NERVES OF JELLY
Had quite an incredibly sh*te week, so I have been on the struggle bus when it comes to banging out the content! Hear me on this… I will be better this week. I promise.
So here we are, after the Brentford game, all feeling a little nervous… because my word, that was not really what we’d hoped for, though it was what I expected. I wrote that the players would probably have taken that unexpected City win on their shoulders… and I felt it’d probably weigh the players down against Brentford.
This assumption was, sadly, very on the money. That game played out the way it did for no other reason outside of nerves and belief. Our passing was fear-laden, players hid all over the pitch, and we let fear of a stalking horse dent the way we played.
But… when you show up like that, the move is not to lose. We did not lose. We are still in control of this title race and it’s mid-February. If you genuinely didn’t believe the race would tighten, then I’m sorry, life must be tough right now. For the rest of us, who knew that Arsenal would make this spicy to the end, we have to buckle up and hope for better days.
Better days that, in my humble opinion, will come if some of our big names decide to show up from now until the end of the season.
It’s very rare that the superstars of a Premier League season are not the attacking players, but right now, I’m struggling to pick out a name that I’d have in the top five so far this season. Our creators aren’t creating, our strikers are not fit for purpose talent-wise or availability-wise. Our wingers blow hot and cold. It is incredible that the real star of the season so far is a system that can support an attack that has been so utterly underwhelming for most of the season.
Bukayo… delivering average output.
Martinelli… having his best season, but still underwhelming in the league.
Madueke… lovely goal against Brentford, but he has “Chelsea are going to loan me to Strasbourg” output this season.
Trossard… probably our best attacker, and we thought he’d be exited last summer.
We’re down so bad, I’m watching Viktor Gyökeres put in a 6 out of 10 performance, and it’s literally like silk on my eyes. I’m punching the air when he’s not getting totally monstered every time. He gave some back instead of fighting and just getting mauled. He had 29 touches—massive for him—made 8 successful passes, two of them forwards (1 chance created), and delivered zero shots for the 6th time… it’s not good enough. It really isn’t. But in a game like that, where everyone else was so bad, it stood out. This is not where you want to be at this stage of the season, MoTM celebrations for a striker who didn’t have a shot.
The sad reality is our biggest disappointment of the season is not him by a stretch. No way. Eberechi Eze, the man that we all felt was a spectacular signing we don’t usually make, has been getting progressively less impactful in each game. He hasn’t recovered from the Matty Cash shaming that went on in December. The man looks lost, afraid to make a mistake, and more concerning… afraid to be himself on the pitch. How can a £68m creator deliver zero chances in a crunch game when you’re driving towards a title? Gyokeres does not have the abilities of Eze, nowhere near, but at least he shows up to work fresh every game, and never shies away from battling, even when he loses 80% of the time. That’s the spirit you need in a title push and there wasn’t enough of that on display against Brentford.
All that said, we are still top, the boys are still the best team in the league, and they have all the tools they need to get this thing back on track.
Saka has to regain fitness and shoulder the club; that isn’t an unreasonable ask from our best-paid player. He gets the big bucks because he is, without doubt, our best player. Time to deliver and up the average numbers.
Martin Ødegaard entered the field and reminded us all that he is a master when he can stomach a game and when he’s fit. No ifs or buts—if he turns it on, we’re in great shape. We need him to maintain fitness, get back in the mixer on duels, and speed up the play. Where’s the creativity from three years ago? Let’s hope he can find it.
Pep Guardiola said the other week that if players want to be fit, they will be fit. I’m not a world-class manager, so I don’t know if that’s true. But I am finding it quite annoying that our players are dropping like flies in a crunch moment again… because it doesn’t happen to City or Liverpool when they are in the mood.
Arsenal can’t let this moment slip. Man City are not the boogeyman they once were; they have a manager who is on the way out, and they are not reliable. The only advantage they have is they can spend £100m on two world-class Premier League players—and both of them are delivering. But we have the talent to do the same. No excuses. We have to power on and make it happen.
I still believe that we’re walking this league. Wigan should be a who’s who of double-barrelled surname Hale-Enders, then we get in the driver’s seat and smack up Wolves, Spurs, then Chelsea.
BIG MONTH. See you in the comments. Big love. x
P.S. I f*cked up the LIVE for the On The Whistle, so I made the Therapy Session members only this week.