On this Sunday afternoon, every team will play their 38th game, the last one of this season 2023-24. Premier League never disappoints you, who will be crowned the champion is not decided, yet! There’s not much to play for the other teams however.
Relegation battle : We already know the three teams that would be relegated. Luton, Burnley and a piss poor Sheffield United are going down.
Europe qualifiers : Newcastle and Man United are hoping Chelsea loses it’s last game and that they can win (while the other one should also lose) to secure a place in Europa League. Aston Villa have already qualified to Champions League football next season, so a 5th position Tottenham can’t do much about it.
Title challenge : This is the most important bit. Man City and Arsenal have two points difference, and there are 4 conditions that can happen.
- City loses, Arsenal Wins – We run away with the title. For this to happen, David Moyes needs to do us a favor, while we need to get pass the Dyche’s football.
- City draws, Arsenal wins – We win again since we have a better goal difference to City (60 to 61).
- City wins – irrespective of what happens with any other teams, if City wins, Pep will have another trophy to show in his cabinet.
- Arsenal draw / loss – If we draw against Everton or in worst case lose, City will be crowned Champions irrespective of their result against Moyes.
If you ask me personally, I would love the second scenario, a nerve breaking one where we beat the best team on the planet on goal difference of just ONE, on the final day of the league. That would be a WOW! moment. It’s not happening though, don’t keep your hopes high.
The best part of all of this is, that we are in contention for the title. The worst of it all, we depend on West Ham to beat City for us, and it’s not happening. Not on the final day, not when City needs a win to secure 4th title in a row, not at Etihad. There’s a very slim chance the west London club do us a favor, since Spurs and Son went on full Spursy mode against Pep. A very slim that one, but it won’t let me not be all excited for the game.
I was full ballistic in December when we dropped a lot of points. I was mad when we let Emery school us when we needed a win. The lads couldn’t sustain the pressure, nor the manager towards the end of the last season, but we have improved in that area. We have hold the fort since our Dubai’s training, and we have been giving some sleepless nights to Pep.
Lets not underestimate our achievements. Klopp fought against Pep for 8 seasons and only won one of those titles. He was second with 97 points in one of them. He had the best front 3 in last decade, Salah , Mane and Firmino and along with the best defender in VVD, he still couldn’t win more than once. Arteta has a lot to do before he matches Klopp. He is learning, and we are improving. I hated the pace at which we did, and I still do, but now since that bad phase has gone, I am very optimistic about the club in coming days.
Doesn’t mean I am not critical how we are letting go of Reuell Walters for free. A 19- year old Right Back, who made the Arsenal bench numerous times but couldn’t make it should still cost a couple million dollars in the market. Arthur Okonkwo is also leaving as a free agent, he should have costed more than a couple of millions. Aaron Ramsdale have been dropping hints of his transfers, and in his latest Instagram post, we saw a farewell message to him. The rumours points out a 15m fees to Newcastle. Now, how in the hell do you sell a player who was starting every game last season, and who is not playing not because his form dipped but because Mikel prefers David Raya over him, for only 15 million to a club that has all the money in the world. It’s not like we are selling him to Crystal Palace or Bournemouth.
Elneny and Cedric are leaving at the end of this season. I’m okay with that, they had their time here, and it’s over now.
In other news, Arne Slot will be the new Liverpool manager after Klopp. He is currently managing Feyenoord and is considered a top manager. We have seen what happens to those ‘top managers’ in the premier league – Ten Haag, Ralph Ragnik, Ange – and I will not have kept my hopes high if I was a Liverpool supporter. Plus, they will go through a rebuild now. Man United is in shambles, Chelsea are shit, Spurs will remain Spurs for the foreseeable future, and it’s going to be another City v Arsenal.
Right, that’s all for today. If you have a lucky charm in your house, hold on to it for 90 dear god minutes tomorrow, and pray West Ham sees Milwall in City. We also would have to win against Everton for sure. Lets close the season on a banger, irrespective of what happens.
See you tomorrow.
Bob N16
We are all Arsenal supporters – I have been for 58years. By supporting the team it doesnt take away the right to criticise. I will always criticise and also praise. Achieving second is a good result but not as good as first.
We all want the best for our team and perhaps our vision allows us to expect even better than second – as you read this blog you will have also noticed the positive posts as we approached the final few matches.
Perhaps when I meet Arteta in person my opinion may change.
Norg,
I very much doubt it. Sounds like another Vera-esque piece of bants about things that never happened.
I think you missed my point. Outperforming xg indicates we’re more efficient at scoring. You could even describe it as more ‘clinical’.
Maybe we could have scored even more than everyone else, outperformed xg by even more than everyone else although neither of those get us trophies.
The point is, goalscoring has been far from an Achilles heel for us if we look at the numbers, either by how many we scored or on our conversion rate.
NORG, 100% agree with a person’s right to an individual’s opinion but if the criticism appears based on an individual’s personal dislike of a player or manager and if debate is stifled if questioned, then it soon becomes toxic when attacks are made on a poster, completely separate from the debate which leads to a narrow echo chamber of views.
