DADDY ISSUES, AGAIN?

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Another game? Already? Sheesh, this Premier League season…

The Premier League has had about 16 two-week breaks, then they lump all the games into one month. It’s really quite irritating – the more successful a club is in the cups, the worse it is for them. I do wish the Premier League would work out a way to distribute the games more evenly over the season. No way should there be just one English club left in European competition.

Anyway, before we get into the latest post, I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who checked out and signed up for Substack. An even bigger thanks to the supporters who signed up for a paid subscription before I even really laid out what the plan is. You are the best. As a heads-up, I’ll be giving you access to all the podcasts; then the writing will move to a blended paid/free model at the end of the season.

Back to Substack, the comments section over there isn’t perfect, but it’s easy to use, looks nice on mobile, and you can get to it via their app. I was considering setting up a Discord for paid subscribers – let me know if you like that idea or despise it.

Onto the post… does Mikel have more daddy issues in the Premier League?

No manager has more of them than the young Spaniard. The problem with his parentage? He loses to those he loves the most. Moyes has given him issues this season, he didn’t beat Pep for ages, and now he’s literally on record saying:

‘He doesn’t like me to say it, but he was like a father figure to me in Paris’

Mikel, you’ve got to stop latching onto Premier League managers like this. I’ve already had to tell Arsenal fans to stop saying ‘Wenger was like a father to me’ on the internet. We can’t our manager doing similar things.

My main worry here isn’t that, though. It’s that everyone thinks Chelsea is an absolute mess, and I’m not entirely sure that’s true. It’s a team packed with largely untapped talent that can blitz Everton and batter City one week – then fall to pieces the next. They binned all the experienced players, signed a bunch of kids, and their mentality was summed up perfectly when they had a fight over a penalty while 5-0 up.

The question tomorrow is which side will show up – a demotivated team badly wounded from an FA Cup semi-final exit, or the dog and pony show ready to show the world they can destroy league campaigns with the same relish Mourinho sides of the past would?

Arteta specifically said the energy at training had been buzzing after the win and he had to stop them. That’s great news. He also absolutely confirmed in his presser that he thinks tiredness is a state of mind. I’m not an elite athlete, so I wouldn’t know, but that mindset can be dangerous for a team’s fitness levels. However, when there are five games to go, what are you saving your energy for? It’s do-or-die against two teams with more reliable weaponry.

This is the Chelsea injury list via their website:

  • Christopher Nkunku – in partial team training.
  • Robert Sanchez – in partial team training.
  • Lesley Ugochukwu – in partial team training.
  • Ben Chilwell – undergoing medical assessment.
  • Malo Gusto – undergoing medical assessment.
  • Cole Palmer – absent due to illness.
  • Levi Colwill – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
  • Wesley Fofana – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
  • Reece James – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
  • Romeo Lavia – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.

That’s quite the list, considering the average age of their squad is about 14 years old. The key name there that we’re happy to see is Cole Palmer. Chelsea accidentally signed him last summer and paid over the odds, but he has delivered sensational output and now looks like an absolute bargain. Losing him to illness is a psychological blow – especially if anyone watched Nico Jackson get into multiple world-class positions against City only to blow them with Ade Akinbiyi levels of finishing.

Mudryk? Well, I don’t even need to talk about him. We got Trossard, who has been electric. Chelsea landed the Ukrainian for 3x the price, and he’s been a little underwhelming.

Arsenal has an almost entirely fit squad to choose from. Jurrien Timber played for the U21s and scored an absolute worldie of a goal. He cut back on himself in the Blackburn box like Gabi Jesus, made a yard of space, and fizzed a top-corner goal Dennis Bergkamp would have smiled at.

He won’t be ready for Chelsea, but maybe a bench appearance at Spurs could be on the cards? The boy is some player, apparently one of the best technicians at the club already. I hear the thing the club is really excited about is his leadership skills. He’s going to give us some options next season.

As for our starting 11, my feeling is Tomiyasu will likely start ahead of Kiwior. We might see this as a game where Kai plays as a 9 and Jorginho drops into midfield alongside Thomas Partey. Outside that – it is what it is. Win, and our reward is a 4-point lead in the Premier League, with everyone chasing us. Lose, and well… let’s not think about that.

