Morning guys and gals.
The sun is shining on this fine Carabao Cup Final weekend. Are you feeling the nerves just yet or just excitement? Me, I’m feeling a mixture of both so goodness only knows how I’ll feel this time tomorrow when kickoff is just a few hours away.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference yesterday afternoon, Mikel Arteta said:
> For me, \[Sunday is just to win a trophy\], that’s it. For me, that’s it.All the preparation and all the enjoyment in the next 48 hours to get to Wembley in the best possible way, we’re really prepared and confident that we’re going to make it happen. I’m excited, enthusiastic, and positive.
> \[This is\] one of the defining moments because at the end, it’s whether you win the trophy or not – and that’s the most important thing once you get to the final. But in order to be there, you have to do a lot of things and earn a lot of things as the team has done so far. So, we need to prove that point, that’s clear, and that has to be done on the pitch.
Arsenal v Man City isn’t like it used to be thank goodness. Regardless of whether the fixture was home or away, City usually battered us. On the 6th August 2023, that changed and ever since, the battle between the two clubs has been a lot closer.
2nd February last year was special. I don’t care if the media tried to put our 5-1 victory down to City playing badly, we absolutely battered them and I loved it. Guardiola well and truly knew by then that the squad Mikel Arteta and the board had assembled were not going to be rolled over so easily. What did Arsenal Football Club do next? Yes, they made Arteta’s squad even stronger and certainly more balanced. In came the much need centre forward, in came and injection of pace on the wings, in came a creative and two defensive midfielders and in came two defenders who have impressed from day one. In came Kepa too, our Cup keeper who has helped us get to this final.
When City rocked up to The Emirates earlier this season, Guardiola’s setup suggested he feared Arsenal. Defend first and hit us on the break and yes, it nearly worked but I don’t recall anyone getting overly worked up about the great Pep’s approach. No, I think I’m right in saying that it was Arteta who was criticised for being unadventurous at home.
I don’t doubt the media are sharpening their pencils in anticipation of writing about Arsenal bottling the opportunity to win a trophy for ex amount of years or how Guardiola outthought his public, you can see the headlines now can’t you?
What would be amusing though if the headlines they have to write are about how Arsenal won the game after a set-piece or two, or one of our goals coming from an Arsenal shot which took a deflection off Stones backside because I really don’t care how we win the game as long as we win it.
Catch up in the comments.