A win on Saturday will result in Arsenal only being four
points behind Chelsea for a few hours at least –
considering the way Arsenal started and Chelsea
started (new invincibles, walking the title, quadruple etc) that sounds quite
amazing.
I’m not saying for one minute that the title is within reach
but it’s an incredible where we are considering how we started – now to work
out how to start well and end well!
Watching Arsenal in March was a joy – I hear people say that
watching Arsenal is not fun anymore and I can see where they are coming from
but the person I heard someone on a podcast moan about watching Arsenal’
recently had clearly not seen our performances in March.
Arsenal started the
month with a 2-0 victory over Everton at home which was essential after the Monaco showing
the game previous. We then went to QPR and had a poor first half but got much
better in the second to grab another vital three points. We then went to Old
Trafford in the cup and broke our winless run which feels like it has been
going on for years and years and we played extremely well. We went there with
this new attitude of not always having to have the ball but use it better when
we have it and win the game – it worked a treat. We then kept another clean
sheet at home by defeating West Ham 3-0 and despite two of the goals coming
quite late, we always looked in control and no real danger of losing the game.
We then went to Monaco
in our annual ‘mission impossible’ and came close to winning the tie but
another sense of déjà vu occurred but it was another win regardless to maintain
our run which was the minimum we could do. We ended the month going to Newcastle and once again
kept the run going – we had a tough second half but came through it which in a
funny way, was impressive to watch too.
I appreciate there are many opinions in football and
opinions are what make the game so great but how a supporter of a club that
have had the month we have had not enjoy it is beyond me!
The Monaco
defeat at home was painful – it really was a major slip up. Arsenal had a
fantastic opportunity to progress and perhaps be a surprise package in the
competition. We lacked concentration and dare I say it a bit of motivation
because we thought it would be an easy tie – this should be a good warning for
the FA Cup semi final (along with going to the wire in last season’s semi
final).
An FA Cup and second place finish would be progression but a
title challenge is a MUST for next season but for now, let’s enjoy the final
straight and hopefully ending with another great weekend at the end of May.
