Start of the week. What does this week contain? A quarter-final in the Champions League against the MIGHTY Bayern Munich. This is what football is all about, people. Being in the mixer for a massive competition, with the chance to avenge a very one-sided abusive relationship with a German institution.
I’m excited.
I spoke with top-tier German football expert Rafa Honigstein about the game and he was not particularly bullish about Bayern Munich’s chances given the shift in our form and the decline in their form. You will obviously go and listen to the podcast, but overall, the vibe is their team isn’t in a good place from a confidence perspective, the system isn’t really working, and there are questions of commitment from some of the players.
This game means a lot to any Arsenal fan old enough to remember the regular maulings from the German side. We have taken some painfully heavy defeats over the years because we’ve not been able to match their quality or tactics in the games that matter. For Arteta, this is a test of brand for him… are we a big club that does big club things? Beat Bayern and you communicate to the world that our club really is back.
The home leg is hugely important, taking a lead to Germany gives us a statistically significant chance of heading into the semi-finals where we’ll no doubt meet a Manchester City firing on all cylinders. I don’t like the idea of that game one bit. But it feels almost inevitable.
Back to the Premier League. That noise you hear is me choking on burnt humble pie I just took out of the oven after United did us an unlikely solid yesterday. The game was a fun one to watch because it lacked any sort of control or fairness. Liverpool should have been out of sight early on. Their big dogs flopped in front of the goal and United squeezed their way back into the game with an unlikely goal. To be honest, they should have taken the three points when Antony broke towards the end.
Klopp was furious after the game, he said if United play like that against us, they’ll get walloped and they will. Any attempt at reverse psychology is going to fall flat in Salford. United fans will be begging for Arsenal to win the league. If City win, that’s four in a row which is never-been-done-before territory and if Liverpool wins, they equal United’s league-winning haul. United will absolutely roll over for us.
That does lead me to something I posted yesterday that I’m going to reprint here.
Some Premier League game theory you aren’t thinking about – now Arsenal is top.
The top 2 countries in UEFA coefficients get an extra Champions League place this season. England trails Germany and Italy. Bundesliga is catchable. Unai Emery is flirting with 5th. The most important game for him over the next two weeks is Lille.
If Villa gets to the semi-finals of Europa and the English teams progress (bar West Ham), he doesn’t have to worry about chasing Spurs. 5th Champions League place all but assured for the Premier League.
In an odd turn of events, Spurs fans should be cheering us against Bayern, drop out a German side, and we are helping them. The issue here for Arsenal? If Spurs secure CL early, they aren’t bothering for Liverpool & City. We’re the last Cup final for them.
So two things here: If we win our next 4 Premier League games, I think we win the Premier League.
Spurs is the most concerning game. They have a 15-day break. It’s an away day. Ange does not want to give us the league title in their house. It will be the spiciest game of the season.
Bournemouth won’t be a problem.
United will roll over.
Everton will be safe and there’s no way they’re helping Klopp.
Our season is defined by the outcome of the Spurs game.
Win our next 4 and the league is ours. It’s that simple. What a massive 3 weeks we have ahead of us.
Ok, listen to Rafa. He’s excellent as ever.
Let’s do this guys
2 nill to the Arsenal?
Or 3 nill?
Trophy 🏆 for the good guys
Let’s own the Spuds !
C’mon the Reds ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Everton not exactly safe with another 2 point deduction. They keep getting dragged back into the relegation mash up. But who cares….let’s win every game and remove the ‘what ifs’.
Will be at the BM game with my partner, touts can offer me £1,000/ticket and wouldn’t sell even if AFC didn’t threaten lifetime ban!
All of Bayern’s injured stars have magically made a full recovery just in time for the game.
This will be even tougher now. Their league is gone, and they will want this trophy to make up for it.
Any arsenal fans selling tickets for tomorrow’s game need to fuck right off. Bang in form with an opportunity to do one over Bayern in a stadium full of arsenal fans exclusively is just too perfect
I was offered £700 for my ticket tomorrow I turned it down Marko
1st time we have been in the quarter finals for 10 years I am not missing that
I have tickets and will be there in lower tier. Can’t wait. And I picture us playing Real Madrid in SF (and PSG in final).
Spurs is the most concerning game. They have a 15-day break.
Am i the only one thinking that a 15-day break for Spurs could be a disadvantage at this point
in a season?
They could come back rusty and out of tune?
Pedro with some interesting angles on the CLsituation.
The crowd at the stadium should be even louder than against Porto. More exciting opponent, deeper stage, now topping our league… and with no away fans should mean a decent % more voices. Should be no special nerves on our side. Just confidence.
Arteta tactics should be similar to big games against City and Pool. Tight, but looking to jump on opportunities. They’re a dangerous opponent that can hurt us with individual talent if we’re not careful.
