At the end of the film The Commitments, when the band that so nearly cracked it disintegrates, the conclusion drawn is: “Sure, we could have been famous and made albums and stuff, but that would have been predictable. This way it’s poetry.”
After 22 years of angst and agony, Arsenal had the chance to erase all that pain in the space of 11 days. Capturing the Premier League title brought an end to the domestic suffering (albeit a very elitist type of suffering where the nadir is eighth place) and Champions League glory less than two weeks later would have crowned the greatest campaign in the club’s history. But where’s the narrative arc in that?
