Now I’m not one to get carried away with optimism where Arsenal are concerned. During the Brighton game when we went 4-1 up I allowed myself a brief thought that we might win the league this season, only for the last 25 minutes of the game to bring me back to my senses. But all of a sudden I am now believing that this season we could actually do it, and the way in which Tottenham were swatted aside in the first half on Sunday was the final thing I needed to convince me.
In terms of a footballing weekend it couldn’t have gone much better for The Arsenal. I’d have probably preferred a draw in the game at Old Trafford, but probably better a United win than City (and I say that in the full knowledge that United could be the ones closest to us come Sunday night), and Newcastle dropping points would have made it absolutely perfect. Liverpool losing, and Spurs on the receiving end from Arsenal, should mean we can concentrate on actually winning the Title instead of looking over our shoulders at 5th place. If Arsenal blow the top 4 positions (about which I care not one bit) then there’ll have only themselves to blame.
I’m not the first to say it, but there is a real feeling of togetherness about Arsenal right now, and I don’t just mean the players. Arteta has tapped in to what makes us all tick. He’s understood the “Arsenal against the World” mentality that had always been our way until the last 10-15 years of relative mediocrity – I use the word “relatively” as we’ve still been in the business of winning trophies during that time, something others can only dream of. I’m in my mid-40’s this year, and that makes me old enough to remember the way George Graham positively engineered situations that fed inspiration to his teams via the media hatred of our club. The recent joke FA charges against the club are exactly the sort of thing George put to good use, famously after the Old Trafford brawl in 1990. Arteta seems of a similar ilk, and has even cleared the squad of overpaid underachievers as George did back in the late 1980’s, bringing in young and hungry and heavily talented footballers.
Sunday actually started as a very sad day for us Dover Gooners as we got the news that one of our founder members, Bill Browning, had sadly passed away. Bill had phoned me just before Christmas to congratulate me on a piece I wrote on this here website last March about my Dad, and I’m delighted to have that one last memory and one last chat with him. Bill was a great friend to all of us over the last 30+ years, and we travelled all over watching Arsenal as a group of family and friends. He’s been missed the past few years as his health got the better of him, and it’s with a heavy heart that I pay tribute to a dear old friend here. I like to think that what Arsenal did at Tottenham on Sunday was for Bill, and that him, Frank and John (who’ve also left us in recent years) had a few beers at the great pub in the sky on Sunday night to celebrate. Let’s hope we’re celebrating with them come May. With the way this team is playing, if they can have a little luck with injuries, and not get shafted by the authorities, I believe we just might do it.
Since he took for control of operations, he has not really put a foot wrong.
The Brazilian did an excellent job over 18 months dumping the old egos and replacing them with young, hungry, talented footballers. We are top of the league as a result.
Around Wednesday lunch, the media suggested that we were interested. By 4pm Thursday it had been announced had been agreed.
It came out of nowhere and was completed quickly. Edu had a back-up plan.
On a side note, this deal shows we can complete deals quickly. All transfer take a different amount of time, a different ammount of negotiating. Some will take weeks and break down. Others will happen within 24 hours. Often it depends how far about on valuations the two parties are, and whether there is a “transfer chain”. It is a bit like buying a house.
Long-term readers of our blog will know I am not a fan buying a player for the sake of it.
You go too far down the list and you end up spending a lot of money on someone you do not really want. Within 6 months you are looking to replace them, but they are on a 5-year deal. Think Lucas Perez.
So is Trossard a Perfect Plan B or a Panic B that we will come to regret?
Some have argued for an out and out striker (Ivan Toney-type), then there was the out and out winger (Mikhaylo Mudryk) and finally there was the hybrid – someone whocould cover both flanls and also do a job upfront behind Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah.
Trossard is the hybrid option.
Predominately a left winger, he has recently been playing through the middle for Brighton. Trossard has also played behind the striker and wide right.
He covers a lot of positions and also gives Mikel Arteta a few different attacking options when coming off the bench – including providing an extra central attacking midfield option.
Back up dancer
I think we can’t underestimate how the progress of Gabriel Martinelli has changed our transfer plans.
Last summer, many of us spoke about us “signing a top class left winger” who would come in ahead of the young Brazilian.
Martinelli’s form in the first half of the season saw him force his way into the Brazil World Cup squad, selected alongside the likes of Neymar, Vinicius Jr and Gabriel Jesus, as well as Richarlison, Antony and Raphinha.
Four of those on the list joined new clubs in the summer for fees ranging from £45m to £100m.
Just 21 and with 7 Premier League goals in 18, how much would he go for in the current market? £50m+? He has become the superstar left winger we wanted in the summer.
That means that the incoming midfielder could be someone who could cover Martinelli rather than replace him. And that needed to be reflected in the price.
Mudryk at £70m+ always made me feel uncomfortable. He would not walk into the team ahead of Martinelli and was therefore a big price for a back up player.
Trossard is much more reasonably priced.
Good fee
£21million rising to £26m looks a good deal when compared to what Chelsea have recently paid for players.
They are paying £29m on Noni Madueke. – 20-year-old Englishman from PSV who has started just two league games this season for the Dutch outfit.
Tottenham paid £50m for Richarlison; the Brazilian does a similar job at Tottenham (cover in all 3 attacking position) as Trossard will do for Arsenal.
£21m for a squad player with his experience fees reasonable.
And a good contract
One worry I had when it was announced was how much we were tying up in wages and contract length.
4 and a half years would have been a big deal to give someone who is 28-years-old. It would have given us very little wiggle room if we wanted to upgrade on him in 18 months time.
The 3 and a half year contract feels more comfortable.
Wages have still not come out, but a 3 and a half year deal will mean we are not investing too much into him. He is, afterall, a back up player. No need to give him a 7 and a half year deal!