We’ll be going LIVE right after the game on Patreon. Come join if that’s your jam. You can also check out the Before The Whistle I opened here. x


RUNNING ON TITLE FUMES

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Well, hello dearest friends of the internet. Here we go again – another week of competitive football in the Premier League of England & Wales. Let’s get into some of the mad stuff that happened yesterday.

Nottingham Forest skewered the VAR in their match against Everton for being a Luton fan. Using a club’s social media channels to make a really emotional point about referees is, of course, very Barclays Premier League, but I’m not sure it helps their cause. It was amateur. The club channels should be above that sort of thing. The game decisions were poor, but I’m not sure it’s because the VAR was rooting for Luton. I think it’s more likely they’re just not great at what they do.

That said, the FA and PGMOL do next to nothing to avoid conflicts of interest. There are 28,000 registered refs in England, 4000 offer up their souls to get into the game each year… yet Arsenal manages to get an Australian Liverpool fan in the VAR box for six Arsenal games and as referee twice this season. There are more Australian refs than refs from London – a capital of 9 million, a huge pool of refs, and not one ref can make it to the elite in *this* era? They only have one ref of color in a diverse league. The majority of refs are from the North, mostly from the Northwest. Refs from Manchester ref the Manchester Derby.

Football obsession is inherited. I hate Spurs because my dad told me to. I tried to support Nottingham Forest and my Dad disowned me until I came to my senses. Growing up, having Tottenham fan friends was tough because my dad would not be pleasant to them – even today, when I flag it as a childhood trauma, he doesn’t regret it at all. In fact, one of my Spurs-supporting friends growing up responded to a Spurs forum post asking if I was a genuine Arsenal fan or an attention seeker – and he recounted what it was like being around my family growing up.

Are you telling me someone who grew up a United supporter can neutralize similar upbringings for their profession? All 23 of the refs? All of the VARs?

The FA and PGMOL should be going out of their way to control the perception of bias or unfairness, but they don’t.

So was Nottingham Forest wrong for their tweet? Probably. But was the substance of the statement baseless? No.

Onto something more fun: UNITED.

Coventry nearly created one of the greatest cupsets of the decade, taking United to penalties in a disaster-class performance for the ages – even for EtH, who has been a dead man walking since December. It was criminal that VAR had to ruin that moment for Coventry.

It has been another nightmare run for a club that lacks direction and any sort of smarts. Whoever they get in this summer is going to be at least 5 years away from getting United back to the top. They have given everyone ridiculous contracts no one else would – and now they are going to pay the price with a slow and painful rebuild.

Just praying they choose Gareth Southgate. It’s a bit of a shame Thomas Tuchel is being mooted. Though it does have to be said, Mr. Tuchel hasn’t performed well in tough dressing rooms of late. I’m not sure why he’d be the perfect choice for a United reboot, but here we are.

Arsenal, fresh off a very top-tier win against Wolves, will be working their hardest to defeat Chelsea at home on Tuesday. The big question is this: How will they take defeat to City? They were by far the better team. They ran harder, had better chances, and looked far more likely to get to the FA Cup final, and yet they were sucker-punched. A team that had a massive dust-up over a penalty at 5-0 up probably isn’t as emotionally resilient as you think

This season is well and truly over for them – but they do have a point to prove to the world. Will they raise their game against Chelsea and channel some of that yesteryear Jose Mourinho vindictiveness to kill our season? I think so. So we have to be at our absolute best again.

The changes for me are pretty simple: Kiwior has to be exited from the starting 11. Even after a good second half, he has ‘gives penalty away to Cole Palmer’ written all over him. This could be a good one for Tomiyasu to step into, or it could also be primed for Zinchenko.

I think we’ll see Gabriel Jesus benched after his drab performance, with Kai back at #9 and Jorginho or Partey stepping into midfield.

The rest is the same. It’s do or die at this stage. Every game has to be a win if we’re to stand a chance. 5 games to make life tough for Manchester City.


WALKING IN A TROSSARD WONDERLAND

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Sometimes, to tee up a match report, you focus on what the best manager in the world is saying about his game.

“It’s unacceptable,”

“Because I’ve won I have the courage to tell you. For the health of the players, it’s not normal. I don’t understand how we survived today. Why play today and not tomorrow, when Coventry, Chelsea, and United didn’t play midweek? Why not have one more day for the health of the players? Tell me how you prepare for this final against Chelsea in the best moment of the season? How? It’s impossible. There’s no chance.”

