Saliba wants trophies!

Morning all.

Hope your Christmas Day was as enjoyable as you hoped it would be. The weather couldn’t have been better for me as the sun shone and the sea breeze was refreshing. People who were out on the beach for the walk, were all in good spirits and I don’t think I’ve ever said Happy Christmas to as many people in one morning as I did yesterday.

No football for Arsenal today, nor for most Premier League clubs which is quite unusual but bearing in mind the hectic schedule ahead for our players, I doubt anyone minds having the day off.

Saturday January 3: Bournemouth (A) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm.
Thursday January 8: Liverpool (H) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm.
Sunday January 11: Portsmouth (A) – FA Cup third round, kick-off 2pm.
Wednesday January 14: Chelsea (A) – Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, kick-off 8pm.
Saturday January 17: Nottingham Forest (A) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm
Tuesday January 20: Inter Milan (A) – Champions League, kick-off 8pm
Sunday January 25: Man Utd (H) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm.
Wednesday January 28: Kairat (H) – Champions League, kick-off 8pm.
Saturday January 31: Leeds (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm

Seeing our fixtures in black and white makes January look even worse. All bar two are three days apart. I’ve no idea how Mikel Arteta will approach the FA Cup fixture as far as his starting eleven goes but the two Champions League fixtures offer an option to rotate, especially the final one.

Sky Sports – William Saliba was asked if he’s thought about winning multiple trophies this season:

Yes, of course, because we know that in every competition we play, we know we can win it. We have been close in the Premier League in the past three seasons, and last season we were in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, so we know that we can win every competition. But we have to show that on the pitch and we have to start winning trophies now.

We are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup so there are three games left for us, and we have to do the job in January against Chelsea. It will be a big game, a big derby, so we have to keep going. We know that we are close and we have to learn the lessons from last season.

At the end of your career we count our trophies, and the Carabao Cup is one of them – and now we are in the semi-final and of course we want to win this competition, like every competition that we play.

The mood is good but we know that we are still in December and things can happen quickly in football. We have to stay focused and keep believing in ourselves and keep working because what matters is at the end when we are holding the trophies and not before.

If we have a lot of games, it means we are doing a good job so we have to keep going and hopefully the players that are injured will be back in January to help us.

Gabriel, Havertz, Mosquera and Ben White’s return will be a boost. Not only are they missed, but they’re needed. This is the stage of the season when Man City have in the past been exceptionally strong. It’s also been a stage of the season when we have wobbled.

I think we have been through as usual wobble but the difference so far has been that other than against Villa, we’ve somehow got positive results. Whether that little wobble ends tomorrow against Brighton remains to be seen but I sure as hope it does.

We end this year with two home fixtures. Brighton tomorrow and then Villa. As much as I dislike the term, they really are must win games. But then aren’t they all?

Did you know that in 126 seasons of English top flight football which have been played since 1888, the side at the top of the table on December 25 has only gone on to win the title on 56 occasions. That’s just 44 per cent of the time.

In the Premier League alone, just 17 of the 33 (51.5 per cent) clubs which were top of the league at Christmas, have gone on to win the league. 

Catch up in the comments.