Morning all.

There was hope, hope that Totts could at least draw against Man City last night but it was never likely to happen. Not because Totts wouldn’t try to win, regardless of what Arsenal fans might think, but because City are seasoned professionals and they know how to win the league. Arsenal went to Totts just a week or two ago and went 3-0 up before mistakes gifted Totts two goals to make the game look a close affair. It wasn’t though, not really. Arsenal have only themselves to ‘blame’ for not winning the league this season. Results against Villa twice, Fulham and West Ham, especially the home matches, have been our downfall.

Finishing second is no crime, not when Guardiola and his players have been at it longer than Mikel Arteta and his but, it’s just not what we hoped for. What is it ‘they’ say, it’s the hope that kills you.

I’m sure there a many an Arsenal fan, football fans in general, who hang on to the hope that West Ham might cause City a shock on the final day of the season but it’s just not going to happen is it?

This season has been better than last in many ways, especially how we’ve performed against the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd – on paper at least but three of those four clubs have had a pretty drab season in general. Liverpool have been very up and down, Utd have been a mess and Chelsea are on manager number 364 hoping that this one gets it right. So maybe that’s why I feel this has been a missed opportunity kind of season, a bit like 2016 when we defeated Leicester City twice yet still ended up being runners up to them.

The official website is filled with nostalgia about the Invincible team/squad which is great in one sense but it also reiterates how far down we as a club fell after that wonderful season. Fifteen years of mediocrity followed, fifteen years of disappointment, other than the odd FA Cup trophy. The final straw for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal career was not finishing inside the top four. There was a Europa Cup Final in there too but boy, that was awful. Embarrassing even. Those were the Premier League years which hurt us badly because there was no one to steer the Arsenal ship in the right direction. A direction which would bring us back to be a competitive club.

Then along came Edu, Mikel Arteta and a board right behind their plan.

No one, not even the most ardent of Arsenal haters, and there are plenty of them around I’m sure, can say we’re not a competitive club now. We’re not just making up the numbers in football anymore, we’re challenging the juggernaut which is and has been for a while, Manchester City. During the Wenger early years it was Man Utd, his latter years, Chelsea and Man City but now, it’s really just City. I don’t like what those three clubs have done as far as stretching the financial boundaries but I think Arsenal are now going toe to toe with them in the transfer market.

We’re an exciting club to join again and as Declan Rice proved, not every player will choose City over Arsenal. Other great players will want to join us too and that’s what Arsenal need this to do this summer. Sign players whose only aim is to be in the starting eleven. Bench warmers we do not need. Not if we’re to go better than taking the title race down to the last weekend without being in the driving seat.

I’d love to see us fair better in the domestic cups too but like the Champions League knockout stages, they’re a lottery really. But with a deeper and stronger squad, perhaps we’ll be able to deal with a home fixture against a club like Bayern better than we did this season. Perhaps Mikel Arteta will rotate his players more than he has done this season because he trusts all of them rather than around 80% of them. Perhaps Declan Rice will have a proper midfield player alongside him in every game he plays because that’s when Arsenal have been at their best in my opinion.

I know the financial rules and regulations has seen clubs docked points this season but I don’t think that’ll stop clubs spending money this summer. At least it hasn’t yet and how many years has FFP been in existence?

Twice we’ve come close to pipping City to the post, this season being the closest yet so third time lucky perhaps.

Catch up in the comments..

 

 

 

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