Some Arsenal squad news has been leaked by an academy prospects DAD. Marcelo Flores, our young Mexican/Canadian attacking midfielder, is apparently in the squad and we know because his old man dropped a ‘I’M PROUD’ tweet he probably didn’t expect to go viral.

This is an interesting move. Arteta has been rotating a group of youngsters on the bench over the last month. He hasn’t used them. But it’s all good experience at this stage and it keeps those players motivated to keep on pushing in training.

Flores has quite a lot of press around him. He recently made his debut for the Mexican national team, coming on as a left-sided winger. He wants to make his full debut for Arsenal and Mexico by the age of 19. He said this:

“And I’d like to get my proper international debut for Mexico and hopefully be involved in the Qatar World Cup. I idolise players like [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Neymar, who have all done the same thing.

“Looking up to players like them, you want to match what they did because like any player, my ultimate dream is to win things like the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or.”

You gotta love the players he loves.

It’ll be interesting to see if his inclusion has come at the cost of a more senior player with fitness issues. Gabriel was in Brazil, Saka had COVID, you never know what is going on with ESR. Hopefully, he’s just taking a space on the bench because he’s been impressive in training.

There are also rumours that Irish left-back Mazeed Ogungbo has also made the cut. I know less about him than Flores, but he seems to have a blend of excellent delivery from deep, good crossing, and an eye for goal. He’s also quite a big player for a left-back, which maybe has appeal for Arteta who has a right-back that is also a decent centre-back.

I suspect Ramsdale will be rested, it sounds like he’s the sort of player that will lie about the state he’s in. It’d be no good to lose him for the rest of the season, especially when Bernd Leno has looked so solid.

I wasn’t writing as prolifically last week, but I did notice Gary Neville popping off at Arsenal again. This time, he’s suggesting that if Arsenal does manage to make Top 4 this season, that will be the height of our success, and because of that… Arteta should move clubs.

Let’s be clear here, a big weakness in G Nevs armour is his lack of vision or ability to see beyond the now. He couldn’t see what was happening at United under Ole G, he couldn’t see how damaging the signing of Ronaldo would be to the system, he doesn’t give Ralf Rangnick any slack despite him only being there a few months… and he went on record to say he couldn’t see what Arsenal were doing at the start of the season, despite it being painfully obvious what the strategy was.

Why would anyone pay attention to someone that has no vision? How are Arsenal anywhere near finished if we make top 4? We have the youngest team in the league, the youngest manager in the league, and we’re 3 signings away from being extremely competitive at the top of the league. Especially if you believe like many that Pep and Klopp will likely move on to new projects.

Thierry damaged himself for the same reasons. I’ll always love him, but when you go against the club, you’ve got to be sure that it’s grounded in something more than naked ambition, otherwise you might look silly.

Palace news is looking positive on the injury front. Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha look likely to miss the game. McArthur and Ferguson are late fitness tests. The game will still be tough. The atmosphere will be electric and I’m sure Patrick will have a bit of a chip on his shoulder because he thought he should have been considered in higher esteem over the Arsenal job. This has a bit of the David Oleary / Leeds about it.

… but Arteta needs to focus his team. The biggest thing we have to battle with is inexperience or as Klopp put it… maturity.

🗣 “You cannot buy that.”

Jürgen Klopp talks of the importance of his sides maturity over the coming months. 💪 pic.twitter.com/Noc9jljwED

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 4, 2022

The average age of the Liverpool starting 11 this season has been about 29. They are pure winners. There is no situation that squad of players hasn’t been in. There is no situation they haven’t turned around. It’s a winning machine.

Arsenal don’t have the muscle memory. Every exercise is a new one. So far, we’ve managed everything really well, the naiviete of youth and the lack of Banter Era baggage has seen us through. The hope is that continues, but I do think we need to ground ourselves in reality and not kid ourselves that the next ten games are going to be wins.

The next 3 games would be a success if we take 7 points. If we can drop 9, even better. That then puts a whole heap of pressure on Spurs to beat Arsenal in their home game, and it also makes their Liverpool game, that is at Anfield, even more crucial.

3 points tonight would be delicious, let’s see what Arteta and the boys have ready for us.

A bit of charity stuff for you. Check out Arseblog and their charity Patreon addition, all funds go to the various wars around the world. Also check out The Arsenal Vision chaps and their donation run with The Arsenal Foundation.

Finally, if you want to see me on Youtube talking Arsenal, here is a bit that I did for the excellent Latte Firm.