FUNCTIONAL DREAMING
Description
There are no rules during the international break; it’s like summer holiday in school. I wake up at 10, post when I like and smoke old cigarette butts at the park with the boyz. I’m sorry, but this is just the way it is for 13 days. I won’t apologize for the inconvenience to your morning routine. My life loses all discipline and rigor when I don’t have a north star of a Premier League football match.
We’re rolling on something better than nicotine this international break, it’s pure hopium. We’re back to being believers, and the belief in the project might just be at an all-time high.
Top. Of. The. League.
It’s an intoxicating feeling, no doubt, but there are other things buzzing around the league that give me hope.
Liverpool surrogates are running around trying to reframe the concept of what a transition is. It’s such a weird and defeatist narrative that one would assume is to relieve some pressure from the Premier League champions. Never known a club to spend £400m on such an outlandish group of wildly talented players, then cry about how hard it is to integrate them. They’re heading into a rough segment of the season with headwinds kicking up the mph. Lowering expectations is no way to move for Champions.
Man City gives me hope because the football they’re playing is defeatist in nature. They’ve given up on playing out the back. They’ve said fuck style, they’re shopping for Sunday-best clothes in Tesco. It’s agricultural football more akin to some of their smaller rivals in the North West. It’s very odd to watch, even stranger to hear Pep lament the lack of precision in the machinery… but they are winning games. To sum up their new mode, it appears to be all on Haaland. The only concern is that some of their greatest seasons have started with ‘things don’t look right there.’
Spurs have had the rub all season. The underlying data would indicate luck favours the new manager, but they’ll come unstuck as the Champions League games come rolling in. The game we have with them after the next international break should see us with all of our injured players available. It’s going to be a North London Derby that looks much like our derbies against Brentford. But I’m excited for it nonetheless.
We do this every season, but professional clubs plan seasons in blocks and set targets around them. We’re entering Block 3 of the season (I’ve shifted the language from phases). It’s four games, and it represents the chance to take 12 points. Even if we take 10, we’ll likely be top of the league.
Fulham (a) aren’t in a great stretch of form. They have injuries piling up, and they’ve been pumped by three goals in their last two games against Villa and Bournemouth.
Crystal Palace (h) have been great this season. The Glasner reboot has been astonishing to watch, but their build-in to Arsenal is Bournemouth (h), then a Thursday night game against Larnaca in the Europa Conference League. Not a stiff challenge, but remember, the secret sauce of smaller teams is that they have a week to prepare for the big ones. They aren’t used to three games a week, and it’s hard to get minutes on the training ground to prepare for monster sides like Arsenal. That’ll be very difficult for them.
Burnley (a) aren’t the team they were under Kompany. I think they have better players, more power and pace, and a bit more experience. They’ve had a disgusting start to the season, playing City, Villa, Liverpool, Spurs, United, and Forest. Who did they piss off at Fixture Picker HQ? But they have four points, they’ve put in some great performances, and they’ll be looking at Block 4 to pick up some points against West Ham, Leeds, and Wolves. We’re a free hit. I don’t see much danger here.
The final game of the block is the toughest based on form. Granit Xhaka’s big-spending Sunderland are back in the Premier League and they are beating down teams like they’re Brentford. They have exciting players, they are brave on the ball, and they’ve been getting good results. My grandfather was from Sunderland, so I suppose I should have some affinity for them. I like having them in the league. I feel for them that their documentary on Netflix is the reason teams have veto power on all content, which makes football docos really f*cking boring. But I want to beat them. I want Xhaka to look old. We need to cap this phase four wins to the good.
I know football has a brutal way of slapping away your hopes, but it’s hard to look at the squad we have at the moment and not feel good about our prospects this season. If we take full points, build more muscle memory, integrate more of our squad, and continue to progress the momentum, what is stopping us from having a really good November?
I have my taste preferences on all the players in the squad, particularly the striker, but don’t think I haven’t noticed the benefits of having specialists in the team.
We have more 9s, and by early December we’ll have three of them to choose from. You have the bulk power of Gyokeres, a man that can occupy defenders, freeing up our creative players to do their thing. We’ll have Kai Havertz, who has power and speed but also elite link-up play — really important in big games. Then you have Gabi Jesus, who is playing for a future. Write him off in your mind, but don’t forget, on paper, he’s a pain in the arse and would thrive in this new-look Arsenal.
Our midfield is looking its most dynamic in years. Zubimendi has added tempo and control without brute force. Declan Rice is brute force, high pressing, pace in transition both ways, and he has incredible set pieces. Odegaard has shown me enough creative leg to think he can get back to his best when he returns. He also won’t be exhausted. Ethan has yet to find his footing this season, but you can see he’s getting better and better each game.
Defensively, tell me something we don’t have? TELL ME? It’s complete. The job is done. We have a defender for every job. There are no weak links, not even with our back-up keeper. The group has chemistry, work rate, bravery, and disgusting tekkers. We haven’t really seen what Hincapie can do yet, but the reports I’ve been getting tell me he’s going to be another fan-fave monster.
We’re tactically equipped to fight in the fields or on the streets.
We’re mentally scared enough for it to be a motivating tool for the boys.
We have one of the best managers on the planet. He just needs to prove that he’s lucky.
I’ve never been more sure we can take a season to the wire and bring home a big trophy.
But maybe I’m just a hoper of circumstance?
We’ll have bad times, no doubt, but I think we have the tools to deal with them this season.
The journey to where we are now has been special. We just need something to crystallise it all.
That happens this season. It’s a good start. Some peaks and troughs to come, but the good times are happening, and we’ll have a MASSIVE party, even if that party is just us sending party popper emojis to each other online. 🎉
Ok, that’s me done. x
United States
