Filed under: Arsenal, Premier League, Football
At least the Old Trafford fiasco has spurred Arsenal into making a decisive move to open the cheque book.Sadly for those Gunners supporters clamouring for new signings, the financial response to the 8-2 embarrassment inflicted by Manchester United does not extend as far as concluding a deal for a new centre back. Not yet, at least.
The club has, however, moved impressively quickly to recognise the ordeal the travelling fans went through by offering to fund the cost of a ticket to a future Premier League away game.
And if that sounds like the kind of compensation deal Morecambe and Wise might have worked into a sketch - first prize, two tickets to see Des O'Connor; second prize, four tickets.....well it was the seventies - the club should be commended for the gesture.
A club statement said: "Sunday's result was obviously disappointing for everyone connected with the club. Our travelling fans were magnificent throughout and we want to recognise their fantastic support. We will be writing to them shortly with the details."
There's no doubt the club's support at Old Trafford was magnificent. There's something about adversity that can bring out the best in supporters. Victory brings its obvious pleasures but failure can generate solidarity and defiance, and serves as a reminder how a club has survived for generations through fleeting moments of success and much longer barren periods.
Those Arsenal players who underperformed so woefully need just such a reminder, as do those other Premier League players who allow indifference to infuse too many of their performances.
Following football has long since become an expensive pleasure and, in real terms, is becoming more and more expensive to large sections of the population. Clubs should never forget that and, on this occasion, Arsenal haven't.
That will not be enough, however. More than a free ticket, Gunners fans want to see their team strengthened. It's impossible to say Arsenal supporters have been hard done to when they have watched the most attractive football in the most lavish surroundings while enjoying an enviable run at or near the summit of English football - fans of at least 89 other clubs might reject the claim that it's grim up north London.
But everyone expects their club to progress, however that is defined. At Arsenal, progress would be to close a widening gap between Arsene Wenger's side and those clubs that win trophies. Too often the Gunners appear to have participated rather than competed when it comes to the big prizes, and with money in the bank, that's not good enough.
The pressure is now on Wenger to deliver full compensation for the United defeat.
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