I’m going to get straight in to the press conference Mikel Arteta held yesterday in a minute, but before I do that, I saw some noises yesterday about Chelsea potentially lining up a move for Aaron Ramsdale as a possible replacement for their current ‘keeper Sanchez and I need to get this off me chest, because there is absolutely no way in any kind of fresh hell that we should be entertaining such a thing. Ramsdale is probably the best English keeper, because I’m not having dino arms Pickford as being better than him. Ramsdale is 25 year’s old and will probably end up at another club as the number one for the next ten years at least. I’m still not even convinced that Ramsdale isn’t the current best ‘keeper at The Arsenal; Raya has yet to prove how he is a massive upgrade and if this was truly the kind of fair fight that Arteta alluded to in the summer, I think he’d possibly have one his place back right now.

So the idea that we’re going to give him to that reprehensible club in West London leaves the worst kind of sour taste in my mouth that I think I’ve ever felt. There is no way we should even consider it. And I get that everyone has their price and I understand that Ramsdale might feel as though he needs to move on and want a move of some kind, but this shouldn’t be something Arsenal are countenancing. And even if they are, if they’re going to do that kind of dirty, I just pray we absolutely fleece Chelsea. Like, to the value of £100million or something crazy like that.

I also thought that Chelsea were wary of FFP and if that is the case and they want a loan, then maybe we do a deal that says “he can play for you, but the second Raya gets injured, he’s coming straight back to us – immediate recall clause”. Given that Chelsea don’t appear to be any threat to us this season, given that he wants game time to keep him happy and if we could have that instant recall clause, I could kind of see a world in which that benefits all parties, but there’s no way in hell I’d want to provide Chelsea with a quality keeper they can have in between the sticks for the next decade. Please, Arsenal, don’t go there…

Anyway, let’s move on to more pressing matters, which was Arteta’s news conference yesterday and before I go in to the nuances of some of his points, I do love his hearty and recurring use of the word ‘innit’. It’s brilliant and shows how, just like Hector, he’s got his Spanglish on point and it sounds hilarious. What is less hilarious, but is pleasing, is the dropping of the FA charge and I thought Arteta handled his response really well. Not that he would have done this, but any kind of perceived smugness coming across from his part would have probably have led to even more gnashing journos but, more importantly, have the Old Boys Network at the PGMOL doubling down on trying to shaft Arsenal this season. I still think we’re not going to be getting 50/50s as much as other teams, but I do think that when he was asked about PGMOL specifically he played it with an impressively straight bat, because he was at pains to say “we” – as in talking about football as a whole, rather than the PGMOL – when he made his comments. I still think there will continue to be a perception that he’s too over the top, that he is too loud, that the Old Boys Network at the PGMOL and their referees will continue to referee us differently to most other teams, but at least he’s trying to claw back some goodwill with comments like that. I guess it’s probably all he can really do, because he can’t lambast them, he can’t hold his hands up and say they’re great because it will come across as insincere, so this is the best approach he could take.

Personally, I’m a petty, petty, man and I wouldn’t have been able to resist the urge to say “I told you all, you bunch of pr*cks. I was right” – so it’s probably better that he doesn’t have the same temprament as me!

He was then asked a few questions about Brighton and, as I said on last night’s Same Old Arsenal preview pod, this is going to be a really tough game against a side who have a manager that is sure to be in line for the next big job that pops up. Arteta referenced this and I also think it is a valid point; they have maintained a very good standard given they’ve had European football thrown in to their team this season, as well as the bulk of their midfield that got them in to Europe last season being ripped away. MacAllister and Caicedo were massive players for them and I’ll be honest and say I thought they might struggle as a result of their absence and the fact they have European football to contend with, but they have been as impressive as last season and they’ve also topped their group in Europe at the first time of asking; this is a good team who are going to cause us problems tomorrow and Arteta alluded to that yesterday.

He was also asked about whether he’s reminded the players of last season and if there was an element of revenge about this game, which I thought was an interesting question and also an interesting response, particularly after we saw all of the stuff around Brentford with Ivan Toney and his “nice kick about with the lads” tweet. Arteta used that then to fuel a revenge vibe, so although he low-keyed his response with a “they know. They felt it as well, so they know” response, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s gone full Clockwork Orange on them and had every one of them in the cinema room with matchsticks propping up their eyelids, forcing them to watch the full 90 from last year. He wants them to remember that pain and 100% use it tomorrow and do you know what? I hope he does. I want an Arsenal team fiercely fired up for this one. I want us to go out there and put on a display, because our record against Brighton is pretty pants since they have been in the Premier League and we need to be re-addressing that for sure. I’ll do a bit more of a match preview tomorrow though I think.

And so on that note, I’ll put a pin in today’s nonsense and catch you all in the morrow. I have a Christmas goose to cook for friends tonight, which will be interesting, because I’ve chargrilled the others I’ve done in previous year’s to within an inch of their lives, so wish me luck…