Football is a great old game. And what makes it great is that results like Arsenal being knocked out of the cup to Fleetwood Town can happen. It is great, of course, as long as you are not the team on the end of the giant killing.

Those sort of results just do not happen in other games. You would never get the 80th best T20 team in India beating the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, or the 80th best rugby union team in England beating Northampton Saints. We lost, and we moved on.

And what also makes football great is how quickly everything can change.

A day after our defeat to Fleetwood, Manchester City were also facing penalties. Whilst Arsenal lost, City won against Brighton, progressing to the quarter final.

3 days later, City faced Brighton again. Same stadium, different competition. And this time the Seagulls came out on top.

This weekend would have expected to have been a weekend where City regain their lead over Arsenal in the league. They faced Brighton on the Saturday, whilst Arsenal visited Anfield on the Sunday – a place the Gunners had not won for something like 14-years.

Arsenal defended valiantly, scored, and won. 3 points in the bag. And with City’s defeat, it is us who sit top of the league, 3 points clear.

Given the choice between beating Fleetwood last Tuesday, and winning at Anfield yesterday, every Arsenal fan would have picked the later. The League is simply so much more important than the League Cup.

And Likewise, had City fans been told they could only beat Brighton once, they all would have sacrificed the weird 3-handeled cup and opted for the Premier League match.

As it turns out, Arsenal were the losers mid-week, but City were the big losers over the course of the week having also lost against Aston Villa on the Saturday before.

And again, this is what makes football great.

In the space of 9 days, City went from being 3 points ahead to 3 points behind, whilst Arsenal had to stomach the biggest giant killing in recent football memory. What incredible emotions and no wonder most football fans are probably on blood pressure tablets.

Our detractors will once again be out in force complaining about defensive football. Those same fans from Manchester United and Chelsea were celebrating Brighton’s defensive game-plan just 24-hours before.

The hate-watchers will also be complaining about the quality of the Premier League, and how Arsenal are showing themselves to be poor champions and are a long way off Europe’s elites. That forgets, of course, that last season Arsenal were in the Champions League final, only losing to PSG on penalties. And beat Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan on the way. English clubs also did the clean sweep in the lesser European trophies.

The fact is, the Premier League has never been stronger. And that is why we are seeing less goals and games won in a tougher manner. And why English clubs are dominating in Europe.

One week you can be beating Brighton, the next you can be losing.

Up next for Arsenal is Hull City at home, whilst Man City go away to Nottingham Forest. It should be 3 points each. But it would not be a surprise if one of us failed to secure the win. It will be that type of season.

I would take the pain of a Fleetwood defeat every time if I was guaranteed the joy of winning at Anfield.

Keenos

Tonight we continue our Champions League campaign against Lille.

Recently we blogged about how Mikel Arteta needs to approach the Champions League differently this year – rather than chasing perfection, he needs to rest and rotate his squad with the aim of just getting through, not winning the group stage.

To that extent, I expect to see a few changes against a Lille side currently sitting 2nd in Ligue 1.

The main two changes will be Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyokeres coming in.

With Kai Havert’s international injury scare, and his recent poor injury records, we need to continue managing his work load. That should see the German rested today, with Gyokeres getting a chance to perform up top.

Moving into midfield, Arteta has an abundance of choices. It is therefore essential that this season he rotates his midfielders, keeping them fresh. For that reason, Mikel Merino will surely get a start alongside either Declan Rice or Bruno Guimaraes.

I think Arteta would have gone with Martin Zubimendi alongside Bruno, but with the Spaniard having picked up a post-game training session injury, Merino will come in with Bruno or Rice in behind. Much of that later decision will depend on how Bruno is recovering from his slight knocks.

As a result of the midfield make-up, Myles Lewis Skelly will be pushed to left back.

With Piero Hincapie’s injury, we need to ensure that we wrap Riccardo Calafiori in cotton wool. Lewis Skelly can more than do a job at left back without us losing anything from the midfield.

Jurrien Timber will be given the first 60 minutes as he continues his rehabilitation, with Ezri Konsa and Gabriel inside him – although Arteta may also fancy giving Cristhian Mosquera a run out instead of one of the pair.

I would keep Noni Madueke on the left hand side – he did not have a bad game against Leeds and needs to grow in confidence as he will get a lot of game time in the coming weeks. On the right it will be Bukayo Saka, with Eberechi Eze potentially coming in for Martin Odegaard.

Maybe a little disjointed, but it should be enough to overcome Lille. And then it is on to the next one…

In other news, Manchester City have splashed the cash on yet another new lawyer.

According to The Lawyer, Mark Howard KC is now working alongside City’s other barristers, including Lord Pannick and Paul Harris KC.

We all know the delusion of Man City fans over this case, claiming the plan was to always lose the hearing so that they could take their evidence to a higher court. This new appointment shows it was all just a load of waffle and that they are now panicking.

You do not spend millions on another high-flying lawyer if you are confident about the defence your existing high-flying have already presented.

