ARSENAL SQUAD WELCOMES RETURNS

Champions League eve is here and I have taken it upon myself to channel my inner slightly-threatening-teenager-on-a-bus vibe by looping the Champions League theme tune on my iPhone and putting it on speaker. The office meeting room is my tunnel. I enter slightly late for effect. I time my walk-ins to the crescendo, I give a wave to department head John, I hand Sandra from HR a club scarf. Then we sit down for a ‘chat’ about my substandard performance and disruptive behaviour.

Good times.

There’s no official injury news, but fans are combing through the training videos Arsenal released or unembargoed today. It would seem that Thomas Partey is back in full training along with Jorginho and Fabio. But Tomi, Zinchenko, and Jesus are all still missing.

Listen, would I like to see our full-backs and our main #9 back in the mixer? Yes. I would. Have we missed any of those players? We have not.

Think about that. I mean it, think about that right this second.

You done?

At least 2 of Arteta’s 4 seasons have collapsed because we’ve lost a combination of fullbacks. Now we’re missing two of our best and no beat has been skipped. That’s progress baby.

No Jesus? No problem.

No Partey? The show goes on…

Arsenal has been extraordinary this season, we’ve gone from fans crying outside Arsenal station about the lack of attacking ability, to racking up more goals than ‘goal machine’ Manchester City. We have gone from Mistake FC to leading defensive numbers. How wild? We’ve done it missing first-team players all season.

Now the biggest challenge – can you do it three times a week? Manchester City dropped points against Chelsea after a trip against Copenhagen. Can Arsenal navigate an away day in Porto, then handle a Newcastle team with a week to prepare against us?

If we can, the reward is 9 days off before a game against the worst team in the Premier League (Sheff U).

So what can we expect?

I don’t think there needs to be too many changes, but I could easily see controller-in-chief Jorginho getting some time out to add a bit of composure in a game we can’t afford to lose.

Kai Havertz playing in that pocket would look pretty sexy – and I wouldn’t be upset to see Trossard given more minutes again.

The beautiful truth about this team right now is everyone is stepping up to the plate to offer their services at the very highest level. Who is playing poorly? No one. That bodes well for the run-in.

The great news about this week is there’s no let-up for Manchester City, who are playing catch-up after the World Club Cup. They have to play Brentford, a team that has been struggling to recapture BIG DOG SLAYERS form this season. Still, even easy games put minutes on the clock, and it’s always harder to play after dropping two points. Same goes for Liverpool who always seem to be playing Luton Town tomorrow.

This a week of great consequence for Arsenal. Can Arteta do it in Portugal? Can he bring a fresh team to the Newcastle game on Saturday? Can we get into the relentless habit of winning games?

I damn well hope so. This level of competitiveness is something I thought I’d never see at Arsenal again. But here we are.

Enjoy it!

Check out our latest Before The Whistle podcast on Patreon. We talk about Champions League nostalgia moments, squad rotation and give a little review of Porto. xxx

New Podcast

Champions League nostalgia moments
Scouting Porto
Metritocratic selection time
Away day advantage?

It’s Pedro, @iJohnnyCochrane, @mattkandela https://t.co/zgxSDCO8bM

— LE GROVE (@LeGrove) February 20, 2024