Another week, same aim..

Morning all.

Another big week lay ahead for Arsenal FC and not just the men. Around this time last year, Renee Slegers side had just lost the first leg of their Champions League semi-final 1-0 against Lyon at The Emirates. Did the women think they were down and out? Of course not and thanks to a fine performance in France a week later, they reached the final of the competition once more. To this day and regardless of how much money both Man City and Chelsea have thrown at their respective squads, the only English club to win the competition and they’ve won it twice. A 2-1 advantage in this seasons semi-final still leaves much to do in France at the weekend but it’s an advantage nonetheless.

The men of course have never managed to win this big trophy having had just one go at in the 2006 final. A final which I still believe to this day was ruined by some “suspect” decisions made by the officials. 11 v 11 – who knows what might have been eh…

Twenty years later and here we are with just a two-legged tie against Atletico Madrid standing between Arsenal and a second Champions League Final.

In the Premier League, just four wins and better goal difference than Man City, stands between the clubs first Premier League title since 1922. Yes, that’s how the media like to spin it. Poor old Arsenal, can’t win for toffee. Yet there is 18 other clubs in England’s top division who would simply love to be sitting where Arsenal are right now.

I’ve gone from having Southampton supporting builders in around our home to having an Arsenal fan painter and decorator. An ex pro footballer himself and a north Londoner to boot said something to me the other day which made me smile. “If Arsenal win the Premier League and Totts get relegated this season, it will go down as the best season in his lifetime”. Having just read Xavi Simmons has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury, the chances of the latter of the two has in my opinion, increased.

However, I don’t give a toss about what happens to them because football is about what we do, what The Arsenal do. We just need to find four big league performances which give us a chance to pip City to the title. A sentence which really shouldn’t be on paper considering the number of opportunities Mikel Arteta’s players have had to push further away from City but we cannot change that now.

Whilst Arsenal are a tad uninspiring and lacking in attacking style, I just hope and pray for four wins and twelve points regardless of how they come. Of we are always going to have a whinge and moan about the team selection, tactics, substitutions, you name it and we’ll moan about it but for the next 4-5 weeks, just win.

I’d love for us to win the Champions League, which Arsenal fan wouldn’t but it’s the Premier League which sits top of my tree. A ten month season of hard graft against clubs who are all very strong. The Premier League isn’t as it once was when one could look at the fixture list and almost pencil in where three points would come from. Now every opponent can pretty much beat any other on their day but the difference in a league competition is finding the consistency to do that through injuries and suspensions etc over ten long months and without a winter break.

Regardless of what you or I think about our playing style, points and goals are needed and lots of the latter. Our front players need to get their big boy pants on and give a bit more for the fight. Seasoned international footballers shouldn’t need a manager to tell them the basics in the game. That is if they shoot they might score more. Leave the chess moves to the chess players.

As Pete the painter alluded to, just take the bloomin handbrake off…

Catch up in the comments.