What a choke job, bottle-job, embarrassment, etc. Whatever you want to call a team putting up a shockingly embarrassing performance in high-pressure situations where you are heavily favored, Arsenal just did that times a billion. I am being dramatic and might have some hyperbole in there but as a highly emotional, overly invested fan, this team is everything to me and the players/coaches/management just sold me down the river for slaughter.
Arsenal in their past two games before yesterday blew consecutive 2-0 leads which led to 2-2 draws against Liverpool and West Ham (relegation fodder) to drop 4 points in a highly competitive and tight PL title race against arguably the best team in the world (Man City). And yesterday they outdid themselves in the most Arsenal fashion ever by drawing 3-3 AT HOME (AT YOUR OWN DAMN STADIUM WHERE THE MAJOJRITY OF HOME CROWD ACTIVELY ROOTS AND SUPPORT YOU) to the last place team in the league (20th place), heavily struggling Southampton to extend their league to 5 points at the top of the league with City having two games in hand. Just a nightmarish scenario for all fragile Arsenal fans out there. 6 points dropped in 3 games. You can’t make this stuff up but for Arsenal fans, we are numb to this crap at this point. Our next game is at the Etihad against Man City in a game where we must win, HA. At this point, City couldn’t be in better form and we are looking like greased up fat pigs for slaughter, just end me at this point before next Wednesday.
We needed this one, we needed this one so bad. Arsenal coming into today had a chance to go 6 points clear with City’s game in hand (76 vs. 70). It’s not much but it would provide some cushion before our clash with the them next week but bad stuff here, bad stuff there, sadness over there and Arsenal now finds themselves 4 points clear with City having a game in hand and I am not sure how much I can take. Arsenal away from home against relegation fodder West Ham squandered a 2-0 lead to share points with those clowns. For the longest time I have been preaching we have everything left to play for but at this point, I’m not sure I believe that.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
I’ll finally admit that the pressure is real and I am barely hanging on: We have been finally giving people what they want, Arsenal have answered 99% of their critics and have passed every obstacle with grace but this looks like to be a step too far at the moment. Losing at Everton, dropping points at Southampton away and Brentford at home, squandering a 2-0 goal lead at Anfield and now this, it’s a bit much than I can handle and unfortunately, it looks like the same could be same for Arsenal. Everything is still in our hands but will take me awhile to get over this one cause we needed it. We were cruising through the first 30 minutes, almost a carbon copy of the Liverpool fixture with two quick goals from Jesus and Odegaard with sublime buildup and then not sure what else I can say. We give up a dumb penalty, West ham fans get into the game to support their team, they get an ridiculous over the top goal and now I find myself speechless and hurting.
What a sport, what a match. All things considered, could have been worse, could have been wayyyyy worse for Kent. Everything to play for, for Arsenal, extend our lead to 8 points at our haunted ground, win for the first time since Podolski and Cazorla, it felt like a win would all but give us the confidence to go on and win the league and then just like that, a 2-0 lead turns us into hanging onto dear life and now leave Anfield with a 2-2 draw. Easily could be a loss. Given the context of the game, felt like a 2 points loss to a point gained with Ramsdale making 3 incredible saves at the end to secure the draw for the good guys.
6 point lead with a game in hand and a game at the Etihad still around the corner. It’s looking bleak for us right now as Haaland and his dumb face and Julian Alvarez’s acne breathing down on our necks toward the end of the season. (I apologize Julian but I’m down bad now and lashed out) Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
Saka out with an illness, Saliba out indefinitely, Tomiyasu out for the season, Man City battered Liverpool 4-1 earlier today, not what you want to see as an Arsenal going into this Leeds game but we handled them with a second-half onslaught to take us back to 8 points clear with a game in hand despite all those things going against us with a 4-1 win over relegation fodder Leeds. Gabi Jesus got back on the scoresheet with two goals, Trossard got himself another assist, Xhaka got a goal, Thomas Partey didn’t get injured and I didn’t have to suffer through a roller-coaster of a game. All to play for with 9 matches left, 9 cup finals, let’s do it fellas.
What can I say at this point? These guys won’t just stop winning games, just a relentless machine at the moment that looks scarily obsessed with grabbing the PL title. Arsenal finished off 2022 with a bang with a 4-2 win against Brighton on the South coast. With Newcastle and City dropping points today, Arsenal find themselves 7 points clear at the top of the PL standings with 16 games played. Still a lot of football left to play this season but Arsenal don’t look closer to dropping any points compared to their rivals for Top 4. Arsenal opened the match scoring 66 seconds in and then scored about 100 seconds into the 2nd half and didn’t look back. Things got eerie towards the end of the match, but we took all 3 points at a tough away ground and now have great momentum with our clash with Newcastle on 1/3/2023.