As the case continues to unravel, more and more interested parties will come out of the woodwork.

The SRA are already looking into the role of solicitors in the cover up, whilst both HMRC and the US Government could reopen old cases depending on the final verdict. Then you have the FCA who could look into Man City auditors, BDO. This on the back of Deloitte being exposed for helping Roman Abramovich’s dodgy dealings.

The initial Premier League case against Man City might be concluded within 12 months, but with an ongoing investigation for 2018-present day as well as the above potential investigations, aspects of the case could rattle on for years more. And none of it is good for City or the reputation of their owners.

It was brilliant news that Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract. Anyone that disagrees with this fact must hold some sort of grudge. Likely going back to Arteta snubbing them as a player when, as a grown man, they used to hang about the training ground begging for shirts to be signed.

So 2030. Another 4-years of challenging for titles under Super Mik Arteta. Another 4-years of trusting the process.

Arteta’s Arsenal are in the “WIN NOW” phase. The signings of Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimaraes, two established Premier League superstars, highlight that Arteta is now building for the future. He wants glory. And it wants it this season. And next.

But this brings with it a risk.

As we have seen with Liverpool, if you do not prepare for the future you end up with a group of players all reaching the end of their peak at the same time. They will be on huge wages, which leaves you little budget to consider signing the “next big things” and what ends up happening is a few years in the wilderness whilst you rebuild a team, rather than a transition as 20-somethings take over from 30-somethings.

Manchester United have spent nearly 15-years in this wilderness following Sir Alex Ferguson’s (and theirs) last league title. It was a championship built on Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra. The majority of which were beyond 30, and all of which were nearing the end, or at the end, of their peak.

Arteta’s job over the next 4-years is not to only win now, but also to ensure that he does not go into the 30s with an ageing squad past their best, or handover a creaking squad to the next man.

So just how would Arteta’s current Arsenal look in 2030?

Is it too early to start thinking about your Christmas jumper?

Arsenal fans – how about this beauty?https://t.co/ENIthEkiK9 pic.twitter.com/W1Qk8cuZmV

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) October 8, 2026

Come 2030, David Raya will be 35. As a keeper who relies on reflexes rather than his frame, he will likely be at the end of his time with us. He may not even make it through to 2030. But coming through the wings we have Tommy Setford.

Now it is notoriously difficult to come through at a top team as a goalkeeper. You just do not get the game time to develop, to make your mistakes as you grow. That is why Setford’s loan deals, and patience, are going to be important.

Come 2030, Setford would be 24. Still young for a keeper. Hopefully he would have had 3 progressive loan deals under his belt (currently at Stevenage), the last of which being either in the Premier League, Bundesliga, or other top league. If he is good enough, he will get his chance.

Jurrien Timber will still only be 29 in 2030, as will William Saliba. Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié will be just 28 and Cristhian Mosquera 26. These guys will have plenty still left in the tank. There is also Marli Salmon who will be just 21…

Gabriel Magalhães at 32 might be coming to the end of his time, but then again he has never been a defender who has relied on his pace. You could easily see him playing through till he is 34 or 35 at the highest level. Likewise, Ezri Konsa will also be 32. We do not really need to think too much about succession planning for these guys as those mentioned above will still in in their late 20s. Succession planning for the defence will probably start in 2030, not need to be done by.

In midfield, Martin Odegaard will be 31. I would not be surprised if he leave us before 2030. Maybe even next summer. Eberechi Eze (32), Mikel Merino (34) and Bruno Guimaraes (32) will likely all be either gone, or in their last season.

That will still leave us with Declan Rice (31), Martín Zubimendi (31), Myles Lewis-Skelly (24) as midfield options, with Bukayo Saka (29), Christos Tzolis (28) and Max Dowman (20) as attacking options. Despite being just 28 in 2030, I expect Noni Madueke to have departed to make way for Dowman.

Up front it is a bit more tricky. Kai Havertz will be 31 and Viktor Gyokeres 32. I would be very surprised if either are still with us in 2030.

So lets now look at 2030/31. What would be the starting XI based on players currently with us who would still have plenty to give. And where do we need to look to recruit?

Setford
Timber Saliba Mosquera Calafiori
MLS
Saka Rice
Dowman ????? Tzolis

Declan Rice would be the only man in our 2030/31 that would be over 30, and he would be just 31. With his footballing brain, playing a more static role, or even going back to centre back, would be an easy transition for Rice as his legs go.

Then backing the above up, we would still have the likes of Zubimendi, Salmon, Hincapie, as well as Gabriel or Konsa as an “older” option at just 32. This leaves us, in the next 4 years, to only really need to recruit a new right back, central midfielder, Odegaard replacement, left winger and two strikers.

Arteta can be in his win now phase because most of his players are all just entering their peak. There is not a huge amount of succession planning needing to be done. Much of it is already done. And the reast will happen naturally as we improve our squad year on year rather than having to buy the future.

Here is to another 4-years (at least) Mikel!

Keenos

Buy now: