This NLD will be different. It’s a first for Poch says Unai Emery.

Morning all.

It’s here then, North London Derby Day, the fixture both sets of fans probably look up first when the FA announce the schedule for a new season. The fixture neither team want to lose.

Arsenal have had the upper hand over the increasingly noisy neighbours for years but recently, they’re started getting a little too big for their boots. Lots of talk about them and how good they’ve been for the past few seasons under Poch but for all that talk, they’ve not added any silverware to their dusty old trophy cabinet.

Achieving a top four place, which was deemed not enough for Arsene Wenger and his team during the difficult time when we moved stadiums, has suddenly become a big achievement for a club which has had no financial noose around it’s neck. Oh how fickle eh. Right now though, the knot has been tied and the loop is beginning to tighten as the debt increases while their new stadium struggles to be completed. Oh my heart bleeds for them. Not!

For Arsenal though, things are improving. We’ve entered a brand new era after twenty two years of Arsene Wenger and my goodness didn’t the Frenchman enjoy a vast number of victories over our bitter rivals. So many to look back on with a smile, in fact back to George Graham’s days too, when more often than not, we had the upper hand. Even last season, when we were possibly at our lowest ebb under Arsene Wenger, we won this fixture with ease. Power shift my a**e!

The last two/three seasons have been a blip and this Arsenal team is not the soft side it once was as the neighbours should find out later today. Unai Emery has instilled mental toughness, he’s brought in some steely players like Sokratis and Torrieira and as much as we’re far from being the finished article, if there is such a thing, we’re digging in from start to finish. We’re producing some moments of magic along the way too and I’m sure as time goes by, those moments will become more frequent. As Kev touched on yesterday, individuals who once looked like they’d have to find a career elsewhere, are improving with Bellerin and Holding being the standouts for me. As a team/squad, there’s a smile back, a bounce in their step as training has become beneficial rather than a chore.

Each match, like this derby, is different. We want to create a new history – it’s a different moment for Tottenham and for us. Emery told Sky Sports.

They are going to play for the first time [against] players with us – the coach and all the staff. We want to start playing one derby like that, with a good experience. But above all, in the 90 minutes, we [want to] show everybody a good performance and energy.

I know from living in Spain and France, different matches like this, and I want to feel this match here with our supporters at the Emirates.

I know it’s going to have a very big atmosphere for us, and we want to win, first as it’s a derby, but also for the three points because in the table we need to continue in our process.

This is a Unai Emery’s first North London Derby, the first of two in quick succession. He’ll be nervous no doubt because he knows what this fixture means to the fans, what it should mean to the players. He’s going to experience The Emirates at its best, at its loudest and at its most hostile. Nothing compares to days like these.

Player v Player, the media suggest Totts have the better ones which I think is going overboard. Yes, they have a very good striker in Kane but it’s Aubameyang who wins the head to head for goals scored this season so far and without two penalties beefing up his tally. Do they have a better midfielder than Torrieira? No. Is Lloris better than Leno? I don’t think so. If Ozil wakes up in the right mood, he could be one of the most dangerous and clinical players on the pitch but that ‘if’ is a big one. Lacazette. What’s to be said really. He has an edge, he’s clinical and he’s become a big player for us. Iwobi, well my opinion on him changes from one match to the next but if he’s at his best then he’ll cause the Totts defence problems. If he starts mind you because on a day like today, there’s no room in the team for Ozil, Mkhitaryan and Iwobi, not in my opinion anyway. Emery appears to have faith in Xhaka and Torrieira as his midfield pairing and I’m looking forward to watching the battle those two have with Alli, Eriksen, Dier or which other overrated player who plays alongside him. Stop the ball to getting to Kane, or just stop Kane!

I hope we can get down their right, our left because if Aurier starts at right back, he’s a yellow or red card in the waiting. Bellerin should get the better of Davies down our right too. Neither Alderweireld or Vertonghen are spring chickens so get at them and force the mistakes. Same with Lloris who can be brilliant, but also a liability.

Lastly. Don’t give Mike Dean a decision to make, because we all know he’ll make it if it favours that lot down the road. We’re on a great run and his appointment might just be about Riley trying to end that run.

We need to be smart, we need to win.

Let’s keep North London  🔴🔴