We Cara-bow Out of the Cup

Hello all and happy international break to all those who celebrate (FIFA officials and sponsors alone). 

I appreciate it's been a whole week from when I should have posted the usual blog post, but for two main reasons I delayed it to today. 

The first and main reason is my "real" life got in the way of my time (ugh who needs one of those). The details are very boring and almost entirely work related, so nobody wants to hear about those. 

The other lesser reason that I usually wouldn't have let stop me is that I was hurting after that League Cup final loss. I really wanted to win that trophy and believed that we could have because we have been the better team than City over the course of the season. However, for the reasons we've all read, heard and spoken about in the last week, we couldn't quite do it. I will share my thoughts on the game here, but I don't want to rehash it too much, I've never been one for picking at old wounds, it can leave a scar if you're not careful. 

So lots to catch up on - let's get into it. 

Leverkusen (H - Champions League)

I was actually quite impressed with this performance. I think we showed that we had learned from the first leg, displayed a professionalism that I really enjoyed, and Eze scored an absolute screamer to send them back to Germany with enough trauma to make a therapist rich. 

That is to say, that peach of a strike followed a heroic performance from their goalkeeper. I was really starting to think it was going to be yet another one of those nights where a goalkeeper plays the game of their life at the Emirates ("David De Gea could save the titanic" rings in my head). 

I loved Eze's celebration afterwards where he really went for the nonchalant look, even though he was pulling out the Adidas logo instead of the Arsenal one on his shirt, which somewhat shattered the 'aura' he had in that moment (never felt more Gen Z in my life than when I just typed that). It doesn't take away from the goal though, that's probably up there with goal of the season and I'm really pleased he got it. I was a bit worried when he had to go off with a calf issue but thankfully he said it was fine in his post-match interview so there was nothing to worry about...

I also loved Rice's second goal. I want to see him do it more often. I love Declan Rice. The end. 

But seriously the way he was alert to the loose ball situation, was on his toes to take it and then just drive through their defensive setup was magic to watch, I've always felt he had that in his locker and the finish was taken with such conviction. The second he won the ball I just felt it was going in. We need to try and get him in those situations more often and I think his finishing could go up another level too. 

Following a mad result in Lisbon earlier that evening, our reward for our efforts is a trip to Portugal in the sunny(ish) month of April. I'm actually happy with this as I worry about what the plastic pitch in the Arctic circle would have done to our players, especially given how many of them seem to have knocks or injuries or are coming back to fitness. That's not to say it will be an easy tie by any means, especially given these games will be in a packed month with lots of pressure, including the dreaded trip to the Etihad - speaking of...

Manchester City (N - Cup we definitely aren't upset about and didn't need really, I'm so fine about it)

What else can I say that hasn't already been said? Perhaps the best way to do this is to list my main thoughts on the game and go from there: 

• We were well beaten by the better team on the day (or certainly the second half)
• I would've chosen Raya over Kepa as I believe you play your best keeper in a cup final. Even forgetting the mistakes, I think our style of play and City's tactics change with Raya in there
• We were hampered a bit by injuries to our creative players (Merino, Ødegaard, Eze), plus Nwaneri out on loan meant even he couldn't be used (what a success that has turned out to be!)
• Yes Havertz should've scored that huge chance but the fact we are pinning everything on one chance (or two, if you count us hitting the bar when City took their foot off the gas), that says a lot about how little we created
• I'm hurt but it is not the end of the world and if we win the league I won't care anywhere near as much
• I was open to selling White in the summer, but after he took out Cherki following his piss-taking keepy ups, I want White to be the captain of everything ever invented

So, all in all, a gut punch that gives City some confidence and means they guarantee another season with a trophy, whereas we still haven't ended our six year wait for one. Does this impact what happens over the final run-in? I have no idea, I think probably not in terms of how we play in all the other games that aren't against Man City, but I do worry about what it does for City's overall confidence and especially how that game at the Etihad plays out. Our line-up and tactics will likely be very different for that game, but still I worry about the mindset both teams will now approach that game with off the back of what happened at Wembley. 

As for the league cup? Just abolish it already. Or at least exempt the clubs playing in Europe that season. I was at Wembley for the game vs Birmingham City in 2011 and the pain I felt that day really tested my support for the club. This loss isn't quite as bad because the league cup isn't the be-all and end-all this season, but man I hate this stupid trophy. I don't know what crazily specific curse got put on us to mean that we now have the worst record in league cup finals - that's now 7 final losses, but we need to either find the antidote (sacrifice Calafiori's luscious locks maybe?)  or get out of it somehow, I can't take much more of it. It's the Mickey Mouse cup until you get to the final and the sea of red and white streams down Wembley Way (refuse to call it Olympic Way). 

The Great Arsenal Player Purge of the March 2026 International Break

I'm thrilled, I hope more rivals cry about this. Just get over it. The national teams assess their players and decide if they are fit to play, to which they decided a lot of our players are not. They have their upcoming World Cup squads to think about too, and this year's perfectly non-controversial tournament isn't too far away now. I'm not surprised most of our squad are nursing knocks and issues, did you see our performance in the cup final?

The Football Writing Festival: Arsenal Special (The British Library)

Last weekend, I attended an event which I absolutely loved. The Football Writing Festival: Arsenal Special at the British Library was a first-of-its-kind full-day event celebrating all things to do with writing about a subject you might be somewhat familiar with - Arsenal FC (they're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen, you know). This event brought together journalists, legendary men's and women's team players, writers and fans for talks, discussions and entertainment about the club we all hold so dear.

Highlights included author Nick Hornby discussing Arsenal with Henry Winter (yes someone shouted a comment about Ben White to him, he didn't really engage), a panel featuring Arsenal Women legends Rachel Yankey, Gill Sayell and Kirsty Pealling, and journalists sharing insights on covering the club.

The programme also explored the cultural impact of Arsenal through a discussion of the book Black Arsenal, written by a Liverpool fan of all people! There was also a special appearance from the one and only Martin Keown (yes I got a picture, he's a lovely bloke!), reflecting on his career with football writer Amy Lawrence from the Athletic. 

Fans and creators from podcasts, blogs and fanzines even got their time in the limelight to discuss supporter perspectives. The day concluded with a hilariously brilliant Celebrity Arsenal Quiz, hosted by the ever-charismatic Clive Anderson (ask your parents, kids), with well-known Arsenal-supporting guests competing for glory in Alan Davies, Michael Rosen, Soul II Soul's Jazzie B and Tom Watt. 

The event even included a book stall and unofficial fan merchandise sold by the magnificent Eighteen 86. After hearing the lads chat on stage with the other fan-media creators, I just had to nip over to their stall and grab a cheeky fanzine. Let me tell you they are great guys and the fanzine is spectacular, perfectly capturing the true local fan culture of following the Arsenal. 

It was great to meet some of you there and I look forward to meeting many more of you in the near future as we celebrate Arsenal winning the true quadruple (League title, Champions League, FA Cup, Spurs getting relegated). Here's to our players being mostly fit for Southampton (A) in the FA Cup and us bouncing back straight away to prove the doubters wrong and finally make it to the promised land.  Cue the Rocky-style training montage!