As I sit here, in the computer lab at the student union, behind the keyboard of a computer I could only wish to some day afford, I am a nervous wreck. I've been contemplating whether or not to actually do this for years now, and, well, now that it's a real thing it is incredibly frightening. Putting my words, my thoughts and ideas into the big wide web that is the internet for all to read is something I've dreamed of doing but just writing each word is testing my shaky confidence. I've always thought that this would be second nature to me but nothing could be further away from the truth. It's a scary proposition but ultimately this is something I want to do for me and hopefully whoever decides to read this will find some enjoyment within its words and paragraphs.
Now that that's out of the way, onto why were all here, The Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's men currently find themselves in their typical rebound from a disastrous result away from home. The Anfield result has been analyzed, criticized, and chastised. It was a terrible result, simple as that, and I do not want to go back down that road again. After we had a rather routine home win against Bournemouth which took us to a London derby with Chelsea. The scoreless draw away at Chelsea was an incredibly positive result and really something we should all celebrate. Questions of our ambitions will undoubtedly be asked but if you were to offer me 0-0 draws away at the other big 6 teams of the Premier League I'd take that in a heartbeat. Winning is awesome but not loosing, especially away in those big matches, should be equally as important. After a somewhat rocky performance against West Brom at home, which saw us keep a clean sheet and take all 3 points, we sit in 7th position in the league table 3 points off 3rd place Chelsea and 6 points off league leaders City. Hardly where we want to be but considering it's early days I'm not overly worried for our chances to get top 4 this season.
The most intriguing competition of the season for me has to be the Europa League. We, as fans, finally get something different! Over the past few years (decade plus for some) it's become all too familiar. Battle for top 4, make it to the knock out stages of the Champions League, where were knocked out by either Bayern or Barcelona and some bright spots to make us feel like we could mount a title challenge. Europa League presents a genuine opportunity for us to win a European trophy. Wenger has said as much. Back in 2015 when we went out of the Champions League spectacularly to Monaco, Wenger said, "Perhaps it would be better to no go out like this and make the Europa League, we would be more likely to win." That didn't sit too well with gooners at the time but thinking back to it we now have a very real chance of winning. Apart from adding a trophy to the cabinet we've yet to win the competition gives the fans a chance to see the club's young, upcoming talent on display. Players like Reis Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, once he's healthy, will be on display in competitive matches, fighting for a spot in the first team. Youngsters haven't had many opportunities to impress lately with early exits in the League Cup and regular Champions League appearances meant it was very difficult to show the boss and the fans what they can do.
Anyways, tonight we have a Europa League match away at BATE Borisov which plenty of youngsters will be in the squad. Reis Nelson, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will all start with a bench composed entirely of U23 players. These chances must be taken by these youngsters if they want a future at the club and hopefully they go out there and play with a hunger and desire to succeed.
Hope you enjoy the blog!
Best Coast Gunner
