FINISH WITH A BANG (PLEASE)

SOUTHAMPTON MATCH DAY BLOG

Last game of the season. The truth? It wasn’t good enough.

This was supposed to be our year. Our time to shine. The finishing move of the Arteta project.

It wasn’t. It started with a terrible summer. There were some epically shit chapters in the story.

PGMOL viciously assaulting our campaign.

Some bad luck with injuries.

Some self-inflicted wounds.

A team that lost its collective love for scoring goals.

A Liverpool team inspired by a Ballon d’Or winner and blessed by the luck gods.

It wasn’t our year. You don’t need to look much further than Sp*rs winning a trophy over us in a final where they had one shot on target. Someone on the Footballing Gods trophy attribution panel didn’t want us to have any joy this year, and that’s that.

So this game tonight is largely pointless. We need to beat the worst team in the league. Finishing second means something. But no one really gives a shit. This season needs to get in the bin, and we need to move on to the summer and hope that the new equipment in the backroom can get deals over the line… and fast.

I had a few people comment on the post yesterday that they were shocked we have to do work on the squad after five years. This is such a weird thing to get angry about. No football team ever stands still. You always need to be improving, shifting how you approach the game, and moving with the times.

Players get older. Some fade. Some are put out to pasture. Some just don’t suit the system.

Young players defy expectations and cause problems. Arteta didn’t know MLS was going to come into the first team and do what he did last year. That jump ruined the career of Zinchenko. Is that a point of shame? No way.

Then you have players like Jesus and Tomiyasu. They’re broken. It feels like it’s over for them. That’s just the cruel reality of the beautiful game. Some players have bodies that fail them… and that needs to be addressed with honesty.

Arsenal aren’t rebuilding this summer. They’re bulking up. More strike power. More bang bang. More reliability in certain areas. But make no mistake, the core of the squad is exceptional… and it’s going nowhere.

I don’t have much to say on the game today bar this: please give the fans a good send-off. They deserve it. It’s been a rough season for everyone. The majority see where we’re going as a club. They understand we’re on the edge of greatness. So give them something to cheer about.

Finally, the best for last: Arsenal Women are Champions League winners. They beat Barcelona 1-0. It is an incredible achievement. Outrageous when you contextualise it around some of the drama that happened earlier in the season. A monumental night… they are the standard bearers at the club now. So good.

Ok. Last game of the season. If you want the On The Whistle, sub up here and jump on later. x