Arsenal fan psychodrama after United defeat

I sometimes joke that I’m not sure I actually like football, just Arsenal. That narrow allegiance became unhelpful last Sunday evening when Arsenal lost to Manchester United; on paper it should have been easy to accept — you can’t win them all and we’re still four points clear at the top — but for the first time this season I succumbed to what I call the Big Defeat Headloss.

The ritual is familiar: doomscrolling through Reddit, Bluesky and a lurid X feed, spamming friends in match-day WhatsApp groups, wandering home with my phone like a tempting target, then trying to soothe myself with Opta probabilities, bookies’ odds and the measured analysis of familiar podcasts.

Anger gives way to sadness and, usually after about 48 hours, to a weary acceptance. The loss felt wider than a single result. It pierced a dam of pent-up angst across the fanbase; at the Emirates a stunned silence followed United’s third and a few boos met the final whistle.

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