Category Archives: Arsenal

Three more in the bag as Arsenal cruise to victory

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I am getting old.

It is now Monday and I am still exhausted from Saturday. Even with the train problems (which lead me needing 5 trains and a replacement bus to get home), it was a cracking day.

What an important win that was against Brighton. And I know that will be said for every game we win between now and the end of the season, but for me the trip to Brighton and Wolves are huge.

Mikel Arteta’s 90 points is looking spot on. Liverpool will not get 15 from 15 from away trips to Fulham, Everton, West Ham Aston Villa, with a home game against Tottenham the single slice of home meat in the sandwich. I would also expect Manchester City to drop points in at least one game of the remaining 7.

That leaves us being “allowed” to lose one game. And what we need to do is make sure that defeat does not come in one of our “easier” games.

Those games I would consider easier are all the home games, and the away trips to Brighton and Wolves. We need to win every single one which would allow us to then have the defeat away to Manchester United or Tottenham.

If we dropped points against Brighton or Wolves, we would then need to go to both Manchester and Middlesex needing a win.

This season we have dropped some silly points – Fulham at home and away, West Ham at home. We can not afford to repeat any of these results.

6 wins from the last 7 games will leave us with 89 points, one short of Arteta’s magic 90. That will rely on others around us dropping points, but I just can not see either Man City or Liverpool winning 7 from 7. And fi they do, fair play. They will be worth champions.

As for the Brighton victory, I do not think we played particularly well. We were solid in defence and clinical in attack, winning 3-0 without really getting out of 2nd gear. And I guess that is the sign of a top team? Comfortably beating a decent team away without really trying. Let’s not forget Brighton had not lost at home since August!

We were also the net winners of the weekend when it came to goal difference. Another 3 in the bag extends our lead on Manchester City by one, leaving us with 11 better.

That goal difference means that we only need Manchester City to draw one of the last 7 games, and not lose one, for us to win the league (if we lose once). Now whilst an 11 difference can be quickly closed down (3 big wins), it is still a sizeable gap. Likewise the 9 on Liverpool means that if we both lose once, we will finish above them.

Tomorrow it is Munich. They have been poor in the Bundesliga but I feel that will only focus them more on the Champions League.

We just need to keep going, keep winning, and see where we end up at the end of the season.

UTA.

Keenos

Arsenal fans face train issues to Brighton

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Good morning from a replacement Central Line bus.

I was already not really looking forward to the trip due Brighton due to the Central Line being suspended from Leyton into Central London. That meant replacement bus services to Stratford, before jumping on the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon, to catch the Thameslink down to Brighton.

Not a huge issue, the replacement bus would be fairly quick. And I decided to use my time on the bus to write the blog.

Then about half an hour ago someone stuck in the WhatsApp group about Brighton train cancellations.

Since this update at 4am, it looks like things have cleared up a little and some trains are running from St Pancras / Farringon / London Bridge. But it does look like a lot of the Victoria trains are cancelled.

Brighton is just an hour train journey, so the reported additional hour is not a huge delay. It will just mean a couple of extra beers on the train, and a couple less in Yates in Brighton.

This is just what away fans have to deal with on a regular. Especially in this current age where there are strikes and overtime bans! This time the delay is caused by a landslide (out of the train companies control).

I often see online about how “dedicated” foreign fans are, getting up at 2am to watch a game. But setting an alarm, rolling over and turning your laptop on is not tough. Try being stuck in Birmingham for 5 hours waiting for replacement busses due to train cancellations and getting home at 5am!

Hopefully by the time we embark on our return journey in about 10 hours time, the situation has further improved. I really do not want to be scrapping around brighten looking for a cab that will take us back into London.

I will continue my journey. Should be into Stratford soon and then it is onto Farringdon. Couple of beer in the John Oldcastle. They we will continue our journey to the South Coast.

UTA.

Keenos

Mikel Arteta reveals a three-pronged plan to take us to the title

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Sleep, eat, prepare.

Earlier this week I wrote about how easy it is to blog when the games come thick and fast. You do not need to overthink things. And it is not much different for Mikel Arteta between now and the run-in.

Brighton will be our 3rd game in less than a week, having played Sunday and Wednesday. In between the games, the players would have slept, eaten and done some preparation work. It is all kept very simple at this time of year.

The fitness work is already in the tank. Playing so often is what keeps you fit and match sharp (rather than endless running). Players will maintain what they have, and focus more on recovery.

There will also be very little core tactical work being done. If a player has not got the shape and patterns Arteta wants by now, they will never get them.

Preparation will be team specific with minor tweaks to expose the opponent’s weakness, and set piece work. It is not complicated.

There is not much time for much else, and there is not much time for Arteta to think.

The boss will also now be in a routine. Game day, post game interview, oversee recovery work, pre-game interview, game day.

Everyone now will be on auto pilot and we should now benefit from holding back a bit at the beginning of the season.

Mental and physical fatigue is what let us down last season. This year we started slower (by design), to ensure we had more left in the tank for the run-in. Arteta has also been able to rotate more – 5 changes mid week was something that did not happen last season.

And as fans, we are not doing much more than eat, sleep and prepare.

As one game finishes, we got to bed to sleep off what we drank. By the time we wake up we are already looking towards the next game, preparing what time we will meet and where. In a blink of an eye, we will be at Victoria, St Pancras or Farringdon ready to travel down to Brighton. And a couple of days later it will be Munich, then Villa before Munich again.

In between, we might get a bit of work done. Grab a bacon sandwich.

Today will be about having a big dinner ready for tomorrow, deciding exactly where we want to go, and ensuring I have the food in for a fry up tomorrow.

Sleep, eat, prepare.

Keenos