Five points clear. 13 matches remaining. If you’re an Arsenal fan, even against your better judgment, you’re probably dreaming of a first league title since 2004.
“Just enjoy the ride” was very much the mindset of most Gooners as the team defied expectations to charge up the table prior to the World Cup. Now that the finishing line is in sight, it feels harder and harder to keep up that pretence.
Supporters who’ve been around the block a few times carry the scars of so many painful seasons, matches and moments that it’s impossible not to constantly remind yourself of the fine line between success and failure.
As Paul says to Sarah in Nick Hornby’s film adaptation of Fever Pitch: “You know we might win the league this year. We’re halfway through the season, they’re top and we’re playing really well and I know they’ll fuck it up because they always do.”
This scene from Fever Pitch is so on point right now. pic.twitter.com/FEf4FFQUZ2
— Andrew Allen (@AAllenSport) January 25, 2023
Luckily, supporters aren’t trusted with keeping clean sheets, marking opponents, taking chances in the box or giving team talks (Stu McFarlane aside). We leave that to the coaching staff and players, most of whom at Arsenal seem far more level-headed than the dorks (👋) sitting at home in their pants writing and talking about it all.
Aaron Ramsdale seems particularly chilled about the situation the Gunners find themselves in and says his teammates are being driven rather than held back by last year’s disappointing end to the season.
“What’s driving us on is the scars of last year — no one has forgotten about what happened,” said the keeper after last night’s 4-0 win over Everton.
“That’s obviously a big driving force in this team, [it hurt] a lot — especially as it was to the other lot down the road, which made it even worse for our fans and for us.
“It is just knowing our mistakes at the end of the season, the teams we dropped points against and knowing we have to trust our process, our basics, knowing that if we do nine out of 10, 10 out of 10, then we should get results.
“And if we don’t, at least we can say we have done everything we can. There were times last year we dipped under our levels, didn’t do what we had practised or what we had done all season, so it was a big lesson for us and we are just taking it into each game at the minute.”
Unlike many of Arteta’s fledgling squad, Ramsdale knows what it’s like to be part of a relegation battle – he was relegated with Bournemouth and Sheffield United – and much prefers fighting for honours at the top end of the table.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy but it’s definitely a pressure which is so much nicer to have than the opposite side,” he said.
“It’s an enjoyment and because not a lot of us have been here before, we don’t really know how to handle it. So we’re just going in and playing the games as if we were 10th, 12th, whatever.
“We’re just going out to play with our group of teammates and try and win as many games as possible. And when you play here at this stadium, or even away, the fans…honestly it’s so much easier to play when things are going well and we’re relishing it.”
They say you have to be a bit mad to play in goal but Ramsdale comes across as reassuringly rational. Here’s hoping he and the lads can keep it going for another three months…one game at a time.
Keep it going Aaron, you top dude! You and your team mates have an amazing opportunity to write yourselves into Arsenal history, we’re with you every step of the way!
Laughable that he’s at best second choice for England. Pickford…hahahaha! With that and channelling everything through the hairy Kunt to ensure his personal data is as high as it can possibly be no matter the cost…no wonder you mob can’t win any international titles. Is Gareth Southgate the most overrated “coach” in world football?
I understood the part about him being England no.2 at best and then u lost me….
He’s probably one of the most overrated international coach definitely. A poor man’s Didier Deschamps if you will. Difference is Deschams can get away with playing conservative football because the amount of talents he has in his possession. But it’s criminal how both England and France plays football with the amount of attacking talents they have. Shit on stick football basically… no joy for the neutral.
That’s the nature of international football. The teams have so little time together to practice/play together that intricate strategy is pretty well impossible. You generally just play one of three or four basic conservative football styles and hope you’ve got the talent on your team to beat the other guys who are doing the same thing.
🙏🏾
If we can spank Bournemouth 4-0 or 5-0 we will close the gap on the goal difference with city. Let’s hope Newcastle do us a favour this weekend too.
i’ll bite your hand off for a 1-0…
hey are you guys talking about biting people’s hands off
Luis Suarez would probably want in on that
I’m not worried about goal difference, it almost never comes down to that. I’m only hungry for points, 3 at a time.
Boy did those 4 paragraphs hit home. My feelings exactly. For so long I was “just CL, that’s all I ask” and “it’s so exciting to see Arsenal really good, I’m just going to enjoy it. I’m still enjoying it but yes, it is different now
I reckon we’ll get CL this season… but let’s just see, one game at a time.
We still got City, Liverpool, Newcastle and Fulham away. On the other hand we got Westham, Bournemouth, Leeds and Wolves all hovering around relegation zone. It’s a tough run but we can have hope on this team’s resilience 🙂.
It’s always a tough run. To be the best you beat the best. Getting something from the $ity game is an must.
It isn’t, but winning the league having beaten them would feel better than winning it without having done so. If we win the league, I’d love for other fans to recognise us as the best team, the actual best team, but I can see most (myself included) still regarding City as the better side. Not sure how much sense that makes but when we come up against City, anything other than a loss feels like a victory and that says a lot – at least to me.
Well, I don’t think anybody thought, in ’15 – ’16 season, that we were better than Leicester City after beating them twice yet finished about 10 points behind in second place.
