Wednesday’s victory over Everton was our first home win in 3 games, and just our 2nd home victory in the previous 5 games.
Draws against Newcastle United and Brentford alongside a defeat at home to Manchester City saw us lose some of our advantage in the title race.
If we have any hope of winning the league this season, we need to convert out home advantage into 3 points.
That starts (again) Saturday when we face Bournemouth at home.
We also play Crystal Palace and Leeds at home in the next 4 games. The sole away game is a short trip to Fulham.
After the Leeds game, we will have 9 games to go. 5 away and just 4 at home. So we really need to build up the points over the next 3 home league games.
I have always had it in my mind that 87 points will be enough to win the league title this year.
For City to hit 88 points, they need to win 11 of their remaining 13 games. Not impossible but a tough task when they are yet to win more than 3 games on the trot.
Their best run of form this season over 13 games was at the start of the season. They got 32 points from those 13 games. A repeat of that will see them reach 87 points.
We have some very tricky games coming up. So for us to reach 87 points we need to win at home.
Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Leeds United are followed up with home games against Southampton, Chelsea, Brighton and Wolves.
7 home wins from 7 home games is what we need. That will be 21 points and take us to a total of 81.
Then it will just be a question as to whether we can get the remaining 6 points from trips to Fulham, Liverpool, West Ham, Man City, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest. Not an overly easy grouping of away matches. Three winnable, three tough.
Every point we drop at home between now and the end of the season will force us to pick up more points away.
Draw at home to Bournemouth Saturday, we then need to win another away. We would likely then have to get three points in Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle.
Both Arsenal and Man City have fairly similar final 5 games of the season. You feel whoever is top after the 26 April match will win the league.
The atmsophere on Wednesday was nervous, and it felt like the players felt those nerves.
So Saturday turn up and be positive. Cheer the team on, and lets make Emirates the fortress it was before the World Cup.
Keenos
Earlier today we released our limited edition #Arsenal hand crafred Anfield '89 artwork.
(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner.
Scorers: Bukayo Saka (40 mins), Gabriel Martinelli (45+2 mins), Martin Ødegaard (71 mins), Gabriel Martinelli (80 mins)
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 73%
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett
Fourth Official: David Coote
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Tony Harrington; AVAR James Mainwaring
Attendance: 60,213
For tonight’s match, the medical team will continue to monitor Thomas Partey, who made his comeback from a muscle problem as a substitute in our victory at Leicester last Saturday, and as such, will be on the substitute’s bench this evening. Sadly, Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny remain sidelined by knee injuries for tonight’s game against the Toffees. Of course, as we know only too well, every match is a “must win”, and this evening’s encounter is no exception, as we desperately need those available three points to place further air between ourselves and Manchester City.
The visitors had the best of the early exchanges, however, as early as a few seconds into the game, when Gabriel caught Amadou Onana whilst he was airborne. Although he got up and carried on, Everton were buoyed up by this innocuous exchange and Neal Maupay had two good chances which were excellently saved by Aaton Ramsdale. We recovered and won two corners in succession, which although went nowhere, the important thing is that we are bringing the game to the opposition. Gabriel Martinelli met a beautiful cross from Bukayo Saka that went wide, which although was offside, it was still a great chance to score. We tried different ways to get through the Everton defence, but our men were narrowly caught offside. Amadou Onana was accidentally caught by Granit Xhaka, and as such play was stopped for a little while by referee Michael Oliver due to the fact that it was a head injury, and after the Everton medical team attended him, and following the usual drop ball that quite naturally went our way, the game resumed after a little while. Abdoulaye Doucoure found Neal Maupay with a ball from the left wing but Gabriel slid in to stop the Everton striker shooting, thankfully, and a couple of minutes later, Jordan Pickford ran off his line to dive at the feet of Gabriel Martinelli, who was running onto a through ball. We look very frustrated tonight, as we are finding it difficult to break down a stubborn Everton defence, despite some sterling work by Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has covered an incredible area of the pitch tonight. However, with five minutes of the first half remaining, Oleksandr Zinchenko found Bukayo Saka in some space within the Everton penalty area and he absolutely thumped the ball over Jordan Pickford and into the roof of the net to open the scoring tonight. As normally happens when a goal is scored, the opposition launch themselves at us, and tonight is no exception, as Neal Maupay flashed a wild shot wide from about twenty yards as Everton looked for a quick equaliser. We composed ourselves and reimposed ourselves on the opposition, and during injury time Bukayo Saka took the ball off Idrissa Gueye, passed the ball through to Gabriel Martinelli, who ran on to it and drove it home to make it two nil to us at the break.
