Arsenal continue to dominate the Mailbox agenda, but a stray hot take about Pep Guardiola being appointed by Liverpool has slipped through.<\/p>\n
And there is definitive proof that The Invincibles < The Treble winners.<\/p>\n
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guardiola to Liverpool\u2026 anyone?<\/p>\n
Ok this may be a left field call and I haven\u2019t seen it anywhere else but could Pep be on his way to Anfield?<\/a><\/p>\n Think about it. What is there left for a manager like Pep to do? He is clearly a workaholic so slipping into some ambassador\/director role looks like it would kill him. International football you would imagine is still another 10-15 years away given his energy levels, just do nothing sounds like when Fergies wife told him to get off the couch and back to work during his first attempted retirement.<\/p>\n Ok ok so why Liverpool?<\/p>\n Well obviously they are a very well run club, competing for titles and Champions leagues regularly. They already have some of the best talent in the game waiting to be unlocked: Szobozlai, Wirtz, Isak, Ekitike under Pep would be formidable with more recruits to come.<\/p>\n And also perhaps most pertinently he\u2019s has always seemed a bit obsessed with Liverpool. Even at his greatest success with City (and there is no denying it) it must have felt somewhat underwhelming. Obviously there is the C115ty asterix over everything he achieved but more than that who can forget the videos of a handful of fans celebrating league titles outside the emptihad.<\/p>\n If Pep craves adulation, worldwide acclaim and cult hero status then Anfield is the way to that, it is the closest thing in England to Barcelona in terms of fanatical following, club and community mentality and anti-establishment credentials. In short managing Liverpool would make Pep cool again.<\/p>\n You could see how his obsession with Klopp drove him to success at City but no matter how much he achieved it didn\u2019t make him what Klopp was: a legend to hundreds of millions of fans.<\/p>\n Pep doesn\u2019t need money, or success or to prove anything, he is an all time great of the game<\/a>, the only thing he is missing is the Demi-God like status of managing a club like Liverpool or Man Utd successfully.<\/p>\n Come on down Pep, all is forgiven, they\u2019ll build a statue to you buddy and sing your name for a hundred years. \u00a0<\/p>\n Art attack<\/p>\n Hello,<\/p>\n Congratulations\u00a0to Arsenal on winning the Premier League. Something I haven\u2019t seen in the mailbox is the achievement of Arteta as a rookie manager who came into his first managerial role, completely cleared out the club, built it back up in his image and only went and bloody won the thing. The first ever manager to win the Premier League in his first ever management role, and only in 7 years. Kudos for that. Hopefully they go on and complete the double. \u00a0<\/p>\n Journey v destination<\/p>\n Well, what a couple days it has been! From the bottom of my heart, to all the Arsenal fans near and far, whether you were at the Emirates the other night, whether you stayed up till God knows when in some forgotten place in the world, this is for us. This is for every Bottler tag, every Second Place FC joke, every time rivals mocked us for Trusting The Process. Every time Mikel stuck his head above the parapet and got slaughtered for it.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve paid our dues, done our time. The players and the manager have too. We\u2019ve had to be patient, had to manage our expectations, had to swallow a lot of pain and schadenfreude over the years. The experience of seeing them finally make it, the culmination of this journey that we\u2019ve been on with these guys, the emotional release of that millstone around our necks finally being banished\u2026 it\u2019s funny, in the bad times I found myself having to disconnect from football, it\u2019s just a game etc. This is the complete opposite. The world is a bit brighter now; there\u2019s a spring in my step that wasn\u2019t present before. Football, eh? Crazy old game.<\/p>\n I was a child when we last won the Premier League. My brothers had never seen it happen. It\u2019s funny how perception shapes things. I\u2019ve seen mailboxers question, did Arsenal have actual moments this season?<\/a> Well, last night I watched the season back through highlights, and in there are moments we will wax lyrical on for years to come.<\/p>\n Eze humiliating Spurs (Twice!). Sending Villa packing out of the title race<\/a>. Dowman vs Everton. Gabriel\u2019s winner vs Newcastle<\/a>. Raya\u2019s saves throughout but especially the one against Fernandes. Saka coming back from the dead right when we needed him. Declan \u201cIt\u2019s not done!\u201d Rice right when it looked like we were about to fall. Clutch Bossard playing his skin off because he knows Anne Hathaway is watching. Magical stuff.