BIG CLUB KINDA WEEK. CAN ARSENAL DELIVER?

This isn’t the week to dig deep into failings that haven’t taken us out of anything major yet… but you’d best believe we’re going to talk about the extent of injuries this season at some point. The week Arteta was talking about how incredible the weather was for training, then we had three near misses with key players…

Kai Havertz, who has played one 90 all season…

Eze, who was given a 6-week break at Christmas for not tracking Matty Cash…

Martinelli, who has had plenty of rotation this season…

These aren’t players who should be breaking down with tweaks and knocks.

You might have the view that all the training Arteta insists on has made a rag-tag group of players title contenders… but my view is that the main focus for a coach that has been a nearly man three years in a row should be to have his best players available, fresh, and ready to rotate if need be.

How are we breaking players with 5 games to go? Pep Guardiola has the same forward line ready to roll every single game. Arsenal have played 21 different combinations in 34 games. Friend of the AOP, Miguel Delaney, hid this nugget in one of his excellent articles.

'By contrast, Arteta's solution to any issue is to almost go more intense — especially in training. It all means City have the feel of 2023, when they battered Arsenal 4-1 in a similar fixture.'

Having three near misses in an April fixture with 5 games to go in the Premier League doesn’t feel like bad luck… it feels like same old Arteta.

The good news? It looks like the problems, as they stand, were warning shots.

Kai should be put in a little cryogenic chamber between games. Don’t even let him walk. Have round-the-clock masseuses on every part of his body that is legal. Make him Placenta Palomas in the evening. Do whatever you can to keep him fit, because if he’s in for 4 of the next 7 games, we’re winning a big trophy.

I have my doubts Martinelli is going to be unavailable for the Atlético Madrid game. He’ll battle through whatever tightness he’s feeling and unless Eze has a bad scan (like post Leverkusen)… you know he’s going to be there, ready to give his all, and f*ck me do we need his qualities and calmness around the dressing room.

If we have got away with this weekend, we have been very lucky, and Arteta should be asking himself the same questions we’ve had of him for his entire tenure here… are we a broken bag of mess in April because of things we can control? When it’s happening with a squad of the size that was built for him last summer, it really looks more and more like it’s his biggest weakness being the only issue that is getting in the way of Arsenal glory.

But on the edge of glory, we are…

For all of the bed-wetting that has gone on over the past month, all of the online yellow-belly, the embarrassing spleen-venting… we’re heading into a f*cking amazing week of jeopardy, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it as a fan. Will I enjoy it? No. But I like the concept of it.

An absolutely monstrous Champions League tie against one of the filthiest monsters to have ever graced the dugout. Diego Simeone’s Atleti will be beastly. They haven’t been great in the league this season, they haven’t been great in the Champions League, but make no mistake… we’ll be getting an electrified Atleti who are more than capable of teaching us a lesson for what we did to them earlier in the season.

Simeone is a master tactician. A warrior of a manager. An iconic player and thinker. His players will fizz out the blocks at a scary stadium and if we’re not at our absolute peak… we will falter.

The Premier League couldn’t be any tighter. We’re in a 5-game shootout against an overpowered Man City and we just put three points on the board against a Newcastle team that always gives us trouble. We did it losing two of our best players in the first half. Gyokeres took a pasting from everyone, but watching that game back, give the man some credit. He came on like an over-enthusiastic 18-year-old, tore around the pitch, showed loads of desire, and put on a spirited performance. He’s not at the level to be an Arsenal forward, but he’s all we have as back-up right now. Big Vik looked very much like a player who could feel the moment.

We all have to be like Big Vik. Groan FC in the stands from a short corner that we scored from after 9 minutes… is that where we’re at? Come on. This moment we’re in is what we’ve all wanted for 25 years. Shift your perspective to the Eze one. He said this when Redknapp said, you hear the pundits:

‘I don’t hear pundits.

‘The pressure we put on ourselves is so much more than what’s coming from outside. It’s the necessary pressure to win, it’s not negative, it’s beautiful.’

Too many of us are watching to confirm disappointment instead of dreaming that this season, yes, the one we’re living right now… is our moment.

Arsenal deserve the league this season. We deserve a Champions League final. The fans deserve it all. F*ck being coy about it, we’ve had a horrible time since the Invincibles win. So many near misses. So much banter. We were in such a mess, I thought we’d never find ourselves in a position like this again.

Could we lose it all? Sure. But we could also win it all, and that is a better place to be when it comes to mental space.

So as you sit there, on this Monday morning, I hope you’re feeling good. This could be one of the most important weeks of the last 25 years. We could have a good time in Madrid, and if we’re lucky, we could beat Fulham to go 6 points clear at the top of the Premier League 2 days before Man City go away to the Hillsborough Dickenson stadium to play Moyesy after his side f*cked a late equaliser against West Ham. No better team to have a reaction against than Man City with a Premier League to play for.

Ok, that’s me done. x

P.S. Check out Johnny’s ratings if that’s your sort of thing.