Celebrate it to an extent as it shows it’s been a good season but it’s not actual success regardless of how anyone spins it. If Spurs finish 4th this season then Ange has had a brilliant first season, but as I’m sure he will say, it’s a good start but that’s it.
It isn't necessarily an indicator that it has been a good season. Case in point: us being in the title race and finishing 3rd in 15/16 was as much down to every single big club having a crap season as it was us having a 'good' season. We accumulated 70pts that year. AVB finished 5th with 72 and got the sack not long after. So which was the 'better' season? It's all relative. I think this is exactly what Ange is getting at. 4th started being spun as some sort of trophy by Wenger and Arsenal fans when it became clear to them that their stadium move was a disaster and they couldn't keep pace with Chelsea and United. And all it did was mask a steady decline to the point that they weren't challenging for the title again until a year ago.
Porro, Sarr and Johnson replace Emerson, Bentancur and Werner. Not sure about the balance there, but I can understand it.
This is a far different team to the Spurs Villa beat last time. Provided we cope with their aggression we have the quality to win this game.
Kulusevski really needs to step up today, because on the basis of last weekends performance, both Johnson & Werner deserve a place. (Although accepting that Kulu probably gives more presence/ strength.)
It's clear that Bentancur is still a while away from full sharpness so benching him is understandable as you say. It's crucial to have one of Werner/Johnson in the XI and the other one the bench so that we have some pace to bring on later in the game.
Need to release the ball earlier to front line. Making decent runs and not being picked out. Liveliest I've seen us start for a while....
