{"id":11219,"date":"2025-05-08T00:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T23:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11219"},"modified":"2025-05-10T17:39:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:39:16","slug":"the-making-of-us-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=11219","title":{"rendered":"The Making Of Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For some, this piece will come too soon. If you need a bit more time to take in the disappointment, then that\u2019s more than fair but maybe read on anyway and when you are ready to look to the future this might give you food for thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t want to write a piece about being proud of a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful performance tonight. As the match unfolded, it looked increasingly likely that would be the order of the day. I suspect there will be a few such pieces knocking about as the dust settles on our exit from the CL at the hands of PSG. Even the most determinedly negative follower would be hard pressed to say we did not play fantastically well on the night. Xg counts for nothing, but it had us ahead by more than the goal deficit we brought from London, and we were the better of two very good sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it came to nought in the end, and so I assumed I\u2019d be writing about Jurrien Timber\u2019s monster performance and MLS putting in another display belying his tender years, but all to no avail. Then, with five minutes to play, just at the point that we really needed to score to give ourselves any chance of grabbing the second that we needed, I found myself thinking about that crappy end of season when we lost to Newcastle, missed out on the Champions League and everything was bleak for a while until we picked ourselves up. Because the thing is, that hurt and disappointment fuelled an unprecedented improvement that saw us begin to go toe to toe with the best in the league. Seriously, do you remember us under Emery? We looked so far away from City and Liverpool that even getting a look at their coattails seemed like a pipe dream. But we used, to quote Mikel Arteta, the \u201cbad feeling in our tummy\u201d to transform our team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think any of our top performers (the whole team tonight) is leaving us anytime soon, not least because they know they missed out this year and they owe the club, the manager and, most importantly, themselves. They know how close they are to winning major honours, and they know they\u2019ve let a huge chance slip. PSG were the better side for perhaps 25 minutes of 180, but they go through. That hurts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, to go back to the beginning, back when it was all still in our hands\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started like a train on fire. Or a supercharged tornado. Full of hungry wolves. We were up for it and no mistake. The players believed. Two minutes in, Rice headed a Timber cross inches wide and I can\u2019t have been alone in wondering if we\u2019d rue the miss? A minute later Gabi half-volleyed one of a series of dangerous long throws from Partey but Donnarumma was in the right place to make a save. After seven minutes, another Partey special was cleared to \u00d8degaard who blasted a low shot at goal only for PSG\u2019s magnificent Italian keeper to make an outstanding save down low to his left. Less than ten minutes played, and we could have been three up. PSG didn\u2019t know what was going on. Was it a wolf attack? Or a speeding train highjacked by arsonists? No, it was The Arsenal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They did give us a scare after fifteen minutes when Kvaratshkelia hit the post on a break, the ball rebounding kindly to Raya via MLS. Saliba then sold Kiwior short (stop doing that!) and Barcola raced forward to play Doue in but his shot was tame. Dembele, on the bench, might well have done better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went behind in gutting fashion. Rice miscontrolled a pass and then brought down the Georgian lad (who is a dynamite player, a real pleasure to watch unless he\u2019s playing against your own team) for a justified booking. Vitinha crossed it, Partey headed it to the edge of the box where Fabian Ruiz just about took it over Martinelli\u2019s flailing leg and lashed a shot past Raya who had no chance. It was a quality finish, and it showed the difference \u2013 we were the better team, they were the more clinical. Mind you, when Barcola again went through as we dominated possession, his weak shot was anything but clinical and Raya saved it. Half-time came and we were down on the scoresheet but well in the match. The next goal would be crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuno Mendes had got an early booking but Saka was strangely reluctant to run at him, too often waiting to be doubled up on instead of driving at his man. An opportunity missed. When he did find space to cut inside and shoot for the far corner, Donnarumma pulled off another worldie save. If he\u2019d not been in such inspired form tonight, then we\u2019d have won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty minutes into the second half and from nowhere VAR told the ref to look at his monitor and he duly awarded a penalty against MLS for a handball as a tame Hakimi shot was deflected to Raya. There is not much to say. It isn\u2019t a penalty in England, but it is in Europe. It\u2019s a stupid interpretation but justice was done when Raya saved Vitinha\u2019s low effort. It was hard not to think it could be the moment things would turn for us, but of course, it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, a few minutes later – after Calafiori and Trossard replaced MLS and fit Gabi (there\u2019s only one) – Partey could have done better clearing a ball on the edge of our box, but he tried to turn away from danger and lost it to Hakimi, who swept in a beautiful finish that Raya couldn\u2019t reach. Again, they scored from a worse chance than those we missed. That\u2019s the level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The referee was really good. I even liked him refusing to give Nuno Mendes a second yellow for deliberately blocking us taking a free kick. No matter how often Arsenal get shafted for that ridiculous rule, you\u2019ll never convince me that anyone should be sent off for it. This was a top-level match that deserved a top-level referee and it got one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pulled a goal back almost straight away when the ref didn\u2019t buy Marquinhos\u2019 fall and let Trossard run through to deflect a pass to Saka, who slotted home at the second time of asking. He then missed a glorious chance to put PSG under real pressure when Donnarumma missed a low cross and he skied the ball over the bar with an open goal gaping. It came at him fast, and he probably thought the keeper would reach it, but it\u2019s the sort of chance that you\u2019ve got to take if you want to be in the Champion\u2019s League Final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We kept going right until the last. Everyone put in a huge shift but the luck was not with us and we didn\u2019t make any more chances. We had the ball in their box a few times, but it doesn\u2019t seem to bounce into opposition hands from nothing in the same way it does ours. Sometimes you need the rub of the green and we did not get it tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final whistle went and we were out. Which brings me back to where I started; disappointment, pain and that horrible feeling in your belly when you know you\u2019ve seen a golden chance pass you by. It\u2019s no fun for us fans, but it\u2019s life. As I watched Inter fans go nuts yesterday, a disturbingly eager director kept cutting to shots of a decimated Raphinha crying; that\u2019s how it goes. Only one team can win and there will always be jubilation on one side and despair on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us, for tonight, we\u2019ve got to take our medicine. But we will come again. This group of players are going nowhere. The club know they need a big transfer window and they\u2019ve got New Broom Berta to get sweeping. This is the last step on the learning curve. This was the night when they got the lesson about what it actually takes to go on and win this bloody thing. Bayern taught us last year. We got better. PSG have beaten us tonight. We will learn. We will get better. The way to success is through the pain. When we look back in five years, tonight may well be the making of this team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is so much to admire about who we are and how we do things. This entire season has played out like it was scripted to challenge us in the harshest ways possible, and we have handled ourselves magnificently. There is an old saying, \u2018calm seas don\u2019t make good sailors.\u2019 But there is no storm that lasts forever. Our day will come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep the faith. Victoria Concordia Crescit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time, \u2018holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some, this piece will come too soon. If you need a bit more time to take in the disappointment, then that\u2019s more than fair but maybe read on anyway and when you are ready to look to the future this might give you food for thought. I didn\u2019t want to write a piece about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11219"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11224,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11219\/revisions\/11224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}