There is no point in being shy about it anymore, no point for Arsenal fans to be humble about it, no point to bring in any caveat and flat out just say that Arsenal is in this damn title race and we are not going anywhere. City dropped points to Brentford at home, which left the door wide open for Arsenal to go 5 points clear with last-place Wolves. Arsenal went on to 2-0 resounding win at Wolves and assured us being 5 points clear going into Boxing Day. I am not completely sure what is going on to be honest. I am not sure how to react as I have based my personality on Arsenal being bad and with us dominating the league at the moment, this is all surreal to witness that these clowns have turned it around like this.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
We all know our best XI: Ramsdale-Ben White-Saliba-Zinchenko-Thomas-Xhaka-Ø-Saka-Martinelli-GJ is our best XI going forward. We can make changes here and there depending on fitness and matchups but in the biggest matches, this is our best XI to get us to where we want.
Ø shutting me up again lol: lmao I called him out the past few weeks to pick up the slack during this stretch and then he goes out and scores two away goals lol
Who else but the skipper Martin Odegaard to put Arsenal into the lead!
I’ll just keep shitting on him all season long with the understanding I am doing it as a jinx and for Ødegaard to actually score goals in big moments.
3. Thomas Partey is everything to us: Thomas Partey is freedom for us. His skill and mastery allows us to play the way we want. He lets Saka, Martinelli, Ødegaard and company run around like fucking madmen cause they know they got their big brother Thomas Partey keeping everything in check. I say it every week but he is our best player and do not want to think about where we would be if we didn’t have him.
4. This team is different: Despite our dominance on the ball in the first half, nothing fell to us to get us the deserved lead however there was always a feeling I had deep down that we would get that goal, not a matter of “if” but a matter of when. That is infinitely times more than what I could say for past Arteta teams, this fixture last year we crawled to a 1-0 win and this year was a true dominant 2-0 pounding to bring us 5 points clear. The change is drastic from this year’s team to last and we can only hope to keep it up after the World Cup.
5. The World Cup could not come at a worse time for us: We are the team in-from in the country and this damn joke of a World Cup just has to come and ruin it for everyone. For the Arsenal player’s sake, I hope they get everything they want when representing their country at the World Cup but I hope so much that they stay healthy and fit for the 2nd half of this season. Praying Southgate stays an idiot and doesn’t play Saka (Lmao also Southgate won’t play Ramsdale or White, which is a massive joke but we will let his loss be our gain). If Tite wants to be annoying and play Richarlison instead of Gabi Jesus and Martinelli, not my problem (Gabriel M. not getting called up is also a joke). If Deschamps is blind and doesn’t start Saliba, be my guest. If Ghana get eliminated early but Thomas Partey is healthy and fit, I’d pay for that. Xhaka, Tomiyasu, and Turner will probably be our for sure nailed on starters at the World Cup.
6. Shut up about Gabriel Jesus: Funny how people are obsessed with Gabi’s goal-scoring record or lack there-of, “this is why Pep let him go”, blah blah blah. He is literally the main man of the team that is 5 points clear at the top, you can all sit down and shut up.
An apology from me to Mikel Arteta will be coming soon.
We are in a title challenge. I’ll say it again, we are in a title challenge. I won’t say it with sarcasm, I won’t say it with a “but”, I won’t say we will win the league, but damn it we are fighting for the title with 13 games played. Arsenal defeated Chelsea at the Bridge 1-0 and it was the most dominant 1-0 battering you will ever see this season. We were all over them from the start, just dominating them in their own backyard, Thomas was running the show, Saliba and Gabriel had Auba in their pockets (Auba just had 8 touches in the game), Ben White parenting Mason Mount, just spectacular performances all around from the boys.
Zinchenko came back at a perfect time: Zinchenko came back at a perfect time when Tomiyasu took a knock this past Thursday. I would have been fine if Tierney was asked to play instead but seeing Zinchenko back at his best despite the weeks off through injuries was a sight to sore eyes. Arteta came came out with the same XI everywhere else and we didn’t skip a beat. Ø I think and Saka at some parts were below par in spurts but all in all, can’t complain with how Arteta started the match.