City put on a disasterclass. They didn’t hit the target in the first half. They avoided a loss only because Nico Jackson offered up Darwin Nunez-first-season levels of finishing.

So, if Man City is struggling – with a better squad, better players, way more experience, and double the wage bill – you’d expect the same from Arsenal.

Wrong.

Arsenal went to Wolves and discharged an almighty dump on the concern we’d fail. Arsenal had 24 shots, 9 on target. We limited Wolves to 0.14 xG. Our second half was 100% better than the first. Some of our best play came after 88 minutes. Given fatigue, the emotional drain, and the difficulty of the opponent… that was a really f***ing good result.

This is from the BBC:

Of the top five, only Liverpool have won at Molineux this season and even then they needed to come from behind with two late goals.

Manchester City and Tottenham have been beaten while Aston Villa only took a point in October.

Extending it to the top seven, Newcastle drew 2-2 while Manchester United needed Kobbie Mainoo’s injury-time winner to snatch a bonkers 4-3 win two months ago.

That win was massive. There were so many outrageous performances:

Ben White was nearly Man of the Match. Insanely good. The Daily Mail tried to ensure away fans booed him after his England snub, but it hasn’t happened. Fans like him. He is an incredible player. What an absolute star. There are so many layers to his game, the idea Timber is coming to replace him is pure absurdity.

Declan Rice’s reputation for being a robot incapable of fatigue took a hit. He wasn’t having it, brutalizing Wolves for 90 minutes. When you need to lock down a game, he’s the guy you want cleaning up – or powering into Wolves’ box with a bursting run. His energy gave the team such a lift. What a leader.

David Raya, you absolute KING. That save where he tipped the ball onto the post rescued our season. If we go 1-0 down, we’re dead. No chance we’re clawing the back. Besides another worldie save, his basics are so f***ing good. His passing has swagger, his ability to make our box very boring is so damn welcome. The fact he chooses to hold the ball as his first instinct is in stark contrast to Jose Sa at the other end.

Kai bloody Havertz. Started the season with a negative favorability rating, now he’s the first name on the team sheet. His blank expression fools people into thinking he’s not doing bits on the pitch. The guy is relentless. He’ll put his leg in a blender to win a duel, he’s first into the press, he connects everybody, and is so damn good at winning the ball back. £65m was a bargain.

How about Trossard? Some parts of his game aren’t always ideal, but one feature you can’t get enough of is the goals and assists. Everyone plays by the rules in our squad, apart from this guy – the only player who comes close to greedy. He’s who you look to when SCREAMING, “please dear lord SHOOT.” His goal might have been an accident, but as Wayne Gretzky said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Damn right, Wayne. That Trossard squeeze kept our heads in the game and saved our season.

The unsung hero has to be Arteta. He lifted a team dead on their feet and got them to play harder in the second half than the first. His tactical setup and motivational skills kept Wolves quiet and allowed us to dominate a game most fans thought was a massive banana skin. Credit where it’s due – he stopped our April from going off the rails again.

Will there be harder games ahead? Sure. But that massive win will give the players renewed belief heading into a rough Chelsea game and a cup final away at Spurs.

The biggest achievement now is pushing City until the end of the season. If they want to go on a perfection run, what can you do? All we can ask of the boys is to create their own perfection and leave it all on the field. I wasn’t sure we could do that before yesterday. Now, I think we could do something, and I don’t think City is nailed on for 6 straight wins.

But we’ll see. If you wan the podcast, sign up to Patreon or Substack, and remember, Le Grove will be moving there permanently very soon!


MATCH DAY BLOG – WOLVES

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Mikel Arteta needs to show his teeth this afternoon.

His players are emotionally drained, they are tired, and I’ve been telling them they only have 5 games left when it’s 6.

Sorry boys.

This is where the manager earns his corn. Beat Wolves this evening, we go back to the top of the table briefly, and City are back to chasing. That is a very nice prize.

(more…)


FIGHTING TALK FROM ARTETA

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Mikel Arteta came out firing in the media. I won’t quote, but the gist was very clear.

