For the first time since 2017 Arsenal have arrived at the last day of the season with a realistic mathematical chance of finishing in the top 4.
The reason why the mood is low in the red half of North London is this time last week our destiny was in our own hands.
Now we have to hope Spurs lose at Norwich, the side bottom of the table with 5 League wins in 37 attempts.
It brings back memories of the 2005/06 campaign which was the last time the Gunners and Tottenham battled each other on the final day for Champions League qualification with our rivals in control of their own fate.
Things were a bit easier back on Highbury’s last ever match day.
We could afford Spurs to draw, and they had a tough fixture in West Ham away.
While the date is remembered for Gooners saying farewell to their home, it’s also gone down in legend as ‘Lasagne gate’.
Some stories are stuff of legend, but others are believed to this day, with some players still insistent that the Chef who cooked for them supported the Gunners.
While it’s fun for our fan base to think of a man in a kitchen with our crest on his hat and apron. Banter aside, food poisoning is something horrible to have.
Up to 10 players are said to have spent the night before the trip to East London with serious sickness and or diarrhea.
It was such not a laughing matter that the police were called to their hotel the following morning.
To this day, Jermaine Jenas maintains it was too much of a coincidence that the squad would fall ill on that weekend of all weekends.
As is tradition, the Premier League like their last round of fixtures to all kick off at the same time meaning this was the one point of the year where it was hard to convince organisers to postpone the match.
Requests for a delay of 24 hours were refused.
When even pleas for an evening time slot (to give more recovery time) were denied, Martin Jol was forced to pick between individuals still visiting the toilet on the coach and those who had been sick so often, they were now suffering fatigue.
If Spurs were my team, I would have wanted Daniel Levy to have challenged the governing bodies and refused to play.
Surely you have more chance proving to the courts why you couldn’t fulfil the fixture rather than gamble by playing with such limited resources?
The irony of course is we got the NLD rearranged this year when we had far less issues.
Michael Dawson, Defoe and Michael Carrick have all gone into detail about how poorly they were that day. They all feel their manager was better off playing the youth team such was how limited they were in terms of the energy they could offer.
Considering everything, their performance at Upton Park was credible, managing to get on level terms after conceding first.
At 2-1 though, it was noticeable they didn’t have the levels to find that next gear.
Across town, Arsenal were beating Wigan 4-2 and Spurs had blown their best ever chance at that point to finish above an Arsene Wenger side for the first time and debut in UEFA’s premiere competition.
Imagine being in a dressing room, hearing the opposition celebrate, dealing with disappointment while your peers have fluids coming out of both ends.
Reports say Conte is ordering two of the club’s own in-house chefs to travel with the team to Carrol Road.
That is sensational journalism.
Spurs have had this policy for years when travelling.
Let’s just say though I don’t think Kane is ordering lasagne this weekend.
Be Kind In the comments
Dan Smith
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Video – Mikel Arteta talks ahead of our last game of the season
Hilarious! I didn’t know about that story
I think athletes should never eat unhealthy food like lasagne
gai, thanks for proving what I already suspected. That you are indeed, VERY young!
Not your fault of course, any more than it is my fault that I am an old git!
Bit creepy there Jon
I just watch Arsenal games and listen to their transfer news Jon, so I don’t know much about the other details
GAI and that does not even include a direct and close opponent for top four, as Spuds were back in that lasagne season?
Just think its odd for any true Gooner not to have even known about it, assuming you were, lets say, at least ten years old.
You were probably younger than thatthough, I suspect, which COULD explain why you did not know about it.
I do think it’s interesting because that was a highly fortunate event that would have been an early blot on wenger’s top4 record.
That was also the season we reached the CL final, though, and shortly after wenger did produce a really strong side in 07/08 (personally my favourite team to watch, even more than the great sides that came before).
I am with you on that one. I really really enjoyed watching that team. Nothing has ever came close to that enjoyment.
I can still picture toilets rolls being thrown from the stands , especially when spurs players were taking corners!!😂I read that a couple of their players and staff have sick this week,could we have a repeat of “lasagna gate”?
Belly laughs aplenty that day, Siamois!! Those were the days….
Big time Sue! how I miss them days.
Think clutching at straws the spuds won’t mess this up Norwich are so poor defensively there is no chance of them keeping a clean sheet will be nothing other than a comfortable spuds win I even have huge doubts we will beat Everton so either way will not finish in top 4 and don’t deserve to either!
Nice memories DAN.
NOT SURE ABOUT YOUR TAKE ON “A REALISTIC MATHEMATICAL CHANCE” , though. I’d call it an UNrealistic mathematical chance.
But then I, AT LEAST, am a REALIST.
Not sure Jon
I’m the one who said we would mentally not be strong enough for top 4
You disagreed
That makes me the realist lol
Skipped the question and deflected it by once again going on the attack, I note with no surprise at all, DAN.
Not in your nature to actually answer direct questions is it DAN?! PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BE A POLITICIAN, AS YOU WOULD BE WELL QUALIFIED.
you didn’t ask a question , you made a statement
plus me pointing out I got a prediction correct isn’t an attack .
It’s just something you don’t like lol