It is definitely a truism that Arsenal seem to roll over when faced by the big teams, and you can’t get much bigger than Man City at the moment. They embarrassed us badly more than once last season and they themselves will be feeling very confident as they begin the defence of their title.
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But Arsenal have a new manager and and some new players, and hopefully some surprising new tactics to try out on Pep Guardiola’s team, and as discussed in the previous article they will also hopefully have a new fighting spirit as well. The Gunners have been unbeaten in pre-season and have scored a hatfull of goals, and Emery himself believes that there is some optimism around the squad. “My first message [to the players] is clear,” he said. “Think about each match. Enjoy the challenges of each match.
“I am looking every day and the players are smiling in training with a big collective spirit. They are working and finishing tired but with a smile also on their face.
“For me, that is the best message I can give the supporters. It’s for that [reason that] my message for Sunday is [one of] optimism.”
It is great to know they are enjoyng themselves, but I wonder if it’s enough to get over our inferiority complex against City. The fans are definitely much more confident for the start of the new campaign and perhaps Emery has given the same boost to the players. I certainly damn hope so!!!!
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