I didn't really like it at first, I have missed not coming here for 3 months. I guess that means it is starting to feel like home.
What also felt very familiar (compared to last season at least), was the way the game panned out. We conceded inside a minute or so, Jens Lehmann making a terrible hash of clearing a backpass, allowing Healy an easy chance to score. It is always difficult to break down sides like Fulham, who come and defend lots, with 10 men behind the ball - so it really doesn't help when you pile on the pressure by giving them a goal start. Arsenal had the best of the play for the rest of the first half, but it was predictably difficult to break down the Fulham defence - they actually looked OK for a change.
The pressure continued in the second half, and Fulham keeper Tony Warner (who was only drafted in at the last minute, after Niemi injured himself in the warmup), became the latest in a long line of goalkeepers to have a blinder of a game at our place. The game was a fair carbon copy of the Wigan game last season, where the opposition wasted shocking amounts of time, all of it going unpunished by the referee. So, it was good when, with about 6 minutes to go, he gave us a penalty - a bit controversial, but probably one that would be given if the same foul happened elsewhere on the pitch. Van Persie absolutely drilled it into the roof of the net - absolutely no messing around there!
Then, with a minute left, Alexander Hleb finally managed to take a shot at goal, and it didn't go directly at the keeper for a change. It bobbled into the bottom corner of the net, the place went wild, and Matt Flamini made a well-deserved hand gesture in the direction of the Fulham keeper, who had been the timewaster in chief. In truth, the win was far from convincing, we got out of jail, but it was very, very important to get the victory, to start the season the right way. Coming from behind was not ideal, and there really are issues that we need to address defensively, to stop giving the opening goal away all the time. But, 3 points today, which is the important thing.
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