There are no victory laps allowed. No blue-moonwalking through the kitchen. We cannot assume ANYTHING right now… you hear?
What we can do is say, wow, Manchester City really f*cked up at an opportune time in the season. Daddy Moyes stepped up for his footballing son (for once) and delivered one of the wildest games of the season.
I tuned in to watch a massacre unfold and after 15 minutes, that’s exactly how it felt. City mowed down Everton with relentless waves of attacking football. Their wide players were molesting the backline, O’Reilly was doing his thing, then Doku stepped up and curled home a stunner.
SWITCH OFF time.
But, Everton snuck into half time only one down. They came out a different team. More aggressive, more daring… they asked questions of a Rodri-less midfield, and their nervy defence. The opener was kind of poetic. Marc Guéhi, who took an outrageous salary to save Pep because there were standard injuries at City, underhit a backpass, Thierno Barry made it there before Donnarumma, and the finish was perfectly tucked inside his post.
The second arrived via a Garner corner whipped into the front post, Jake O’Brien beasted everyone and clipped his header near post. Not sure how much he knew about it. Jake O’Brien… such an Everton player.
The third, which I couldn’t believe, came via Rohl. He broke via a long throw down the right, Kovačić made a mess of his slide tackle, letting Rohl scuff a shot across goal that Barry was there for the tap-in on! UNREAL.
Then the f*ck ups happened. Right from kick off City put Haaland in through the middle. The chipped finish was world class. Everton put up a good fight, but were done with the last kick of the game that was another Doku worldie.
Arsenal fans were deflated, TV studios were heavily praising the point, but the reality was all over Pep G’s face. He knew that was a massive, massive gift for Arsenal.
That has now given Brentford a HUGE boost this weekend. They can keep their Champions League hopes going by beating a team that were absolutely shocking defensively. Man City players will likely be very deflated by their own poor showing, the Man City home crowd aren’t really capable of delivering a warm atmosphere (did you see their away fans leaving at 3-1?!), and I think this could be part two of a banana skin week.
Can we also just take a moment to highlight how good Arsenal have? We’ve had massive injuries to key players all season. Man City have had hardly any issues. When they had some slight problems, they bought the best centre back outside the top 6, and signed the player with the most goals not at a big club. Arsenal have just made do missing mega players. City lose Rodri for a game and can’t beat Everton. Arteta’s coaching coming under fire every week will never not blow my mind. Load management? Have at it.
For Arsenal, the mission is clear, we have to go to West Ham’s stadium, and deliver the performance of a lifetime. Declan will have to take his old team out behind the shed, say goodbye, and send that shovel down nice and quick so no one suffers. Arsenal fans will have to make peace with the reality that a win at West Ham probably keeps Spurs up this season. But, we’re Arsenal fans, we don’t care. There’s also slightly less pressure on a game that sees us going toe to toe with a team that should be getting relegated.
Arsenal’s final games are against a team nearly relegated, a team relegated without their original manager, and a team that has a Euro final three days after the season ends.
Man City have 4 games left, 3 of which could be against teams fighting for Champions League places.
There are no easy teams in the Premier League, but there are teams you’d prefer not to play… I’d prefer not to have City’s final games.
BUT, before that, we have to face off in a horrible game against one of the most grizzly sides in European football. That’s a real mental sharpener. Arsenal are 90 minutes, maybe 120, away from going to our second ever Champions League final.
Can you imagine?
Arteta has Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz available. He’ll have Saka, Eze, and an in-form Big Vik to choose from. We’ll have a relatively well-rested set of players to go to war with…. and war we should expect. This game is a 50/50. We have the advantage of being at home, of being undefeated this season, and of beating them easily earlier in the season.
They have Simeone… a world-class forward line… and a reputation for upsets.
Arsenal are going into this game in good form. My worry is maybe that Everton result saps a bit of focus? Maybe we’re dreaming of the wrong trophy tomorrow night. Alternatively, it could give everyone a huge boost. Less stress is a good thing.
I don’t really have much in the locker in terms of analysis. If you’re going, remember you’re the lucky ones. Make some noise, get lagered up, have fun. These chances aren’t the norm. You’re in a special moment for the club. Things can go to sh*t quite quickly in this crazy sport. Lap it up.
What will happen? I don’t know. But I trust the players to leave it all out on the field. This game will be won via the tightest of margins. We’ll need everything to roll our way. But why not? We deserve a final this season. We have the best defence in the competiton. We’re the only side not to have lost. We’ve shown incredible consistency since returning to the most prestige cup in the world. We can do big things at this level. No more talk, time to deliver. Play like beasts, as Arteta said.
Make sure you sign up and join the podcast after when we’ll be going LIVE for a beastly On the Whistle! x
P.S. Check out the emergency podcast we did last night.
Back in our hands. Now just get the job done. 9 points. Nothing less...
Ist! My first ever 1st! The omens are good!