Thomas Partey is our best player: He just is. He was magnificent today, picking the right passes at the right time. Played his part defensively when he needed to. Nothing gets me more excited in sports than he plays his reverse passes. He was just perfect today in all aspects of his game. When Thomas Partey is at his best, I feel fully confident in the team. He gives us a freedom to be aggressive as long as we know he is patrolling things in the midfield. Just a spectacular performance from our best player.
3. Auba cracks me up man: Aubameyang, this clown had the audacity to come out with those Sky Sports adverts and say dumb stuff like it’s “Nothing Personal” and then goes out and puts a performance where our defense held him to 8 touches in 64 minutes.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in BT Sports’ advert for Chelsea vs. Arsenal on Sunday: “Arsenal, nothing personal. I’m back. I’m blue. I’m ready. Let’s go.” #afcpic.twitter.com/7pb27mcu3b
Honestly, I don’t have ill will towards Auba since he did so much for us when he was here, but you can’t help but laugh at this stuff man. 8 touches all game, did Potter even select the guy today? Just a weird performance from him considering all that was on the line for him.
4. William Saliba, Gabriel, and Ben White are full of heavy pockets: Mason Mount, Auba, Sterling, and Kai Havertz all need to come out of our boy’s pockets now, it’s getting embarrassing. Just dreadful from their attacking players but masterful from our boys at the back. I still am examining if we were that good at the back or if Chelsea were that anemic going forward. They didn’t have a sniff towards Ramsdale. They had the rare counter but they really didn’t generate any real passage of play or cause Ramsdale any trouble. Any type of deep cross they had, the our men sniffed that stuff out easily. Just amazing stuff from the boys and proud of them but they need to let the kids out of their pockets now.
5. Gabriel Jesus will come good: I’m the first to rag on an Arsenal player if he is not performing to acceptable standards but this isn’t one of those cases. He hasn’t scored but I won’t acknowledge that cause he’s perfect and is doing everything else correctly. 🙂 Also since I am in such a good mood, I won’t come for Ø.
6. Arteta-Ball back in full force – There were a few passages of play where the boys were just straight messing with Chelsea, you love to see it.
7. Need to finish the rest of the games off strong before the World Cup: We have Brighton in the EFL Cup, and Wolves next weekend at the Molineux Stadium. It’s never easy going there as we have seen in the past few years but they are fighting relegation which will be an interesting twist from past encounters. I expect Arteta to rotate as much as he can midweek against Brighton and go with our best XI against Wolves. At this point, every game is a must win to keep up with City so let’s hope the boys finish it off strong. It does feel weird to not complain about anything but here we are, straight vibing. You love to see it.
After the disappointing 2-0 defeat to PSV in Europa League play where we got absolutely battered, we needed a team to turn over and Forest was the perfect team for that. Leeds away and Southampton away were dreadful performances so it was nice for us to bring out a 5-0 demolition on relegation fodder. We still have everything to play for with Chelsea coming up next weekend who will be looking to rebound from a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Brighton.
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
Arteta picking Tomiyasu today paid off but he has Forest to thank. I have been harping for weeks now that Arteta needs to put Tierney at LB but Tomiyasu was brilliant today so can’t say anything about that today. However, Forest were so pathetic going forward and didn’t press us at all which gave Tomiyasu acres of space to operate and didn’t feel any pressure in possession. If the Forest manager, Steve Cooper, had any competence, he would’ve forced Tomiyasu as the basis for their press which is what Leeds and Southampton did to trouble us and get us off our rhythm. Much easier said than done when Leeds and Soton were at home but regardless, Forest just played into our hands fortunately by sitting back and trying to hit us on the counter. The rest of the lineup spoke for itself with everybody playing well. Next week will be interesting with the game being at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, my guess is he will pick Tomiyasu for defensive purposes, but nobody is a bigger advocate than me on us needing to insert Tierney before it costs us.
Thomas Partey masterclass. First off I understand it was last place Forest, but Thomas Partey was by far the best player on the pitch and played like a Top 5 CDM in world football today, 2nd clearly behind Rodri. His long ball passing was on point all day, he made the right passes at the right times, the tempo of his passing was perfect, he scored a peach of a goal. Just an all-around performance from our best player to get us back on track. We absolutely need him to produce something similar against Chelsea since their midfield depth is lacking at the moment, need him and Xhaka to run things at the Bridge next weekend. Love this man
Almost carbon copy of his goal against Spurs, you love to see it
3. These are the performances title challengers put in over a 38-game season. 100%, you can’t expect teams to put in performances like this, 5-0 demolitions, but sometimes, when you see relegation fodder at your home stadium, you just need to put up a whacking to send a signal out to the league that you are for real, this was 100% one of those games to get us back on track but also to let the league know that the Leeds and Southampton were blips rather than being permanent.
