NORTH LONDON CUP FINAL - BIGGEST YET?
MOST CONSEQUENTIAL NLD IN 20 YEARS
Liverpool effectively bowed out of the title race, slumping to a 2-2 draw with West Ham away from home. We all said their collapse would come and we can all pat ourselves on the back for being right on the money.
There were certainly two camps on Klopp’s exit talk - those who thought it was a wise move to motivate his troops and those who thought telling a team you were exiting would bite in the end.
It's hard to know who was right on this - did he help an overperforming team overperform for an extra two months? Or did he drain emotional energy far too early by letting players who loved him know about his exit too early?
We’ll never know, but I’d imagine when Pep leaves City, it’ll be a dead-of-night decision, and there will be no 5-month goodbye. It is human nature to switch off to leadership if you know they aren’t going to be there for long. Your attention naturally turns to what’s next:
Will the next manager like me?
Will the club give me the deal they promised?
What happens if I don’t really tune into this loudmouth I actually dislike?
Will the coaching staff change?
Uncertainty can be deeply poisonous - that’s why I like the American notice system. You’re out the door in two weeks. The most you can do is pen handover notes. I’ve been on back to back 6 month notice periods in England and it is fucking painful. People start thinking about what’s next because they know you’re a lame duck and powerless to influence the direction of the club and… more importantly, their careers.
As things stand, it’s a two-horse race. It’s Arsenal’s challenge now. We’ve seen off Klopp. Now, the only power we have is to take the league down to the final games of the season.
Beating Spurs on Sunday is now a non-negotiable. We can’t afford a single point of slippage. City still has a tough set of games. All the luck has rolled their way this season. There have been no injustices for them. It’s been a perfect 2024. Can that really last? Can they keep defying the basics of football? Surely there’s a surprise in the season somewhere?
Forest
Wolves
Fulham
Spurs
West Ham
These teams are all capable of upsets. Forest, probably the unluckiest team of the season, have taken points against City before. Wolves, probably a write-off, though some of their big players are returning. Fulham, Spurs, and West Ham all have big dog scalps in them.
None of it matters if we let Big Ange drop a reducer on us tomorrow. He’ll be motivated to stop us from trampling them at all costs. He’s had an incredible season over there, he’s rejuvenated the fanbase, he has Spurs playing great football, and they have been very, very competitive.
What I like about this sort of game is you know Ange only has one way of playing. He’s not a coward, he likes a slugfest, and he has tools at his disposal that allows him to get away with the weaknesses in his system.
There’s also the reality of North London Derby games: Form goes out the window. Emotion usually takes over. Crazy shit tends to happen.
Arteta has a few selection issues at hand.
The main one is who plays at left back. We have Tomi, Zinchenko, Kiwior and now Timber in contention.
Zinchenko is the high line master, but he’s a nightmare against speed, and Spurs boast that in abundance. Kiwior has also demonstrated his weaknesses against pace demons over the last few weeks. I suspect this could be a no-brainer for Tomiyasu… couched by the inclusion of Thomas Partey who can do all the bits Zinchenko can do.
The next big decision is who plays on the left. Gabriel Jesus, Trossard, or Martinelli.
I’d have leant more into Martinelli who has direct power and pace you want against a highline, but his late misses against Chelsea show that he’s still some way off the form needed in a fine margins game. Our fine margins monster is Trossard, he’s in electric form, it’s hard to imagine we don’t go with him tomorrow.
The rest of the team picks itself. Everyone needs to be at their best. Fatigue needs to be reformulated into excitement. The boys need to do all in their power to take the Premier League down to the last game of the season and pray one of five teams does the business against Man City.
Ok, short one today.
If you want the before the Whistle, I’ve put it here.