No surprises : Bruises that won’t heal

Morning all.

So, it’s probably gonna go down to the final day. I honestly didn’t expect anything other than a Man City win last night, which means I’m not particularly surprised or disappointed this morning, but there’s always that little bit of you that holds out some hope that Crystal Palace might do us a favour. It wasn’t to be.

I didn’t watch it. I’m not interested in doing that, and ultimately nothing changes for us. We have to do what we have to do. Do that, and it’s ours. Easier said than done, perhaps, but that’s the opportunity we have, and have had since City dropped points to Everton last Monday. Now we have to wait until Monday to play again, which seems like an eternity but Sky wanted drama and I guess they’ve got it.

Looking at the table and the weekend fixtures, I guess we really want a Liverpool win when they travel to Villa Park tomorrow evening. At the moment, 5th placed Villa have a 4 point lead over Bournemouth (6th) with two games to go. Should they lose, Andoni Iraola’s side could close that to 2 points heading into the final round of games if they got a result against Man City on Tuesday. Villa, as we know are away at City and will be so utterly pathetic and dismal that day there is only one possible outcome, while Bournemouth travel to a Nottingham Forest side with nothing to play for having avoided the drop after last weekend’s results.

Villa have the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday, so perhaps it could be a distraction. Perhaps they’ll rest some players, but given the Friday to Wednesday gap, chances are they’ll be strong for their final home game of the season. But their form hasn’t been great recently, experiencing what feels like a classic late-season Unai Emery slump. From a position where it looked like they couldn’t possibly slip out of the Champions League reckoning, they’ve won just 2 of their last 10 games in the league. They even lost to Sp*rs.

We want Bournemouth to be as motivated as possible when they face City, and if we do our job on Monday night against Burnley, it’s possible we could win the title with our feet up on Tuesday evening. That would make the final day a lot less stressful, but given how this season has gone so far, that seems the least likely outcome. All we can do is wait and see what happens.

Elsewhere, news on Ben White is that he doesn’t require surgery after his MCL injury, which is a small consolation, but positive news nonetheless. I’m not in the know about Jurrien Timber at all, but from the way Mikel Arteta has spoken about him of late, it doesn’t seem as if he’s close to a return. Maybe circumstances like this change the way the player and the club try and progress his rehab from the injury that has kept him out since March 14th, two months now.

However, as much as there is to play for, I wonder does the World Cup become a consideration. Obviously I’d much prefer him to play for us, I obviously have no skin in the game when it comes to his international commitments, but how does any player in that position balance that risk? I’m sure he’s absolutely desperate to play for us and help us win things, but he also missed Euro 2024 after his ACL injury in August 2023, so I’m sure he’s concerned that if he pushes himself too early and aggravates something he’ll miss out on another international tournament. Whether we care or not, I think we can all recognise how important it is to the players themselves.

That leaves Cristhian Mosquera as the man to step into the breach. I think he’s had a fine debut season for Arsenal, the raw ingredients are clearly there, but it’s a big ask all the same. Then again, it’s something Mikel Arteta has talked about a lot – how a player needs to be ready when called upon. In an ideal world, and I say this with all due respect, Mosquera would be adding depth and cover from the bench for the games we have left to play. Now though, he’s got to play his part in helping us deliver three results that could make history at Arsenal. Let’s hope that’s exactly what he can do, and with plenty of experienced heads around him, on and off the pitch, he’ll have the right kind of guidance. I’m sure we’ll hear a bit more from the manager when he meets the press this morning ahead of our game on Monday.

Right, I’m gonna leave it there. I’m heading to London today, so you’ll get an Arsecast a bit later on this afternoon when I’ve got to the hotel and got the WiFi working etc etc.

For now, have a good one folks.