If we finish 2nd it will depend how we finish if people can have a reasonable argument of 'bottling it' If we lose say 4 of our last 8 then that argument might hold weight. But if we lose to City win the rest and lose out on GD with 94 points, having won 14 of the last 16 games and only been beaten by a team who won 15 and drew 1 of their final 16 games then I think its laughable that it would be labelled bottling it.

People need to move away from the idea that every set back is down to some psychological weakness. Sometimes you don't win because someone else was better.

No doubt that not winning it will be hugely disappointing but no one, even the most biased Gooners gave us a prayer of being where we are. Given the choice of finishing 2nd with the league campaign we've had or finishing 25 points back in 4th and winning the League Cup I'll take 2nd, I know there is no trophy but if we got to 90+ points in 2nd we've proven we can challenge right at the top for years to come. A random league cup means nothing, even Spurs won one of those 14 years ago - it isn't the springboard to success people make it out to be.

Our best 11 has only started 6 games together this season. They won all 6

I have a feeling it won't matter how we lose it. We could lose it on goal differential and it will be said by many we bottled it. There were so many pundits crowning us champions a week ago and I have to think it was setting us up so they can talk mess later if or when we dropped points.

Still boggles my mind when I heard bookies had us slight favorites at Anfield. If I weren't a Gooner, I'd have taken that bet against us. Liverpool's home form has been nothing short of great. They solve their road problems and they are back to contenders again. I don't think if City goes there now they would stroll a win. They'd win maybe but it will come down to the wire. Liverpool, no matter how bad their season has gone have 1. too much pride at home and 2. have the team that can back up that pride.

I'd also say Newcastle away on paper is a draw. I think we can win it if and its a big if, we come out like we did against Liverpool and score first. Then NOT slack off and let them have time in and around our box.

As negative as I may appear, I want us to win this soooooo badly. Not only for the emotional part of it and a long wait but because I think no matter how much we improve as a team the next few seasons will be much harder to win the league.

So all the bookies now have City as favourites for the title when they had us as favourites before the Liverpool game. Simple enough to understand because we dropped two points. But if all it took to flip who was favourites was a draw an Anfield, a result that was highly likely, then you’d have to ask why City weren’t considered favourites before?

https://www.football365.com/news/arsena ... son-so-far
This website has compiled their top 10 21 or under players in the prem. We have 3 of their top 4, we bid for Caicedo in 3rd place and have been previously linked with Olise, Onana and Lavia.

Olise is an interesting one, he seems to have so much talent but when I watch him I'm always slightly questioning does he play at 100%, does he care enough? Disinterested body language and lack of passion are a hard thing to shake off to the casual observer. He feels like the sort of player who could suceed at a top 6 club with the right environment and patience

City hammering Bayern 3-0. Not ideal, they've looked terrific and it could have been more.
City fans heavily booing Cancelo who has just come on - he's still City's player. Must have been nice for him

I wonder what the odds are of City winning the treble. I think the title may be the hardest of the 3. No disrespect to the fine teams still in the CL but they are on all cylinders right now. Other than us, I and perhaps a 2nd leg of BM because they won't commit a lot of energy to it, they won't lose another game draw or lose another game this season.

I pray to the football gods we can win the title. Truly do, but I would have made them slight favorites were I a bookie prior to the Liverpool game seeing their run in and ours and current form. They have won several games in a row as well but tougher opposition.

Their fans can be absolute idiots. Not only is he still their player, but he was vital to their title win last season and the only reason he is no longer there is because Pep dropped him, presumably because they had a falling out. Mad stuff.

Whilst Ransdale hadn’t saved a penalty for us yet he’s had 3 players miss against him, Bamford, Bruno and Salah, the last two often either wait for the gk or go down the middle once the gk has dived. I think for both those pens Ramsdale waited in the middle and both takers hit their penalty wide - I wonder if Ramsdale staying centrally made them panic and change their mind and technique late on.

