It’s Tuesday and I have to say, the joy and pride from this weekend’s win has yet to wear off. Throughout the season, this Arsenal team has continued to set, break, reset, and break again the boundaries I thought they were capable of at this stage of growth. I think many of us have felt the same. It’s why early in the season fans were cautious about how much belief they put in this team’s ability to truly be called ‘title contenders’. It’s why many fans didn’t accept that potential as a fact, until after the World Cup break. Bitter naysayers and downplayers and ‘haters’ like to throw around th ..read more

Coming into today, I had written that I was feeling nervous for the match. In yesterday’s prematch blog I wrote that my uncertainty was rooted in what Arsenal would show up, and almost unbelieving of Chelsea’s horrible play.  It seemed plausible that Arsenal could trot out the same lineup that makes the same mistakes and that Chelsea are a team possessing enough talent to catch this Arsenal team in a depression and keep them down. Arteta said, “It is not about the mood, it is about keeping that fire in the belly for tomorrow.” To Arsenal’s credit, they looked much more like the Arsenal te ..read more

City are two points behind Arsenal on the table heading into this weekend but carry two games in hand and haven’t lost a match since February. It’s 17 unbeaten and 14 wins during that run. A fearsome foe made more devastating by the fact that Arsenal hadn’t lost a Premier League match of their own since February, when City beat them at the Emirates. The combination of factors — Arsenal’s injuries and decline and City’s run — leave Arsenal fans with about one hundred sporadic takeaways from the campaign. “This league is a gauntlet that demands consistency all the way through”, “things caught up ..read more

We will get the technicalities out of the way first: Arsenal sit on top of the table by two points and nothing ensures Manchester City will surpass Arsenal. However, in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of City, serious title statements were made. Arsenal were second best the whole way through this one and the gulf in quality was on display as City flexed their muscles emphatically. Arsenal failed to get the result on their home soil earlier in the year and now City sit just two points behind Arsenal with two games in hand. I’m not going to talk about money and spending and ownership states, FFP… the ..read more

It’s been 19 years since Arsenal have won a Premier League title. Of course, you don’t need me telling you that. Every Arsenal fan has been thinking about it and adding to the tally every year since May, 2004. It evokes difficult emotions to explain to those outside the footballing world. As Colin Firth emotes in Fever Pitch: “Do you know what you wanted eighteen years ago? Or ten? Or five?” “I’d doubt if you wanted anything for that long. And if you had, and if you’d spent three months thinking that finally, FINALLY, you were gonna get it and just when you think it’s there it’s taken away fr ..read more

Before Arsenal’s latest draw in their trio of ties, Arteta told the world, “We have to become really boring to everybody and be very repetitive, and just focus on what we have to do this morning, and that’s it.” Twenty-four hours later, Aaron Ramsdale under hit a pass to Zinchenko in the second minute of their match, Arsenal found themselves down 1-0, and the weight of the whole season descended upon everyone in the Emirates stadium. Thirteen minutes later, Arsenal give away the ball in a bad position, the defensive structure is caught with their pants down, in complete disarray, and are sucke ..read more

It was a game that offered everything from embarrassment to devastation to thrills and belief, and I felt like a cornered animal watching it. I felt like I witnessed myself running into a dead end and resigned to my own death, until animalistic, fight or flight kicked in and I found myself, literally, on my floor kneeling a foot from the screen, howling for a winner that wasn’t to come. It felt like an energy transferred from the team itself, through my television, and into my own emotions. Perhaps, in many ways, it was just that. After all, we pick up on the emotions our teams put forth. Arse ..read more

Would you rather have played Manchester City first in October? It’s a question that’s been bouncing around my head, even with the complete knowledge that it’s a futile, answer-less question. But Arsenal originally were slated to play their home fixture versus City in mid-October. The 18th to be exact. The reason it seems to be wrecking my head like Thing 1 is because Thing 2 is the other question rocketing around the dome: were we in a better place in October? Had the original match happened then, it would have occurred at a time in which Arsenal were 9 wins (1 loss) into the Premier League se ..read more

Look, we’ve all been there. You go out, you’re feeling yourself, and the drinks start flowing.  You get the beers in; you get the whiskey in; you got your mates all around you; and you’re sitting on top. Invincible. Unbeatable. The vibes are unlike you’ve felt in a long time (or maybe last weekend). You know you can put back anything that’s put in front of you. And so you do. But at some point, it catches up with you. The days of being able to do that catch up to you and what follows is that head splitting hangover that waylays you comatose.  Now, if you’re anything like me, you ..read more

It was a match that had me feeling nauseous almost the whole way. Before kick off the nerves sparked, and by the end my body felt like it had been strapped to the Takabisha roller coaster for forty-five consecutive rides. Arsenal walked into Anfield, did everything right in the first 30 minutes, killed the stadium, weathered the hostility, and then let it all it all flood back into play. The second half was a tough watch. Exhilarating in almost every aspect, but Liverpool’s 67% possession meant the thrill never felt all that pleasing. One point gained or two points dropped? “ooh, a bit of both ..read more