wasn\u2019t some foolish one-night stand this year; it was a relationship we had cemented with a ring and a gender reveal party that killed the family dog. I said until death do us part on this campaign\u2026 and I\u2019ll be god damned if I\u2019m not seeing this week out as positively as I possibly can.<\/span><\/p>\nYou think I won\u2019t hold Arteta accountable if he f*cks up this season? Despite my telling you all season, the reason I\u2019ve been so harsh on certain players is that this is the year it MUST happen? Are you mad?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re still living in a world of no excuses as far as I\u2019m concerned\u2026 but I believe he\u2019s going to pull it off, because this is life or death for his Arsenal reputation. The job that he\u2019s done to date has been exceptional; no one can doubt it. We\u2019ve gone from nobodies to one of the most feared teams in Europe. No one likes playing us. We\u2019re top of the Premier League. We\u2019re possibly heading to our 4th EVER Champions League semi-final. We\u2019re in a better position now than we were in March when it comes to the league and the Champions League.<\/p>\n
On paper. No nuance. No context. This is exactly what we can all collectively agree we have wanted from Arsenal. F*ck your views on style for now, Arsenal are at the pinnacle of where they need to be as a club. On top of that, best win rate ever, 2nd most goals in the Premier League (one behind), least conceded, unbeaten in the Champions League.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re heading into a week that could see us move to a semi, most likely against Atleti\u2026 and we could beat Man City at the Etihad, and make it very low probability they can catch us.<\/p>\n
This is good. It deserves your support. It doesn\u2019t need your views on aesthetics; no one cares what you think of Gyokeres or Madueke, and people at the club shouldn agree we don\u2019t need any more \u2018bring your dinner, bring your lunch\u2019 pep talks, and we certainly don\u2019t want any more AI slop motivational moves<\/p>\n
Let it all play out. If you think the inevitability of a collapse is incoming, great, that\u2019ll allow you to watch the week with less pressure. But you should be a good partner and STFU until you have the honour of I TOLD YOU SO, which you can spend all summer cashing in.<\/p>\n
The nuance on all the above is Arsenal are in a shambles right now. Arteta is using his press conference to infer that the captain should man up and play through the pain. The squad is so dead, Arteta is bringing a bag of corporate gimmicks to training so cringe, Gervais would pass on them if he was offered them as script fodder for The Office. We know there\u2019s a very good chance Arsenal could have all the important pieces available for Sunday, but we know, even if that\u2019s true, they\u2019ll be unfit\u2026 and judging by the last 6 weeks, probably a little meek.<\/p>\n
This week is stacked against us. We have to play a City side who will have no midweek game. They\u2019ll have a lot of time to spend with the most winning coach in the league, with the winds of momentum in their sails.<\/p>\n
But\u2026 if you want my most toxic-positive view of their form? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s all a f*cking mirage.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nTheir big wins have come against big clubs in big trouble.<\/p>\n
Newcastle\u2026 total averageness since they let Eddie Howe build the club with his nephew.<\/p>\n
Smashing Liverpool as they down tools on Arne Slot.<\/p>\n
Beasting Chelsea as LinkedIn Liam exercises his cultural principles by suspending his best player for Man City as they chase Champions League spots.<\/p>\n
Every time they\u2019ve played teams with something on the line, they get into trouble.<\/p>\n
They lost to a Madrid side that doesn\u2019t like to run, TWICE. Managed by Arbeloa, who speaks glowingly of his servitude to King Mbappe with no smile on his face. They drew to Forest. They drew to West Ham.<\/p>\n
City will be heading into this game with a false sense of \u2018we\u2019re amazing\u2019 and that is an opportunity.<\/p>\n
Question is, who shows up from Arsenal, and in what state?<\/p>\n
If you have Timber, you are 40% better. You have someone who can receive the ball centrally and move it forward, and you have an unreal player in one vs one situations.<\/p>\n
Myles cannot be put out against City. It has to be Hincapie. He is a proper defender. We need that. Even if his distribution is poor.<\/p>\n
The most important player is our captain. We don\u2019t just need his leadership, we need his skillset, because his absence right now is causing us 2 problems.<\/p>\n
\n- \n
We aren\u2019t as technically secure and we aren\u2019t creative enough.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
If Odegaard is out, Kai can\u2019t play as a number 9. That means we have to roll out Gyokeres, who is not at the level.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Don\u2019t get pissed at me on number 2, just look at what Iraola did in the second half when they left one defender to take care of him. He is so bad, he\u2019s a tactical opportunity for Man City if he starts.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be dispassionate here. We have a very good chance of exiting this game with a point. We are the best defensive team in the world. If we have our best players available, we can get something from this game.<\/p>\n
The only question is what Arteta does.<\/p>\n
Does he train his players 9 times with a Champions League game?<\/p>\n
Does he ship them to an army barracks, put them in a shipping container naked, and have them hosed down with cold milkshake to the tune of Korn to teach them the value of winning duels in spring? Or does he back off and trust the players to understand what is ahead of them?<\/p>\n
Everything is against us right now\u2026 but sometimes, that\u2019s when the true greats show up and do their thing.<\/p>\n
The players are at a crossroads. Push this over the line, create history, become eternal. F*ck it up because you\u2019re worried about 4 games in the summer, tar yourself as losers, become a laughing stock of softboys.<\/p>\n
I have faith this is our season. I\u2019m not throwing myself off the ship early so I can get on the lifeboat. I\u2019m staying until the end, even if it means ridicule. It\u2019s better to be a sicko who goes down with the ship than be a coward who gets a lot of likes on YouTube from oppo fans by giving up. Our players deserve our full support. Die on the battlefield, don\u2019t accept seppuku, or reward the meek cucks who are telling you that\u2019s the better way?<\/p>\n
I know my stance this week. All in. This is an Arsenal week we\u2019ll remember for the rest of our lives for all the right reasons. <\/p>\n
Ok, that\u2019s me done. See you in hell. x<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Come in from the dark my friend, we have so much to talk about, but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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