Before Brugge. Proper prioritisation

A quick post before our Champions League game on a truly important matter.

I hadn’t planned to write another piece before the Brugge match, but a few crucial thoughts emerged that needed to be put across before Tuesday.

I was genuinely surprised to see Guardiola roll out nearly his “best eleven” for three games on the trot this week. This can only signal one thing—he’s got his priorities sorted. Just a couple of weeks back, Guardiola chucked the Leverkusen result in the Champions League by fielding a heavily rotated squad. In fairness, I still didn’t expect them to lose that home game, but lose - they did.

Now they face Real Madrid, and I’m absolutely convinced he will rotate his key players. Even if Haaland and Foden start, they won’t clock more than a 60-minute shift. But I’d wager at least one of them will be watching the starting whistle from the bench. Simply because Guardiola has decided that Crystal Palace this weekend is his highest priority.

He has realised the fact that they can’t possibly win everything, so he’s sacrificed a “better path” in the playoffs to try and keep up with his former apprentice in the Premier League. In January, they’ve got Bodo and Galatasaray in the Champions League, and that’s where they’ll grab six points and secure passage to the play-offs. Perhaps they’d need an extra round, however, it’s highly probable this round would be against a bottom-half side and shouldn’t pose a major threat. To be fair, his logic is quite sound—given their current defensive wobbles, they don’t look like genuine Champions League contenders this year; a strong attacking side could easily rip them apart.

But when it comes to the Premier League, where consistency is paramount, that’s a whole different kettle of fish. Guardiola is brilliant at motivating for those routine league fixtures. He’s bagged six Premier League titles but only one Champions League trophy, and even that one was achieved with all those old and new stars: Haaland, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Rodri, Foden, Gvardiol, Walker, and the like. Logically, in which competition does his current team stand a chance right now? Furthermore, denying his ex-apprentice the glory of beating him to the finish line is a massive motivator. And his strategic prioritization seems to be paying dividends so far.

What Arteta needs to grasp is that we, too, are not invincible. We aren’t in a position to be dreaming of trebles—we desperately need one major trophy. Without that silverware, we’re essentially building a house without a solid foundation. It might look fresh and appealing now, but it could all come crashing down if we face a tough wind. We must cement this club’s future with a Premier League title. While we’re currently top of the table, we need to get our priorities straight and accept that a Champions League group game against Brugge holds minimal value compared to the rapid succession of league fixtures awaiting us in December.

Here was the exchange with the journalist following the Villa defeat:

Q: It’s obviously quite a relentless fixture list, but in a way it’s quite a positive, the chance to go to Bruges and try and get a win and get back to winning ways?

A: If we would play tomorrow, I would be happy in terms of getting the feeling out of the defeat, but it’s time to reflect, as well as a team to learn from it.

This question, even though it was published on the official Arsenal website, is a trap. We don’t need a win in Bruges. A draw would suit us perfectly fine, and even a defeat isn’t the end of the world. What we truly need to do, and must prioritize, is bouncing back fiercely against Wolves. A convincing victory at home will set us up nicely for a better result against Everton. That should be the central response to the Villa loss.

The match against Brugge FC? That’s an opportunity to consolidate our league standing while also giving minutes to the players who haven’t had a recent chance to feature. It is imperative to start Norgaard, Nwaneri, MLS, Madueke, and Martinelli tomorrow, and equally imperative to leave out Rice and Zubimendi. That is what prioritization looks like for a powerful league campaign, rather than chasing some ephemeral notion of “getting the feeling out”.

I am concerned that Arteta, absorbed by the defeat of negativity, will make an emotional rather than rational decision on Wednesday. And that, frankly, would be a mistake, because everything in this sport and this world comes with a cost.