4. The goals will come for Gabriel Jesus. It is more than fair to say that Gabriel Jesus is going through a cold patch with goals but damn it the performances are there. It just sounds like I am making excuses for the guy, which I am, but he’s tracking back, he’s getting assists (2 assists today), he’s working his ass for the team. It’s all there except for the finishing, some could argue it is the biggest part, I am not but some will, but he will get there. I am calling it now, my man Gabriel Jesus is getting a brace against Chelsea, it is coming, I feel it. Just give him 90 minutes with Trev and Thiago and it will put Gabriel Jesus back on track as our talismanic striker.
5. REISS NELSON, GO OFF KING. My boy Reiss Nelson, proud of the kid. When Saka went off for an injury, I was pissed cause it felt like Eddie Nketiah was coming on but too everyone’s shock, he chose to bring on Reiss, and it did not disappoint. Credit to Mikel for getting this decision spot on, cause Reiss was perfect, providing two goals and an assist in just over a half of football.
Great from Reiss to read the passage of play and get in front of his man at the front post for the clever finish
Not sure after this match, why Mikel hasn’t given him more in the Europa League games, but my word if he keeps this up, this is the depth we needed with a World Cup looming, happy for Reiss cause he hasn’t had many opportunities and happy he hasn’t let this one pass him by.
6. This thing where the referees let defenders and opposing players kick Saka for fun with no repercussions is the most annoying thing going on in football and needs to stop now. If the Premier League and English FA had any hope for England in the World Cup, it is keeping their best player fit and healthy, not as target practice for neanderthals like Steve Cook.
7. God bless Pablo Mari and glad he’s doing alright after the horrific events in Milan.
I am going to be so insufferable and need somebody to humble Arsenal quick cause I am FEELING myself. Arsenal got rid of our Klopp voodoo curse and pulled out a 3-2 win at the Emirates over Liverpool. Klopp has essentially owned me and Arsenal since he stepped foot in England, you can say since Klopp arrived at Liverpool, this was the first time we have convincingly beaten him over 90 minutes in a football match. Just outrageous but we managed to pull it off today. Two goals from Saka and a early one from Martinelli carried us to victory despite Liverpool able to peg us back twice.
It’s tight at the league’s top, but this victory puts us back on top. We are well entrenched into this “title” race as long as the standings say so but more importantly, it more than entrenches us into the Top 4 race as we are all on stand-by with Haaland wrecking City to the title. THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH:
My guy Tomiyasu is back – Arteta went with pretty much the same XI that has carried us this season in the league except for one huge change, at LB with Zinchenko out due to injury, he selected RB Tomiyasu at left back instead of Tierney. Huge call by Arteta which would cause controversy anyway it turned out and it turned out in his favor today. Tomiyasu absolutely pocketed Salah from the start. Salah basically went missing for the duration of match and a search team is absolutely needed to find his whereabouts. Just a tactical masterclass by Arteta using the defensive-minded Tomi to keep an eye on Salah knowing full-well Tomiyasu has experience playing as a left-sided CB for his country 🙂 . Happy for Tomi, his performance today made me think that whenever we play a match, he is part of our best XI, not sure where he belongs, but it definitely on the pitch.
Martinelli is a problem – Every chance Martinelli got, you could see him wipe his tongue across his face as he knew it was time to feast on poor Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Not even a minute into the match Gabriel Martinelli outs Arsenal on top!
Martinelli’s pause on Arsenal’s 2nd goal sent Henderson and TAA back to Liverpool as it completely took them out of the game and left it on a plate for Saka to finish. Every time we needed a consistent threat, Martinelli was there for the call, whether it be Gomez, TAA, or Henderson, he cooked them all. It was so bad, Klopp subbed out TAA at halftime (he said it was cause of injuries, probably wasn’t), subbed off the RCB (Matip) , and subbed on another CM for coverage. What a game for Martinelli.
