Thanks Spurs, City Allegations

Now that the dust has settled on a weird weekend, I can finally look back on what took place with a bit more appreciation. The away match against Everton had all the makings of a banana skin and unfortunately lived up to that billing, but then Spurs came through and did us a rare favor by beating City. The battle between Emerson Royal and Jack Grealish was a really fun watch. Royal has looked nowhere near the level since arriving at Tottenham a couple summers ago. It’s funny to think how that whole situation played out between him and Tomiyasu. Royal had the big club CV thanks to his time at Barcelona, whereas Tomi was much more of an unknown. We’ve undoubtedly gotten the better end of that one, but credit to the Brazilian as that performance was the kind that many of us expected when he arrived. Very timely for us, but hopefully it never happens again and he returns to his typical form.

We could analyze the Everton match, but I think it’s better to accept these matches will happen. We weren’t at it, but still had chances. They capitalized well on a set piece and that was that. It could have been much worse, as Zinchenko seemed on the edge of doing something stupid and buying into the games Maupay wanted to play. Let’s learn from this, move on and not repeat it. On one hand we can look back in regret now knowing City lost as well, but I think hindsight is 20/20 and let’s just be thankful they didn’t capitalize.

Mikel Arteta will have some decisions to make ahead of Brentford, especially with City four days later and a total of three matches in the week with the final one against Villa the following Saturday. There will surely need to be an element of rotation with the fixture pile up, but also with City being the six pointer we need to prioritize above all else. Ben White hasn’t looked right as of late, so there’s something to be said about Tomi getting the nod from the start against Brentford. Questions have been asked about Martinelli’s form as of late as well, which could mean a start for Leandro Trossard. The Brazilian has undoubtedly suffered the most from the absence of Gabriel Jesus, as the two of them play off each other much better than Gabi and Eddie. Dips in form will happen, but he looks a guy who might need a match off. The big question then becomes do White and Gabi then come back in for City? On one hand you have to look at form, but on the other is this the chance to play the best team we’ve had this season (bar Jesus of course) as we go for it against our biggest competition for the title. In my opinion, we have to at least grab a draw from one of the two matches against them. A win would be unbelievable, but what cannot happen is two losses. I think we can absolutely beat them and we should come out swinging, but in the grand scheme two losses puts us in a very difficult position where we’ll basically need to be perfect otherwise. One win means that even if they win the other its a wash and two fixtures removed from the proverbial denominator. We’ve waited years for matches of this consequence, so above all else let’s just enjoy it and be grateful for the position we’re in and the opportunity as a whole.

Lastly, news broke yesterday of what are being described as “unprecedented” allegations against Manchester City regarding them essentially cheating financially over the course of multiple seasons. Most of us are likely thinking we’ve been here before and nothing will ultimately happen. With that said, this does seem to feel a bit different. It sounds like any actual consequences won’t happen for a while as the appeal process will surely carry on and on. Anything beyond points deductions, titles being stripped or even relegation will mean nothing to me. With all the money coming into the Premier League in the past decade or so and now the concept of nation state ownership this is only get more and more inflated. This is the chance for the Premier League and the footballing world as a whole to lay down the gauntlet and show that there will be consequences for actions like this. A fine means absolutely nothing to organizations like this where money grows on trees. You have to take serious action or the cycle won’t stop, it’s that simple. I do admittedly hope it doesn’t happen until after the season though. I want to win this title without any asterisks, fair and square, no excuses. We can do it, it’s in our hands. What an opportunity.

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