Arteta’s Arsenal look to return to the top (and 5 clear of City)

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Morning all and happy Sunday!

When I blogged yesterday that I thought Liverpool were our main rivals for the Premier League title this season, I was not expecting to be proved right by the time the sun set.

Manchester City do not look the team of previous years, and throwing away a 2-0 lead against Crystal Palace shows just how vunerable they are.

Their “demise” started 18-months ago, and whilst they won it all last season, the fact tha The Arsenal led the way for so long showed that maybe they Pep Guardiola was entering his “last dance” phase of his time in Manchester.

City’s issue is in the last 18-months, they have let a lot of experience go out the door. A lot of players that were leaders of men.

In 2022, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Olexsandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling all exited. They were proven winners and the types of players who would step up and put in a performance against a Crystal Palace. They were replaced by Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gómez.

Only really Haaland of those incoming has proven that he is better than what he replaced.

Than summer just gone İlkay Gundogan departed, alongside Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte. Laporte replaced by Josko Gvardiol, Gundogan by Mateo Kovacic and Mahrez by Jeremy Doku. They also signed Matheus Nunes following the failure of Phillips to sufficiently replace Fernadinho.

Losing Fernandinho and Gundogan in a period of 12 months, to be replaced by Phillips, Kovacic and Nunes is a huge drop off in not only ability but also leadership. The midfeild generals did the dirt work that allowed others to flourish.

Jeremy Doku is a raw talent, but Mahrez and Sterling were the finished article. And they certainly knew how to win things.

You also have Pep Guardiola who looks like he is bored, and that has resulted him trying to re-invent the wheel to prove his tactical genius. Playing defenders in midfield, full backs at centre back, and continuing to play Phil Foden and Rico Lewis despite neither really good enough. It is all to show he cares about youth!

City might prove me wrong. They might go on another 13 or 14 game run and win the league, but it does just feel different these days.

Maybe this is there off year to allow their bodies to recover from whatever the Manchester City doctors administer…

We now need to take advantage of Manchester City’s slip ups.

I have been confused in the last week when opposing fans have said “Arsenal are bottling the league earlier than usual this year”. Firstly, we can go top today. Secondly, I do not really understand where our reputation for being “bottlers” has come from.

We are the 3rd most succesful team in English football history. We have won the most FA Cups. We do not have the trophy haul of that supposedly regularly bottle things. But I guess that is the world we live in. All about impressions from memes without a care in the world if they are true.

Those same fans that are saying we have bottled it again are still talking about Spurs being in the title race. They are the fans who are talking about Richarlison’s sparkling form (5 league goals in 18 months), and Newcastle United being a force to be reckoned with (currently 6th). But I guess that is what happens when you are a team like The Arsenal. Higher expectations than tin-pot clubs.

Win today and we go 5 points clear of Manchester City. Certainly not a huge gap but we all would have taken being ahead of them on Christmas Day.

Liverpool are our main threat. But for now we just need to concentrate on ourselves. Get the 3 points. And then focus on Anfield. An early season title decider? Perhaps.

UTA.

Keenos

Are Liverpool Arsenal’s main title rivals?

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Morning! The lead up to Christmas is now in full swing. Today is a rest day before the big game tomorrow. A chance for a 24 hour detox before the last home game of the season.

We have seen this season how quickly things can change.

It was not too long ago that Spurs were 5 points clear, which was the biggest lead they have ever had in the Premier League. One defeat turned into 3 in a row, and ended with them getting just a single point in 5 and tumbling down the league and out of the title race.

Manchester City have also suffered a bad spell – 3 draws in a row and a defeat to Aston Villa saw them take just 3 points out of 12. Newcastle are another team on a bad run with back to back defeats.

After the defeat to Aston Villa, it is important we get back to winning ways tomorrow to avoid ending up on a long winless run.

Brighton is followed by a trip to Liverpool before we then face West Ham and home and then Fulham on New Years Eve. The upcoming trio of games will take us to exactly half way through the season. We need to stay on Liverpool’s coat tails. They are our biggest threat.

We all know Manchester City can go on a 15 game winning run and canter away from everyone else. For Arsenal and Liverpool, they are battling to be “best of the rest” and be that team who grabs a league title when City have an off year.

The year Liverpool won the title during Covid, Man City got just 81 points. I have a feeling this could be a similar season for them, which leaves Liverpool as our main title rivals.

We beat Brighton on Sunday, we go back top of the league. We can then watch Liverpool v Manchester United in the late-afternoon kick off in the knowledge that we have not lost any ground.

Mikel Arteta has spoken about how Brighton are a very good, well organised team, and that to beat them we need to be very efficient. They might be 8th in the table, but that upper-mid table is so compact with 3 points covering 6th to 8th.

For once, we play after a European mid-week against a team that have had it tougher.

Whilst we rested and rotated for the short trip to PSV on Tuesday, Brighton had their first XI out for a tough game against Marseille which they won in the 88th minute. We have had 5 days rest against their 3.

Hopefully we see the fatigue of playing Thursdsy and Sunday creep in, whilst the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are fresh as a daisy.

Arteta also provided an update on Thomas Partey saying “He’s getting a very good evolution in the injury, but it’s a bit early for the time frame” when asked if he could be available to face Liverpool two days before Christmas.

When we signed Declan Rice, I was excited about seeing him and Partey in tandem for tough away games. I do wonder whether those results against Newcastle and Aston Villa would have been different had Partey have been fit. Getting him back (or replaced) will be important in January.

