There are no rules during the international break; it’s like summer vacation at school. I wake up at 10am, post when I want and smoke old cigarette butts in the park with the boyz. I’m sorry, but this is exactly how it has been for 13 days. I make no apologies for the inconvenience with your morning routine. My life loses all discipline and precision if I don’t have a star of a Premier League football match.
To make this international breakthrough, we use something better than nicotine: pure hopium. We are believers again, and belief in the project is perhaps at an all-time high.
Top. By. The. Competition.
It’s a heady feeling, no doubt, but there are other things about the league that give me hope.
Liverpool surrogates are running around trying to reframe the concept of what a transition is. It’s one of those strange and defeatist stories that you’d expect to be aimed at easing the pressure on the Premier League champions. I’ve never known a club to spend £400 million on such a bizarre group of hugely talented players, and then cry about how difficult it is to integrate them. They are in for a rough part of the season, with headwinds increasing the speed per hour. Lowering expectations is not a way for Champions to progress.
Man City gives me hope because the football they play is defeatist in nature. They have given up playing at the back. They’ve said fuck style, they’re shopping for the best Sunday clothes in Tesco. It is agricultural football more akin to some of their smaller rivals in the North West. It’s very strange to see, and even stranger to hear Pep complaining about the lack of precision in the machinery… but they are winning games. To sum up their new mode, it seems to be all about Haaland. The only concern is that some of their best seasons have started with “things not looking good.”
Spurs have been suffering from problems all season. The underlying data would suggest that luck is in the new manager’s favor, but that will loosen up as the Champions League matches draw closer. The match we have with them after the next international break should ensure that all our injured players are available. It will be a North London derby very similar to our derbies against Brentford. But I’m still excited about it.
We do this every season, but professional clubs plan seasons in blocks and set goals around them. We are entering block 3 of the season (I have changed the language of phases). It’s four games and it represents the chance to get twelve points. Even if we get ten, we will probably be at the top of the league.
Fulham (a) are not in great form. They have been troubled by injuries and have been pumped by three goals in their last two games against Villa and Bournemouth.
Crystal Palace(h) has been great this season. Glasner’s restart was astonishing to watch, but their fixture at Arsenal is Bournemouth (h), then a Thursday evening match against Larnaca in the Europa Conference League. Not a tough challenge, but remember: the secret sauce of smaller teams is that they have a week to prepare for the big ones. They are not used to three games a week and it is difficult to get minutes on the training pitch to prepare for monster teams like Arsenal. That will be very difficult for them.
Burnley (a) is not the team they were under Kompany. I think they have better players, more strength and pace, and a bit more experience. They have had a disgusting start to the season, playing against City, Villa, Liverpool, Spurs, United and Forest. Who did they piss off at Fixture Picker headquarters? But they have four points, they’ve put in some great performances and they’ll look to Block 4 to get some points against West Ham, Leeds and Wolves. We are a freestyle. I don’t see much danger here.
The last game of the block is the toughest in terms of form. Granit Xhaka’s big-spending Sunderland are back in the Premier League, beating teams like they are Brentford. They have great players, are brave on the ball and have achieved good results. My grandfather was from Sunderland, so I suppose I should have some affinity with them. I like having them in the league. I think with them that their documentary on Netflix is the reason that teams have a veto on all content, which makes football docs really boring. But I want to beat them. I want Xhaka to look old. We need to limit this phase to four wins for the better.
I know football is a brutal way to knock away your hopes, but it’s hard to look at the squad we have at the moment and not feel good about our prospects this season. If we take full points, build more muscle memory, integrate more members of our team and continue to build the momentum, what’s stopping us from having a really good November?
I have my taste preferences for all the players in the squad, especially the striker, but I don’t think I have noticed the benefits of having specialists in the squad.
We have more 9’s, and in early December we will have three to choose from. You have the bulk of Gyokeres, a man who can occupy defenders, giving our creative players the freedom to do their thing. We will have Kai Havertz, who has power and speed, but also elite clutch play – very important in big games. Then you have Gabi Jesus, who is playing for a future. Write him off in your mind, but remember that on paper he is a tough one and would thrive in this new-look Arsenal.
Our midfield looks the most dynamic in years. Zubimendi has added pace and control without brute force. Declan Rice is raw power, high pressing, pace in both directions, and he has incredible set pieces. Odegaard has shown me enough creative potential to make me think he can be back to his best when he returns. He won’t be exhausted either. Ethan still has to find his feet this season, but you can see that he is getting better every game.
Defensively tell me something we don’t have? SAY WHAT? It’s complete. The job is done. We have a defender for every task. There are no weak links, not even with our backup goalkeeper. The group has chemistry, work rate, courage and disgusting tickers. We haven’t really seen what Hincapie can do yet, but the reports I’m getting tell me he’s going to be a favorite monster again.
We are tactically equipped to fight in the field or on the streets.
We’re so scared mentally that it can be a motivational tool for the boys.
We have one of the best managers in the world. He just has to prove he’s lucky.
I have never been more confident that we can push a season to the limit and bring home a major trophy.
But maybe I’m just a hopeful situation?
We will undoubtedly experience bad times, but I think we have the tools to deal with them this season.
The journey to where we are now has been special. We just need something to crystallize it all.
That’s happening this season. It’s a good start. There will be some highs and lows to come, but the good times are here and we will have a BIG party, even if that party just involves sending party popper emojis to each other online. 🎉
Okay, I’m done. X
#FUNCTIONAL #DREAMING