The second half started with Thomas Partey replacing Jorginho, and we started the game in the same spirit as we finished the first. Our captain was brutally chopped down by James Tarkowski, and shortly afterwards, Martin Ødegaard found Bukayo Saka, whose shot was blocked, and then the waiting Leandro Trossard, who did not make firm enough contact with his volley, which went narrowly wide of the post. Aaron Ramsdale parried a strong shot from Dwight McNeil and after a Gabriel Martinelli header that went narrowly wide, referee Michael Oliver booked Ben Godfrey for a foul on Leandro Trossard, who needed treatment from our medical staff. With nineteen minutes of the game remaining, we sealed the match when Leandro Trossard, ran onto a ball down the left wing and cut it back for Martin Ødegaard, who simply and elegantly swept the ball into the back of the Everton net with a first-time effort from twelve yards, via a slight deflection. Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira replaced Leandro Trossard and Granit Xhaka with about fifteen minutes of the game remaining. The third goal did wonders for our confidence, and game management suddenly became the order of the day which left Everton chasing the match forlornly. Eddie Nketiah almost made it four nil but his shot was saved by Jordan Pickford and Fabio Vieira blasted it over the bar with the rebound. However, with ten minutes of the game remaining, Oleksandr Zinchenko played the ball through to Eddie Nketiah, who pulled it back to Gabriel Martinelli, who scored quite easily from close range. This fourth goal utterly destroyed Everton, who look thoroughly dejected and demoralised, and simply cannot wait for the final whistle, which mercifully (for them) came without the humiliation of leaking a fifth goal.
This superb victory tonight keeps us five points ahead of Manchester City, going into the Bournemouth game on Saturday afternoon. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were outstanding tonight, as was Oleksandr Zinchenko, but overall it was an incredible team effort this evening. Although the first half was patchy at times, our second half performance was exemplary, and was a fine example of how great we can be when all cylinders are firing, which tonight was certainly the case. Keep going chaps.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: AFC Bournemouth at the Emirates on Saturday, 4th March at 3.00pm(Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
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Mikel Arteta has become the poster boy for owners “sticking with a manager”.
The most recent Head Coach to use Arteta as justification for remaining in their job is Graham Potter.
The Chelsea man rolled out the yarn that “two years into Mikel [Arteta’s] reign he was close to getting the sack”. At no point was Arteta close to the sack at Arsenal.
Arsenal’s ownership knew that in Arteta they had the right man, and it was just a case of needing a few transfer windows to ship out the old and bring in the new.
There have been plenty of media pundits that have also tried to compare Arteta’s early reign to Potter.
To start with, Arsenal was Mikel Arteta’s first job, whilst Graham Potter had managed for over 400 games. 135 of those matches were for Premier League side Brighton.
Chelsea were reigning “Club World Champions” when Potter took over. They had also won the Champions League just 15 months before. Arsenal meanwhile Arsenal’s only trophy in the previous 2 seasons was the Community Shield.
Potter took over a side who had made the FA Cup and League Cup final the year before and had just finished 3rd.
Arteta’s Arsenal had made (and lost) the Europa League final the previous season, with Unai Emery leaving us in 5th.
Both men’s first transfer window was January.
Arsenal spent £0 on permanent transfers, with just Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares joining on loan. Both came with loan fees and agreed to join permanently in the summer.
Chelsea meanwhile spent £285.7m on 7 players. They also bought in Joao Felix on loan.
To bring the figure Chelsea spent into perspective, under Mikel Arteta Arsenal have spent £315m across 6 transfer windows. Potter’s Chelsea have spent £30m less in just a single window.
Potter not only took over a team that had been much better in recent years than Arteta, but also superior in the season he took over.
Under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea had won 5 of their previous 10 games. 50% win ratio.
Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg led Arsenal to just 2 wins in the 10 games before Arteta took over. A win ratio of just 20%.
When Potter came into Chelsea, they were 6th. Arsenal were 10th.
Arsenal were also on course to get just 49 points based on our points per game. Chelsea, under Tuchel, were on course to get 63 points.
Their post-taking over form changed dramatically.
Arteta’s PPG from when he took over on 20 December to the end of the season increased to 1.62 points. Had Arsenal averaged that over 38 games, they would have got 62 points. An increase of 13 points against how Arsenal were performing before he came in.
Tuchel’s Chelsea were averaging 1.66 PPG and on course for 63 points. Under Potter, they have averaged 1.16 PPG, the 38 game equivalent of just 44 points.
Arteta also won the FA Cup in his first season with Arsenal, beating Manchester City and Chelsea in the semi-final and final.
Chelsea were knocked out of both the Champions League and League Cup in the 3rd round and are currently behind in their Round of 16 Champions League tie.
So Arteta came into an Arsenal team that was worse, spent less, improved the team and won a trophy.
Potter came into a Chelsea team that was better, spent a lot, lot more, made the team worse and will likely finish the season trophyless.
If Chelsea do not lift a trophy this season, it will be the first year they have failed to win anything since 2013–14. They have also only once failed to make a final (or finish 2nd) since 2003.
It is not all Potter’s fault. Their owners have muddied the waters through buying so many players.
They are the equivalent of a wife sending her husband out do the Christmas dinner shopping. Despite spending £250 he does not come back with the turkey or potatoes but brings back lots of Bailey’s. That no one drinks.
Potter comparing his position to Arteta ludicrous. The situation both walked into could not have been any different.
Arteta did so much in that first 5 months which earned him the time when he had a sticky patch in early 2020/21. All Potter has done is take Chelsea backwards. And I love it.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 