After a couple of weeks of listening to our fickle fans calling for Arteta’s head because Arsenal slipped up in the race for the Top Four, we now find, that after taking all three points against Chelsea, that we are firmly back in the race.
I know it is becoming a bit of a cliche, but the game against Chelsea certainly felt like a Cup Final, and the prize could possibly be worth much more money if we end up getting a coveted place in the Champions League next season.
So now we have yet another certified Cup Final as we host Man United, who are just three points below us in the table, and the winner gains another advantage against their rivals. As Martin Odegaard told StadiumAstro after beating Chelsea: “I think that is football, sometimes you have games where you are not at your best and then the next game you can win.
“We lost to Southampton and then we beat Chelsea in the next one. That’s football.
“We know it will be a tough game [against Manchester United], we know the quality that they have.
“They have a lot of good players, a lot of individual quality, so it will be a tough game for us.
“All the games coming up are big games for us. The most important thing for us is to beat United on Saturday and then we’ll take the next one after that.
“We have to take it game by game and, as I’ve said many times, we just have to play every game as the last one, as a cup final, and we will see where it takes us.”
“After losing three games, it was maybe even more important [to win at Chelsea],” he said. “I think we showed we had the level and the quality to compete against top teams, against Champions League teams. They won the Champions League last year.”
I certainly don’t think any Arsenal fans expected such an exciting end to this season, especially after losing our first three games. And if we do beat our old Nemesis Man United on Saturday, we really can start dreaming of the Champions League again!
Sam P
VIDEO – A great win for the Gunners at Stamford Bridge and Mikel Arteta was in an upbeat mood after the game…