April 22nd
20.45 – A slow enough day in terms of Arsenal news, but Le Boss says the target is to win all the remaining games. Obviously that would mean we’d be champions, but it could come sooner than that.
If we beat West Ham on Wednesday, and Liverpool and United fail to win their respective games this weekend, a win at Bolton would win the league for Arsenal. It would be nice, but I honestly can’t see the others dropping any points against Sp*rs or Ipswich. Of course, we’re taking nothing for granted for the game on Weds, and we’re gonna need to play better than we did against Ipswich. Now is when the mettle of this Arsenal side is going to be well and truly tested.
The difference this season and others though is that we have more players who can win games for us. We were criticised for being too reliant on Thierry Henry, but Bergkamp’s form, Freddie’s continued goal poaching, and Lauren’s scuttery penalties are all match winners. We’re without Robert Pires who adds another dimension to the side, and Vieira has popped up with vital goals over the last few weeks. So this Arsenal team is exactly that. A real team. Not a collection of wonderfully talented individuals, who don’t always gel.
In terms of personell, the only real difference between this season and last is Sol Campbell in the centre of defence. None of the other summer signings have really made any impact, so credit for this improvement has to go to AW’s man management skills. He’s made the perennial runners up into a side that really believes they can win the league. Like the fans, the players are fed up coming second.
Fingers crossed and lucky socks in the washing machine already.
