HELLO my good football people, I trust all’s well with you all! Another (mostly) entertaining weekend of football!
The Manchester derby was like watching Darlington against Scunthorpe on a cold Tuesday night.
I guess the big question is: How are you Gooners feeling? Did Mikel Arteta make the right decision on Saturday, basically indicating that he has given up on the Premier League title by starting a “weakened” team?
Was this justified given the small probability of catching Liverpool, while the Champions League remains very much open?
Before I go any further, I’d be 100 percent behind the gaffer if I was Arsenal... definitely the right decision for me. But then Liverpool, in another bang average performance, go and lose at Craven Cottage.
Meanwhile, the stale draw at Goodison Park means the gap is 11 points. In retrospect, having played Arsenal’s best starting 11 and grabbing all three at Everton (which was likely) the gap between the Reds and Gunners would have been down to nine points.
Still huge with just seven games (21 points) to go, but let’s not forget Arsenal go to Anfield on 11 May, which, with a win could have meant a six-point gap!
A number that is very chaseable.
Anyway, it’s all ifs and buts and maybes, but the reality is Arteta is banking on his side showing up against Real Madrid in good condition and with the very best chance of competing.
The first leg is on Tuesday! The Spaniards travel to the Emirates in a must-watch Champions League quarter-final, while Bayern Munich host Inter Milan in Germany.
On Wednesday, Aston Villa have a massive test as they face Paris Saint-Germain in France (coach Unai Emery also making sweeping changes ahead of their victory against Nottingham Forest at the weekend).
Barcelona against Borussia Dortmund makes up the last of the four quarter-finals. I can’t wait, massive football nights to look forward to!
Back to Arsenal and the severe ligament injury to Gabriel is huge! For me, alongside William Saliba, probably the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League (if not the world), and with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr up front for Real, to say the injury is bad timing is the understatement of the season.
Ben White could be the replacement but my other concern (not that I’m supporting Arsenal) is what to do with Myles Lewis-Skelly?
I simply love him. He is 18 years old, straight into the first team from the academy and doing so brilliantly. The issue however is whether his lack of experience (and decision-making) is too much of a gamble against arguably the best in the world?
Back to the EPL and guys, everyone is saying it so don’t get mad… this has to be one of the worst editions in years. Liverpool are scraping results most weeks and no one is doing anything to stop them on their limp jog to the finish line.
At the bottom end, Southampton are gone with the worst record in EPL history, while barring earth being hit with a meteor, Leicester and Ipswich will be playing in the Championship next season.
The big question is who will make those all important Champions League places. Looks likely there’ll be five slots with everyone down to Fulham in eighth in with a chance.
I’m taking a shot at Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest, Manchester City and Newcastle (or Chelsea) to complete the top five.
Before I sign off, have to say I was a bit of a jealous dad last week as my son, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, was invited to the Emirates and Stamford Bridge. He had a great time with the players, swapped Stormers and Springbok jerseys and got to see Chelsea take all three points against Spurs!
Lovely to get a “then” and “now” pic in the stand, where I christened him in 2009 against City!
The only difficult thing was seeing him in an Arsenal jacket at the Emirates – he was just doing the right thing I guess.
Chat next week… bye, bye.