3. Thomas Partey Masterclass – outside of Rodri, is there a better CDM in the league? I thought he was brilliant, especially in the second half. We do not have one individual who can do half of what this man does for us. His timing and pacing of his passing just keep us ticking and going all match long. He did everything required to keep us on top throughout the match, making tackles, resisting their press, pinging balls out wide that you wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t pay attention. I just love this man so much. Just watch this comp and admire his greatness. I want Arsenal staff at his beck and call 24/7. I want all of his needs attended to at all times of the day. When he eats, when he dresses, when he goes down the stairs, we must all come together to make sure Thomas stays healthy for the whole season cause without him we are hopeless.
4. Calm down – When we scored within the minute, you could feel the buzz throughout the stadium and that transferred to the players undoubtedly. However, that only hindered our performance as we were all gas no brakes when we should have slowed down and our stamp into the game. Too many times after we got out to the 1-0 lead, we were just directly feeding our front line instead of building our possession through the midfield. This allowed Liverpool back into the game and getting the deserved goal to draw level at 1-1. Too many times when Thomas received the ball and had no support from Xhaka and Ø as an outlet which then would cause him to play back to the defenders who would then hoove the ball forward. Just played right into the hands of Liverpool which allowed Henderson and Thiago time and space to operate despite being in poor form this season. There was s glimpse of that naivety that ran its ugly head during the United game, we were able to counter with a second goal before the half but we need to see these moments better in future games. To be fair, we were much better in the second half, when we asserted our dominance, you can tell, the midfield trio of Ø, Xhaka and Thomas get more involved within the game, Martinelli and Saka get isolated onto their defenders etc. We were a better team throughout the full 90, just need to see the tough moments out better.
5. Martin Ødegaard confuses me – He had that minor injury right before the international break which hindered his form a bit but there were times throughout the game when I felt like he went missing. Especially in the first half where Liverpool grew into the game, we needed to find our playmakers to take the sting out of their momentum but he was nowhere to be found. However he played the sumptuous ball to Martinelli on the first goal. He will have moments of pure brilliance out of nowhere but its the consistency throughout the match where I feels like he goes missing at times. As our captain we need him showing for the ball and putting his stamp on the game, I don’t care if he loses it, we need his touches on the ball regardless cause more times than not, his touches on the game are pure quality.
6. Gabriel man, I don’t know what I am going to do with this guy – This guy man, he is straight out of a Six Flags amusement park, a damn roller coaster. He takes you through all the emotions. He will have moments of pure madness, gives the penalty away against Spurs, gives the goal away against Fulham etc. but then he will turn around and produce brilliant moments such as his goal against Fulham to win the match and then his dummy to set up Saka. Just an absolutely mad player that isn’t healthy for me. He got away with a questionable hand ball today as well in our box.
7. Rotation is key right now for Mikel – with the Europa League games coming hard and fast, that means the Thursday-Sunday cycle is well and truly on, so he needs to start resting players like Martinelli, Gabriel, Xhaka (maybe or maybe not) in order to preserve our player’s health through this busy part of the season. The back four I’m not too worried about as we have Ben White, Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Saliba, Zinchenko, Tierney and Holding for four spots. It’s the midfield that worries me as Sambi is the only replacement we have when Xhaka and Thomas goes down. I’d like for him to try a Sambi- Fabio pivot during the Europa League games, see if he can cut it as a deeper 8. The front 3 speaks for itself as we have Marquinhos and Reiss now back into the fold for our wide position with Eddie backing up Gabriel Jesus.
8. Got my eyes on you Jordan Henderson – Undoubtedly, this is the game of the year so far in the Premier League. Emotions were running high for both teams. There are rumors circulating of an incident between Gabriel and Jordan Henderson that had racism stemmed in there, whether it’s true or not, who knows but hopefully more details come out in regards to it.
Jordan Henderson’s exchange with Gabriel Magalhaes during today’s game, what do you think he has said? #lfc#afcpic.twitter.com/osqVAIaPc9
After the United loss over Labor Day weekend, it was always going to be interesting how we’d respond, and thank goodness we played a sorry Brentford team today, winning the game 3-0 at Brentford. I’d usually wax lyrical about how much quality we had going forward, how we dominated from the start, etc. but Brentford were so bad, I’m not even sure if Arsenal played well today. Zinchenko and Ødegaard missed out due to injuries but Tierney and Vieira stepped in and kept the train going. I’ll take the 3 points for what they are for sure, keeps us in pace with the Top 4 and the league, and puts us in the right direction before the International Break.
