It was just a week ago when we were flying high in pole position for the final Champions League spot. who knows, maybe we could have challenged Chelsea for that 3rd spot. In a span of two games where we lost 3-0 to Palace and 2-1 to Brighton at home, we have more than likely squandered Champions League football for next season with Spurs winning two games on the bounce against Newcastle and Aston Villa. In typical Arsenal fashion, we have choked away success, this in a different manner than how we usually did it with Wenger but regardless, we still had everything to play for and shat the bed. Let me go into the main issues that confronted and why our season is essentially over
We didn’t score more goals than the opponent: Doesn’t get simpler than this. To win games, you gotta score more goals than the other team and for some damn reason, we didn’t do that. Not sure if Arteta’s instructions to the team were to in fact not score goals, and if that was the case, they implemented that plan to perfection. Definitely an issue I’d like to be addressed going into the next games.
(Disclaimer: This whole post will be very dramatic with little rationale)
WHAT A FUCKING SHIT SHOW. It wasn’t enough that we showed up to Palace with little desire, one could say no desire to win. It wasn’t enough that our Japanese right-back (Tomiyasu) hasn’t played in for us in months. It wasn’t enough that our star left-back (Tierney) had season-ending knee surgery. It wasn’t enough that our beautiful Ghanaian center midfielder and our best player is out for months in our Top 4 run-in to end the season. It wasn’t enough that Japan drew SPAIN and GERMANY in the World Cup draw. IT WASN’T ENOUGH THAT OUR SEASON DEPENDS ON OUR GAME AGAINST SPURS AWAY. IT WASN”T ENOUGH THAT ARSENAL BROUGHT ME ALL THIS HOPE TO SCREW IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. IT IS NEVER ENOUGH WITH THIS TEAM.
I SWEAR IF I HAVE TO WATCH ARSENAL IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE SOCCER FOR ONE MORE GOD DAMN SEASON. (I’d still watch). BUT I’D BE PISSED DOING IT.
(please beat Brighton tomorrow and make Top 4, thanks).
Who would have thought as March comes to a close, that I would have to worry about Arsenal having a chance to compete for a Top 4 spot? For the past few years, I have been stuck hoping Arsenal win Europa League knockout rounds against Eastern European farmers such as Slavia Prague to make our season worthwhile. Usually at this point of the season, we are out of the running for Top 4 and I am just causing pain to myself by watching meaningless April games for absolutely no fucking reason. With the international break taking place coming to a close, our Top 4 hopes more than likely will rely on how we perform in these April fixtures outlined below:
I’ll go into what we can expect going into each match and the context that will be taking place around us and our opponents.
CRYSTAL PALACE: As long as Crystal Palace have Patrick Vieira as their manager, they will always be my 2nd favorite team. This game will be hard for me to watch as I’ve enjoyed watching Palace play this season but this is a must-win game for the Gunners. The game will be at Selhurst Park which has given us trouble in the past. Fortunately for us, their two wingers Wilfried Zaha and the talented Michael Olise both picked up knocks over the International break so Patty V needs to chill and let his stars recover after Monday. Even if we get lucky and Zaha and Olise are out, Palace still have an in-form Conor Gallagher who is in my current PL TOTY with how well he has played. Back when we played them in October, it was a back and forth 2-2 draw with Mikel playing Ødegaard in a deep playmaking role next to Thomas. Both teams have changed drastically so no point in delving too much into that game but as long as we somehow get revenge on James McCarthur if he touches the field, I’ll be happy. Such a fuckm that guy. PREDICTION Arsenal 1 – Crystal Palance 0, ESR to get our goal off the bench.
Feed me the tears, feed me all the tears!!! If you know anything about my history with supporting Arsenal, I am the first one to call out the club for their incompetence on and off the field. When we started the season with 3 straight losses to Brentford, Chelsea, and Man City, I was on the verge of my annual mental breakdown from supporting this club. After solidifying our summer transfer window, Arsenal have gone on an unexpected run to pole position for the coveted 4th spot in the league, right now ahead of Man United, Spurs, West Ham and Wolves. This climb up the table to a Champions League spot and hopping over our rivals has every other club rattled and it is fucking hilarious.
