The biggest game of the century is nearly upon us. After 20 long years, hanging out in the wilderness, we have arrived at the very top of the game, to play 90 glorious minutes against one of the best teams ever assembled.
“I think it’s the opportunity to own the moment because it’s the second time in our history that we are here.
“We have the opportunity tomorrow to write a new chapter in the history of this football club.
“In order to do that, we have to play with such clarity, a lot of courage and a relentless desire to win. We have those three aspects and I’m sure that we’re going to be close to winning.”
This is why we do it. The very pinnacle of world football, and it’s our players, and our manager, who have the chance to write a new history for The Arsenal.
The press conferences from Bukayo, Martin, and Mikel read calm, assured, and very confident in the job that needs to be done. They all say the Premier League hasn’t changed them, but you know damn well that the early win will have done wonders for the belief. No one wanted to head into the Paris game with another 2nd place on the books.
It also sounds like Mikel has run the videos back of our last three games and realised that we’ve actually been far better against Paris than the 2 losses and 1 win would suggest. 5+ shots on target in each of the games. Narrow margins. Loads of injuries to deal with in the semi-finals.
The game today is going to be very different. For the first time in an absolute age, we have the majority of our squad ready to go. Ben White is the only major absence we’re dealing with at the moment. The biggest piece of winning news we have is that, according to reports, Jurrien Timber is available. It’s the biggest drama we’ll have to deal with pre-game. My view is that this is f*ckery. But, the main caveat is that Jurrien is a warrior and will put his body on the line to be in the mixer. So who knows, it’s good news that he’s at least on the bench. My main concern here is Jurrien potentially representing the one galaxy brain opportunity of the evening… do you dare risk someone with no match fitness against Kvara? That feels like a step too far regardless of the talent on offer… but, I’m also a little bit scared that if it’s not him, it’ll be Martin Zubimendi in an unfavoured position, which also feels a little bit galaxy-brained… but so does putting a lanky right-sided centre back there… it’s honestly breaking my fragile brain right now.
The rest of the team kind of picks itself. Or does it?
Calafiori gives us a crazy dimension of attacking options at full back, but Hincapie is a lockdown beast against crazy fast attackers. Trossard feels like the form guy on the left, but Eze gives you edge-of-the-box magic. I don’t think there can be much doubt about starting Kai because he can control the ball and hold it up. He’s also a major threat from corners and we might need to be bullies in the box.
The view is that we’ll sit back and absorb the waves of attack, but I think we might surprise a few people and be more front-footed and aggressive.
The key is not to let them transition against you. No errors in the final third. No loose balls or bad crosses.
Paris are also one of the worst teams in the Champions League for turnovers in their own third. They can be rattled, so having our press at optimum levels is going to be essential, because there will be pounceable moments.
There’s also their keeper who I’m not quite sure about. He’s not a superstar by any stretch, and he let some howlers in against Bayern Munich. We have to test him early and we have to get at him mentally.
I’m extremely happy to be anywhere near a game like this after so long on the sidelines. We have to accept that these sorts of outings are very rare; the next time this comes along could be another 20 years, and I’ll be retired from the workplace with kids in their first jobs. You have to treasure these moments.
The other side of that is that the players have to realise that they are stepping into a moment that might only come once for them. Some players never get here. Do you want to play with fear and regret that? Or do you want to put it all on the line, play with freedom, and create a history that can never be taken from you?
I’ll be proud of the team, whatever happens. This game will involve bouts of suffering. There will be near misses, moments of magic, maybe a horrible error… but it will be a day spent in the margins, we just have to hope we can dominate those margins, and finish out the day with a win for the ages.
This is special. We’ve come a long way together. Not many of us dreamed there would be days like this again. But here we are, holding hands one last time on this epic journey.
Good luck… time to drink 5 pints and start believing. See you on the other side and in the comments. COME ON ARSENAL x
COYG! Bring it home!
Good morning all.....I've woke up feeling very calm which is the complete opposite to yesterday.
Lets make a fantastic season into an UNBELIEVABLE season. NLF !