The joy some people derive from Arsenalโs defeat says more about human nature than football. There is a strange comfort many find in the fall of those who are striving, perhaps because it makes their own struggles feel lighter. When something or someone is seen as โgood,โ their failure becomes a spectacle, not just a result. It reminds us that, for many, it is easier to celebrate a downfall than to confront someone elseโs rise.
Arsenal fans, including myself, cannot put this club in the highest level of the food chain.
We have won NOTHING. Until we do, all the haters are right.
Arsenal are bottlersโ is one of the laziest narratives in modern football ,and it doesnโt survive contact with reality.
2022/23: Youngest team in the title race. No one expected a challenge. They finished on 84 points and accelerated the project by years. Thatโs overachievement, not bottling.
2023/24: Took arguably the best club side on the planet to the final day. Won 16 of their last 18 league games. Finished on 89 points. Thatโs title-winning form in most seasons. Losing narrowly to a machine isnโt collapse, itโs elite competition.
2024/25: Decimated by injuries across key positions. Defensive rotations disrupted, midfield balance constantly shifting. Still competitive. Thatโs resilience.
2025/26: Seven points clear. Composed. Structured. Mature. Strong defensively. Managing games better than ever.
This isnโt a team that crumbles. Itโs a team that has grown year on year, from promising to contenders to dominant.
The only reason the โbottlingโ tag exists is because Arsenal dared to compete earlier than expected, and people froze that moment in time.
Progression isnโt bottling. Pushing greatness to the brink isnโt bottling. Building sustainably at the top level isnโt bottling.
Itโs called evolution.
And when the trophy comes, the narrative disappears overnight.