Brentford showed everybody what not to do against Arsenal. Usually, I’m the first to tell people if Arsenal were shit or not shit, never giving the other team acknowledgment on an Arsenal game but my word Brentford were terrible. These guys came into the game on the top half of the table respectively but played like relegation fodder. They smoked us last year to open the regular season with a 2-0 drubbing and you’d think they would look to replicate that game if possible. In our faces, winning their individual battles, pressing from the start, using the crowd to energize them. But they did the opposite, they sat back instead of getting in our faces, showed us WAY too much respect and tried to hit us on the counter. The problem with that is, once you concede early, which they did through a Saliba header, it puts all the onus back on you to get on level terms and they never coped with it. Arsenal never got out of 2nd gear, but we never had to, Brentford’s midfield was nonexistent, defenders stagnant, attackers isolated. Just a shit and weird performance from a usually respectable Thomas Frank side.
2. Gabriel Jesus is back to his dancing and goal-scoring ways. It was an 8/10 performance from Gabi, consistent with how he has performed and carried us this season. He could have had more as well with just a little more time and quality on his 1 on 1 opportunities but I won’t complain about his performance, just so much quality on his header for our 2nd goal.
It’s a splendid ball from Xhaka to find Gabi, but how Gabi had the strength in his neck to divert the ball back across the face of the goal is sickening. Just unreal from my #9. I love him.
3. Saliba is still the greatest to ever do it. Besides adding Ivan Toney as one of his victims, he scored another unreal goal, this time straight off a corner with a flicked header. The goal angle is absurd and makes no sense when you look at where he was on the front post. Adding another goal to his legend.
William Saliba scores and the the away end is singing! 🎵 #AFC
4. The medical and physio staff need to get their shit together. Gary O’Driscoll, Arsenal’s head of medical services, and his staff need to sort this crap out. I am tired of seeing these last-minute updates on how Zinchenko and Ødegaard missed out due to calf injuries suffered in training. Tomiyasu missed the second half of last season with a calf injury as well. We all know Thomas Partey is always a liability to get hurt. Gabriel Magalhães and Gabi Jesus both spent time down injured at different points of the game, like bruh, this club and staff need to do something about these non-contact injuries, unacceptable at this point.
5. Ødegaard, come outside, we need to have a chat. With Martin missing out due to an injury, stepped in Fábio Vieira who delivered a 30-yard stunner to open his account at Arsenal. Something I have been annoying about all over this site is how Ødegaard doesn’t shoot enough for himself or the team, well here you go dude, you weren’t in the game and we didn’t skip a beat away from home. Vieira had a relatively quiet first half but his goal came right after half-time and put the game to bed. Obviously Martin is still our guy in the 10 spot but he should keep an eye out on this Portuguese guy lurking for his spot.
Arsenal go up 3-0 thanks to this fantastic goal by Fabio Vieira!
Just a beauty from outside the box. Love this guy already
6. Our next two games are Spurs and Liverpool at home and 6 points is the only acceptable result. I honestly have butterflies thinking about Spurs at home. We have to win, we have to win, we have to win. A draw at home to Spurs, and you might as well off me at this point cause I don’t have the strength to live if we don’t win. Yes, I am overexaggerating and being dramatic, but I don’t give a damn, I unfortunately put too much time and thought into these clowns and they better not let me down when Spurs come to town.
7. Absolutely love Arteta using Toney’s tweet from last season as motivation still. Here is the timeline:
I absolutely love the shit-talking from the boys, just need them to keep that same energy with the big teams. Please don’t let me down.
8. Xhaka is my captain. For obvious reasons, he could never be our captain but we all know deep down, he runs this team. Not as a slight to Ødegaard as he is not a natural vocal leader, and that is not a bad thing. Watching the Amazon documentary just made it uber clear that Xhaka runs the locker room. He is the first to call the boys out when we have been terrible, he holds himself accountable as well, he is dependable (most of the time), and is always available for selection. He got the armband today, and if I had it my way, he’d be our captain full-time.
I also know that I went on and on about how we needed a Xhaka replacement this past summer but now I can’t imagine life without the guy. At the moment, he has gotta be the first name on the team sheet and has proved to be irreplaceable for the team at the moment, on and off the pitch. Xhaka has pretty much bitch slapped me and told me shut up. Good for him. Credit to me for admitting I was wrong on the guy.
Twitter credits: NBC Sports, Amazon, Gabriel Magalhaes 🙂