Not only that but look at the celebrations when Rodri scored, it’s non existent, huge swatches of people just enjoying their night out. Completely soulless

City probably should win the treble this year. Their record in the FA Cup and CL for a club with infinite money is terrible.
They could and should win the treble but yet all I see on the internet is Man U fans willing them on to beat us, and bag a major part of a treble that eclipses the thing they grasp to the most.

Rival fans want City to win because it can be brushed off as ‘the money’ and therefore they feel better about their own teams shortcomings and can in many ways brush them off. However if we win it exposes them with nowhere to hide. Every single one of them could have done what we did if we win it, it was never out of their reach, they just needed to be smarter.

I think we as Arsenal fans did this for years, when we were miles back I always wanted City to win the title. But if it was Spurs not City in this position there is no way I’d be supporting Spurs over Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea. Look how relieved we all were when Liverpool beat Spurs in the CL final

That is what I have always said. Beware of what you wish for. City's dominance means that no other team has a chance so rival fans need to get behind whoever is giving them a run for their money (barring Spurs of course). Had City missed out on those close prem races against Liverpool, along with the CL misses, it would have really disrupted City's dominance. Winning those close ones against such an excellent Liverpool has made them much stronger unfortunately, and winning another close one against us will reinforce that.

Sadly, the way things are going, the only viable opposition to the likes of City will be other financially doped clubs.

Assuming the current investigation doesn't conclude the charges against them are false. If found guilty that's a total different ball game. I'm cynic and believe they'll get away with it.

Sell Pépé, Xhaka, Jorginho, Lokonga, and nketiah and if not Eddie Balogun

That little lot will fetch around 80 million

Spunk the whole lot and more on Declan Rice and Bellingham and that’s the only transfer business this summer.

Honestly no midfield would be able to live with our options.

If we win, it will be fantastic but it would hardly be a singularly unique achievement when you consider what Liverpool have done in the last few years.

As for rival fans, Man Utd fans are split with most of those based in Manchester hoping Arsenal win. Their No.1 rivals are Liverpool though, not City. I'd say many Liverpool fans are indifferent and wouldn't mind if Arsenal win. Chelsea and Tottenham fans are obviously shouting for City.

I wouldn’t seem Xhaka at all, not now. Just give him some competition. He’s done so well in that advanced left 8 position but there are different types of players who could do it better in certain games. A more technical player with an eye for goal in games we dominate or a more mobile athletic quicker presence in games we need more e every and defence. But definitely keep Xhaka, his value isn’t that much because of his age, his leadership is worth a lot to us.

I would love to have both Bellingham and Rice but even being able to get the more attainable Rice is difficult and the sort of signing I need to see before I believe too much

A bit of talk that Arsenal may move on Balogun this summer. In terms of extracting huge value we could get a lot for him but is there a risk we’re losing something special.

One thing to consider is Arsenal are now at the stage of our development where the first 11 is special, very special, we also have a few very good squad members - but now is the time to add a little that can give a lot. Ie a Rice or Caicedo. We are ready to win now, so does a 21 year old Balogun do enough for us now and can we wait for him?

If there are offers of £40m or so - which is the talk - then it would be hard to turn down. Perhaps Arsenal consider a buy-back clause but that reduces the initial sale price.

You also have to consider for a manager as precise as Arteta who knows exactly what attributes he wants in a player what are the chances that Balogun has it, or the chances Arteta finds it elsewhere and can use the Balogun money to get it

We all remember the VAR ref who denied us 4 penalties at home to Bournemouth. the same guy who has been stood down from VAR twice this season because of poor mistakes, one of which was drawing the offside lines on the wrong defender.....he's on VAR for our match v West Ham.

First, I'm reading this. Wow.

Oh goody ...

It looks virtually certain that we'll be in the Champions League next year. If we win the title we'll be in pot 1 and avoid all the top teams. However, if we come 2nd it is likely we'll be in Pot 3 so get a very tought group. Our European co-efficient ranking has us 23rd I think. They take your last 5 seasons performance in Europe and we've missed one whole season and done pretty badly in the others, so it will also take some time for us to bring that ranking back up. The only way to do it and get easier draws is to do well in Europe. Getting far in the Europa League still gets lots of points so we've missed out this season as well.

