Come on, Le Grovers, did you think I forgot? I’ve never missed a Christmas message… I just have to be more creative in how I get there, especially after being away for a week before the big day.
Today it took on all the cooking for 7. Sounds like a weak number. But I’m trying to recreate English magic here for people who had to wonder how the English do it because they do this Noche Buena thing where the whole Christmas thing happens the night before?
Did that whole last paragraph sound like I’m culturally ignorant?
Anyway… so I gave the Spanish a bit of English culture in the form of a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Uncultivated? Tell that to them. The mother-in-law called her Spanish friends to tell them about 1) a man who cooked 2) El Yorkshiro pudding.
I’m currently culture in Miami.
Progressive as it was in 2016.
The future, some say.
Anyway, enough of the personal nonsense.
Speaking of the purely capitalist intentions of Christmas, I didn’t want any of it. I wanted spiritual fulfillment at Arsenal. I wanted us to be top of the league, top of the Champions League, in a League Cup semi-final, and I wanted us to feel unsettled at a time of year when I normally feel like I’m having an Arsenal-related meltdown.
Santa has delivered what we have wanted for a long time… we are competing at the highest level and the season so far has all the hallmarks of a very good season. Maybe even a great one?
So I hope you’re feeling good on that front. I also hope that if you’re not feeling good about anything right now, you have good people around you. 2026 will be a good year for all of us… I feel it in my bones.
So now know that I’m bringing a cup of warm white wine to The Arsenal, for all of you reading this, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a very nice 2026.
Thank you for staying true to the site this year. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Thanks for coming to the show. Thanks for leaving a comment, email or DM.
Finally, if you’re a member, check out the AOP LIVE CHRISTMAS SHOW 2025 that I dropped last night (there’s a little Christmas deal if you want to join in).
Catch you tomorrow!
Peter x
Podcast
THE AOP CHRISTMAS PARTY 2025 | MEMBERS SPECIAL
Listen, we know you couldn’t all be there, and we understand that it would be a BIG ask to fly in from Australia, Nigeria, Sweden or India… so we had it recorded so you can put this on instead of watching something with the family.
#MERRY #CHRISTMAS