In other Arteta news, he spoke breifly on his hearing following the comments made after Newcastle. Whilst he did not go into everything that was said, he did hint about the approach Arsenal took:

“It’s not about them, it’s about ‘we’. Arteta said “We want to [make] the game better. How can we improve on the touchline to make life easier from the player side, from their side, technology-wise?

“It’s all about us – we’re all in this together. It’s not about separate people trying to do their bits – [that’s] not going to work. We have to do it together.”

I was surprised by the criticism Arsenal and Arteta got for saying that refereeing in this country was not good enough, and they we had to work together to improve. I really did not see how anyone could disagree with that standpoint. And it would seem that the FA did eventually agree.

The PGMOL and clubs need to come together to improve the standards of refereeing, with the result being a much better, fairer game. Clearly the FA agreed with Arteta and Arsenal on this point and that is why he was not punished.

Finally, our friends over at Kick Off Merchants are still able to get you a set of their popular Arsenal beer mats for Christmas! Order this weekend to make Monday’s post!

Keenos

A travellers guide to Arsenal’s potential Champions League opponents

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PSG
Parc dec Princes
Expected allocation: 2,000

The French are cowards.

Do nothing all day, but after the game they like to pick off fans walking home in smaller groups. And Paris is one of my least favourite cities.

The area around the Gare du Nord is alongside Brussels-Midi/Zuid for undesirables. But at least with Brussels there are some half decent pubs in the very near vicinity of the station.

Paris’s only saving grace is that it is very accesible with multiple flights and the Eurostar.

There are better trips available.

Inter Milan
San Siro
Expected allocation: 4,500

The San Siro is one of the worst stadiums I have been too – and I will not be disappointed if it is demolished.

I was there back in 2011 when we lost 4-0 (I think?) to AC Milan. It was a half decent city to drink in – just avoid the main square as that is where all the divvy Arsenal fans will go to chuck beer.

Like anywhere in Italy, the police are aggressive and will very quickly be battering you no matter if you are doing nothing wrong. Just one of the downsides of being an English fan abroad.

The San Siro is a bit like Newcastle’s ground. A long old walk up to be miles away from the pitch. The only difference is you get to sit behing a perspex screen covered in bird shit.

Inter are currently top of Serie A, so based on the chances of us going through, that we have recently played there, and my dislike for the stadium, Inter Milan is one to avoid.

Napoli
Stadio Diege Armando Maradona
Expected allocation: 2,736

There are two sides of Naples.

On a “normal day” it is a great city to visit. Lot’s to see and do and the locals are welcoming. Very little tourist crime as they need the income.

But on a football day it becomes a completely different city, and the dark side of the locals quickly appears. The result is a small away allocation in comparison to the 80,000 seater stadium.

I would advise anyone to visit Naples, but as a city break, not for football.

Lazio
Stadio Olimpico
Expected allocation: 9,000

“Naples light” is the best way I can describe Rome. I was there when we played Roma and, like Naples, the city has two sides.

During the day, it was completely harmless. Locals and Arsenal fans mingling happily together. Then as darkness fell across the city, the trouble began.

We were advised to get a huge park about 2 or 3 hours before kick off. That park was then surrounded by police to stop Roman’s getting in. Eventually we were bussed to the stadium – do not take any loose change as the stewards will rob you confiscate it. Although oddly the bars give you change! They even tried to take my dad’s walking sticks off him.

Beware of oranges thrown into the away end. They usually have razor blades in them.

I was there for Roma, and apparantly Lazio fans are more vile. When we went through (on penalties), the Roma fans then tried to set alight their own stadium. Many of the locals than rush back to the main station (where you get dropped off in the coaches), so that they can take you back to your hotel in an overpriced cab.

No thanks.

FC Porto
Estadio do Dragao
Expected allocation: 3,200

It felt like we played Porto every year during the late 00s with 3 trips in around 4-years.

Cracking city, and Super Bock is probably my favourite beer (still do not understand why it is not easily available in the UK). It will still be chilly in late February, but warmer than the UK.

13-years since we have been there so would not be upset if we had to go back! Decent allocation.

RB Leipzig
Red Bull Arena
Expected allocation: 2,261

The only city on this list that I have not visited, and for that reason it is a “yes” straight off the bat.

A small allocation is not great, and as it is a new city tickets will quickly sell. Another tick in the “I am going” box is that the ground is in the city centre (unlike many German grounds which, like many new English ones are built on the fringes of the city). The ground is around a half hour walk from the main station.

Germany is always a decent trip. The German’s have pretty much the same mentality as the English – drink beer, watch football, drink more beer.

A downside alongside the small allocation is that from the looks of things there are no direct mid-flights from a London airpoty on Sky Scanner and Google Flights right now for February / March.

It is on the list, but those lack of flights are concerning.

FC Copenhagen
Parken Stadium
Expected allocation: 3,856

Spent a bit of time in Copenhagen this year and it is easily one of the best cities I have been to, and less than a 2 hour flight from London.

Hotels are a bit pricey, but beer is cheap if you head to one of the pubs in Vesterbro. I can highly recommend McKluud and Freddys Bar. Bottles of Carlsberg (it is 4.5% over there!) and Tuborg will set you back €2.50.

Arsenal will have good memories (1994) and bad memories (2000) of the city.

Considering the flight time, decent city, allocation and odds of us going through, Copenhagen is the trip I would want most.

Keenos