  • The journey these players have been on has been immense
  • We’ve gone from a midtable joke, to competitors
  • Only one team can win the Premier League and we’re competing against the greatest-ever Premier League side, and Jurgen Klopp on his farewell tour
  • When you’re in a fight, sometimes you lose, but you shouldn’t take your eye off the progress

That’s what I want to hear from my manager.

We had the youngest team in the league last year, we’re probably 3rd this year, the majority of our superstar talents are 25 or younger, and we managed to get to a quarter-final in our first UCL in 7 years, and we’re still in the hunt for the Premier League.

2 points in it against the monster of Manchester City, and people want to question the club?

Please.

The biggest problem we have as fans is we don’t like to hear about incremental improvements and being constantly disappointed is upsetting.

The past two seasons, it’s a different type of upset. We’re angry because we could have, not because we didn’t.

The banter years was apathy. The club didn’t care, we did. But there was a resignation about where we were as a club. Arsenal was rudderless.

These days, we’re angry because we’re behind in the Premier League and we dropped out of a game we should have won. We’re literally pissed because we are now in such good shape, we believe Bayern should have been rolled.

That is a good place to be. People crying for something different aren’t serious people. Our club is the envy of the world, our players are just getting started, and there’s no manager that suits who we are as a club than Mikel Arteta.

At the end of last season, the biggest improvement we wanted to see was more control, and scalps against the top 2 clubs. We’ve taken 8 points from Liverpool and City and gone unbeaten. That’s massive. We also boast the best defence, the most goals, and we top nearly every important metric Liverpool looks at and City looks at.

Are there things to improve upon? For sure. But we all knew that at the start of the season.

We need a midfielder who can step into that Partey role.

We need an explosive winger like Leroy Sane.

We need a strong striker who can be a difference-maker physically and clinically.

Arteta needs to get to grips with rotation and we need to work out a way of making it beyond April.

But that will come. Liverpool is in the same situation and has been plenty of times. They finished 5th last year, and they’ve slumped harder than us despite having players like Trent, Robertson, Salah, Jota, and Allison.

Getting back to the top takes time unless you have the backing of a nation-state. Even the best nation-state-backed club in the world took 13 years to win a Champions League. The best manager who has ever lived took 7 attempts to win it with City and he didn’t do it with Bayern Munich at all.

Don’t get down about us not winning Champions League at the first attempt. 90% of our squad had never played in the competition before. It’ll take some time and require some luck. Look at the final 4 teams, they are not the best teams in the world.

Wolves tomorrow is a chance to be within striking distance of City if something goes wrong. Win against an incredibly depleted opponent and we are still very much in the mixer with 4 games to go. Remember, that 5th place CL spot did not go to the Premier League. If Spurs want to have a respectable season, they simply have to win all the rest of the games. They are chasing Villa. Liverpool and City play Spurs. They are a nightmare team for City for no apparent reason. It could happen.

Ok, that’s me done. Thanks to those who signed up to the Subtack. You’ll be getting all the podcasts ad free. You’ll get the paywalled blogs when I turn that function on at the end of the season. The newsletter is a beauty. Get on it here.

Right. See you in the comments.


BAYERN OUTCLASS ARSENAL – HERE’S THE COPIUM

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We’ll start out with a bit of perspective.

That was Arsenal’s first Champions League in 7 years. It was our first quarter-final in 14 years. Only two of our starting 11 players had played in the Champions League before this season. We just lost a game to a Bayern Munich that won the CL 3 years ago – hasn’t been out of the comp in living memory – and had 8 CL winners in the game-day squad.

Below is the record of Manchester City. The most monied club in the world. Best CEO, best manager, best coaches, best data team, best players, best facilities, best scouts, highest wage bill, top 2 transfer budget… and they have won it once since 2011.

They also went out against a Madrid side that I would say would finish 4th in the Premier League at best.

There is no shame in what happened last night. We conceded 3 stupid goals in transition to a side that is way more experienced than us. We didn’t have the game management or the stardust to make it count in a tough game.

Barcelona, Atleti, and City is fine company to be keeping on the exit ramp.

At the highest level, which is where we are, it’s a game of fine margins and sometimes you come up short.

We came up short.

The plan was a good one. We kept the ball for spells but didn’t press high. Then we worked off a trigger and went hard at Bayern. Arsenal created great chances but couldn’t finish.

The second half went the way of the Villa game. We lost sight of the plan we were supposed to be executing, then we switched off and didn’t have the magic needed to bring the game back to life.

