2010-2011, the good, the bad and the ugly!

So, a season that began with a last minute equaliser in the sunshine at Liverpool back in August ended with a last minute equaliser in the sunshine at Fulham in May. And boy oh boy what a ride inbetween!
Despite some strange results, like home defeats to newly-promoted West Brom and Newcastle, and worst of all to Spurs after leading 2-0, we somehow managed to be in the race for all four trophies heading into February. We were playing some good football and looked virtually unbeatable at that time but then came the fall. And what a fall it was.

Tiote makes it 4-4, the moment it all went wrong

It all began at Newcastle in mid-February. Leading 4-0 at half time we somehow managed to cling on for a draw after Abou Diaby was sent off, and our quadruple dreams disappeared within weeks. The Carling Cup Final will go down as one of the most frustrating days in our history. Once again we capitulated to inferior opposition on the big stage, and as much as I love Wenger I have to say this has happened far too often during his reign. Galatasary 2000, Liverpool 2001, Chelsea in the Champions League quarter final 2004 all spring to mind and there have been many others as well.

Defeat at Wembley hurts

That last minute defeat finally killed what little confidence we had left. Okay, the defeat away at Barcelona in the Champions League was unlucky in as much as the sending off of Robin van Persie, with us ahead on aggregate, was a complete joke, but the fact we managed not a single shot on target over the entire 90 minutes perhaps suggests it was the right result in the end.
Our FA Cup dreams again suffered an unlucky defeat at Old Trafford in a tie we dominated for long spells, but there can be no such excuses for our Premier League capitulation. The writing was on the wall with consecutive goalless home draws with Sunderland  and Blackburn, sandwiched inbetween a 2-2 draw at West Brom - where we had found ourselves 2-0 down. A 3-1 win at Blackpool briefly raised our hopes but the Liverpool match summed it all up. Only this Arsenal side could go 1-0 up in the 96th minute and still not win!

Kuyt scores the 100th minute equaliser

Then, after throwing away a two goal lead against Spurs for the second time this season, it was all over when Tamir Cohen headed a last minute winner for Bolton. The last few games did not really matter, hense how we managed to beat Manchester United one week but then lose at Stoke and at home to Aston Villa, to not only miss the chance of finshing second but to end up 4th in what had, for so long, been a two horse race...
But it is easy to let the last couple of months cloud your judgement on the whole season. The period between November and February increased expectation and had us all believing but did this group of players over-achieve then or under-achieve in the run-in? Possibly a bit of both.
Overall it was a strange season. Manchester United were far from convincing in the early months yet looked set to go unbeaten until defeat at Wolves on the day of our Newcastle capitulation. Cheslea set of like a train only to suffer an horrendous winter before finishing strongly to take the runners-up spot. Liverpool spent some time in the bottom three, Blackpool some time in the top six. Meanwhile we often looked good but flattered to decieve and possibly paid the price for going for all four trophies with a squad not capable of winning one.

The surprise package of the season?

But this summer could be the watershed for Wenger. The chants of 'Where's the f**king money?' at Fulham show exactly how the fans feel and unless he spends big in the close season the pressure will really be on. However I believe this squad are very close to greatness. The return of Thomas Vermaelen will help shore up the defence next season, as will the emergence of Wjoceck Szczesney in goal. Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere will only improve while there was no better forward in the second half of the season then Robin van Persie. With the addition of a centre back (Gary Cahill or Chris Samba perhaps??) a holding midfielder (Scott Parker??) and a naturally wide player (Stewart Downing or Adam Johnson??) we could have the resourses to really push for honours next season. But it seems more likely we will sign some unknown young foreign players who may or may not be good enough but will no doubt be much cheaper.

Beating Barca, the highlight of the season

So that was 2010-11. The good (Chelsea and Barca at home), the bad (the Carling Cup Final and almost everything that followed) and the downright ugly (Newcastle away). Not the greatest season, granted, but not the disaster many fans would have you believe either. It saw our first major cup final at the New Wembley, a great win over Barcelona and lots of wonderful, wonderful football. Yes, that elusive trophy once again eluded us but things could have been a whole lot worse. Couldn't they??