We’re not going to win the Premier League this season.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow but most rational, right-minded Arsenal fans have made their peace with it now. Our focus must turn to more realistic goals.
The first priority with the title gone is to secure our spot in next season’s Champions League and what better opportunity to do that than by taking on one of the sides who are hot on our heels?
It’s been an under-the-radar season for Chelsea. At times useless, at times scintillating, they have largely avoided the white-hot glare of scrutiny that seems to greet other sides after every result. I don’t just mean Arsenal here, there are other teams with far less illustrious trophy cabinets who get twice the criticism Chelsea seem to.
But that’s all feed for the birds. The issue of real importance here is making sure we don’t leave the door open for those in the chasing pack to hunt as down. While we remain comfortably in second place for the moment, there is something uniquely draining about a lack of motivation that makes good sides do silly, slack things.
We’re in a good position but we don’t want or need to take it for granted. Keeping Chelsea at arms’ length will be crucial.
Stuffed with talent as the Chelsea squad is, they remain a group of individuals rather than a team and that is where our big advantage will be. We certainly don’t have the numbers the Chelsea squad does but we do have the ethos, the togetherness and the singular vision brought in by the manager.
For me, that will be where this game will be won or lost. I don’t think Chelsea have the tools to outplay us for 90 minutes. They can hurt us in isolation but they can’t dominate us. Key to victory, as we’ve been saying for some weeks now, will be turning our possession and our chances into goals.
Thankfully, the manager was able to rest and rotate in midweek meaning a fair number of our attacking options will be a good deal fresher than they might otherwise have been.
That’s not to say our options are particularly sparkling but precious rest for Ethan Nwaneri and time off for Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard means we’ll be in marginally better shape than we might otherwise have been. That’s good news.
Now we just have to make them click.
Victory and we take a big step towards securing our spot at the top table again next year, with all the associated benefits that brings. Lose and we start to put ourselves under pressure and there’s no telling how things might play out thereafter.
If that’s not motivation for the squad, I don’t know what is.
Blog on You Gunners 