It is funny how all the pressure is being put on to Arsenal simply because of the 5 point lead (reduced to effectively 3 now) - rather than being put on the club who have won 4 of the last 5 titles, have the vastly experienced and successful manager (rather than a rookie), have a team of vastly experienced players, have spent the wealth of a small country building their squad, then added a goal a game striker/cyborg, and whose only challenger for the title is the team who finished 8th, 8th, 5th in their last 3 seasons.

So far from it being a disaster or bottling if Arsenal don't win it, it would be absolutely incredible if City don't win it given all of the factors above

A few thoughts. Clubs who are bought by sugar daddies who are wiling to spend whatever it takes to win trophies, will do just that. Win.

Chelsea got theirs in the form of Roman in 2004. First season they finished 2nd, and only because of the Invincibles. They won the title the following year first time since the mid 50s. They won their first Cl in 2012.

City got theirs via a Thai billionaire at first in 2007, in 2008 the Qataris bought them. First league title under them in 2012. They will win the CL. It's a matter of when not if when you have that kind of money. I'm going guess this year now that they have had a lot experience in it. Man Utd got several years of experience in it before they won it and by the skin of their teeth as we all recall.

Same will happen with PSG. Qataris again in 2011. Voila first league title since 1994 when the won it in 2013. They will eventually win the CL. It's a matter of if not when.

The same will happen to Newcastle. The Saudis are rapacious. They will spend whatever it requires, use any means fair or foul. The Toon will win the title in the next half a dozen years or less if the past of such types of owners are anything to go by and they will eventually win the CL within a dozen years give or take.

If the Saudis buy Man Utd its game over. Give them the same unlimited funds and they will be top dog. Why? They have the name. Manchester City's are the new boys internationally. Man Utd have always been heavily followed on all continents. If they get back to winning titles or challenging, players will likely gravitate to trophies and a name over trophies. City has a name but its not the same level as Man Utd.

I think we will be a great team for the forseeable future but we'll be fighting tooth and nail for any position from runner up to 4th or 5th. My guess is we'll see only a few points at times differentiate between 2nd to 5th or 3rd to 5th. Chelsea have enough money to turn things around. Newcastle will get significantly stronger right before our eyes. Liverpool will be back. They change their away form and they are contenders. Man Utd are on the cusp. A few more canny buys for about 3 positions and they are challenging for top 3 or 4.

If Man Utd get Kane, Spurs are out of the top 4 or even possibly top 5 unless they do what Liverpool did and buy as good or better when they lost their stars.

One thing about us. I didn't realize just how great going forward we are. There hasn't been a league team, City included that were capable of putting 2 goals past Liverpool, dominating them from the start for the first half hour. Again, had they not scored and we went into the first half 2-0, I think we'd have just shaded a win. My guess, 3-1 or 3-2 win. But it is what it is. That kind of performance tells me we can go to City and score. We'll need minimum 2 goals at City. Possibly a 3rd, but 2 goals and solid team defense. City are at the best they've been all season right now. One goal isn't going to do it and we need to score first. I feel we are more than capable of equalizing but its going to take some great team defense not to give up a counter attacking goal.

The good and bad of playing City is they feel they must win. A draw isn't good enough. It's great for us if we come to play and we will. It will be an onslaught by them but we have the goods to counter and score. It won't all be one way traffic. Pep knows that.

Another thing we have going for us is that its hard to beat a team 3 times in a season. Its especially hard to beat a good team three times in a season. 2004 we were beating Chelsea in the FA cup, league and then needed to just draw 1-1 at home in the CL and couldn' t do it.

I can't recall the season but we must have played 'Boro 5 times. League twice beating them, FA cup beating them and league cup eventually playing a weaker XI and losing to them in the league cup if memory serves me right (and it may have failed me).

