IT DOESN'T F*CKING MATTER
Arsenal dropped 2 points against Crystal Palace.
It doesn’t matter.
That’s 18 points dropped from winning positions this season. That’s 13 draws in the Premier League. It feels so painful right now, but it doesn’t matter.
The league has been over for a while. No one gives you a special trophy for ‘pushing Liverpool hard until the end.’ No one will remember whether we finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in a season that hasn’t been kind to us.
None of it matters because we’re the only English club in the semi-finals of the Champions League. We’re the favourites, rightly or wrongly, to lift that trophy.
That is all that matters.
Having to watch Theo Walcott point to Odegaard being ‘too comfortable’ is the sort of average analysis I expect of someone who wasn’t raised in a tactical system. It’s amateur analysis—the kind you’d expect from average YouTube accounts as they fumble around in the dark trying to find reasons to be angry about a game they know doesn’t matter.
Odegaard hasn’t been too comfortable this season. It’s been the opposite. He’s struggled with discomfort from injuries, excessive load, and the pressure of being the only creative outlet in a team that has been struggling under the immense weight of injuries.
Was the focus of the team last night off? Absolutely. That is completely expected. If you can’t understand why, ask yourself if you’re going to drink 15 pints the night before the CL semi-final. Of course you won’t, you’ll want to be fresh for the big one, where you’ll drink 15 pints.
Most of our squad has NEVER played in a Champions League semi-final. This will be the most important club match for nearly all of the players in the squad. They’ve seen players around them drop out of contention for this game due to overexertion in matches (Big Gabi), and they all want to be available for the game next week. Self-preservation is extremely hard to manage out of a squad in a dead rubber game.
‘BUT THE PRIDE OF 2ND’
Sorry, but the symbolism of 2nd is a nice-to-have—it’s not a necessity for my future happiness. I would much rather have an explosive team for PSG and suffer the ignominy of a draw against an average Palace side than see a blood-and-thunder performance that leads to knocks and sprains that deplete us for the Galactico game against Paris next week.
I don’t think it’s really possible to whine on about what was wrong with that game. Saliba won’t make those mistakes next week, nor will David Raya. We won’t see Sterling in either leg, so who cares that he stunk out the place. I just don’t have the juice to try and squeeze out criticism here—because it’d be a foul-tasting beverage when there are tastier juicing fruits on the horizon.
I can talk about positives…
Trossard scored again. The goal was a bit ropey, but he’s putting in good shifts, and I think he might carry that form into the PSG game.
Martinelli had a goal chalked off and dropped a brilliant cross to Saka, who forced a good save with his volley. I think… Gabi is back to his best?
Kiwior had another very saucy performance. The block from Eddie was sensational, and his header from 10 yards out was world class. This is a man playing for his next club… or is he playing for more minutes next season at Arsenal? He has been unreal.
We didn’t pick up any injuries.
The only concerns I have about the entire evening focused on who wasn’t in the squad: Ben White and Mikel Merino. The Merino absence would be really bad for the Paris game. He’s our big dog—whether as a 9, a false 8, or whatever he plays these days. He’s dropped a lot of minutes lately, so hopefully there’s nothing too serious going on. But… this season has been cruel to us, so I’m half expecting Arteta to have to find another solution here.
So, in conclusion: It’s all about PSG next week. If you’re angry, move on from it, and let’s get ourselves nice and hyped for a HUGE game in a comp we’ve never won.
Can’t wait.
Check out the latest On The Whistle with Johnny and Jacob. x