We’re sorry for the inconvenience but this is a revolution

Be it Leicester, Arsenal or Tottenham; whoever ends up winning at the end of May, Premier League will never be same

KARACHI: Being an Arsenal fan is never easy — well, it certainly hasn’t been in recent years. But this new feeling is strange. There’s Arsenal, tugging at our heartstrings, as always; inching towards a dawn for which we’ve waited long. On the other hand is the revolution that we can hear in the distance. A flame that is somehow still alive, a flame with which are all our hopes are tied.

Let’s stop for a moment and look back.

They say every revolution has its casualties and this one too was no less bloody. We witnessed the arrogant Chelsea take a hit. We saw the shrewd Manchester United get pinked in the neck. Then there’s Liverpool, still waiting for the new medicine to work. Manchester City? Well you cannot really blame Manuel Pellegrini. If I was told I won’t have my job tomorrow and that someone else is already waiting for me to vacate the seat, it shouldn’t be a surprise if I break down.

But what about the Arsenal that has taken scorn for years? They laughed at us when Arsene Wenger said spending money doesn’t guarantee success. They laughed when the new stadium had dried up our coffers. They laughed when Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner fell out and our entire season came apart. They laughed when brakes were pulled on our season following Eduardo da Silva’s career-threatening injury. They laughed when Robin van Persie jumped ship, when Cesc Fabregas put his foot down. If this isn’t clobberin’ time then what is?



For Leicester City, the old-timers had only one thing to say, all season: “Oh there time will come as they are just riding their luck”; but it never happened.

August turned into February and Leicester never ran out of ammo. Over the course they picked up cheeky victories, learnt the tricks of the street. But then again, who hasn’t?

No matter what we may say, deep down we all want this to happen. There are those who want Leicester to prove what they meant when they told their parents they wanted a career in humanities rather than engineering and that money isn’t everything. There are those who’ve read stories of the weak triumphing over the powerful all their lives and want to see that happen for real.

Then there are those who want them to win simply because Jean-Jacques Rousseau said we’re all good by nature and the good favour the weak because we’re all good by nature.



But where should Arsenal fans go? We surely have a chance and we just might do it this year. Yet, I am not able to suppress this thought of seeing Claudio Raneiri and Co lift silverware. Am I not loyal enough to Arsenal? I ask myself. But I have loved them with all my heart; I have stood by Wenger, every time he buried his face in his palms; I cried when Thierry Henry came back and scored; I cried when we ended our trophy drought. Then what is it that makes a part of me root for a team worth £23m only?

People like me have grown up believing Arsenal is a club which stands for all things right. It was a moral high ground that despicable opponents tricked us into owning. But the concern today is that the team that stands ahead of us also upholds the philosophy of resisting change and giving back to the exploiters. Didn’t we just buy off their chief scout and inflicted upon them a wound only the powerful can? Then is it not selfish to believe only Arsenal’s suffering merits a prize? Thinking that’s the job of a club supporter who also happens to have a heart is a little conflicting.

Mind you, we’re still amongst the richest elite; Emirates earned more money last year than any other stadium; our season ticket still costs a fortune. Are we the lesser of the evil because Wenger is the face of the club and not Ivan Gazidis?



Sunday’s Arsenal vs Leicester was more nerve-wrecking than driving up Shahrah-e-Faisal at rush hour. Leicester turned up at the Emirates as a mix of Stoke and Chelsea. As the two sides threw punches at each other, the cunning Martin Atkinson laid back, dragging on a cigarette, almost beginning to enjoy the desperation of the monsters. Blows were dealt. Bodies were thrown on the line. Arsenal somehow sneaked two goals in. The day was saved. We had every reason to agree with Martin Tyler when he said, “Can you believe it?” Victory was sweet, yes, because more than anyone, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez and Simpson and Marcin Wasilewski deserved what they got. But where do we go from here?

Be it Leicester, Arsenal or Tottenham; whoever ends up winning at the end of May, the Premier League will never be the same. If Arsenal lose, they will die martyrs. If Tottenham lose, well when haven’t they? Leicester losing will be plain sad. However, Leicester winning will be a revolution all fans of the game want to see once in their lifetime.