Please feel free to slate me for this. Some of you will and you have every right to, but I have to get this off my chest.
I'm depressed. I'm not a reactionist by heart, but 3-0 to Arsenal is just the straw that broke the camel's back. At what point does one stop being a reactionist? Before Arsenal there was Man Utd there was Bolton and Everton as well. You can't be a reactionist after all of this.
I guess we were just kiding ourselves. People were picking Liverpool for the title, Pennant and Bellamy were going to transfer us into true contenders and Gerrard would lead us to silverware beyond our wildest dreams. All of this seems a long time ago now. It's not all bad. We haven't lost at home, we're through to the second round of the European Cup and we beat Reading in the cup. And I'm sure we'll win something this year, but the Premiership is gone again. This isn't the end of the problem though. I know it's still early, but teams like Bolton, Villa and Portsmouth are showing real signs of being able to get into the top four and with Arsenal now tucked up behind the top two, we could have a real fight on our hands to land the fourth spot. If we don't get it... Well, its not worth thinking about because we still have a way to go, but it's now a real possibility.
So, instead of the revelutionary push towards the illusive league crown, we have instead gone backwards. Clean sheets are disappearing, goals are drying up (away from home anyway) and our competetors are getting better. And to make matters worse, Rafa seems to be, momenterily at least, losing his influence. Zenden in the middle over Gerrard? Really? Against Arsenal? How did that ever make sense? I'm not going to get on his back because he's brought us a good amount of trophies in just two years, but I can't be the only one worrying about this.
I tried telling myself that away games to Arsenal, Man Utd, Bolton and even Everton were always going to be tough and that getting this lot in a row was just unfortunate. But not winning one, and getting hammered in the process, and not scoring is just poor and it hurts me to say so. What can be done? A rethink? Back to basics? I don't think any of this will work. We just have to keep trying and hoping, but even this may not work. I hate saying so, but I wish we had cash to throw at the problem in January.
I don't know what the significance of this depressing outpour is, but is anyone else feeling this bad? I don't just mean about the Arsenal match, or the current away situation, but everything else. Is it just me who is seeing a bleak future unless something big changes? Am I over-reacting? Maybe it's just the dissapointment of all that "title" talk going up in smoke, but I'm starting to get really worried. I hope I'm wrong.