At the Premier League halfway stage, Arsenal find themselves potentially eight points ahead of City if they win their game in hand – a formidable lead considering they are on course for exactly 100 points if they achieve as much in the second half of this extraordinary World Cup season as they have in the first…
City fans will take some comfort from 2012 when United were 8 points ahead of City with just 6 games left, and then there was THAT goal…but it’s a mountain to climb nonetheless, made no easier by the other even bigger City peak ahead in the Champions League, whereas Arsenal’s primary focus will be firmly on winning their first Prem title for 19 years…
Pep’s extraordinary outburst in the post-match interviews on Thursday night, claiming they were not good enough this season to overhaul Arsenal, was simply a cry to arms and a clever psychological ploy aimed at pushing his troops even harder, and not allowing them to become complacent…
The massive world-class talent of De Bruyne has had an edge of inconsistency about it, the technically brilliant Foden has gone completely missing in action, and the first-choice full-backs, Walker and Cancelo, continue to suffer from post-Qatar trauma…
Indeed, overall, the whole squad has not shown the bloody-minded determination to back-up the supreme footballing abilities that have delivered 4 Prem wins in the last 5 seasons…
So, the timing of Pep’s tirade, despite a brilliant second-half comeback against Tottenham, couldn’t have been any better as they entered the second half of the season against Wolves with renewed passion and energy, and we all sensed that they could put recent, uncharacteristic, home slip-ups against Brentford and Everton behind them…
However, there is now no room for anything but one of their famous long winning runs including both Prem games against Arsenal, and dropping no more than a handful of points in their final 18 games…it’s a tall order but there is no other way and, if they fall short, only their first Champions League triumph – finally – will save their season.