From Nigel Keng : February?
Happy New Year to you and your family.
I hope you enjoyed the Christmas period and that Santa was kind to you this year.
How about March, Myles?
If the Feb fixture list looks tough how about the following?
1st March Stoke A
8th March Swansea H or a potential FA Cup Q/F
11th March Bayern A
15th Spurs A
22nd Chelsea A
29th Man City H
Apart from the fact that this is much closer to the end of the season, I see this as being the key month given we’re playing so many tough fixtures against not just top opposition but also the 2 teams we’re neck-and-neck with for the title.
If by the end of Feb we’re top, I’d only be confident of us winning the title if we’ve opened up a 6-point gap.
It’s not inconceivable that in the fixtures against Spurs, Chelsea and City we’d only take 3 points (or less).
If that’s 3 draws then fine .
But a win against Spurs and defeats to Chelsea and City would be a disaster and we’d need a good cushion at the end of Feb to survive that.
Myles says :
Thanks, Nigel.
We had a low-key family Christmas, as usual.
Michael cooked enough food for 10 people & the four of us ate enough for 6 or 7.
Why do many people do that? I can’t begin to explain it.
The only thing that was different was than I couldn’t find my Sinatra boxed set, so I put on a second-hand vinyl LP that Caroline had just given me: Elvis’s Christmas Album.
What do I think about March?
If Arsenal are strong enough to have a good February, they can have a good March.
OK , I accept that squad strength is almost as vital as everyone says it is.
My forecast is based on Arsenal being out of the Champions League and being able to focus on each league game, taking one at a time, and collecting points in every game, as they’ve been doing recently.