Asking a team to win 3 times over a good team is tough.

Both ourselves and City look well set for the next few years with our squads and manager.
City would need to be careful with the creeping age of their squad:
De Bruyne, Mahrez, Walker are all over 30. Gundogan as well and he seemed to be leaving on a free
Ederson, Laporte, Ake, Stones, Silva all at 28/29
The remainder of the squad at prime age or 'young'

The other big 6 have work to do.

Man U probably the least. I think they need a new striker, a new GK, a RB and a CM

Liverpool need a whole new midfield

Chelsea need a clear out and a new manager who can somehow get a tune and a system out of a ridiculously built squad. They desperately need a striker

Spurs, wow. I think they will lose Kane. They need a new manager, and if that manager doesnt want to play wing backs then they could require a big turnover in defence as you have wingbacks who can't play full back and CB who are only competent in a back 3. They need creativity in midfield and a replacement for Kane - Ouch

Just got an email from The Arsenal thanking me for renewing my membership - over 9 months after I did so.

Think the marketing dept needs a bit of a shake up.

No further action for the linesman on the Robertson incident. Good

Seen some links to Michael Olise. I have to say he has impressed and does seem a very mikel artetery type player with high energy.

The linesman should have hit the prick a little harder: negligent at best. Strangely I don’t like cowards coming at me from behind and trying to grab me.

Man U cruising until they weren't

Man U players scored 4 goals tonight, a shame for them that 2 were in the wrong net for a 2-2.

The team that finished the match for Man U was:
De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen, Pellestri, Sabitzer, Elanga, Weghorst
That looks awful, no wonder they collapsed. (Martinez went off injured - could be a season ending injury)

Where was the superb, 'born winner' and leader Casemiro to stop this implosion happening?

They learnt from us

They'll be fine next year. Some shrewd signings of Ibrahimovic, Bruno Alves, Buffon and they'll be right back in it.

and that *%^@ Fernandes is banned from the 2nd leg.

Ever since ten Hag spoke (wrongly) about Arsenal having no injuries he’s lost Rashford, Shaw, Varane and Martinez to injuries

Pep is now employing 4 central defenders in his back 4, all natural defenders rather than attacking full-backs or midfielders masquerading as defenders. It may have lost a bit for them in the build up phases but has made them more solid defensively and less prone to transition goals. Ake's 1v1 defending is outstanding and Ake v Saka is going to be a hugely important battle in our game with them.

Arteta is part way there by having Ben White as a right back. I wonder whether Kiwior with his pace and technique may find some minutes at left back at some point as Arteta takes a similar path to 4 CB.

I can see Pep changing for us. He has to win. A draw is no good for them.
If he starts out with the 4 solid defenders, he will change if they are level or by hind by the hour mark.

I have a feeling the so called easy games of our fixture could be troublesome

If we come out like Liverpool we will be good but tough to maintain that energy every match. They have a title race on their hands so it will seem obvious to but we have seen clubs in these situations have an unexpected tough day at the office

If Saliba can be match fit for the game v City do you throw him straight in even if he hasn't played any minutes for 4 weeks and had limited training?

It seems he won't be ready for West Ham and Arsenal are doing their best to get him out for City. Ideally we can get him playing a relaxing 45 minutes against Southampton because we're 5-0 up at half time

I couldn't agree more, Gaz.

I think it’s quite funny how Robertson has come out of this as the villain. Plenty of people lining up to have a pop at him because he is one of the worst for giving it but not taking it, and for having a huge chip on his shoulder.
https://www.football365.com/news/sounes ... hatzidakis
This from Souness is pretty good

Hi Rich,

He hasn't trained for weeks and is clearly not yet ready to play. It normally takes a few games at least to regain match sharpness, how can we possibly throw him in against City with at most one game under his belt.

Not sure what the answer is because Haaland is a freak of nature with incredible strength and pace and even Gabriel struggles to contain him.