<\/p>\n Also, had to laugh at Dave\u2019s mail this morning. \u2018AI created club\u2019 he says when 100K+ people shut London down on a whim. When the players are taking selfies with fans outside the stadium at 5am. That\u2019s the type of movement and adoration money can\u2019t buy. Sour grapes at its very finest, because to us they taste so, so sweet. And that\u2019s fine, there will come a time again, hopefully not for years to come, when we\u2019ll despair at the current Arsenal team and say \u201cHe\u2019s no Saka\u201d or \u201cRaya would have saved that\u201d and look back in fondness at the boys who finally brought us glory after 22 long, long years.<\/p>\n But not today. Today, The Arsenal are Premier League Champions. Because in the end, it\u2019s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. \u00a0<\/p>\n Killing the debate over who was the best<\/p>\n So, there has been all this pointless discussion about whether Arsenal are the worst champions or good champions. Time will tell. Who knows? The future will play a part. If they win the Champions League and go on to win numerous big trophies, then no one will say they are the worst champions. If they fade into the background like Blackburn or Leicester, then maybe.<\/p>\n However, years ago there was a debate about whether the Man United \u201999 treble winners were better than City\u2019s Centurions who achieved 100 points, Mourinho\u2019s Chelsea team that only conceded 15 goals, or Arsenal\u2019s Invincibles.<\/p>\n This always seemed stupid to me. It was always the team that won the most trophies \u2014 hence Man United\u2019s treble winners. Since City won the treble, no one talks about the Centurions as the best team anymore.<\/p>\n Now, with Arsenal potentially winning the Champions League and Premier League in the same season, everyone is saying that if that happens, this would be Arsenal\u2019s greatest ever team<\/a>.<\/p>\n I would prefer to lose a game in the Premier League and be unbeaten in the Champions League and win them both, rather than just being invincible in the league. I always said that in the Invincible season I would happily have swapped the Champions League loss to Chelsea in the quarter final for a league defeat if it meant winning the Champions League that season (and we would only have had to play Monaco in the semis and Porto in the final).<\/p>\n So, can we all now admit that winning a treble, or even a Premier League and Champions League double, is a greater achievement than just winning one solitary Premier League title \u2014 no matter by how many points, goals, goals conceded, or whether it\u2019s done without losses?<\/p>\n Cheers, \u00a0<\/p>\n The dirt worst<\/p>\n Do people even think when they write in to the mailbox? So Arsenal are the worst PL Champions<\/a> because you don\u2019t think any of their players will be mentioned as the best PL players of all time. Where did you get this information from? What if they win 3 more? What if Saliba stays for another 5 years? What if Rice and Raya are influential for them in many more big trophy wins. It makes absolutely no sense. They have 82 points and potentially 85. They\u2019re better than a lot of title winners in the 90s. They\u2019re also in the CL final and haven\u2019t lost in that competition and conceded 6 goals. It\u2019s pretty obvious they\u2019re a good team with a lot of young players not entering their peak. I\u2019m not saying they\u2019ll definitely be great or anything but you have Raya (30), Timber (24), Saliba (24), Gabriel (28), Rice (27), Calafiori (23), Saka (24). They could quite obviously leave a good legacy. Being the worst PL champions has nothing to do with that anyways.<\/p>\n It reminds me of when people invented this new thing for Liverpool that they\u2019re the worst champions cause they struggled the year after winning it in 2020. Also to McG Belfast \u2013 it was City who won the Covid title not Liverpool. Don\u2019t know why or how people keep mixing this up. City won it in 2021 when the whole season was played without fans. Liverpool were like 25 points clear with 8 games left, there\u2019s no asterix on their title. \u00a0<\/p>\n They hate us. Go out and be The Arsenal<\/p>\n Firstly, well done Villa for ending your trophy drought<\/a> and also re-establishing yourselves in Europe. Let\u2019s hope Palace can follow suit and I\u2019m sure, much to wishes of every non Arsenal fan, Arsenal too LOL!<\/p>\n A quick word for the monotonous, robotic, bore and alleged Arsenal fan you entertain with his extended information and subsequent \u2018consious\u2019 confirmation bias conjured up to irriatate his prey\u2026 change the tune! Arteta irritates everyone by stepping outside his technical zone (at least unconsciously I might add) so you surely don\u2019t want to be compared to that imbecile do you?!