It’s hard to really put your finger on what the exact cause of that second half was. For me, it was a blend of being emotionally and physically drained, combined with a lack of experience. As the game wore on, we shrank, and Bayern grew. I didn’t feel the sense of control we’ve had all season because I don’t think it was there. The players seemed like they’d given up, even if they did have a few late chances.

Two areas really need addressing this summer if we’re going to move up a level.

I think we lack true magic at times. We have to work hard for our goals. If we’re honest, the system is the star at all times. It works because we have workhorse players who are mentally tough and can follow instructions down to a T. We have a stunning crop of players, I am not denying that, but we don’t have A-listers that change a game in a flash. Liverpool have Salah, Trent and Jota. City has Silva, KDB, and Haaland. Spurs have Park. We overperform xPTS by the lowest margin in the top 5. The only team in the top 8 close to us is Newcastle who are underperforming. What does that tell you? The system we have gives you what you deserve. We lack the wúnderbar magic our rivals have.

In close games like the one from last night, you need a bit of special sauce (not Nando’s, I’m afraid), and Bayern had Sane over two legs. We don’t have a player that turns a shit performance into a win, like a Harry Kane. If we’re shit, we lose. Even the games we’ve lost this season, there are very few we’ve lost on xG.

Bukayo Saka is that guy. He’s 22 years old. The man has been incredible. But last night was too much for him. He looked like a kid playing in an age group higher than him. He didn’t win any duels, all his dribbles failed, he had no shots, no accurate crosses, and he didn’t create any chances. It was a dreadful performance from him. In the 94th minute we were gifted a late freekick, Bukayo rushed it to put Ben White through on goal. The following corner was our last hope, we are the best at corners in the world, so what did our starboy do? Hit the man at the front post like it was 2009.

Not good enough if we want to dine at the chefs’ table.

That kind of leads me to the point I’ve been making since the start of the season. If you don’t rotate, you don’t win things. We are now suffering that in April again. When it’s the third year in a row, you have to start asking questions of our brilliant manager.

I could maybe handle ‘the manager doesn’t trust Holding, Cedric and Smith Rowe’ but I can’t handle ‘the manager doesn’t trust Partey, Vieira, Zinchenko, Tomi, ESR, Reiss, and Eddie.’

Our season is collapsing with a fully fit squad to choose from. Who is that on?

Thomas Partey has been fit for a while, he gets next to no minutes. We know he’s top-class. Why didn’t Arteta take more chances on his earlier in his rehab? Now he’s useless.

Tomi has been fit since March 31st. He’s played 81 minutes (barring last night). Why?

We signed Reiss Nelson to a £100k a week deal. He’s contributed 429 minutes in CL and EPL. What was the point of making him the Saka backup?

Fabio Vieira was Arteta’s boy. Now, he’s not. Why?

Eddie and Smith Rowe are persona non grata.

The difference between this season and last season is this season, we didn’t break anyone… we just cooked them so they can’t give their all.

Until Arteta gets to grip with his squad management, we’re always going to be stuck in April, crying about losing to teams we’re better than.

It’s painful.

I’m not sure I have much of an upside today. My gut was we’d lose to Bayern and probably end our Premier League chase on Saturday away at Wolves. I think that’s the path it’s going to go. This season was always going to be difficult to navigate. We changed our system to give us more control, we upgraded our 6, 8, and 1, and we played our first CL season.

By any standard, this season has been a roaring success.

The job Arteta has done is a miracle. Those saying otherwise have lost their damn minds. Suggest something better or faster. I’m not sure you could. Arsenal opted to do things the hard way because we don’t have nation-state cash. That meant we hired a rookie manager, signed players who weren’t ready, and took the slow route back to the top.

Check out this chart from Opta. It’s the average age of starting 11s this season in the EPL dated March 26th.

We have the third youngest starting 11 in the Premier League and we are second right now. City and Liverpool sit 10th/11th spots. There is so much growth to be had at Arsenal. We are a long way off our peak.

Players bumping the avg age at Arsenal: Jorginho 32, Trossard 29, Partey 30, Raya 28

Players bumping avg age at Liverpool: Salah 31, Alisson 31, Thiago 33, Endo 31, Robertson 30,

Players bumping avg age at City: Walker 33, KDB 32, Ederson 30, Kovacic 29, Ake 29, Stone 29, Silva 29, Grealish 28, Akanji 28

What do you notice? Our mega stars are not phasing out any time soon. Those at City and Liverpool are.

