You didn’t expect Wolves, who are sitting in 20th position, to do you a favor, did ya? Man City closed down the gap by 3 points today and it’s now in our hands to extend the lead back to 7 points by beating our legacy rivals. Man Utd are crap, lets be real. But they still sit at 5th position, ahead of Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs. They are only a point behind Liverpool and they know few wins could get them into the Champions League. They have something to play for, so do we – and we will find out tomorrow who wants it more.
Calafiori and Hincapie will be assessed before the game but it’s fine to say we will have a fully fit squad for the first time this season. Mikel will have everyone in front of him to pick for his playing XI, and our next game in a not important CL games against Kairat. So, yeah – lets go for everything.
If I have to pick, I will do the usuals. Raya in goal, with Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori in defence. A midfield of Odegaard, Zubimendi and Rice will do where Rice plays in a more advance role. I would pick Saka, Gyokeres and Martinelli as front 3, but won’t mind Trossard if Mikel finds him more contributing to our game.
16 games left. 7 points lead (4 but then City has played one extra game). A Premier League trophy we have been dreaming of since THE INVINCIBLES. That was in 2003-04, about 23 years ago. There are some Arsenal fans who can vote, marry and have a kid but haven’t seen us lift the trophy.
And then, we have a billion dollar squads, most of which have finished 2nd three seasons in a row. Most of them had the heart breaks, some of them were exhausted, some would have punched a wall. Some of them are on big fat wages, some renewed, some joined from other clubs to be a part of red and white in the hope of winning something. NOW IS THE TIME. Mikel and the team does all the talk, but we need to walk the walk.
I know there is still a long way to go, 16 weeks of Premier League football and we would see a lot of ups and downs, but I am not wrong to say it’s ours to lose now. Man Utd, under Carrick, will try their best to stop us. Can we sustain the pressure? Can we keep our winning run?
We will find out. See you in the comments.
Nice one.
Record well and truly straightened vis-a-vis our erstwhile and deeply annoying chihuahua headed and incredibly wealthy former manager.
The thing I used to hate? When he used the first person singular to describe things to do with the stadium, ‘I built the Emirates’ etc etc. Just imagine the old wanker in a hard hat and hi-vis jacket getting to grips with a few courses of concrete blocks… No? I couldn’t either.
I think if we knew how much money he trousered as a result of slow rolling on the football side, the collective rage would be palpable.
TRVL
I can’t remember the exact details (we’re talking 20 odd years ago) but part of the high cash reserves were a condition of the loan for the stadium which couldn’t be touched.
If moving stadium wouldn’t cause cash flow issues why would Dein (who we never replaced) be against the Emirates project?
TRVL
https://www.arsenaltrust.org/feed/afc-finances/2004/arsenal-holding-accounts
In 2004 / 2005 our broadcasting revenue was £48.6 million.
https://gregcordell.substack.com/p/arsenal-fc-202425-financial-estimates
In 2024 / 2025 broadcasting revenue was £283.3 million.
That’s why other clubs haven’t been so affected with stadium moves (not that many have made them).
We also were affected by piss poor timing – we locked the interest rate on a massive part of the stadium loan at what at the time was a sound business move – couple years later and interest rates bottomed out. We were also hurt by property prices dropping during the crash when we were looking to sell the Highbury flats.
I’ve no argument that Wenger refused to spend the resources available to him during his last years but we had severe financial constraints for a period after the stadium move.
Good to see that at least someone speaks with honesty and commonsense regarding wenger Marc ..
Wicksy
All I’ve ever wanted is the best for Arsenal. I loved Wenger but he stayed on too long and damaged his legacy that doesn’t change that he not only gave us some amazing times but also revolutionised the PL.
Assuming we win today City really are in must win territory not only to maintain a title challenge but now with ManU winning to not get caught up in a battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Tomorrow’s match should be well worth watching.
Match day post is live.