One game at a time
We still owe them those three 5 – 1 maulings… unfortunately watched all of them and were painful scenes…
So let’s right the wrong starting tomorrow night …
And don’t forget Kane dragging his foot to get the obligatory penalty.
Spurs have a 15 day break…and we have a full squad
It’s better to play every 4 days and be in a well tuned pattern that to come back rusty after soi long.
There’s nothing better than the momentum that can be generated from a winning run. It’s like an avalanche going down hill.
I believe the team that won yesterday will start against Bayern. Arteta did not choose the Brighton team with an eye to rest anyone for Bayern – more likely to ensure that some relationships are strengthened for Bayern.
I could be wrong.
A different take on Zinchenko – aside from his occasional unforced errors, it is possible Arteta uses the perceived weakness of his area on the pitch as a decoy. When teams attack his end, it opens up space that Odegaard, Rice, and Havertz as well as Jesus can exploit.
Just a take.
Is it pushing it too far to say that the signing of Havertz is our Eric Cantona moment and like cantona is the difference between winning the league or falling at the final hurdle….
Pierre
No, it’s not pushing it too far.
Kai has a big game presence, never stops fighting and just has a knack of popping up in the right places.
He [and Rice] are the reason why it’s not crazy to think we can win all of our league games.
I know everyone has their eyes on the run in but I am concerned only on the next game. I fully believe we can go and win every PL game to the end of the season. But the only way that happens is if we don’t get ahead of ourselves. We need to beat Bayern and then we need to beat villa who are weak in midfield because of injuries. We just need to keep ticking off one game at a time. Regarding the games coming thick and fast, that might be an advantage to us. Last year waiting to… Read more »
Possible. We know Arteta likes to push the oppo attack to the flanks in order to be prepped to blunt the possibility of shots. On the other flank with White and Saliba– you’ve already dissuaded attack there.
Strategically, if you know where to expect to defend– and are prepared– you’re way ahead. Might look like chaos at times on Zinny’s side– but it’s controlled chaos.
Awfully confident of you Pedro but I hope you are right about the league.
City in Semis undoubtedly? I don’t know mate, I wouldn’t write off Madrid that easily.
I really hope Kiwior gets the start tomorrow. Zinchenko is the only weak spot in our team currently. Should not be starting vs Bayern.
I’m not sure about the Eric cantona comparisons
Cantona was one of the defining players of his brief career. Teams were terrified of him.
Havertz is causing no end of trouble to teams and is now backing it all up with end product as well, but he’s not yet reached that status
If he can regularly play like he did vs brighton tho he will do big things with us
Looking at the run in, city have some difficult games. Brighton away, spuds away, fulham away. They will definitely drop points there.
Pool have everton (who have been motivated by their point deduction) away, fulham away and spuds at home.
Those away fixtures will be tricky for pool and city and I can see them dropping points.
Arsenal on the other hand have some difficult games but we are so dominant that I’m really not worried about any of them.
We should avoid the tactics we used against Man c because BM have dribblers.
Pep sold all his ball carriers.
Everton are going to appeal their latest 2 point reduction and the appeal for that might be heard AFTER the season has ended This means it’s now entirely plausible that whoever does or doesn’t get relegated this season will be decided in a court room weeks after the season has finished Absolute. Total. Shambles. Who came up with this process and set of timelines? Certainly no one who has ever played or been involved in actual football. That much is clear. This process MUST be done before the final game of the season to stop the relegation battle from becoming… Read more »
If the authorities don’t think they can do the Everton hearing before the end of the season, hire more fucking people. The premier league/FA are rich as hell. There’s absolutely no excuse for them not seeing this coming and be able to manage their resources to avoid potentially ruining the last game of the season for some teams
Why are they ruining the best EPL season in decades?
Just thinking about our summer recruitment – at this point I think it’s fair to say Rice Havertz and Raya have all been massively successful signings that have improved the team. All of them justifying their price and then some. Knowing what we know now, what would have been a fair price for each of them/what would it take to buy/sell them now? In terms of current value and what we might we be willing to pay (forgetting FFP). Rice 150? Havertz 80-90? Raya 60? Bearing in mind we lost Timber who had already given the impression he was going… Read more »
Whatever happens this season, we are back at the top, and we are here to stay.
And we’re just getting started.
Le Groove
Very well said but you are going to offend a lot of the posters who only come on here to moan and only appear when things go tits up .
Banter Club no more .
As I posted several times recently Spurs have fixtures against all three
candidates for League Title.
So those games could well decides who will win Title. Liverpool play Spuds at home and both Man City and ourselves are away.
The spuds are a wildcard, they play loose and fast. Of those three teams, our system is the most effective at controlling and defeating this.
Their best odds of taking points are pool > city > us.
Of course, they could also just lose all three and decide f all as befits them.