Could it be better now? Maybe. But always remember… we are chasing perfection, and perfection just lost to Madrid in a penalty shootout and it took them a long time to make it in Europe.

The path we are on is the right one. Think there’s a better one? Ask United fans. Ask Chelsea fans. Ask Newcastle fans. Ask Spurs fans. Ask Liverpool fans when the correction comes post-Klopp and everyone realises that he left because he knew it was about the tank.

Arsenal is built well, our best players are 2-3 seasons from peak, and if we continue to make great decisions, we will reach the promised land.

The journey there is the fun part, you’ll realise that when we’re defending trophies, not chasing dreams.

Sign up to the Substack Newsletter. If you go for the paid model early because you like the site, you’ll get all the podcasts advert-free, the writing will be ad-free, and you’ll get a lovely email in your inbox. I will be migrating the website over the next couple of months. The comments section is super easy, the app is a huge bonus, and I don’t get lumped with loads of out-of-control fees. So, thank you to those who have signed up.

See you in the comments. Check out our podcast.


WHAT THE BRIGHT LIGHTS DEMAND

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Champions League knockout games haven’t been good to us over the past 25 years, not have games against Bayern Munich. This one feels extra huge given the context of potentially blowing the league against a messy Aston Villa side.

The maths is simple:

Win and our season is well and truly back on.

Lose, and the ramifications could be devastating to our remaining 5 Premier League games.

Mikel Arteta isn’t just battling physical fatigue this Wednesday, he’s fighting emotional drainage. Every game in 2024 has felt critical in some way, but since the City game on March 31st, every outing has been a cup final. My view is the Bayern game, under the bright lights, on the big boy stage, absolutely wrecked us this past weekend. The consequence was an embarrassing loss at the business end of the season.

Now the boys have a new challenge – it’s the Iain Dowie bouncebackability test.

I bet you didn’t think Iain Dowie was going to be to the answer to the blog headline, did you?

Can young men pick themselves up from the mud and do something historic on the biggest stage in world football?

It’ll be tough.

My suspicion is Arteta will change the system to reduce the load on heavy legs. Bayern Munich absorbed our pressure in the home leg. I think Arsenal will reverse roles away from home and play their game. If it’s of any consequence, I was told the conversation amongst players was they felt they should have won against Bayern. Which is a positive.

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So what do we know?

Bayern’s two centre-backs are very slow, Alphonso Davies is suspended, and we have a defence equipped to limit Harry Kane. In fact, we have a defensive system that is highly adept at controlling any team in the world. Tired legs can bed in and catch slow defenders in transition.

We don’t need to win the game in normal time. We can take it into extra time and penalties like we did against Porto. The most blessed virtue in Champions League football is patience. Let Bayern do all the heavy lifting and wait for a chance to kill them.

The great part about this game is we know there will be chances. If Ben White scored that one vs one in the first leg, we’re talking a different game. This QF calls for the most extreme levels of composure we can find. We can’t be wasteful. The boys have to be savages.

This match could also go off the rails like the PSG and Atleti games. You just don’t know what can happen in games like these. No one, not even Dortmund fans, thought they’d progress by scoring 4 goals against a Simeone side, but here we are. Also worth diverting the conversation to state that their progression puts Spurs 5th place CL spot in jeopardy. If they want Champions League, they can’t afford to throw any games during the run-in.

One thing is for sure – the most dangerous teams are on our side of the bracket. The reward of a semi against Madrid or City feels cruel. But as a City fan informed me today… they do NOT like knock-out games against English teams.

We’ll worry about those sort of luxury problems if it matters. I’m so 50/50 on this Bayern game I can barely move past the feeling of numbness. Game feels like a free hit for me.

All we can do is sit back, drink a casual 7 beers to numb the nerves, and hope for the best.

Enjoy the evening wherever you are and make sure you tune in for the On The Whistle after, LIVE on Patreon.

P.S. Thanks to all the folk who signed up to my new newsletter, especially my legendary first boss, Steve T. He let me write Le Grove on the job because he’s a Gooner. Can’t ask for better than that. Big love xxx

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