One thing that has been plaguing Arsenal and our challenge for the Premier League title all season, and for quite a few years now to be fair, is the tendency of the Gunners to not really turn up for a match. Whether it has been on an individual player by player level or whether the whole team as a unit has been lacklustre for some reason or another, and boy have we been punished plenty of times for it.
At least that is not something we Arsenal fans have to worry about later when we take on Tottenham in the latest version of the north London derby, in my opinion anyway. The Gunners are always up for this game to be fair to them and the importance of this one makes it even less likely that any player on either side will coast through it.
So I reckon we can expect full commitment and effort all over the White Hart lane pitch, but will that be enough? I think it is a massive factor because that has been the cause of most of our problems this season, but because it has been so bad for so long for Arsenal I am worried that the players may struggle to find their top form no matter how hard they try.
Our fluent football has not really been much in evidence of late, even in that great result against Man City in the FA cup semi-final. At the same time I think that the pressure may well affect the quality of the spuds as well, because they know that any dropped points now will pretty much end their own title race.
So will Arsenal being up for it be enough to get the right result and mash those spuds once again?
Bob.