Ok, my friends, plenty of you messaged about getting a membership for the website. I’m pretty sure I subscribed every single person who emailed or DM'd me. If your membership hasn’t been activated yet, drop me an email, and we’ll get it sorted. Thanks for the messages as well. It was great reading through them. Everyone had a great story. Sometimes I forget there’s so many awesome people who read this website that live all over the world - all with wildly different experiences of life, but with one common love… The Arsenal. Beautiful.
One message did touch me. Englandsbest, one of my favorite / most consistent commenters, sadly passed away. His son messaged me to say his dad was blogging on Le Grove into his 90s after he introduced him to the site seven years ago. Born in Hackney in 1932, he followed Arsenal his whole life and was a season ticket holder from the 70s, seeing Charlie George score that iconic goal at Wembley. That’s special, man. Once you catch Arsenal fever, it never leaves. Indoctrinating your kids into the Arsenal family? It is the way. I’ll be raising a Peroni to the good man this evening! Thank you to his son, who also posts on here, for sharing the story.
Have you wiped away those tears after reading that? Are people looking at you weirdly on the train? Save yourself, tell them you’re just thinking about Gabriel Jesus scoring actual goals.
Is it real?
Are we about to see BANG BANG Gabi Jesus have a breakout season at 28 years?
Mikel Arteta is feeling something…
"I said from day one, the first feeling when I saw him after talking to him at the end of the season is that he was something different," Arteta said.
"I could sense it. His energy was different, the way he looks is different, the way he’s moving is different. He really wants it.
"Now it’s about finding that consistency and doing it in any context, against any opponent, against any formation, any day, every three days, for 90 minutes, for 30 minutes, for 70 minutes.
"If you produce in those circumstances? It looks good."
DON’T DO THIS TO US, MIKEL - I am believing. The vibes, the narrative, the militant belief… how can I deny its allure?
My wife has been cheating with every man at the tennis club, but she promised me, this time, it’ll be different… so I just switched her membership to a new club. And things are gonna be different this time!
Listen, I’m a different writer in 2024. I’m all about the hopium pipe and the dealer has just dropped a package off at the door and I’m about to get busy on the 24/25 strain.
Jesus does look different. He looks slimmer, he’s moving like he moved in the first four months of his tenure here, and his energy reads very much like: ‘I’ve seen the grass in the meadow my career is heading, and it does not look tasty.’
Let’s get it straight - it’s not his fault he breaks down regularly. Do not underestimate terrible injuries and the psychological effects they have on athletes. Jurrien Timber is going through it right now. No one bounces back clean from nine months out of the game. Trusting your body when you move like Elvis was always going to be a process - but don’t let the hopium smoke cloud the deeper truth here: His finishing has always been sh*t.
Jesus is Mr 90%. As in, 90% of his game is world-class, the 10% that is below average is the part that makes strikers valuable at the highest level. He lacks composure when it counts. Composure is all in the mind. It can be trained. You can be course-corrected into greatness. It normally happens for forwards between 23-26. We have to hope it can happen for Jesus at 27 years old. That’s normally the age when things are baked. So the work is cut out for him. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s believe in him. No… let’s pray for him. NO… donate money to me, and I will set up the first church of the footballing gods and I will become the first-ever footballpodcastvangelist. The footballing gods demand I have a private jet and a suite at Arsenal, does that work for you?
Back to it. Jesus scored a screamer from 25 yards out. He made the goal from a rangy run against a top-tier side. The keeper should have done better. But he did enough for me to sit up and pay attention. The man didn’t even look happy when he scored. Is being angry at success the sign of a shift in attitude? Maybe. Toxic winnertivity - inject it into my hopium-addled veins.
He wasn’t the only ex-City player impressing. Our new number 17 scored a brilliant goal early on with a beautifully swept strike from the edge of the box. Zinchenko has come under more scrutiny than any Arsenal player over the last year. Part of that is there have been some pretty bad errors, part of that is people don’t weigh the lapses against his advantages, and sadly, I think some people are pretty childish about mixing their political leanings with what they see on the pitch. Arteta seems to be doubling down on his beliefs that Zinchenko is a four-time Premier League winner and he will continue to help us next season. My biggest concern with him is simple: you can’t rely on his fitness.
MLS and Nwaneri received high praise from Mikel Arteta after the game.
"If they continue like they are right now, there will not be any difference if they come from the academy or if we'd signed them from Argentina."
That sort of carry-on has me dreaming. The two of them are certainly the chosen ones out of the current batch. The question is whether they are good enough to have squad places this season: based on yesterday, against Leverkusen, you’d have to imagine that’s a yes. But we’ll see. Rolling kids out in friendlies has been a tradition at Arsenal that rarely ends in reward. But… the hype around these two has been years in the making. So let’s hope they can get some love in-season.
Kai Havertz made an impact again - he had three goal involvements off 26 touches and scored one. What do I love about him this season? He’s the second half of the season Kai from day one. No Chelsea hangover, no sympathy penalties, just a straight baller from minute one against Wolves. Imagine how valuable that’ll be?
Take that view into the team overall. Nine shots, six on target, four goals. That is how we operated in the second half of last season. All the work we did in the first half of last season is now going to filter into this season. We will be deadly from the start of the season because no major surgery has been had over the summer. All the work to advance our thinking on the pitch has been done. Everyone is powered up. The team knows they belong at the top. We’re not questioning the validity of what we’re seeing. No one is crying about one of our summer signings being the death of our title hopes. Arsenal will hopefully be ready to bang from day one and do what is needed to be done to finally win the Premier League.
I'm believing this season we can go all the way. We have the players, the momentum, the depth, and most importantly… the stability our rivals do not have. It’ll be tough, there will be ups and downs, but come what May. We’re going to be lifting the Premier League title.
I can feel it in my bones.
Ok, short post today. There’s an OTW from Johnny in the hopper and there will be a Thursday Therapy dropping later today on early bird if you’re a member. Have a great day, you fine people. Big love xxx
