Quadruple-chasing Arsenal Can Dream A Micromanaged Dream | Barney Ronay

Zamina mina. Waka, waka, hé-hé. By nan extremity of this gruelling, bruising, heavy insubstantial ache of a shot match, it felt arsenic though nan opening 96 minutes had been staged simply arsenic an extended tease for a startlingly carefree last 30 seconds.

Up to that constituent Arsenal and Chelsea had produced thing that felt for illustration nan shot balanced of having your eyes descaled pinch a ligament brush. This was a dense, gristly benignant of beingness ballet. Johan Cruyff erstwhile said that successful shot nan timepiece is ne'er your friend. It’s either moving excessively accelerated aliases excessively slowly. Here nan timepiece didn’t really look to move astatine all, aliases to beryllium going backwards. The timepiece hated everyone.

And past suddenly, arsenic it began to dawn that this really would really end, it was school’s retired for summer. It was nan Gloucestershire food rolling championships. It was drunken farmers falling down a hill, arsenic Arsenal broke, nan transportation emptied, and Kai Havertz recovered himself each unsocial and done connected goal.

Havertz had clip to tiptoe astir Robert Sánchez and rotation nan shot into nan net, sidesplitting disconnected this semi-final 2nd leg, 1-0 connected nan night, 4-2 connected aggregate. And truthful it was clip for nan release, bluish puffa-clad subs capering connected to nan pitch, bodies writhing and tumbling successful nan stands.

The Arsenal supremacy continues to rise. We are entering nan foothills here, approaching nan last battlegrounds of this unusual slow-burn season. And nan crippled is, if not rather afoot, past almost afoot. A carefully micromanaged type of afoot. Arsenal person 1 last successful nan bag, nan Carabao Cup adjacent month. The mode of triumph is irrelevant. This semi-final was ever conscionable filler. Arsenal person 3 games successful 8 days, past a week off, past 9 days off. Winning is each that matters correct now.

But their play has reached a constituent of preignition. League lead sustained. Champions League way set. Like it aliases not, nan travel from present is starting to constrictive a little. Time to dream a micromanaged dream.

‘A gruelling, bruising, deep-tissue ache of a shot match’: Arsenal and Chelsea players scrap for nan ball. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

The chances of winning everything stay massively remote. It doesn’t happen. But nan truth remains Arsenal could still triumph a quadruple successful nan adjacent 4 months. It is worthy simply noting this fact, which is edging conscionable a mini small spot from could towards can. Nowhere, really obscurity adjacent should aliases will. Here’s what it would take. Eleven much convention wins. Six home cup games, 1 that final, different Wigan adjacent up successful nan FA Cup. Four rounds of Champions League (OK, yes, very hard. But they did apical nan mega table).

What does that adhd up to? Twenty‑three wins betwixt now and June to triumph a quadruple. Hyper unit games. Finals. Tiny margins. It won’t happen. It ne'er happens. But it’s a beautiful bully abstraction to beryllium in.

It’s a reward for simply not falling away. Best of each this is couched successful its ain strange, tortured consciousness of jeopardy, because thing has been won to this point. This is each manoeuvring, capacity anxiety, a referendum connected Arteta-ism. Are we seeing nan eventual almost-not-quite? Or nan harvesting of an full era successful nan abstraction of nan adjacent fewer months? Is this really happening? Is it real?

That subtext was very invited connected a horrible nighttime successful northbound London, drenched successful nan benignant of rainfall that seems to autumn sideways, upwards, diagonally, whipped by nan benignant of upwind that has its ain malevolent intent, concerned only pinch sliding up nan angles of your trouser legs.

The Emirates Stadium was still a cauldron of smoke, lights and semi‑final arena glamour astatine kick‑off. At which constituent almost thing happened for a really agelong time. Energy was expended. But it felt glazed, trapped, a bid of patterns being run.

Actually, 1 point happened. Chelsea disrupted Arsenal’s area taking, 2 of their attacking players scooting upfield arsenic nan footwear was astir to beryllium taken. It was an absorbing move. It did muddle Arsenal’s plan. Chelsea’s fans person struggled to return instantly to Liam Rosenior but he seems smart and likeable.

Otherwise, Arsenal didn’t play for illustration trophy hunters, destiny merchants, a squad poised connected nan separator of greatness. But then, cipher ever really does very overmuch successful nan people of these things. It each gets retro-fitted successful victory.

It was absorbing to spot Declan Rice playing good successful his caller deeper role. Ahead of him Arsenal had 3 imaginative players, positive Viktor Gyökeres who conscionable fundamentally existed, stodgily, footballing corned beef. Eberechi Eze was dogged but besides restrained arsenic nan No 10. He looks astatine times for illustration personification playing football from a group of instructions successful 17 languages. Are they Grealishing him?

With an hr gone some teams had had 1 changeable connected target according to nan stats, which felt generous. Then came nan delirium of those last seconds, and nan unreserved of each those swirling possibilities.