CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STRESS LEVELS HIT NEW HIGHS
The ultimate nightmare end to the season could be upon us… finishing below 4th in a two-horse Premier League race.
The chasing pack has crushed the lead we had on them over the past few weeks and now we’re looking at the Newcastle game as a top 2 cup final. Except the person that loses the game might not finish 3rd. This is a 6 pointer game if ever I saw one and it’s against a team that has beaten us three times already this season. A group of players that is the yang to our yin. Normally, we’re the toughest guy in bar, but when Newcastle come to town, it’s Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan levels of disparity when it comes to physicality.
This is all psychological, we’re a better team than them, there’s no doubt about it. But… as with all Arsenal managers of the past, there’s always one that has your number. Wenger, it was Pulis. Emery, it was Watford. Arteta, it’s Villa and Newcastle.
That little problem we have absolutely has to stop tomorrow. I don’t want to be a ‘no excuses’ table banger, but I feel I might be busting it out on Youtube whilst asking for a full board resignation if we have to take Champions League qualification down to the last game of the season after we got all our best players back in the mixer.
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There are some good bits of news, it looks like Declan is in contention, we have Timber back in the mixer, and Gabriel Martinelli walked back into training. We even have the extra buzz of Kai Havertz in the squad.
NO EXCUSES.
Sorry, I’m getting right in the mood for saying that.
Newcastle have looked jaded over the past few weeks, the second half in their game against Chelsea last week was particularly poor. They were lucky to escape with a win. Isak hasn’t looked imperious. It’s clunking over the finish line for them. But Eddie Howe will know a point or more will secure his team in the Promised Land, give him another year at Newcastle, and cement his reputation in a city that has needed a boost like this for years.
It’ll be a dirty 5 across the back kind of day. They’ll try and smash us up nice and early. Saka is going to get quadrupled up on. They’ll try and get MLS sent off. The refs will let it all go because you can still qualify as ‘plucky upstarts’ in the eyes of PGMOL, regardless of who owns or how much money you’ve spent.
The best thing that could happen to Arsenal over the past week was actually the first half against Liverpool. We were diabolical on every level and Arteta addressed it with the full heat of a hairdryer session. The team corrected the wrongs in the second half and played exceptional football under fatigued circumstances.
You would hope that a week off, training in front of fans, staying in their own bed, would do wonders for the freshness. You never know… but I’m feeling like our outrageous last home game (22 wins, 4 draws, over 27 seasons). It’s also worth noting we’ve only lost once against Newcastle at home in 20 games. The Geordies have also not won their last two away games against Brighton and Villa… two teams that work you like dogs. Something Arsenal are quite good at.
Arsenal just haven’t been good enough this season compared to the benchmark. The final home game of the season feels more important than it should do and I think Arteta will understand that there’s a duty of care to the home fans in games like this. Send people off to their summers boozed up and happy about what they saw.
Last home game is always special. I do the rounds with friends and family. Get a little kebab on Blackstock Road, nail at least 16 Turkish beers, then hit a usually sunny Emirates for an afternoon that normally has festival vibes to it. Those are the special days, regardless of where Arsenal are as a club.
… and when you think about that question. Try and separate the emotion of a season that just hasn’t been ours. We have all summer to play the blame game about how it got to this, but right now, look at the facts: It’s been a diabolical season for injuries, refs, and luck… and we’ll hopefully finish it second in the Premier League and semi finalists in Champions League. Perfect? No. We want the big trophies. But bad enough to hate your life and fall out with all your friends in the GC? Definitely not.
The mission this summer has never been clearer. There is money, a very direct Sporting Director, plenty of hype around the club, and the chance to make amends for the errors of last year and put Arsenal down as the favorites in the Premier League and the Champions League next season.
So dust yourself down, grab a beer or a trendy N/A, and have a very good time tomorrow. We’ll be going LIVE right after the game for an On The Whistle. If you want a fun Before the Whistle, sign up for a very good deal right now and listen to me, Johnny, and Matt (those two were ill, but still put in a shift).
P.S. I do hate to have to write this, but if you see someone obnoxious in the comments, killing the vibes, just message me and I’ll take care of it. If you’re in an Arsenal comments section, talking like you support Chelsea, you should take that attitude somewhere else. Also, if you are abusing people, or offering to fight people, you will be banned, and I will find your IRL social circle and tell them how you are behaving… because I firmly believe that no grown adult should be offering to fight people off the internet, and if their friends knew they were doing it, they would intervene.
Message Pedro
Ok, have fun tomorrow… OR MEET ME OUTSIDE FOR A FAAACKING RUMBLE, OKAY? x
Podcast## NEWCASTLE (H) BEFORE THE WHISTLE (MEMBERS)
Pedro
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May 16
NEWCASTLE (H) BEFORE THE WHISTLE (MEMBERS)
Pedro was going SOLO 🕺, but the mere energy of that idea forced Kandela and Johnny to roll on… ill 🤒🤧.
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