<\/p>\n Seriously, as for Arteta, outside the Arsenal fold he\u2019s not well liked and it even took a while for some fellow Gonners to believe in him as a manager. I always liked him as a player and was delighted when he joined Arsenal to play alongside the team. I always believed in him as a manager as I could see things slowly progressing both domestically and in Europe\u2026 one final hurdle to clear to truly make his mark! Of course he needed assistance with financial backing and from Jover and for the icing on the cake, Berta. Looking at how everything has now clicked into place, especially regarding good signings, efficient set pieces (much to the annoyance of the World and his wife) exploiting Arteta\u2019s tactics of playing down the wings and winning as many corners as possible which is actually the only way to counter attack low block tactics by opponents. The players and coaching staff combining together with the owners mean Arsenal are there and ready to step further forward.<\/p>\n As for the slating and hatred, not the banter as such but more the spite and bitterness, it\u2019s wonderful! Having viewed the Arsenal family\u2019s joyful reaction to winning the league, I\u2019m sure they won\u2019t give a toss about how they did it and what opposing fans think! It sent a shiver down my spine and I found it almost as touching as the first title I was properly old enough to witness back in 1989. The huge gathering by the Arsenal supporters also shows what it means to them (especially those who aren\u2019t old enough to remember Arsenal winning a league title).<\/p>\n Now, due to success, we\u2019re in a position as potentially the richest club in England, to start poaching other club\u2019s top talent (Eze\u2019s was ours in first place (wry smile)). Let\u2019s get hold of Kroupi<\/a>, already it seems a champion to the cause. It will result in more anger towards Arsenal and carry on the hatred that George Graham was proud to emphasise.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been brought to light that the name \u2018Mikel Arteta\u2019 is an anagram of \u2018A Title Maker\u2019 (which I\u2019m sure will add to people\u2019s anger and dislike of him). But, whether people like it or not, he potentially has a great managerial future ahead of him. \u00a0<\/p>\n Process is prime<\/p>\n Well done Arsenal, you\u2019re worthy champions.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure you\u2019re enjoying all this tenuous, knee jerk, \u2018style of play\u2019, straw clutching.<\/p>\n (To be fair to Stewie, he needs as much straw as he can get to pad out his discursive creations.)<\/p>\n Thing is, I don\u2019t watch Arsenal very often so, what do I care how they play right? If the Arsenal fans are happy\u2026<\/p>\n Also, within the context of the last few seasons, they did what they had to this year;dug deep and won the darned thing.\u00a0 Fair play to them.<\/p>\n Arsenal fans must especially be loving the joyously quaint hyperbole like \u2013 \u2018they\u2019re killing football\u2019. What because the grown adults running football clubs just copy the style of the last team to win the league?<\/p>\n This is not breakout Guardiola we\u2019re talking about here \u2013\u00a0 100pts, 106gls, bringing a whole new way of playing that swept the others aside.<\/p>\n This is not a Damascene revelation about strategy on display here. Arsenal have been using tactical ideas that, I\u2019m pretty sure, we\u2019ve seen before in England.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pragmatic approach born out of necessity. They\u2019ve been very good for a while and been \u2018oh so\u2019 painfully close and they knew this had to be the year.<\/p>\n This was the final chance for this team and manager \u2013 but they believed \u2013 they fought for it and one way or another made it happen.<\/p>\n Through all the \u2018experts\u2019 who declared they\u2019d never make it. Through the disappointments and schadenfreude. Through what might be \u2013 what with the internet now \u2013 the largest, most sustained, single target, banter campaign in the history of English football, they stuck by their guy and their process.<\/p>\n In fact the whole edifice of Arsenal FC, from the fans (mostly) through to the board have shown tremendous fortitude and bravery; under immense pressure they stuck by their guy. Over and over again they trusted the process. In these broad, deep, important ways Arsenal as a club are, in point of fact, the very opposite of bottlers. Unlike say, Chelsea, Spurs or West ham who throw out the manager and plan \u2013 institutionally \u2018bottle it\u2019 \u2013 a few times a year.<\/p>\n That said, if that\u2019s the bit other teams take from Arsenal\u2019s title win then I\u2019d argue it\u2019s actually good for football. Demonstrating that patience, unity, determination and belief brings success, might be just what we need at this time?<\/p>\n Congratulations\u00a0Arsenal \u2013 worthy champions. \u00a0<\/p>\n So finally, after over six years of being Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta finally has his Premier League title. It\u2019s been a long journey for him and his team to get here; one he\u2019s gone through with several different identities and approaches. After two serious title challenges lost to a Guardiola-led City juggernaut, they\u2019ve finally found the nerve to hold it together and grind it out at the business-end of the season.