For context, Arsenal has been doing this thing this season where they are winning soccer matches instead of disappointing draws or frustrating losses. And weirdly after these matches that Arsenal are winning, they are doing this thing where they celebrate with each other to express happiness after the matches. Let me show you the absurd acts that Arsenal have been committing after matches they win:
Rob Holding and Ben White rush to congratulate Bernd Leno on the clean sheet, Gabriel goes down to his knees to celebrate. Granit Xhaka celebrates with egregious celebration by jumping in the air.Arsenal teammates strangely celebrate with Bernd Leno after the full time whistle to celebrate a win?Continue reading “Arsenal has England rattled!”
Get the fuck in! In a week where we play Leicester at home, Liverpool at home, and Villa away; to take 6/9 points from these 3 fixtures is nothing short of impressive. Through a goal in the 30th minute from Bukayo Saka, Arsenal traveled up to Villa Park and nabbed a 1-0 victory to extend our lead in the race for Top 4. For me, it never bothered me that we loss to Liverpool midweek, those results will happen to teams that are better than you. It was always going to be how we respond to losses that mattered and I have to give credit when it’s due, Mikel got the boys ready to play and they delivered massively. A well timed win going into the International break with the table looking like this:
PREMATCH/FIRST HALF – Mikel went with an almost unchanged lineup from the team that lost to Liverpool midweek with Leno, and Smith Rowe coming in for Ramsdale and Martinelli. Ramsdale is suffering from a hip injury that will most likely keep him out of the England camp. Martinelli came up with an illness that let ESR step into the team for the first time in awhile. Steven Gerrard went with a mostly unchanged side that lost to West Ham last week with Buendia, Konsa, and Ashley Young coming in for Ings, Chambers and Digne. From the start, Arsenal were all over Villa just like the old Wenger teams would do. I was pleased with how early Arteta got the boys to assert their dominance over an inferior opponent. Every time Arsenal wanted to, you felt like they were a threat especially with Saka down the right flank. Arsenal were then able to break through with a goal from Saka at the top of the box to give us the lead.
If you made a carbon copy of our 2nd leg in the Carabao Cup semifinals against Liverpool, you’d come up with the exact same match today. Arsenal came up short today in what is very common against Liverpool as of late with a score of 0-2 with goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino being the difference. There is just a gulf in class between the two sides that we can’t overcome at the moment. In no way shape or form did Arsenal play poor today, there was just a better side on the other side and I can live with that. I predicted a 3-1 loss to Liverpool so a 2-0 scoreline feels pretty much expected with how things turned out. Liverpool are just more experienced and composed in these big-time matchups compared to us. One could say Liverpool didn’t play that well today, if you looked at Jürgen Klopp’s reaction throughout the match, he never looked please at all and they still were dragging our asses up and down the field. Everytime we looked to pose a threat, they were able to snuff out all of what we were trying to create offensively and smartly chose their moments to press and hit us on the counter when it seemed fit.
Table Outlook:
With all that being said, I think even Mikel Arteta at his core would’ve nailed this game as a loss, especially with a Liverpool team that has everything to play for in obtaining the league title. Arsenal still controls their destiny but matchups with Chelsea and Spurs away are not a given but it is more than what I could ask for going into this season so I’ll take what I can get despite this loss.
PREMATCH-FIRST HALF: Mikel put out an unchanged side from the team that beat Leicester on Sunday which was expected. I mentioned that I wouldn’t have minded if he switched to a back 3 for this game but don’t blame if for going with the lineup that has got us to this point. My hypocritical ass would have been the first one to come for him if he switched things up and it didn’t work. Klopp benched Salah for today’s game which was a surprise but when you have Jota, Mané and Luis Diaz leading your line, you’ll probably be just fine. The game started with Liverpool retaining a good amount of the possession. Arsenal then grew into the game and would say had most of the chances for bulk of the first half. Martinelli was having his way with Trent down the left flank just like in the Carabao Cup ties and was our main source of threat in the first half as shown below:
Get in fellas! I’ll have to admit, it is weird not having to complain about this team in recent weeks and the better part of this season. It means that I’ll have to develop a personality that doesn’t revolve around Arsenal being shit but I’ll take that trade if it means Arsenal keep playing like this. An early goal from Thomas Partey and a converted penalty from Laca gave us the comfortable 2-0 win at home against Leicester. As straight-forward a win that you’d like to see from the boys especially given the tough tasks ahead against Liverpool midweek and Villa away next Saturday. This game takes us a point above United with 3 games in hand but those games in hand don’t mean a thing if we aren’t able to take points away from those games.
PREMATCH/FIRST HALF – Mikel went with the same team that has gone on this 4 games unbeaten run with Tomiyasu being replaced by Cédric with Emile Smith Rowe nursing an injury on the bench. Leicester went with a somewhat rotated lineup from their Europa Conference League clash on Thursday against Rennes with Daka, Tielemans, Ndidi and Justin stepping aside for Iheanacho, Maddison, Mendy, and Pereira. The match started and we were out guns blazing. Xhaka was stepping into that advanced role in possession with Ødegaard taking up the half spaces to receive the ball. Arsenal won a corner in the 11th minute which subsequently led to Martinelli playing a delicious ball into the near post that Thomas Partey nodded in for the 1-0 lead. One of the biggest breakthroughs this season is Martinelli’s set piece delivery as you would think you’d want him attacking these crosses. Leicester let in another set piece goal which is the 14th time they allowed a goal from a set piece this season according to Statman Dave.
Leicester City have conceded 14 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, no team has conceded more.
In early December 2021, Thomas Partey in an interview with Sky Sports rated his season as a 4/10 at that point explaining how his inconsistency has caused him to struggle a bit with him needing to contribute more to the team. If there is any characteristic I appreciate in a human being, it’s self-awareness. Thomas telling the media and fans around the world that he has been shit compared to his world class standards lets us all know that we can be more honest in the way we live everyday. For example, I can admit that I care too much about this dumb sport and it is almost to the point of pathetic how I let this team’s performance affect, but credit to me for admitting that. Anyways, ever since Thomas gave the honest assessment of his season to that point, he has been close to flawless for us. His performances have had everything Arsenal fans expected from our £45 million mediocentro from Atlético Madrid. Since he made those comments to Sky Sports in early December, the only time Arsenal lost in the league was to Man City who we outplayed on the day with Partey putting in a MOTM performance and had me in tears how good he was on that day.
Thomas Partey at his absolute best is our calm, composed, regista in the center of the park. Turning away from pressure, pinging diagonal balls out wide, winning tackles, and breaking the lines with his passing or dribbling etc. are all skillsets that Thomas possess that makes me happy and not want to gauge my eyeballs out when watching Arsenal. This in-form Thomas Partey can all simply be summed up with one word: CONFIDENCE. Nothing more and nothing less. I’m a simple man, a center midfielder who can turn away from pressure to start attacks is a kink of mine. Thomas at his best for these past few months has helped us beat the press through body feints and a sense of poise we haven’t had in the center of the park in years as shown below:
Let’s gooooooooooo!!! 3 points are all that matters and the boys got the job done today. This match had typical Arsenal screwing it up when the pressure is on at home, the crowd gets all amped up, and then Arsenal usually would find a way to fuck it all up. But today, not sure what deal Arteta made with the devil but the opposite happened. It wasn’t pretty, it was sloppy, it was damn ugly, it made me not want to live for most of the game, but we made it out with 3 points and moving onto the next match. Arsenal nabbed a goal in extra-time to take us past Wolves at the Emirates with a score of 2-1. With Spurs losing to Burnley yesterday and Wolves fighting for top 4 with us, this match ended up being a 6 point swing between us and Wolves as you can see from the league table before this week’s matches:
Despite United and Spurs grabbing victories this past weekend, don’t get it twisted, we have nobody to blame but ourselves if we do not nab that 4th spot for this Premier League season. Let’s have a clear look at the table after the Sunday games:
Despite people ridiculously salivating over Spurs win over a mistake-ridden City side, 4th place still goes through the Emirates Stadium. I know people like to not put pressure on these “kids” at Arsenal and attacked Thierry Henry for stating similar sentiments on how Top 4 is a must this season for Arsenal. But whether people like it or not, the situation is the situation and United and Spurs screwing up has put us in the driver’s seat for that 4th place. Our games in hands, lack of other cups/competition makes it a clear that Top 4 is the only acceptable option at this point of the season.