In any case, there is no cabinet for what others think, except maybe at Spurs; only trophy cabinets exist.
idk why people keep caring about a teams position in the league. wolverhampton scored three past liverpool last month. we got beaten by everton last week, who also tied against city. every match is extremely tough and whoever thinks table position matters at all on matchday they’re nuts. unless you meant to say those games are actually gonna be as tough or tougher than the others because of the fact they’re fighting to avoid relegation, in which case i agree
on the positive side we’ve done pretty well against the top teams this season. And against the bottom teams to be fair. And also against the mid-table teams (hi Chelsea). So I reckon we’ve got a chance.
Our next four games include three at home – Bournemouth, Palace and Leeds and Fulham.
If we can win all four of them that will really set us up nicely.
On the result last night – great result. After 40 minutes must admit I thought Everton would suffocate every attacking move we tried. These are the games you just grind out the win and we did that brilliantly..
To be honest that scares me more than it calms me down when you put it like that. Our run-in is going to be brutal with Liverpool, West Ham, City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton practically one after the other. So even if we build a bigger lead in the next few games it could easily topple down during those last few and then it’s “same old Arsenal crashing and burning when it really matters”… I mean, I know this team is slowly teaching us we should trust them more than that. I want to believe, but it’s so hard to… Read more »
Don’t worry, Jesus will return to save us if necessary.
There is wisdom in not looking beyond the next game, and in this case, Bournemouth. Looking that far out when there are a thousand and one things that could happen between now and then serves no meaningful purpose.
One thing City has shown this season is that they can drop points too. I hope that calms you down.
I have no interest in hoping and relying on City to drop points, who knows when their all-time level insane collection of talent under one of the best managers this game has ever seen suddenly clicks into 5th gear and obliterates everyone. But you’re right about the rest, one game at a time!
Although as a team/a manager (as Arteta has said countless times) we can’t control the outcome of others but we can do so in our games. But, its clearly to believe city are beatable too. I still feels that city might drop more points than us.
A draw in city, Newcastle, and Liverpool and a win in our remaining games is a guaranteed title performance. On paper, from performances, it is achievable. coyg
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take a title any which way, but it won’t feel quite as sweet if we don’t beat City at least this one time this season.
“It’s so much easier to play when things are going well and we’re relishing it.”
This bit really stood out to me and shows the importance of supporting the team even when in a slump, booing will only make it worse.
Hardly an earth shattering milestone – but St Totteringhams day is imminent.
The first Arsenal goalie since Jens, where I don’t have a panic attack every time a ball goes near them.
Cech? Leno? Martinez?
Cech seemed like a perfect signing until his debut. Leno was good at shot stopping but not so good with crosses or the ball at his feet. Martinez was good, but only for a short time so we didn’t have time to build up a lot of confidence in him, and perception was relative to what came before him.
I think the point is we have had good goalkeepers over the years but now we have an excellent one who can even improve. Ramsdale reminds me of a young Neuer at Schalke, hopefully he can fulfill that potential.
It doesn’t even feel like he needs to get better, though he probably will. But if he only keeps playing as brilliantly as he has been he’ll be a legend.
Yep. Well said. 🍺👍
I want Liverpool to beat ManUre at the weekend, can’t see Newcastle doing us a favour though unfortunately – they are in a slump!!!
They will do the favor bro, believe!
I don’t know about you guys but it was very odd watching Alex Iwobe play against us. The guy has Arsenal DNA in him. Also watching Tierney in midfield wtf 😂.
watching him yesterday left me wondering could Arteta have made him even better? maybe it was just maturity but there was more intelligence about his game ( Odegaard’s master slidetackle the exception)
Love the team. So inspiring to watch this group. But we need to stop making blind passes when playing out of a tricky situation near the sideline. Just kick it out, otherwise against good teams will punish us.
95 points wins the title. So 2 draws or 1 defeat. 35 out of 39. We had 34 out of first 39. Tight margins but maybe doable?
That guarantees the title. City’s not the invulnerable machine they’ve been the last few years (though we should of course assume they are). Odds are they’ll drop a least a few points over the home stretch..
One game at a time, Herr von Richthofen.
I think we will lose more points. $ity will do so as well. BTW, let’s enjoy the journey and not be too worried about the destination.
A draw in city, Newcastle, and Liverpool and a win in our remaining games is a guaranteed title performance. On paper, from performances, it is achievable. coyg
Our best ‘keeper since Crazy Jens. Which is a major reason why it’s March and we’re in a Premiership title race. That hasn’t happened since March 2004. But there’s more here. Like Lehman, Ramsdale doesn’t just have technical ability and incredible powers of concentration, he also possesses that priceless gift – shithousery. He upsets the opposition fans. He upsets the opposition players. And he fucking LOVES the Arsenal. The missus absolutely worships him. He can go all the way to joining the Arsenal greats – Frank Moss, Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings, John Lukic, Dave Seaman and Crazy Jens.… Read more »
Keep it rolling Ramsdale, you’re one of the best goalkeepers around n fortunately you’ll make it to the hall of fame Arsenal’s best
🙏🏾