Le Groove – that TW certainly up there. The 1997 one on a par with Petit, Overmars and Anelka (for £1m ffs) added
make no mistake, i want to face Real Madrid in CL Semis and not City. Iam bored of City. COYG
The way I see it we can afford one draw in the last seven games and still come out on top. A loss or two draws means hoping both Klopp and Pep have something of a disaster in the run in.
As for the CL as good as we are and as bad as Bayern are(which is still pretty darn good), CL favors experienced teams heavily so I wouldn’t write off a scoreless draw at home with the match and Allianz being winner takes all.
Not scared of city, but another 2 games would be so disappointing.
Madrid semifinal would be bonkers.
My real wish though, if we do get to Wembley – let it be Barcelona. They have a squad of teens and twinks held together by bosman semi-retirees – this Arsenal team would annihilate them.
Arsenal need to focus on winning one game at a time.
We have a difficult run in until end of season.
However as I posted last week Arsenal are currently the best team in EPL.
We have the best defensive record.
We have scored more goals than Liverpool and Man City
We are undefeated against Liverpool and Man City.
Arsenal’s main weakness this season has been our performances against London Clubs in 2023. The away game against Spurs could well
decide our season.
Seeing people already eyeing a semifinal against RM, please don’t jinx it.
We have to dream, yes. But let’s not look too much in the distant future. HUGE game tonight. The boys need to show the world how good they are. If we manage to arrive tonight, the world will see it. They will realize it. Tonight is the night we can put our stamp on the Champions League, the biggest club competition, and show everyone the giant we’ve become. We can show everyone what to expect in the coming years. Give the performance I know we’re capable of, and regardless of what happens in the next round, the world will know… Read more »
Let’s worry about Bayern before we all start matching up the Semi we have terrible history against this team and we need to be less cocky.
I respect the cautious sentiment, but i’m more of a hype train guy myself. I am so pumped for this game.
Fortunately, as a spectator, my mentality doesn’t have any impact on the outcome.
Nicely written Rap-very wordy and passionate…I commend you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Johnny, I’m sure Mikel will go full on “All or nothing” Prime Video mode for his speech before the game. 😂 I hope the players are ready.
It surprises me when people talk about the Semis like we are sure we are going to be there. We are a better team than Bayern. But make no mistakes, we aren’t going to roll them over easily. I too think we will go to the next round but through hard fought matches. They still have experience and elite match winners in their side. Besides that, they have nothing else to play for now they have lost both domestic cups. We need to be wary. If we take them seriously enough though, we can beat them.
Loved Arteta’s smiling reaction when he was asked at the press conference yesterday whether he’s called up Xavi Alonso to ask for his advice on how to defeat BM.
‘It’s a good question. No comment’!
1423292911450345477
Hopefully not but see a difficult game.. they have some excellent attacking players and they will raise their game so don’t really see there league form as a big deal
Hopefully 2-0 Arsenal
Anyone still complaining or moaning about things not being good enough or “unacceptable” really needs to stop and remind themselves just how awful it used to be.
As raptora has said, our club was a joke there for a while. Look at Ten Haag for example, the way these other clubs talk as though they are remotely close to what we’re doing. We can laugh now knowing they are light years away, but not long ago that was us and our shared delusion. It’s only from our position now that the enormity of the gap to those below is comprehensible.
We talk about celebration police looks like we also have dream police. One of the outcomes of following a football team passionately and devoting a lot of your time is that you start dreaming. Please don’t spoil that. Everyone can dream and its a right of a football fan.
‘Fortunately, as a spectator, my mentality doesn’t have any impact on the outcome’. Well said Le Groove. Although I plan to sing up at tonight’s game and hope to have a small, positive effect!
‘Two WWs and 1 WC” ‘Poor Harry, Harry, he went to BM and he’s won fuck all’
With that in mind dream on. We all have our superstitions but regardless of them it’s the players’ mentality that matters. Not to say everybody shouldn’t be wearing their ‘lucky pants’ for the remaining games of the season though!
Le Groove- totally agree. We’d be happy enough to scrape into 4th spot so that we could appear in the CL. Mostly ‘appear’ is all we did, and then disappear-rapidly after humiliation. I may be speaking too soon, but this time around it feels very different…let’s hope.
Anyone here entered red ballot for Bournemouth game? Just wondering when you usually find out (not that i hold much hope of getting a ticket)
Muppetman007 you will find out on the 17th
i have not been successful in a single ballot yet this season
also the Everton ballot is this coming fri
Thanks Simon, saw that’s when they said payment was taken so wasn’t sure if draw was before. Crazy how it takes them so long since Ballot closed yesterday.
