People have recently accused Arsenal of lacking the mentality of a title challenge. That the draw with Brentford and Wolves were evidence of this, that they were crumbling under the pressure of title expectation.
Okay join me in my sms to an elderly man in his early eighties on Sunday, after the Everton win:
"ZUBIMENDI TAKEN OFF & ARSENAL SCORED TWO.
THAT'S ALL I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR, FOR WEEKS NOW- ZUBIMENDI OFTEN TIRES IN THE 2ND HALF."
I keep telling people, THAT'S NOT IT, the mentality factor they kept raising recently.
Now I ask, did Manchester City drop points lately because of a lack of title winning mentality? Ofcourse not. But that's the Man City that was being used as the perfect example of mentality, how that they have become consistent with victories in this tail end of the season.
As important as mentality is, there is more to football. The issue with Arsenal was not upstairs, but downstairs– fatigue! Fatigue, folks. And that's on the coach, not the players. The players were not crumbling because of dejavu or pressure, it's just fatigue.
The coach was not even crumbling, IT WAS JUST:
- His old stubbornness from the first day he signed.
- His old unhealthy favoritism of some players.
What he has crumbled to now is not the pressure of finishing first, but pressure from fans and supporters and maybe the Sporting Director and others.
WE HAVE SAID ZUBIMENDI'S BODY CAN'T ALWAYS HANDLE 90MINS, it's obvious and that's the biggest reason Arsenal drew with Brentford and Wolves.
It's simple, use your bench to freshing up things that's all.
Eg Very few, like me have said years back that, Saka can put in a decent shift through the middle. So it's nice to see that when Dowman came in, Saka was shifted to the middle.
I repeat my old question? What are hybrid players for? And you are blessed with loads of them in that squad.
Remove stubbornness and sentiments and fatigue won't be an issue.
THIS SQUAD DOESN'T HAVE A MENTAL BLOCK DUE TO TITLE PRESSURE.
I'm glad Arteta is listening now, he always does anyway, after suffering a bit from his stubbornness and sentiments.
Please send in congratulatory messages to Arsenal now. I have received one already.
THIS IS ARSENAL.
Cheers