No deal, please….

Morning all.

The Hill Dickinson Stadium, a fixture between Everton and Man City and a game which every Arsenal fan will have an eye on tonight.

Everton have been through a bit of a sticky patch but they are still in with a chance of finishing in one of the European spots albeit a slim one. A win tonight would certainly keep that slim chance alive.

I’m not holding out much hope that Everton can do us any favours tonight but football can serve up a surprise every now and again and I hope tonight is one of those nights.

I had to laugh whilst listening to Guardiola’s previous pre match press conference as he was asked whether or not he’d be watching Arsenal play Fulham – “what time they play” he said, as if he didn’t already know. Of course he knew, just like every fan of both City and Arsenal will know who plays when.

I’ve been thinking about Arsenal’s performance against Fulham and only one question pops into my mind. Where has that kind of performance been for the last couple of months?

Remember back in the Arsene Wenger days when having hit a blip in whatever month or two it came and a top four finish was by no means a guarantee, out of the blue came a bit more energy, a bit more purpose with results which secured Champions League football for another season. Obviously it’s much different now because there’s a title at stake but this group of players have five more performances like Saturday’s in them, then silverware is a possibility. Against Fulham, there didn’t seem to be nerves or any sign of the “bottling” we’ve all heard said about Arsenal recently, instead there was determination, control and certainly a bit more zip in our play. The Emirates faithful sensed it as they and the players fed off each other.

Here’s a question which I’ve no idea what the answer to it is, did Myles Lewis-Skelly make a difference? He was everywhere doing everything asked of him and doing it well. He won challenge after challenge and his passing success rate was up in the 90%. Easy to achieve when passing sideways and backwards, but he didn’t do that. He looked up and forwards, his pass following his vision. Honestly, I thought he was the best player on the pitch.

I doubt Mikel Arteta will start him tomorrow as Martin Zubimendi is likely to return but going forwards, I don’t think it’ll be too long before Lewis-Skelly makes that position his own. To be fair, Mikel Arteta has tried to give him a midfield spot before but injury in the warm up meant he had to start at left back instead. Even so, like many others, I think he could have been used more than he has.

All a matter of opinion I know. You can bet your bottom dollar that managers/scouts, technical directors, whoever, will have watched the game on Saturday and Lewis-Skelly’s name would have been jotted down on their notes if it wasn’t already. In my opinion, there is no way Arsenal should be thinking about cashing in on him as has been suggested in the media, certainly not until he’s had a chance to really get his Arsenal midfield career going.

With Christian Norgaard likely to depart in the summer, he won’t need replacing, not when we already have a younger, fitter and probably better player already in the squad and he’s only 19 years old.

Oh, and he’s Arsenal through and through…

Catch up in the comments.

PS – Rick, if you are reading, Happy Birthday! Enjoy… 🙏