Arsenal arrive in Budapest with a different emotional atmosphere after winning the Premier League. The Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain could become the greatest day in the club’s history, yet it also feels light and celebratory, like a free-hit. Arsenal’s recent public identity under Mikel Arteta has been shaped by anxiety and the sense that every result is a referendum on the project’s validity. The piece contrasts earlier, performative attempts to enjoy the title run-in with a new opportunity to breathe, relax, and enjoy the moment. The question becomes what Arsenal look like when fully validated and not burdened by existential dread.
"On one hand, victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final would represent the greatest day in Arsenal's history. On the other, this is an occasion that feels strangely light, fun, celebratory, a free-hit kind of final. And this really is something new for a team whose entire public identity in the age of Arteta has been defined by the curation of anxiety, every step or stumble pitched as a referendum on the validity of the project, on the basic character of the knitwear-clad avatar of pain striding along at the front of the parade."
"When was the last time this team were able to approach a day like this without some deep clog of existential dread? How will a nontortured, fully validated, daddy-does-actually-love-us Arsenal carry themselves? What does this team playing without fear even look like? There has been a cathartic quality to Arsenal's celebrations of their Premier League title."
"Even the well-meaning performative attempts to enjoy the title run-in felt painfully stiff and processed. Get on the fun boat. Bring the fire. Join us as we micromanage to the last detail the liberating of our own emotions. Suddenly Darth Vader is doing stand-up. Spock wants to disco dance. Mr Pincus, can you hear me Mr Pincus?"
"And now we have this, a chance to breathe, to take the air by the Danube, and to luxuriate in a slight but significant shift in the tone and texture of thi"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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