Totally agree rap There are some moments and matches which transcend just the obvious sporting situation This matchup is deeply symbolic. We have lost 15-3 in our last 3 matches against this team. In the same season Bayern beat us 10-2, John Terry was asked who he most feared facing in the CL and he said arsenal. The whole Chelsea squad laughed. We are all old enough to take the banter as much as it stung, but spare a thought for the kids. Those young arsenal fans at that time watching in pure dismay, many of them probably reduced to… Read more »
Everton have been our final home game a few times this century, is that normal or just coincidence? The last time they got a 5-1 thumping, I was @ the Emirates for that one and at Highbury for the season finale and PL Trophy celebrations in 2002. Given their multiple points deduction’s this season I am concerned that their own PL survival might trump depriving Liverpool of the title. If they are safe we can probably expect their players to be on the beach already, fingers crossed that is the case.
I’d love to be there. It makes me feel good to know I’m talking to people that will be in the stadium. Bust a lung for us.
It’ll be a restless sleep for me up again at 4 for the game. Baby is down for the night, arsenal scarf above the cot – never seen us concede or lose to city, lucky girl.
Le Groove…. it’s 3am for me💪💪💪
An article in The Athletic gives a different perspective on the quality of our players. A series of commentators picked a combined Champions League Quarter Finalists team
I was expecting tovsee Saliba amd Gabriel’s names appear on all the lists
They don’t
Orbinho stats – – Harry Kane was never on the winning side in any of his eight Premier League appearances at the Emirates Stadium. – Bayern have won three of their four visits to the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League (lost one). – Arsenal have lost each of their last three games against Bayern Munich by a 1-5 scoreline. -Harry Kane has scored 38 goals in 37 games for Bayern this season, including six goals in eight Champions League outings. Harry Kane has scored five goals against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, the last four of them all coming… Read more »
Time we beat them 5-1!
Security is to be stepped up at Champions League games after a media outlet supporting Islamic State group published threats against venues.
Uefa said it was aware of the threats but said games in Madrid, Paris and London would go ahead as planned.
Ministers in both France and Spain have confirmed enhanced security measures.
A pro-IS media channel has published multiple posters calling for attacks at stadiums featured in games due to be held this week.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68769669
No bomb threat can save Banter Munich today… COYG
Off topic. Chido Obi Martins has scored a brace for our under 18s against Brighton, and there are still at least 30 minutes to go. He may bag another hat-trick today.
We may have a helluva player on our hands
I saw this interaction of Mikel and Theo before the Brighton game and it put a smile on my face. https://twitter.com/GoonerGirlArt/status/1777346561514557696
Walcott is surprisingly good value as a pundit
I think Everton will be safe by the time they play us on the final day. As plucky as Luton have been and their win the other day was smashing for them, I don’t think they will claim many more points. Everton will feel the perceived injustice once more and go on a run of form I think. The final day, all 3 title chasers are at home to teams they should be expected to beat and quite easily at that. Would be quite the spectacle if all teams were level on points going into the final day with goal… Read more »
Yes @china1 – beautifully put my friend. COYG.
More of the same (not the 2nd leg though……)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJqqneQMuEM
Alarm set for 2:55am on a working day fml lol
Respect, China!
Fml indeed. Currently midnight here – can’t sleep, like the night before christmas. Gonna be a long day tomorrow.
Le Groove…gotta disagree with Walcott as a pundit..I think he’s out of his depth-he struggles.
They try and help him with simple to answer questions to integrate him.
I love him- but a pundit he ain’t.
@China, my feelings exactly, I don’t want to see us just beat them, I want to see Arsenal smash ‘em…
You guys that get up at some ridiculous hours to support The Arsenal….I take my hat off to you!
“United will roll over.” My my this is a wild take Pedro. As a team we absolutely shat our knickers when we go to Old Trafford. Without fail. Huge mental block. Like an abusive parental relationship. I think you’re wrong thinking United fans want to see us be successful over Liverpool or City; that won’t be the case. Don’t get me wrong, we need that 8-2 back. This is the best oppo to absolutely rip them a new asshole but as normal my expectations is we will shit our pants and Antony will score a hattrick the fucking annoying little… Read more »
For the first time in years, the anxiety associated with an upcoming match has been replaced by excitement.
Nwaneri’s goal for the under 21s yesterday.
https://x.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1777705529122365815
It’s okay tomorrow’s holiday for me so can stay up all night to watch the match.
Rich – that left winger who passed to Nwaneri has an uncanny resemblance to Saka 🙂 is that Lewis Skelly?
Madhu
That’s Cozier-Duberry.
He’s apparently out of contract this summer, Arsenal are trying to keep him, but there’s plenty of other clubs trying to tax him away.
We owe the Munchers big time.Pride needs to be restored & Europe put on notice that one of the worlds great clubs is back & we mean business.Bring it on…..
Hope we are not too nervous and tentative tonight. Need to be aggressive and go at them hard
Tak that! Bayern left Saka alone
Unforced error