Arsenal: 4 reasons we absolutely love this team

In a season that may still end with Arsenal missing out on Champions League football, and perhaps even worse, it has nonetheless brought supporters great joy.

That feeling may well differ come the final game of the campaign. Naturally there will be great disappointment across the fanbase as, having got themselves into a position of real strength with ten matches to go, letting it slip now would be a body blow.

All throughout this topsy turvy season there has been reason for excitement, though.

From the depths of the three opening games to the highs of a North London Derby win and jubilant celebrations among all at Villa Park, there is a different energy around the club.

Arsenal: 4 reasons we absolutely love Mikel Arteta’s Gunners team as they keep pushing for the Champions League via the top four

Football is a wonderful sport, but it does have the capacity to toy with your emotions negatively.

Taking the most recent win over Aston Villa as an example, had the side dropped points or lost that game there would have been two long weeks of international football where you can’t help but stew over the result. One defeat on a Friday night can kill your mood for the whole weekend.

Some people can disconnect from that and separate football from the rest, but many of us can’t.

And just as we can be left glum from this sport, it can take us into soaring highs. The love for Arsenal can never fade, and it was felt that it also couldn’t get any stronger. Somehow, this season, it is. This set of supporters absolutely adore this team, and feel more connected to their club than they have in years.

There are four glorious reasons why.

1. The Youth + Hale End Imprint

Football academies are where the talent comes from. Arsenal have produced their fair share. Yet very few go on to represent the first team regularly.

Who is the best academy product Arsenal have ever produced? The answer to that is quite easily Ashley Cole. He was the best left-back in the world for a number of seasons. A truly world class footballer.

After that it’s slim pickings. Of course, we can include Cesc Fabregas and Serge Gnabry even if they arrived at 15 and 16 years of age respectively, while Jack Wilshere also spent many years at the top, but the point remains that it’s incredibly rare to see a Hale End star make it all the way up into the first team.

Arsenal currently have two.

They’re playing regularly, topping the goals charts, and representing England. As a supporter there is nothing you can connect with more than seeing players with Arsenal in their blood turning out for the team every week. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe are both ‘our own’.

Add to that this being the youngest squad in the whole Premier League and the affection grows. It’s easier to feel attached to players who, in most cases, haven’t been at numerous clubs prior. Once they play for this club it is all that matters, but you watch them every week wanting them do well not just for the sake of Arsenal, but also for themselves.

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
― Franz Kafka

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