Wins against Wolves and Chelsea and with the NLD looming on this week-end, it seems that we are in a good place to finish the season. Top 4 is more less secure and we may be able to aspire for more if we win our remaining games but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves…

Against Chelsea, we played a strong line up and watching this game, I was trying to think which players are just too good to omit from the first squad…I thought I d make a post out of it and ask you to create a top 8 based on the instructions above…so create your Top 8 away. Here is mine:

Raya (no choice) – White, Saliba – Rice, Odegaard – Saka, Havertz + Trossard (almost picked our CB Gabriel but in the end, I went with the Belgian ace).

Raya, there is no choice here because Arteta loves him…I am still upset for Ramsdale

White is a strong contender for Player of the Season for me and he is definitely top 3 performers

Saliba, a solid player but he did struggle lately and also and especially against Bayern but still, he is too good to omit

Rice, if not Player of the Season for us, he is definitely Recruit of the Season for us and maybe for the whole EPL. What a player! Outstanding defensively and getting better going forward and great leadership skills! He should definitely be part of the Captains’ team.

Odegaard, our playmaker and the one who pulls the strings but also a hard workder. A good captain too! Another creative season this year and with maybe a better player upfront, he may have more assists.

Saka, our gem 🙂 Solid season again. We can’t play without him.

Havertz – after a lousy start of life at AFC, he has demonstrated resilience, hard work and effectiveness – doing much better in front of goal and still industrious defensively. What a turn around!

Trossard – for the last spot for me, although Gabriel (CB) was hard to omit…Trossard, our impact player from the bench is now being an impact player from the starting XI. Important goals, brave player, happy to work defensively and creating chaos in defenses. What else do the people want?

So let us give ourself the chance to also pick Gabriel (although I am not against bringing a better CB to the club), we are two players shy from a starting XI:

• Timber at LB and;
• then another CM to replace Partey/Jorginho in the middle of the park. I am thinking Douglas Luiz, Fofana, Guimares but I am sure Edu/Arteta have a player in mind to make a magic trio in midfield with Ode-Rice…

Looking forward to your Top 8 teams…

COYG!

W\e are out of the FA Cup, out of the Champions League and Man City is likely to win the EPL. I think it is quite clear that our season now is more or less over, we just need to keep up our efforts to stay in the Top 3 of the league. Is our season disappointing? From a trophy perspective, yet. From our ability to compete and also from our overall team growth and improvements, this seasons is rather successful.

We now need

• Another CB to add more steel to the defense, someone who would genuinely challenge Gabriel for his starting spot (Branthwaithe?…)
• Timber back at LB
• probably another CM/DM to complement Rice and Odegaard (Fofana from Monaco? Koopmeiners from Atalanta? Douglas Luiz from Villa?…),
• probably a winger to supplement Saka (sorry RN…- Williams, Olise, Bowen, Gordon, Mbeumo, Malen, Eze); and
• a CF to add more aerial threat and poaching instinct in front (sorry Eddie – Zirkzee, Wind, Sorloth, Toney…).

We also need to probably work on more game plans to become less predictable so maybe new formations like a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2-

Raya – White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber – Rice, FOFANA – Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli – Havertz

RECRUIT? – Tomyasu, RECRUIT, Kiwior, Zinchenko – Partey, Jorginho – WILLIAMS, Emile, Trossard – WIND

Alternative set-up:

Raya – White, Sailba, Gabs, Timber – Partey, Fofana, Rice – Ode – Saka, Kai…

Raya – White, Saliba, Gabs, Timber – Odegaard, Fofana, Rice, Trossard – Saka, Havertz in a diamond shape

…

Anyways, let us try until the very end to win this league but chances are slim. I am hoping next year we do give ourselves a good chance in the FA Cup too. Trophies are important.

Drew against City – not bad

Beat Luton without being trouble – expected

Now, we are in the last leg of the season and key games are coming up in the EPL with 24 points to grab…I think we can maybe aim for 21 points and we must actually not lose more than 3 points because LFC and Man City won’t lose more than 3 points until the end of the season:

• Brighton away
• Villa at home
• Wolves away
• Chelsea at home
• Tottenham away
• Bournemouth at home
• Utd away
• Everton at home

Add the double confrontation with Bayern Munich in April and you could potentially say that the month of April is now the key month for us…

Man City game learning points: we can defend well and we grew since last year

Luton game learning points: Arteta is giving playing times to players like ESR, Partey, Nelsson, Nketiah, Zinchenko because he knows he may need them to tilt some games in our favour. My main concern is that Ben White is looking a bit tired and we can’t afford an injury or lapse in perform from Ben White. He is a key player for us. It was nice to see ESR and Partey back in the fold.

Next game is Brighton and it won’t be easy but I d play:

Raya – Tomy, Saliba, Gabs, Kiwior – Rice, Jorgi – Trossard, Ode, Martinelli – Jesus

We also need to rest Havertz a bit