Architectures of the Atmosphere

Somehow not quite exhausted over our 90 minutes at Celtic Park, the luck was still lingering over Arsenal this weekend. Diaby’s second could have been called offside, Ramsey was gifted an easy run into an onside position, and Gallas was not only fortunate to stay on the pitch after a tumble by Utaka which, whether innocent or not, could have seen us down to ten men, but to put away another stunner – not satisfied with his sensational butt-cheek slice in midweek, he pounced on a rebound, flicked the ball up as if to toy with David James, then propelled it goalwards with a flamboyant swing of the face.

Diaby already looks much stronger than he did at the end of last season. His passing was superb yesterday, and he won the ball a few times – something he’ll have to do if he’s going to feature more regularly. I’m not sure if he can keep up this kind of form against more physical teams, particularly those who like to retain possession, as the defensive aspect of his game is the one which needs the most improvement. However, the media attention will have done no harm to his confidence, and he’s a different player when he’s on a high.

Aside from Arsenal's great start to the season, I’m relieved that the powers that be have finally made an effort to make the stadium seem a bit more human. Last season the Emirates was simply a concrete basin with numbered quadrants and empty food courts. Walking up the stairwells was like going to work in an industrial estate.

But now, we’re making the Emirates the most daunting venue in all the land. Murals, quadrants named after Arsenal favourites, free scarves, all a good start – let’s go further. Let’s commission all of North London’s finest to drown the stadium in red and white. Spread microphones around under the home fans’ seats to drown out that racket from the visitors. Keep reminding fans to wave their complementary scarves proudly in the air, and announce that any dissidents will be strangled to a slow, painful, polyester-y death by the nearest steward. Put a raised throne in the home dugout for Wenger, with foot-high plastic pre-school chairs in the away dugout. Build enormous statues of the entire Invincibles squad on the plaza to intimidate any opponents and their fans; if the memory of their feat doesn’t command visitors’ respect and fear, then the sheer size of 20 foot, bronze, snarling Vieiras, Campbells and Lehmanns will.

And please, stop playing ‘The Wonder of You’ before games, it is not an exciting song. We need something with at least a tenuous Arsenal link. Daltrey’s ‘Highbury Highs’, although a bit cringing, would at least make sense, even in a temporary capacity. There would be more sense in us playing Sugababes’ ‘About You Now’ than a slow Elvis song – at least they’re English.

Hopefully we’ll come out of the European qualifiers with a healthy margin over the Scots and a healthy squad for United. If we can keep up this form, we could be in great spirits for Old Trafford. And if we’re lucky, maybe Arsene will unleash Little Jack upon the Scots.

---