PROUD TO SING THAT NAME
Well, that was some weekend.
Arsenal fans were out in force, taking the hope right up until the moment we couldn’t kid ourselves any longer.
The sun was shining, fans were treating the day like a cup final, and many beers were drunk.
The stadium atmosphere was absolutely electric. The game was not so much. Everton played like there was something on it and they made it Sean-Dyche-grim all afternoon.
Focus in the stadium was split between Everton and West Ham. Arsenal stadium people decided not to have the score of that game running during the game, so we were relying on information from people who had snuck radios into the stadium. West Ham going 2-0 down inside 18 minutes was a bit of a vibe killer. Even worse for the afternoon was going 1 goal down from a horribly deflected freekick.
West Ham clawed one back on 42 minutes - and the stadium was electrified. Surely they weren’t going to get back into this game?
Arsenal responded on 43 minutes when Tomiyasu swept home a ball on the edge of the box. A really important goal that quelled some of the jitters about the second half.
On 59 minutes, City killed off West Ham with a third goal. The news seeped into the ground to the a sonic Mexican wave of ‘for faaacks sake!’ and then the mood shifted to ‘fuck it, let’s just beat Everton and be done with it.’
We got the goal late on, Gabi Jesus nipped in and stole the ball near the halfway line, he played Odegaard into he box, the Norwegian kind of duffed his shot into Kai for the scruffy finish. Fans didn’t know whether to celebrate. VAR once again destroying the feeling of scoring with a very slow ‘to the board’ decision-making process.
Arsenal finished the season with the most wins, the best defence, and the second best attack, equal goal-difference to City. Just two points shy of an unstoppable Manchester City machine.
The stadium was 90% full after the game. We stayed to listen to Odegaard and Arteta say positive things about the future. Then we spilled out onto the streets to drink way too late and have a painful flight the next day.
I’ll spend some time collecting deeper thoughts on the season this week, but overall, how can you not be happy with the season we’ve just dropped? We’ve progressed in every area we needed to, we’ve shown we’re a match in the Champions League, we’ve handled major injuries, we’ve dealt with tactical tweaks with minimal pain, we’ve shown we’re resilient mentally (and physically), and we’ve proven we can now beat every team in the league.
Only one team can win the league. What we’re fighting against here is a monstrosity of a club. They’ve been at the highest level of football unencumbered for many years. The most money, the best coach in the world, the best backroom staff, the ability to pay incredible wages, and they’ve made almost no mistakes.
I don’t want to belabor the charges, nothing has happened yet, I want to marvel at how incredible City are at the moment, because it gives even deeper meaning to where Arsenal are as a club. Our wage bill is half what they are spending at City and the gap is two points. We are chasing perfection on a budget and trajectory wise, we’re looking like a team that could do 100 points next season.
I’d much rather talk about how f*cking incredible we are and the future we have in front of us than worry about delayed justice that will absolutely come next season.
We are back at the big boys table and we’re about the take the biggest slab of meat. This summer, the club will look to evolve what it’s doing on the pitch again. We’ll add more high-ceiling talent, bring more players into the side that can be trusted, and we’ll be even less predictable next season.
Add a rotational option for Saka that is explosive, then you could open up his game to more experimentation.
Sign a high-ceiling striker that can give us more power and danger in front of goal than Eddie & Jesus can right now.
Find some coverage for Big Gabriel M in defence if you can.
Then see what you can change up in midfield. If Thomas goes, that frees up a big salary, and then the club can decide if they want to go big on a player like Frenkie or someone that looks closer to a Bruno like bruiser (though please don’t tell me you rate Onana after yesterday).
I’m sure the exits are going to look interesting this summer. We have a collection of homegrown players that could leave, but I don’t think they’ll all go. Emile getting minutes felt purposeful. I doubt Reiss will ever leave, he probably stays in the basement at Colney.
Mo and Cedric have already gone. Ramsdale will probably end up at Newcastle. Then you’d have to imagine Jesus and Zinchenko might be looking for new clubs because I don’t think they joined Arsenal to sit on the bench so regularly.
Summer will be big - moves will come fast because there are a lot of clubs in PSR trouble that’ll need to get the books in order before June 30th. Expect it to be an exciting one.
As for the day out in London. I wanted to say a big thank you to all the lovely people I met during the day that came over to say high. It was a perfect afternoon in the sun, and a great way to see out the Premier League.
We’ll be dropping a very late On The Whistle tomorrow. Me and Matt flew today, and United Airlines has a no podcasting policy.
Right, see you in the comments. xx