What a win that was for an otherwise boring first 70 minutes. We needed it, kept cool and scored one in the 89th min. Everton got a corner in the dying minutes of extra time and brought Pickford into our box in the hope of a draw – but Dowman had other plans. He beat couple of Evertonions, and went on to score of a counter, becoming the youngest ever player to score in the Premier League. We are 10 points clear of Man City, they have couple of games in hand but fixtures are piling up for them as well and with injuries everywhere, the hope in me is growing.
It also raises our confidence for the Champions League second leg at home.
I haven’t seen us lifting a PL table ever since I started watching Arsenal and Football. No one has seen us lifting a Champions League trophy, dead or alive. No Arsenal fan has seen us lifting Carabao Cup ever, and it was in 2020 covid time when we last won FA Cup.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s coming for us :
Premier League
10 points clear of Man City with 7 games left for us. City got to play 9 and if we believe that they win their 2 extra games, that’s 4 points lead which takes away the pressure from the Man City game. We could lose at Etihad and still win the title.
Champions League
Leverkusen managed to hold us to a 1-1 draw on a night which wasn’t very fascinating for us. We were poor, and we won converted a 50/50 penalty to have an advantage in the second leg. We are playing at home on Tuesday evening, and we must win.
Champions League is probably the toughest competition we are in. With Madrid beating City 3-0 in the first leg, Liverpool losing to Galatsaray 1-0 and PSG thrashing Chelsea 5-2, upsets have already started and whoever is hoping to win must put up some show till the finals.
We reached semis last year, and Mikel must be hoping to at least play the finals. That would mean beating Leverkusen at home first and playing one of the Newcastle, Barcelona, Atletico and Tottenham in the semi finals. Atletico beat Spurs 5-2 so they are mostly likely through. Newcastle and Barcelona played a 1-1 draw and Newcastle has the away 2nd leg, so we might see those cunts in semis. 2006 IS STILL NOT FORGOTTEN.
Carabao Cup / EFL Cup
We have a master v apprentice showdown in Carabao Cup finals on 22nd March. It’s going to be the first trophy of the season for Pep or first for Mikel after his FA Cup win in 2020. Pep has a team that has won things and know how to keep their calm when it matters. We, on the other hand, has done so much to end up 2nd whenever it has mattered.
There is no doubt about the fight. It will eventually come down to us, to avoid committing errors and to walk the talk.
If we win, it will be a massive confidence booster. We have got a game against City at Etihad in Premier League and if we beat them here, we can beat them for the PL title.
FA Cup
We are in the quarter finals and have got an easy game against Southampton, who are in Championship.
One of the City and Liverpool will not be playing in semis, Chelsea are not threatening these days and we might end up playing City again in semi final or final. Or Liverpool, it will be equally tough.
If you ask the sensible me the criteria to judge Mikel for this season, he must win one of the Premier League or Champion League trophies and anything else would be additional joy. If you ask the fan, we must win all 4 and make sure Spurs get relegated in the process.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments. Would love to hear your say for today’s game and what you would consider as a successful season!
Aitcho
“Truly daft, as always Squesky Vera.”
Of course he is , he is an entitled fan who is bitter and twisted , one only has to read his ramblings in his previous post to recognise that.
I’m sure he is still vainly clinging on to the hope that we will be trophyless this season.
It’s sad and pathetic really that he can’t recognise the improvement in Arteta’s in game management , yesterday he managed it to perfection, the starting line up had flair and when we needed it he brought Dowman on for Zubimendi which was a game changer.
Arsenal are way ahead in goal contributions from substitutes compared to the rest of the league, he was ridiculed for calling them finishers early in the season but yesterday he was again proven correct.
Yesterday’s game would have been a formality if the ref and VAR had done their job correctly when Havertz was brought down when clean through on goal in the first half , basically they bottled it as they knew they would have had to issue a red card as well as award a penalty…..personally I think the non award of the penalty was partly to do with furore over Arsenal receiving a soft penalty in the week v Leverkusen, referees should take each case on it’s merit and officials should not be influenced by the media .
Aitcho
“Wicksy, I’m not sure we have that sort of talismanic player that we need to keep at all costs. The numbers show we have a very strong collective amd we’ve coped reasonably well when our marquee players have had time out.”
This is true, we do seem to be able to cope whoever is out injured…Maybe Dowman will become our Ryan Giggs who elevates the football to a different level , the future certainly looks bright with also Skelly and Nwaneri maturing into top level players , getting over the line this season is crucial to how Arsenal as a club move forward, we are so close to becoming a major force in England and Europe.
Wicksy
The odds are Skelly and Nwaneri will be sold in the summer – also likely is Martinelli.
The odds are nowhere near it. You’re doing that squeaky Vera thing of making things up to justify a previous position.
I’m not saying none will be sold if it helps in other ways, that’s the art of squad building and team management, everyone has their price but to suggest it’s odds on with no evidence to support that assertion is plain weird.
The only way I see the first two being sold is if they want a move. Marts, if we get a decent fee. I’m not convinced either of those scenarios is odds on.
Palace, Leeds, Forest and the Hammers all picking up a point. I cannot see Spurs getting anything out of their game.
Tudor will be dethroned tonight and the fans will get mediaeval on his ass! No amount of ‘reformation’ can help Spurs.
Aitcho
No there are stories circulating that we have to generate some funds because of the amount we spent last season.
The players mentioned (obviously not all will be sold) are White, Skelly, Nwaneri and believe it or not Ode. I think Martinelli will go because of a lack of game time.
Skelly can’t get game time and Nwaneri has not only been sent out on loan but we have a lot of options in that position.
You really need to be able to look at the club with a bit of objectivity – I’m not criticising the young players or saying they’re no good.
If Liverpool are in the mood they could not only beat the Spud’s but take a big chunk out of the goal difference they have over West Ham and Forest.
Oh, I would love him to be there till end of season and continue his managerial job in Championship.
Marc
I think they will win but it won’t be a massive one. Liverpool are behind one of the worst Manchester United, because they are shite too.
There were news planted about Slot’s alternative at the end of the season.
Also, I don’t personally think fund is a problem. We are playing twice every week, we will finish 1st / 2 nd in premier league and we have advanced to round of 16 in CL. Club would have made a lot of money already and will make a lot more depending on how we end up.
Martinelli can’t be sold. You won’t find a head-down merchant, eho never complains, and create havoc whenever he is on the pitch.
Skelly or Nwaneri could be, but Calafiori os an injury prone player and Odegaard hasn’t been doing very well so I doubt both these two.
Ben White would be sold I’m guessing. And with the game time Mosquera is having, I am guessing (not hoping at all) that Madrid will come for him and Saliba will leave. May be not this window but the next one.
Achoo—“facts”, you’re fucking allergic to facts you stunned cunt…the facts do speak for themselves and they say that our short-sighted self-absorbed manager doesn’t have a clue how to develop players, except in a way that best suits his particular tactical agenda, even if it hinders their overall development and/or laregly ignores their individual skillsets…that’s likely why you attempted to critique the most fringe elements of my argument…I certainly wasn’t suggesting that ESR was destined for greatness, far from it in fact, I simply stated that he was mismanaged, as he might not possess the physical attributes required to be an everyday starter on a top side, but he could have been a viable cog piece as a bench option, especially on a side that tends to struggle for goals from open play…then you had the nerve to mention Moq as an example of one of MA’s developmental success, whereas he’s only been here for a cup of coffee and who knows where his floor or ceiling lies…as for the whole re-up gig, there’s a whole host of factors involved in those types of decisions that aren’t intimately tied to the player’s affinity for the manager, regardless of their respective “managed” statements that are typically offered up immediately upon signing…I guess it’s difficult to see the full picture when your head is so far up the manager’s ass shit for brains
If Liverpool don’t up their game the Spuddies could get something out of this.
The quality of the PL this season is really poor.
Fucking useless scouse cunts.
Marc—there’s not a consistently watchable side in the whole of the PL this year…some have played entertaining football for brief periods, like Bournemouth, Villa, Palace and BHA, but all have experienced precipitous dropoffs since then…even watching Pool and City has been quite a chore more often than not…it’s the fucking dark ages out there
Oi, squeaky Vera,
Tets developing players to fit his own agenda and structure would seem a sensible thing for a coach to do in the eyes of most sensible people.
You think doing the opposite is sensible.
Your daftness is limitless.
ESR might have been useful, might not, let it go man
In my opinion Martinelli will be first on the list to go along with jesus who has lost the sharpness in his game.
If we are to dominate Europe we need better forward quality. At present we look like we are lacking and that needs to be addressed , though of course Dowman will partly address that as will Nwaneri if Arteta shows the necessary trust in him.
Arteta needs to be ruthless if he thinks a player is injury prone , talking about the likes of calafiori, Havertz, jesus , white and now Odegaard.
Now may be the time to replace white and jesus as they they still have value but calafiori , Odegaard and Havertz should be given at least a season to prove they are over their injury problems, it would probably be a mistake to make wholesale changes.
Personally I would like to see a top striker come in , gyokeres has scored 16 goals this season which is decent enough but his overall game is not top level and that is what we should be aiming for.
Skelly I’m not sure about , he is still very young and I can understand why Arteta has been reluctant to use him as his level has dropped, so he is another one who I would like to stay as there is definitely a player there.
Last summer’s window was an example of how to build a squad to compete on all fronts, this summer’s window should be about bringing in one ir 2 players of top quality, namely a left winger and/or a striker .
Achoo—now I’m well-aware that being sensible is a foreign concept for someone like yourself, as was clearly evident by your single white female stalking tendencies, so it doesn’t surprise me one iota that you can’t seem to wrap your head around the notion that our position in the standings or the fact that MA’s dumbed-down tactical approach has thrived in this watered down environment has nothing to do with whether or not your blunt instrument managerial overlord has done a good job when it comes to developing our brightest young prospects…over the years our gutless fucktard of a manager has rarely, if ever, gone with a more youthful option, especially if it wasn’t of his own choosing, unless he’s been backed into a corner(minus Saka of course)…with this in mind, anyone who believes that Dowman would have been on the pitch on Saturday if Merino or Ode were available needs to get their head examined…so stop all this nonsense about ESR, as he’s the least of my concerns regarding this specific issue…of course I get why you leep leaning into it, as he was the least talented of the bunch so you think that by continually making this association it might somehow negatively impact my credibility…nice try to simpleton fuck…it’s not too dissimilar from your earlier attempts to suggest that I was a huge proponent of our former bird-loving captain, the underwhelming one year wonder Xhaka, which couldn’t have been further from the truth…FU