Of course Arsene Wenger is doing the right thing by warning his Arsenal players not to take Everton for granted and reminding them that the Toffees have always got the potential to be dangerous. Having said that I do think that the Toffees are there for the taking and so the Gunners should be planning to return from Merseyside with all three points.
In the Arsenal pre-match press conference reported by Arsenal.com yesterday the boss was quick to dismiss Everton’s poor recent record against us, with just one win the last 19 meetings, as well as the fact that they are currently on a poor run after a great start under Ronald Koeman, in order to make sure the Gunners keep up the performance levels that have seen us climb to second spot.
The Frenchman said, “Well, he has changed them. I think they had a strong start, Everton, and overall they are one of the dangerous teams where you look at the schedule and you need a strong performance to get the points. I believe he has started very well.
“We always prepare well because it’s a very difficult ground. It’s a ground which has a soul and is full of history, and that certainly keeps us on alert.
“They were very close [to the top four] many times and I think they’ve been in the top four, in the Champions League, once or twice since I’ve been here. Why [haven’t they made the step]? Because they have had top-quality clubs and teams in front of them. For many years you’ve had teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, and it’s been difficult for them to get in there.
“I knew [Lukaku] when he played in Belgium. He came to Chelsea very early and, once a player is at a big London club, it’s difficult for us to get him.
I don’t really know [why Everton have only won 1 in 10]. I think the difficulty of the Premier League maybe.”
The thing is, though, that they have and Arsenal have to make sure we keep their poor run going. It is remarkable after they won five of their first six games of the season, but all we can do is to take advantage and with the bid derby against Liverpool coming up next they might even be distracted as well as being low on confidence, so is this the best possible time for Arsenal to go to Goodison?
Bob.
Please just win… put pressure on Chelsea. We are doing very well but im getting afraid of Chelsea..we must catch them soon, then build up a few points lead.. we really must win PL this year, then the 2 stars will definitely stay..
Well said!!
We were neck in neck with Leicester up until end February, remember? Then we lost 7 points from 12 and we could not catch them. Trust me when I say that the sprint must come in the final third. That is beginning March onward. Pick your battles, force the weak link, stop reading the media and see the games with the sound off. OK, put some Deep Purple when you watch the game. Say Ritchie Blackmore on Made in Japan.
There’s fire in the sky!
It’s a must win game for us tonight in order to keep the momentum going and also to boost the confidence of the lads @ Ethihad. I have a feeling Chelse ll drop @ least two points from their next two matches. Ours is to do our assignment by gunning for the maximum points, then wait to see what befalls our counterparts.
COYG.
It probably makes it tougher for us because they always put in the graft but now they will go an extra mile if we allow them to. Their confidence could be low but this is a game for them when people aren’t expecting three points, I wouldn’t say it’s a bonus match for them, but their fans might be happy once the performance doesn’t stink. Koeman, he knows how to set up to frustrate us, this is another reason why you wouldn’t be surprised if we found these to be a worthy foe.
I don’t like that Alexis is needed in every game, it makes me worry. Surely there has to be some prem teams who are most susceptible to an aerial threat, I know it’s the prem but we ourselves used to have most difficulty with teams who like to cross it.
Sanchez is not really needed in every game (see the last two) but are you man enough to tell him he’s benched? I know Wenger can’t.
Bob,point of correction,no team in England is there for the taking,we should focus on our game and exploit the opposition’s weaknesses,the most crucial thing is taking our chances when we get them. Am glad Bellerin is back,he can help to cope with the pace of lukaku.