<\/p>\n As painful as it is for a rival supporter to admit, fair play to this team. They\u2019re deserving champions \u2013 not because they play the most exciting football, not because they\u2019ve blown everyone else away \u2013 but because they have the most points on the board at the end of the season. And that\u2019s the only thing that matters. Years later, very few people remember the dodgy 50-50 calls that could have gone the other way, ones which are true for every title winner each year \u2013 for the injury time foul call on Raya vs West Ham, see Bernardo Silva\u2019s tackle on Odegaard that wasn\u2019t given as a pen, for the Gabriel or Havertz reds not given, see Drogba\u2019s offside winner vs Man Utd in 2010 (although Macheda scored with his hand in that game anyway). At the end of the day, they put together a strong lead, wobbled a fair bit but then pulled it back with 4 wins in a row to end the season.<\/p>\n To the rest of the Premier League, can we as football fans try and\u00a0not be petty and dismiss this victory? I see a lot of people talking about things like \u201cworst Premier League champions\u201d or \u201cSet Piece FC\u201d, etc. Yes, I don\u2019t like their brand of football, but their set piece coach saw a vulnerability in the rules and ruthlessly exploited it. To any F1 fans, this is about 75% of what that entire sport is about. And it\u2019s not without skill either; Saka and Rice are two of the best corner takers I\u2019ve ever seen. Almost every ball they put in is right on the money. That takes a lot of practice, and I see far too many teams put terrible balls into the box and conceding counters rather than take advantage of their set pieces. Yes, I\u2019d rather not watch Arsenal games because I find them terribly boring to watch, but that doesn\u2019t mean that on most days, they don\u2019t put the ball in the opponent\u2019s goal more often than vice-versa. They\u2019ve won the league and they deserve their flowers. Let them enjoy it. Sure, some of them will go overboard (I\u2019ve already seen someone here talk about how it takes 22 years to sustainably win the league \u2013 LOL!) but such is human nature.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be curious to see what happens next season. Surely, the FA and the Premier League are going to clamp down on this corner nonsense involving crowding and nullifying goalkeepers with WWE royal rumbles in the box, so one of their biggest advantages may get nullified. At the same time, with Guardiola leaving, Slot uncertain, Carrick and Xabi Alonso being relatively unknown quantities from a Premier League title race perspective, surely Arteta has the opportunity to build on this? It\u2019ll be interesting to watch \u2013 and will tell us a lot about Arteta\u2019s legacy \u2013 was this a flash in the pan, taking advantage of inferior challengers, or is it the start of a period of dominance.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll naturally be rooting for PSG in the Champions League final but if Arsenal somehow find a way to win, then once again, credit to them. Football isn\u2019t about who plays the most beautiful passes, or dribbles past the most defenders, it\u2019s about who puts the ball in the back of the net more often in 90 minutes. As a Chelsea supporter, I don\u2019t care that we defended our way to a Champions League win in 2012, I just remember it as being one of the most thrilling nights of my life. And I\u2019m sure Arsenal fans will feel the same way (if they win). \u00a0<\/p>\n The one and only Villa\u2026<\/p>\n Hi,<\/p>\n Since Thursday\u2019s mailbox was somehow still about Arsenal<\/a> with most of my fellow Villa fans to drunk or ecstatic to write in I thought I\u2019d share the good vibes with the rest of the football community.<\/p>\n We just won the UEFA Cup. Yeah. Us. Really we did.<\/p>\n Yes, the elephant in the room is the grotesque financial mismatch that is the Premier League vs any other league in the world but a win is a win!<\/p>\n I cannot believe we qualified for Europe for the fourth year in a row while winning a cup in Europe. With a team largely made up of Dean Smith signings. When our entire first choice midfield spent a month or two (longer in the case of Kamara \u2013 thanks \u2018little paul\u2019) in the treatment room. When some of our players have played 55(!) games. When we had little choice but to sell a great striker (Malen) in January to cover our financial butts even after selling \u2018one of our own\u2019 Ramsey in the summer. After not winning a game and scoring once in the first 5 games during major transfer rumour turbulence.<\/p>\n
Dave LFC \u2013 yes this does mean more,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Weldoninhio, BAC<\/p>\n
JM, Ireland, A very happy man (Also you can stop publishing Stewie now, his heart clearly isn\u2019t in it anymore, poor thing)<\/p>\n
Paul K, London<\/p>\n
Dion<\/p>\n
Chris, Sunny Croydon.<\/p>\n
Hartley MCFC Somerset (Trophies wise; two\u2019s still more than one right?)<\/p>\n
CFC, London<\/p>\n