ARSENAL are INCREDIBLE!

Hey everybody, welcome to That's Football, Arsenal 4, Newcastle 1, and I tell you what, that word is absolutely factual when it comes to Arsenal at the moment, they are unstoppable. This is not just winning games of football, this is sweeping aside, boosting your goal difference and staying right on the coattails of Man City and Liverpool in a way that maybe around Christmas time you were looking at Arsenal and going, Nah, they haven't got the stomach for the fight, they're not good enough, it's going to be Liverpool and Man City. And I put my hand up, I thought it was going to go that way as well, but over the last few weeks, Arsenal, I think, are right in this. This is not whether Arsenal can keep the pace, this is about who's going to win this Premier League title, and Arsenal are firmly in that race. It's interesting, you know, I've heard Pep talk about this, I've seen Sir Alex do it over the years. You almost start the season in a way where you're defensively solid, you get the goals, you grind out results, 1-0, 2-0, you make sure you win and you don't overexert yourself. And then you hit Christmas, you come back into the new year and suddenly it's 3rd, 4th, 5th gear, the goals flow, everything starts to run. And Arsenal this season, I said time and time again before Christmas, I remember them, I think they beat Forrest at home 1-0 or 2-1 or something like that, they did it with somebody else as well. They weren't putting teams away comfortably goal difference wise. And I was like, defensively really good, Declan Rice, what an acquisition he's been, and Gabriel and Saliba and Rea have done really, really well. Defensively solid, they pop up with a goal or two, they get the three points. Since Christmas and that little break they had, they're so different. They're still defensively solid, but they're scoring goals. And I don't know whether that's coincidence. It amazes me that there are still these people in the Arsenal fan base that almost don't want Arsenal to do well, so they can say, I told you so about Arteta. But at some point, there has to be a universal acceptance that he is an incredible manager for Arsenal in what he's achieved. I mean, look, I remember the Wenger days, they were amazing. And I'm not saying that Arteta is replicating that. But you are a team that is young, vibrant, playing good football and challenging for a title. What's not to like? I don't know what else you want him to do. Release a number one selling album? I don't know. What else is he supposed to do? Young, vibrant, exciting, title-challenging team. Do you want a cherry on the top? I don't know what else it is that they expect or want. And they don't have the better squad. Man City have got the better squad comfortably, and Liverpool have got a better squad. I know they've got injuries at the moment. So, look, Arsenal literally are an injury to Saka or Rice or Saliba away from a probable collapse, which makes it even more impressive what they're doing. So, look, absolutely incredible. In relation to the game today from minute one, it reminded me of last season where they drew 0-0 because the first 20 minutes at home at the Emirates against Newcastle, they could have had two or three goals. They didn't get them, and it ended up being 0-0. Today, they were 2-0 up after 20 minutes, 3-0 up after 25 minutes. Again, a learning experience. I wouldn't be surprised if Arteta said this. Last season, we played them around a similar time. We should have beat them. We ended up drawing. That's a big difference. Let's make sure we're more clinical. The Havertz goal was brilliant, that ball by Jorginho into Martinelli in the cutback. The Saka goal was good. And then two set pieces. I mean, is there a better team in the Premier League than Arsenal at set pieces? Again, I don't know whether they were good before Christmas. I think they were, but again, post-Christmas, absolutely amazing at it. And the great thing is, I said before the game, they're so good at corners. They still scored from two. Eddie Howe knows that. Everybody knows that, which means they're even better at corners than we think because everyone knows they're good, so they're aware. They're not switching off, and Arsenal are still scoring from them. So right here, right now, the only criticism I'd have of Arsenal is, are they peaking too soon? And what I mean by that is, it can only keep going from what I'm seeing of Arsenal. It can only keep going. The one thing I will say as well is that it reminds me a little bit of, remember Arsenal were meant to play Man City, and then the Queen died. Rest in peace. And it got rearranged. And when they did the rearranged game the next year after Christmas, last season, Arsenal weren't the same team. And Arsenal are playing Man City at the Etihad at the start of April, and it's almost like they need to play them now. I mean, they might still be playing like this in April, but if they could play Man City now, I think they'd probably beat them. Man City at the moment aren't really in the right gear, and Arsenal are. But you look at the next two games, I think they've got Sheffield United, and I forget, is it Brentford? I'd expect them to win both of those. That's another six points. You keep that momentum going. At the same time, Liverpool are going to play Man City. So we could be in a situation, if results go the way they could, where going into the international break in March, Arsenal could be top going to the Etihad. So we've definitely got a three-horse race here. As I said, Arsenal have been absolutely incredible for the last few weeks, and the football is fantastic. And as I say, I've also seen Arsenal before Christmas, where I don't think at times they were that easy on the eye. But at the moment, it's – I almost – well, I do. I want to see Arsenal play Man City. I want to see them play decent teams, and Newcastle are a decent team. I'm not going to forget to talk about Newcastle. I don't know how many losses that is for Newcastle now this season. I think it's 11 or 12, which is worrying for Eddie Howe, especially as a Man United fan, when I see the pressure that Ten Hag's under. And yet Eddie Howe doesn't seem to get that same pressure against him, and yet we've had very comparable seasons. Injuries do make a difference. Newcastle have had them. But to be honest, today – all right, the goalkeeper – but really, apart from Joel Linton, who else is missing for Newcastle today that's nailed on starter? So Newcastle extinguished by a very good Arsenal side, but not really many major players missing for Newcastle today, and they were completely and utterly overwhelmed. They were comfortably second best. And I suppose Newcastle are going through that situation at the moment, aren't they? They've got the whole Dan Ashworth thing going on, director of football. They've had a major setback season compared to last year. The momentum going into last summer is not going to be there going into this summer. They're not going to be in the Champions League. And there's a bit of an uncertainty about Newcastle now as to where the project's going to go. Still got some really, really good players, but they seem to have lost momentum. And it's going to be interesting to see how they can get that momentum back because they're certainly not going to be getting into a top-four race. And even with Man United losing today, there's still eight points behind Manchester United. Sorry, seven points behind Manchester United, which is still quite considerable, really. So, yeah, it's not looking good for Newcastle, but Arsenal absolutely rampant today. And, I mean, look, who's going to win the league? Get in the comments. Who's going to win this Premier League? Because I still think Man City, but only because they've won the last three and they've got the know-how. If we're being completely honest, on form and season, two points separate Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool and they've all played the same amount of games. That's incredible. I can't remember the last time we had that at the end of February. So, who's winning the league? Get your comments in below. Make sure you smash the like on the video and subscribe. I'm back tomorrow for the Carabao Cup final. Looking forward to that. Speak to you all soon.