Whatever you may think of American football – or “handegg,” as it is often described by my UK friends on the internets – many a great sports cliché has come from its players and coaches. Sports, in general, are great for clichés, as its participants learn to wield them as weapons, usually against difficult media enquiries.
But clichés are clichés in part because, beneath the bland familiarity if a given quote, there lies a kernel of truth, a level of insight that, despite its triteness, sheds light, and gives hope.
Several of these clichés have been running through my head since the injury fairy visited Arsenal – and then refused to leave. This does not mean I have been ruminating on the annual Arsenal injury crisis. The injuries are a reality, part of the immediate past. We’re surely more interested in the future, right? So here are a few clichés that will help an Arsenal supporter make sense of it all, and maybe find some solace amongst all the broken and torn muscles and ligaments that currently make up the squad.
First, I have thought about the cliché regarding problems and opportunities. The saying takes on various forms and I’m sure most of the readers will be familiar with the idea. However, if you’re not, the idea is simple.
Within every problem lies an opportunity.
This idea is so prevalent that there are a number of sketchily-attributed motivational quotes surrounding this cliché here (though the old folk tale that “problem” and “opportunity” were the same in either Chinese or Japanese is, sadly, false).
But the idea remains, and so it goes with the current injury dilemma facing the club. I won’t go through the list of injured and unavailable players for the upcoming run of Christmas-period games, but you know it’s long. And it does represent an opportunity for players to step into roles and perform. We’ve already seen it with Joel Campbell (though there may be some debate over whether or not he has properly taken his opportunity thus far).
But we may, if we’re lucky, see some younger players step in and take their chance by the scruff of the neck and make a spot for themselves. There is opportunity for players like Calum Chambers or even the already-Twitter-legend Jeff Reine-Adelaide to make their mark on the club, much like their predecessor Francis Coquelin, who used last year’s injury crisis to make the holding role his own.
And while the sheer number and weight of injuries are downright depressing, there is excitement in knowing that there is a shot, however long it may be, that the next Arsenal star could be born in the coming weeks. We can only hope for some sort of Wally Pipp situation to emerge (sorry for all of the American sports metaphors).
I’ve also been thinking about the old quote, often attributed to iconic American football coach Vince Lombardi.
Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.
We will most definitely find out what this squad is made of over the coming weeks culminating in the Manchester City game on 21st December. This period will likely define the season for Arsenal. Even just managing to tread water through the new year may be a springboard to greatness. If players can step in and show their mettle, we will remember this period when Arsenal won the Premier League title.
An American football coach from the mid-20th century at my alma mater Texas Christian University used to tell his players this (and they are still read these exact words before every game).
Fight’em till hell freezes over. Then fight’em on the ice.
This is the steely resolve that Arsenal supporters all over the world will be looking for in their players, and it won’t matter what names are on the backs of the shirts if they show that kind of resolve, that kind of character.
But if the team, whoever comprises it, can’t find a way, if the character of the boss and the players is lacking, then this season, like all the others since the Invincibles, will be washed away. If that happens, we can all step into the warm, familiar embrace of the fourth place trophy race. If that happens, it will be the bitterest of them all.
And finally, one for the fans. This one comes from American football quarterback Bart Starr, who played for the Green Bay Packers and was the winning quarterback for the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968. I spend a great deal of time on Arsenal Twitter, and I see regularly how it melts down during losses or disappointing draws. Needless to say, it’s not been a pretty place lately.
But Starr reminds us of the courage of the fan, the character that the supporter must reveal in times of crisis, and they are the words I’ll leave you with today.
Anyone can support a team that is winning – it takes no courage. But to stand behind a team to defend a team when its down and really needs you, that takes a lot of courage.
Have courage and faith, Arsenal supporters. You’re going to need them.
