Monday Cannon Fodder: Christmas period

Arsenal have a congested schedule in December, and I’m super excited for it. Without European competition this season, waiting an entire week between Arsenal matches has felt like an eternity. The Gunners have 8 matches this month and a ninth on New Years’ Day.

I know that in many ways it is better for the club to be playing fewer matches, especially when you consider that they could have been playing clubs like Mura in the Conference League. For the record, I still don’t believe that Mura is a football club and not a Pokemon.

But the additional rest has done the Gunners well, and the club has stayed relatively healthy. We haven’t seen the niggling muscle problems that you might see with a more congested schedule. Arsenal have had injuries, of course, but they’ve been more the “unavoidable” type — Xhaka’s knee strain happens whether he is rested or not. The same can be said for Sead Kolasinac’s serious ankle injury.

That said, it’s going to be nice to watch Arsenal more frequently this month. Come January 2nd, we will have a pretty clear idea of which way this season is going to go. It’s on a knife’s edge right now. The anticipation is revving me up. Let’s go.