Well, the final has been announced. Arsenal vs Manchester City, March 22, Wembley.
The two best teams in the Premier League. The two best coaches in the world. The king versus the prince. No, that sounds strange. Mentor vs mentee. Ugh, sounds like a coin commercial. Professor versus graduate? Phew, sounds like a bad incognito tab.
It’s Pep versus Arteta. New era versus old.
The Manchester City manager is very clearly leaving the club and he is on a notice period that he thought would be more in his favor than it is now. He wants to talk, talk, and talk.
He has opinions on global wars on three continents and laments the fact that City have spent so little of late. He even plans to write a strongly worded letter to the energy drink company about his anger over signing a Cup-winning player.
You know what I think about all this? It’s not what you want to hear if you’re a player in that locker room. An unhappy complainer in the dressing room is something Pep Guardiola normally deals with aggressively. Just look at Cancelo and his abrupt departure a few seasons ago.
The buzz around City has been bad lately. The charges are still up in the air, their transfers haven’t gone as planned, Maresca is effectively absent from Chelsea as he talked about signing Pep, and the three-man shortlist is public (Alonso, Cesc, Maresca). In a low-margin competition, you don’t want the areas where your margins are shrinking to be of your own making. Tighter or wider? I think it’s tight.
I enjoy it all. That doesn’t mean we win the competition. But the contrast with Arteta, who has rallied the fans and players, is quite striking.
Arsenal need to gather their energy for the game against Sunderland this weekend. We are playing against a rested team who stole a draw from us in the north. Victory in the League Cup semi-final will mean nothing if the team is ready for this home game. But if we win, the pressure will increase again on Manchester City as we are nine points ahead, while a miserable Pep has to take his team to Anfield on Sunday.
For those not paying attention to Liverpool, they have scored 16 goals in their last 4 games. They are SPICIER than the bottom of a Man City owner’s collective collars as they watch Pep talk geopolitics for the fourth time in a week. A tired Man City, heading to Anfield to take on an Arne Slot side on eight days’ rest… that keeps me very interested, I can tell you.
It’s been a few days since our win over Chelsea and the two things I keep thinking about are Rosenior trying to grab the ball out of the air and firing it through his shin into the crowd. It felt like a moment of credibility. How do you recover from that? I’m not sure. I worked for six years at a TV channel that had a very famous American celebrity on it. I met him all the time. People at my new job knew this. When I met him recently, I said hi, and he said, “Hey, nice to meet you, so what are you doing?” Have I recovered from the fact that all my colleagues are laughing at me? No. I still want to die thinking about it. Liam, I feel you here. This text may be removed later.
Okay, now let’s talk about the media.
Arsenal fans are the best in the world. Not a single exception. We are incredibly online. The Emirates have the best atmosphere in football right now. Brands want to load Arsenal commercials because the base is MASSIVE. HR SaaS products have strong youth-oriented brands.
So don’t forget that.
The byproduct of this is that we also keep the newsrooms dry. We generate traffic, subscriptions and attention.
Nicky Butt’s podcast can’t thrive talking about United. He needs Arsenal to get a sponsored athlete’s foot ointment.
Arsenal gets an unfair amount of attention because if you don’t talk about Arsenal, no one cares.
Do you think the media would just fly past Arteta and complain that a player with an equal cup win doesn’t have the right to play in a final? Do you think the Class of 92 would have nothing to say about Arteta complaining about the location of a cup final? They would eat out for DAYS.
Why don’t they delve into these more interesting topics? Because no one cares.
But this does bring me to something more worrying.
When fans listen to the constant negativity surrounding their club. Every micro-moment analyzed with the worst twist. It puts them on edge.
Don’t you believe me? Arsenal is having its best season in twenty years and we read:
How does that manifest itself? Nerves in the stadium. A single defeat in a very unlucky match against a top 4 team in United.
No club receives this treatment so consistently from ALL media organisations, even the BBC.
Would City let it fly? No.
Would Bos? No.
Would Spurs? No. Apparently they banned Viaplay because of a negative interview with Thomas Frank.
Arsenal is currently the most popular club in the world. Why do we let the world beat us up and affect the team? The fans? The mood?
Shouldn’t we throw some weight around? Aren’t we the big dog right now? Alan Sugar made Jamie Redknapp apologize for a comment. Forest’s owner punched Gary Neville and banned him from the stadium. Why do we allow all this relentless negativity to rain down on us… especially when it is agenda driven, and worse, for personal enrichment.
We are the only club to have this happen at this level. High access organizations are abusing their numbers by saying we are the worst Premier League team of all time.
Totally unfair stories.
But just my two cents. My broader message is one that focuses on what YOU can control. Stop clicking on it as if you need to refute the accusations. Don’t give it the attention it doesn’t deserve. If a writer says he’s a fan, but Arsenal fans are the worst in the world, then man isn’t really a fan, is he? A fan wouldn’t do that to his own.
So ignore, know that the attention is because your anger has a monetary value. Don’t sell yourself cheap.
Okay, now I have to ask you to subscribe here. Is it like that whole rant was a play to get you to join here? A bit dirty. Am I… worse than Nicky Butt?
Okay, get the therapy session for free so I can look like a man of the people, which I kind of am.
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