Premier League experience
We are in a title race.
Mudryk would unlikely have made an instant impact. It is going to take him time to settle into a new country, playing for a new team in a new league.
Trossard has played 122 times for Brighton in England. He knows the league.
Brighton – especially under Graham Potter – play a primarily possession based game. It will not be too hard for him to transition from Brighton to Arsenal.
One of the big reasons I wanted Wilfried Zaha was because he could make an instant impact. Trossard will hopefully do just that.
Trossard is expected to be on the bench against Manchester United tomorrow.
The Belgian is also capable of a high press. He is 4th in the Premier League for winning posession in the final 3rd. That makes him both an attacking and defensive substitution.
Panic Buy
One good spell
Trossard’s stats since joining Brighton have not exactly screamed “top class player”.
18 goals in 100 Premier League games before this season did not exactly lead to too many rivals knocking on the door last summer.
This season he has scored 7 in 16 – although 3 of those came in a single game. 4 in the other 15.
That form and his contract situation led to some clubs taking an interest in January.
He has also not performed particularly great for Belgium. Is he just an average player who has had a good spell?
Attitude problem
And that good spell led to issues within Brighton which could highlight an attitude problem.
Since the World Cup, he has gone missing for his club – reportedly walking off the training pitch claiming he was injured, and later storming out of the training ground when not selected to play.
This behaviour led to a war of words between Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi and Trossard’s agent which resulted in him beind dropped for disciplinary reasons.
“Leandro isn’t in the list of players for tomorrow,” De Zerbi said before the Liverpool game
“He left the session without saying anything to me. And it’s not good. I spoke with him and I explained this attitude, this behavior, I don’t like.”
It all pointed to a player who was trying to make his position at the club untenable and trying to force through a move in January – at the time probably to Tottenham!
Brighton had a year long extension. Had they triggered it they could have kept Trossard until the summer and then cashed in on him. But Trossard’s behaviour basically made him unselectable and forced Brighton’s hand.
He does not have a documented history of issues, and has previously worked with AirPod Albert when at Genk.
His behaviour in the last few months is a concern. Especially with our squad so united.
Saying that, Mikel Arteta has often spoken about players needing the right attitude, and surely would not have sanction a move if he was worried.
Not the superstar
Trossard is not the superstar we perhaps wanted.
When we were linked with Joao Felix and Mudryk, it does feel we have dropped down a few levels to sign Trossard.
How many players were between Mudryk (who was clearly top of the list) and Trossard?
In the last month we have been linked with Mudryk, Felix and, more recently, Moussa Diaby.
How many other players did we enquire about whilst negotiating for Mudryk before we got to Trossard? We may never know.
He might have been 3rd or 4th on the list. He might have been 10th.
There is always some trepidation when we miss out on a first choice target.
But then again, we walked away from Dusan Vlahovic, Lisandro Martínez and Emi Buendia and signed Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard.
When Edu does have a Plan B, it always seems to be someone of quality and not a panic buy.
At half-time last night there was a clear change of tone in the SheWore WhatsApp group.
We have all remained level headed over the first half of the season. Rarely talking about the title. Just happy to enjoy the ride. At no point have we considered ourselves favourites, or discussing whether we could actually do it.
2-nil to Spurs at half time against Manchester City and spirit had changed. We began to date to dream.
8 minutes into the second half and those dreams were put on hold as City fired back twice in 2 minutes to draw level.
10 minutes after Erling Haaland’s equaliser and Riyad Mahrez gave City the lead. And just like that the conversation stopped.
But were we right to dare dream, even fleetingly?
None of us wanted Spurs to win. But we all wanted City to lose.
In very basic terms, every point Man City do not get is a point we do not need to get. Yes, I’m Captain Obvious.
Had City lost, the maximum points they could get this season would be 96. And they would need to win all remaining 19 games for the to happen. Very unlikely.
We then all put in how many points Arsenal would need to get the title. Consensus was 85-87. Once City took the lead we agreed it would probably be 90.
90 would be the same amount of points the invincibles got. It was also the only time we have hit 90 since 3 points for a win came into place in 1981. We have also only got 85 points or more twice – 2002 & 2004. And over 80 points 5 times – including 1991 when we played 42 games
So even the 85-87 points was a huge task. And as I write this I wonder why we begin to dare to dream.
But then we are in incredible form this season. We are on course to get 99 points. We won’t get that many.
47 points after 18 games. We can be proud of that.
To reach that magic 90, we need another 43 points from the remaining 20 games. That’s 15 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats. A very tough task considering we have Manchester City (H&A), Manchester United (H), Newcastle (A), Liverpool (A) and Chelsea (H). 6 very tough games.
We could afford to lose 3 of them, draw 3 and win just one as long as we won every other game we played. Unlikely.
But at 2-nil down is why we started to dream.
That would have meant we needed just 40 points. 13 wins and a draw.
Suddenly, 13 wins from 20 does not seem so tough. But it is.
Manchester City also have tough games to play. And this seems to have been forgotten about.
Whilst everyone was talking about our tough January, very little was said about City’s.
They had trips to Chelsea and Manchester United to content with, and hosted Tottenham. Got 6 from 9 from them.
They still have to play Tottenham (A), Arsenal (A), Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle (all home). Tough run. But ours is a tad harder.
With City claiming all 3 points, the dreams have gone back in the drawer. We are back to not speaking about the title. The brief slip will not happen again.
Back to taking it one game at a time. Win the one in front of us. And next up that is Manchester United at the Emirates.
Even if we get 3 points, we will not yet dream again.
And as a final thought, the defeat for Spurs leaves us 14 points above Tottenham with 2 games in hand.
Last night was one step closer to our dream of returning to the Champions League…
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 