Norg,
I don’t need to meet Tets to recognise what he’s done. I don’t need a friend in him, I want him to manage and manage well. I can respect what he’s done without needing to assess how much fun he’d be on a lads’ night out.
We’d all love to win all of the time and there’s no harm in wanting more, it’s harmful not to want more. Late Wenger’s ambition of just fourth did for us in the end.
I haven’t noticed much positivity, at most a faint hope we’d win the league usually with a barb at Tet’s or our team’s ability to do so.
If we played well, the vibes on here are usually it was dumb luck or teams rolling over for us and no other team.
Being a supporter for such a long time, you’ll have spent most of it watching us not win things. It happens to most clubs, us less than others. Getting exercised about us playing well and coming second isn’t the way forward.
I think we’ll be better next year on no more basis than we’ve got better the last three years. And that still doesn’t mean we’ll win the league because football isn’t as simple as that.
Norg
However here very little praise for Tets or the team on this blog.
It’s part of the reason to check in, see how the resident blowhards spin anything we do well into a negative.
“You don’t get a trophy for xg” while factually true misses the bigger point make no point at all.
If we’re trying to identify problems or areas for improvement, it’s right to work out why.
“Our keeper, (most clean sheets) is shit, our strikers (most goals) are shit, our manager (2 points off champions, quarters in CL) is shit” is, being polite here, reductive.
Bob,
Sorry if I missed it, I try to remove any personal attacks. The basic rule for me, is, you can call what I think ‘stupid’ but you should not call ‘me’ stupid for thinking that.
We are all gooners. Sometimes, it’s difficult to go through all the comments but if anything like that happens, give me a shout.
We keep it decent, unless I am told it’s a friendly banter.
Regarding others views, I can’t really control that. I have had articles bashing Arteta for 3 days in a row, I have had praised him for things that has improved.
I think it comes down to one’s individual choice of holding on to ‘700m spent for 2nd place’ or ‘challenging for title after 4th place is a trophy’s’. Both are correct statement, depends which way you are inclined.
It remains a open forum.
Again, no personal attacks guys. Criticize my thoughts, or rather counter it. If you have a very strong urge to call someone bellend, I can pass you some Tottenham blogs.
If you have a very strong urge to call someone bellend, I can pass you some Tottenham blogs.
– they take it as a compliment there.
Bob, if you were at the game and out and about in the Stokey periphery you would have seen what I saw and described earlier.
The area was taken over with Arsenal kits. Enthusiasm for what we were doing before and after the game. Not just in and around the stadium but I dropped my kid off at a tournament in Barnet and drove back in and then cycled over. You could see dribs and drabs of groups in kits from Wood Green inwards.
Something did strike me after the game, the sheer amount of kits we have on the go. I went for dinner on Church St post game and I saw a a large group in the Nandos wearing the Ian Wright, Maharishi, Stella McCartney, home away, third, Lifestylr, Stadium and Euro tops in one group, all this season’s offerings. People seem to like the team and being seen to be associated with it. Also, I’d be a few grand down if I’d bought my kids every single offering.
This blog can get a bit spicy and ultimately yes, unproductive but you’re right some posters need it more and bless them too. At some point they’ll be right about something and all the mutual undercarriage fiddling will be worth it.
MB
I appreciate the point of the blog. LG started off as a bunch of brats moaning about Wenger unreasonably, then it became legitimate as Wenger quite clearly became less ambitious and less realistic about what was needed to ensure we were at least competitive.
The cheering for Tets was unreasonable initially and we can all point out why and where. Less unreasonable now.
I’ve got no issue with the club spending money. We were all there in the “spend some effing money” days. To take a team bouncing around Europa spots and sneaking a fourth here and there to legitimate challengers takes an overhaul of the culture and spending some effing money.
Spurs had it in their grasp but didn’t spend money to consolidate and now they’re fighting to stay simply relevant. Us and City are the only teams to have made top four two seasons running.
If the only issue is the expected ROI then fine, we can have that discussion. If the debate is whether we’re shit or not, or our manager, players, fans are clueless that’s plainly ridiculous. Right now, 700m, give or take is what it costs to be a good team, even more so if our starting point was being not very good.
Perhaps next season, it might be a legit discussion and you’ll be ahead of the curve while LG becomes the Tets version of Untold that it was two years ago. The more mature fans may also acknowledge the cycles of football success.
Keep up your good work, I appreciate the blog maintaining it’s cynical slant on our manager, it helps with perspective
Welcome back Bob. Your departure was abrupt and it saddened me. I glad you and Aitcho enjoyed the game. I remember those sunny days watching masses of bejerseyed fans from my Eyrie at Highbury Barn. At the very least, they do give a massive sense of unity but are also tremendously fun and liberating.
We have a genuine opportunity at raising the debate here even further thanks to the plurality of views about the direction of the club. Something Pedro would never countenance hence the death of LG.
