Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2: Gunners stumble again - but will the heckling really help?

RICHARD OSLEY says forgetful Arsenal fans need to lower their expectations after listening to boos at the end of Liverpool's 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.

 

 

THERE is a simple problem in the stands at the Emirates Stadium which goes some way to explaining the boos and the frustration. A large share of the home support began supporting Arsenal during a fashionable period not long after Arsene Wenger arrived in the 1990s. They had the disposable incomes to meet rising ticket prices that were becoming too expensive for those with longer memories. They didn't sing and chant much, but they revelled in the success Wenger's revolution brought.

For their buck, this new wave of supporters were rewarded with the joy of watching Bergkamp, Pires, Henry and Vieira. The football was good and there were trophies to celebrate. Yet, crucially, none of the new wave seems to remember that for 18 years, Arsenal hardly had a whisper of a chance of winning the league.

From 1971 to 1989, the Gunners, for all their history and allure, achieved very little. No league title since 2004, Arsenal are clearly in another trough right now. Peaks and troughs. The booers just don't realise that it can sometimes be this way for Arsenal. A lot of them have not been here before. There are expectations far beyond the potential of the current crop of players.

When people say they can't remember a season or a match where they have had such low expectations, they obviously don't remember what it's like trying to win the league with Ian Allinson or Gus Caeser or John Jensen. Those who boo Wenger have short memories.

Arsenal did leave the pitch to boos as Liverpool claimed a 2-0 win here at Ashburton Grove this afternoon - their first win in this fixture for a decade. The visitors had been the better team but were aided in their labouring attempts to break the deadlock firstly by a red card for Emmanuel Frimpong, who match spirited determination with a catalogue of rash tackles, and then by a pinball opening own goal that clattered into the goal off Aaron Ramsey's face. Late on, with the Gunners in a mess, stretched and confused, Luis Suarez sealed the win.

What's worrying for Arsenal is that for all the youthful new faces plugging the gaps caused by injuries, suspensions and outgoing transfers, it was some of the more experienced players that performed worst. Andrey Arshavin used to light up international football tournaments. His role today was little more than a spectator. Theo Walcott hardly did much better: running into dead ends and delivering hopeless crosses.

Again, when your goalkeeper is one of your best players, the omens are not good.

But as Liverpool looked rejuvanted, Arsenal fans might rememeber that some clubs have transitional periods lasting 20 years - Liverpool's own run without a league title. Or 50 years - Spurs. There doesn't seem to be an obvious fix for Arsenal. Even if they bought some of the players they have been linked with - Jagielka, Cahill, et al - you cannot see the Gunners competing with Manchester United, City or Chelsea this season. The wait for success may take another half decade, a decade. They will come again but short-termism boos won't help. Not at all.