After Everton, What Next? Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup Permuations

Wow! Tra-lala tra-lala.  A great Sunday it is. We dispatched Everton and are now one game away from, at the very least, a runners up medal. If the Premier League is Chelsea’s to lose, the FA cup is ours. It has felt that way at least. The luck of consecutive home draws against top sides, coupled with the relative ease at which we surmounted these hurdles, at the bare minimum reveals that the Arsenal fraternity fancies this cup.

Enjoy the Sunday, you know what's coming in the horizon

Thinking about it, there has been no trace of trepidation at any point in the knockout stages. The swag is back; hell we even saw an invincible-esque counter attack goal yesterday! The walk of Champions I must add. The beauty of this win against Everton was that for the first time in a long time, we appeared to have so many gears that we could still engage, and yet never really needed to.

Come the FA cup this season ,It is like we leave it all behind: the desertion of luck in the Champions League that has seen to it that we land unfavorable round of 16 draws in the past couple years, and the dogged inconsistency that stalks us in the Premier League.

Whoever the opponent, the Arsenal players put on their game face on, consciously aware that we are the joint most successful team in Europe’s oldest cup competition. However, it is universally felt that the silver than lines the dark Arsenal cloud over the past 8 years, should be of the EPL variety.

These are understandable wishes, given the fall from grace of this competition, though on a personal level, I wouldn’t mind Arsenal picking it up from where they left it with the FA cup. For the league, I embrace the spirit of the Luganda saying  that translates to “whoever chases after the free range chicken is rewarded upon slaughter even if it is by the token of a pair of chicken legs.”Meaning, I would gladly take 2^nd or even 3^rd spot.   

Not to mistake me, I’d hate it for Chelsea to be EPL 2013-14 champions, of the two evils I’d rather Manchester City lift their second EPL title. Going by the Tottensh*t debacle yester night, it seems that any chance of upsetting Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race more than ever lies in the match-ups among us.

What an orgy fest!

Keeping that in mind and the holy grail of momentum in football, it then becomes apparent that we ought to make the most of our trip to Bayern. A one nil win resulting in an aggregate Arsenal loss, looks like the obvious choice for any Arsenalii Damu. We get that morale boost, while we save the legs for the EPL run in. However, you just have to consider how the Champions League scene will be upset IF the odds on favorites and reigning champions get knocked out at this stage: All of a sudden It becomes anyone’s cup as there would be no clear favorites!

Besides, it appears that Arsenal are a tournament team. We might have a chance if we are in the mix at this stage when the Champions League traditionally abandons its league format roots and metamorphoses into a KO competition proper. Furthermore, it could turn interesting here as the arena of the EPL orgy shifts to European stage. Why do I say so?

Whatever Mancini and Drogba wish for, Chelsea have it in them to finish off Galatasary; and I still maintain that Manchester City will knock out Barcelona (My observations were that Barcelona were lucky to get that win at the Etihad; even at 10 against 11, City still looked like getting a result. Moreover, the Catalans appear uncharacteristically beatable as evidenced by recent league results.)  If all these Ifs be, with all the Premier League contenders distracted, Liverpool might just pita kati kati ya hao, sneak in that elusive 20^th Championship! What a feat that would be!

Like Arsene said yesterday, “We fight all season to be in positions like this.” If Mesut Ozil and Giroud keep it at that level and allow their partnership that seems to have been re-born at the adversity corner of Arsenal football club to blossom; If Alex Chamberlain, The Ox, maintains on his journey towards the form that we saw in pre-season; if Kim Kallstrom is even as half descent as we think him be; if Ramsey’s comeback rides along smoothly; if BFG and Koscienly continue to hold fort; and if Wenger makes it a habit of ensuring good use of the Arsenal squad as he did yesterday, maybe.

Just maybe, these permutations might spring a wonderful surprise at the season’s end. #COYG. 

p.s I bountiful plentiful week. I am reliably informed that the internet celebrates 25 years this coming week. What a ride this has been Miss Internet. 

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