The end of season means a chance to draw the line and take stock. We’re all genuinely disappointed but let’s reduce the ad hominem attacks over the summer and stick to talking about the club which I think we all enjoy. Peace out. ☮️
Alright Kroenkephobe, the atmosphere in North London was amazing on a beautiful, warm sunny day.
I left my house in my Bergkamp 1998 away strip, cycling 5 mins up the road to a friend’s house for our traditional end of season get together. Within seconds a fellow supporter smiled and punched the badge. Turning onto the main road an Arsenal red, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow passed sedately passed with an Arsenal emblem instead of the Spirit of Ecstasy at the front. Earlier in the day at around 11, I’d driven up to Muswell Hill with my wife to meet up with friends for a dog walk and there were already Arsenal fans heading off to wherever they needed to be.
I was listening to ‘Charlie don’t Surf’ and the thought came to me was that there was nowhere in the world I’d rather be right at that moment, on the way to sit in the garden of a mate’s house with a dozen close friends, looking forward to the game. The prevailing thought was that we were proud of the team and were going to enjoy the day.
Ultimately, predictably we fell short and the players looked visibly gutted but the fans cheered and chanted, thanking the team for the season. The reaction from the players made me think that they’ll learn from this experience. I so hope we can spoil Guardiola’s final season by getting one over them. In fact seven of us drunkenly in the pub afterwards, pledged to get a cannon tattoo if(when) we win next season!
There’s a Cally Road tattooist who supposedly is a specialist in cannons!
Already looking forward to next season with the reasonable hope that we’ll recruit well and finally get some decent money in for our peripheral players. Left 8 is a crucial recruitment as well as a quick forward who can take on his man. I’d love Xavi Simons but that might be impossible. I’d tidy up LB position, Zinchenko can go and I’d take a punt on Hato the young Ajax player who looks the business. A top CF would be good too but I guess it’ll depend on budget and priorities.
All the best Ambarish. I’m not going to name names!
Bob
That RR sounds like something worth seeing. On those days when AFC is in everyone’s mind, you can strike up conversations with all kinds of people. Had they pulled it off yesterday, Kroenkephobe junior and I were fully planning a trip to see the parade.
Zinch has been progressively alienating himself as the season wore on. Too much Billy Big Bollocks football, constantly looking for killer passes when they patently weren’t on. He’s a very gifted player but possibly not the most intelligent. Christ knows how much he earns but it’ll be intriguing to see if we can actually move on a player like that.
I think Zinchenko should be playing in midfield not defence. He’s a talent but he’s possibly the one player who plays regularly in the team who gives me the newbie-jeebies! Hopefully Timber will take that position over, he looks a real talent in the limited time I’ve seen him play.
It’s days like yesterday when you really feel part of the Arsenal community. On a blog is one thing but in person something much more powerful.
heebie-jeebies!
Kroenkephobe
In our part of India we had a continental existence ( Portugal). So cricket is a bit of ” what’s that ?”. Football , primarily EPL is my game , although at school and later played basketball since I was myopic. Initially Benfica was the favourite team here , until satellite TV brought in the joys of rather the adrenaline of the highly competitive EPL. During Wenger years, Arsenal always played attractive football . But stale Wenger became an exasperation.
Bob, Ambarish
The stones have been going both ways. We are all entitled to our own opinion that may not always be the same as other posters. As I said previously we all want Arsenal to win and therefore if Arteta is the manager we still want him to succeed. However we can see mistakes and want him to improve – if he doesnt then more criticism will be aimed at him.
I do not feel comfortable at being criticised but if any body does I will read through – it may be something I have missed by the tone of the content need to be something I am comfortable with. There were two many posters on LG who were always right – they may be happy with second place. I guess that most posters on here would prefer a first place finish but cannot see that being achieved by the current manager – of course we may be wrong – we will now this time next year.
The common consensus from the Arteta supporters is we got 89 points, we finished 2nd, we have improved. We will win silverware NEXT season.
We had more goals scored than last season and more points, but no silverware again. Bottled it at the business end again and the Arteta Fans console themselves with NEXT season it will happen. This eternal hopeless mantra has been going on for too long.
There is only one solution get rid of the manager he is not generational nor the answer to getting silverware. Look what Alonso did with Leverkusen, that is generational.
Killroy
Agree to a T.
Ambition is required to be a winner. This ambition is also to improve by buying talent. Intelligence is to know what positions to buy and not pick up off the shelf and misfit players .
Generational is like what Alonso did in one outing at Leverkusen. Shows he could see the direction he needed to go along.
Luck is when the Manager stumbles into solutions like what Arteta did in December 2 years back.
Psychosis is when Manager realises that oops others have seen that he stumbled into a fortuitous situation , so he persistently banishes that player including playing him out of position so the general feeling over time , is yes Mr. A did right the fellow is a crock…. until the dog -in-the-manger squeaks ,I have been fit for a long time. But ,no problem , just play him out of position, instruct him to hold fire …and who knows better?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-awards-2023-2024-32847082
Views of a number of pundits about this season. Consistent about a number of players and managers. Our Declan Rice figures too. But Foden is the undoubted star