Fulham upset may prove a blessing in disguise

IT DIDN’T occur to me until Saturday that the seats at the far end of the Putney Stand at Craven Cottage afford visiting fans the opportunity to contemplate the gently lapping waters of the river Thames and the pleasure craft and wildlife serenely cruising by one of the Premier League’s few remaining old-fashioned stadia.

Doubtless the Arsenal estate agents would ramp up the prices for seats with such “exclusive riverside views”.

It’s easy to appreciate why Fulham have been fending off the property developers these past few decades and why their charismatic chairman has tussled with his own instinctive tendencies to want to turn a profit. Unfortunately the “landmark developments” that were intended to offset our massive debts (up until “the credit crunch”!) do not offer prospective investors the benefits of anything like such a highly desirable location. The nearest one gets to nature at our new gaff is an adjacent patch of waste ground, laughably known as the Gillespie Park Nature Reserve (considering it’s smaller than some people’s back garden).

Meanwhile, as I pondered the contrasting settings of the two London clubs, I should’ve realised that the depressing reality-check of a defeat was on the cards, considering the Arsenal’s utterly anaemic inability to impose themselves ! wasn’t even engrossing enough to prevent me from drifting off every now and again.

Sadly I wasn’t alone with my momentary lapses of concentration, as our captain switched off for the set-piece that gifted Hangeland his goal. But then such sloppy play was symptomatic of a first 20 minutes, where we were second best all over the pitch. I can forgive anyone an off day and it certainly doesn’t bode well when the remarkably consistent Bacary Sagna starts giving the ball away. But I simply cannot stomach an Arsenal team failing to turn up, with the sort of focus and intensity that’s essential to overcome almost every Premier League opponent nowadays.

The kick up the arse of going a goal down shouldn’t be needed to remind the Gunners that there are no easy games and the one thing we have a right to demand in return for their obscene wage packets, is that they at least work their socks off when required, rather than strolling around in expectation that superior natural ability will out.

Usually I’d be up out of my seat, screaming my head off, mentally kicking every ball, in my anxiety to encourage my team to get back onto level terms. Yet it felt as if my Arsenal mojo had gone AWOL, along with all too many of our players, as even going a goal behind seemed to fail to put a match to the Gunners canons.

I can’t imagine there’s a Gooner on the planet who’ll have predicted we’d be starting the season with Denilson and Eboué as Arsène’s chosen midfield pairing. Their lightweight display only reaffirmed our dependency on Fabregas. Aside from having a mare, sadly to date Denilson doesn’t appear to possess the necessary genius to unlock the opposition with one game changing touch.

It occurred to me that Almunia’s pre-season form might’ve convinced le Gaffer that he need not break the bank to bring in a replacement for Lehmann. Similarly, with the transfer window rapidly sliding shut, if Wenger has been vacillating about dusting off his all too under-employed cheque book, a win at the weekend would’ve only encouraged his belief that, unlike all the competition, the Arsenal can get away with putting all our eggs in the emergence of youth basket. Saturday’s defeat might prove a blessing in disguise, if it comes with a silver lining that sees le Boss cured of any such delusion, just in the nick of time!