After back to back defeats and a media pile-on, The Arsenal has felt a fairly negative space for the last 10-days. The victory over sevilla should draw a line under that.
We are topping our Champions League group, a single win from guaranteeing that position, and have an opportunity to also be topping the Premier League by the time we watch Match of the Day tomorrow. There should be plenty of reasons to be positive right now!
Tomorrow we face Burnley at home, the final game before yet another international break. Hit 6 and we will leapfrog Manchester City and (depending on how many Liverpool score), we will finish the evening leading the league after 12 games.
Whilst we may not have looked as slick this season as last, we have proved in the opening stages of this season that we are once again genuine title challengers.
Last season was certainly not a fluke, and Mikel Arteta has not been “found out” this.
Some will point to us being 4 points behind where we were last season as proof that we have “taken a step back”, but it is not that easy to compare and contrast.
We had a electric start to last seasons campaign. Came out super fast. But with 10-games to go we looked shattered and there was very little left in the tank. Whilst we drifted out of the title race, Manchester City were picking up steam.
City started much slower than us last season, rarley getting out of 3rd gear. They were aiming to peak in the home run, not at the start of the race. The hope is (in my mind), that by us holding a little back this season, we will be in a better place come the business end of the season.
Whilst pundits and fans are pointing to our “poor start”, we are only actually 2-points behind where Manchester City were last season. 24 points from 11 games would have had us 2nd in the table last year.
And too highlight just how fast we started last season, Manchester City are 1 point behind our 11 game total, the “excellent” Tottenham 2 points behind and the resurgent Liverpool, like us, 4 points.
In 11-games this season, we have already played Manchester City, Newcastle United, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea. A dozen into last season we had only played Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United.
The Premier League looks much tougher at the top end of the table this season than last. Newcastle look just as strong, as do Manchester City. Liverpool and Tottenham look better and Aston Villa also look a good side.
Unless Manchester City do what Manchester City can do, I do not think a team is going to get 90-points this season. The eventual champions will lose 5 or 6 league games.
Our start this season has certainly been tougher! Add in Champions League football and it is not a huge surprise that we are a handful of points behind where we were last season.
We need to be as professional tomorrow as we were against Sheffield United.
Get up for the game early, take it to then, and never take the hand off the throat. Get the victory in the bag early and then just keep going.
The fans also need to play their part. It will be very easy for us to buy into the negativity that some are trying to spread. To grumble about Arteta, have the hump over Havertz or call for the return of Ramsdale. But we are supporters. We need to realise that Arsenal is a good place right now and that our job is to back the team.
Luckily, as always, the majority of the negative voices only sit in their social media bubbles and do not attend games. Most are just making outlandish statements against the club they support in an attempt to get some of those Elon Musk pennies.
So we march on tomorrow. Together.
UTA
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Another comfortable 2-0 win will do me tomorrow. Agree about starting the game right on the front foot, you score an early goal against Burnley and they could well crumble. No disrespect to them but the 3 promoted sides are as bad as I can remember, you simply cannot drop points against them if you want to win the league.
Also think its important to back up Wednesday nights performance with another good display. Seville was our best 90+ minutes of the season, players played with a controlled aggression and it looked like they used the Newcastle game as a motivation. Got to keep that mindset going against Burnley and after the International break.
Up The Arse
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