Happy Friday from a slightly overcast Munich. Out here for a few days with The Management doing a bit of bank holiday weekend away, whilst keeping my German up to speed, if I see Harry Kane I’ll apologise for not bringing any crayons for him. I bet they just don’t taste as good out here as the ones back home.

I am super gutted to be missing the Bournemouth game though. This is the time of the season in which you have to drink in and appreciate every moment, because our team is really good and regardless of whether we win the league or not, savouring the anticipation and then (hopefully this happens this weekend but certainly not counting my chickens after the Villa game) when the victories come around is really important. And in the last couple of year’s we’ve certainly had a lot more victories than not, which is nice.

For this season it’d be nice to have just the three more, Arsenal, then at least we can we’ve done our bit.

That will probably not be enough, as I’ve already said, but if we can just do our bit, at least we’ll all know we’ve done all we can in this league. The 2024 record will have been phenomenal and it’s just a shame we’re up again what we’re up against, because in most other eras of the Premier League this would have seen us champions I suspect.

I was six in 1989 when we won our first title in 18 years. I wasn’t really in to football and only really started getting in to it in 1990 when I started playing it with my friends. That’s when I found Arsenal so despite knowing the history, watching the videos and all that, I never really got to experience that never-to-be-repeated season (Sky can bleat on all they like about the City Aguero moment, but they were playing a nearly relegated QPR, at home, only needing a win and not to win the game by a certain goal margin) so the gravity of what happened I never experienced in real time. Then we won the league in 1991 and I was taken to Highbury to see us beat Man United and win the league at age nine.

At age 16 in 1998 I experienced my next league title win for The Arsenal and I remember watching Tony Adams stride through to bag his goal and that iconic Martin Tyler “that sums it all up” commentary. I’d had to wait seven years between titles but in between that time we had the League and FA Cup double in 1993, as well as the Cup Winners Cup in 1994, so I had experienced plenty of trophy success as an Arsenal fan. But we only had to wait four years after 1998 for me to experience our next title and by that time I was in the first year of Uni. In my third year of Uni we had the Invincibles (Jens now delighted that he’s bagged those rights, eh?) and I remember a Liverpool fan telling me “enjoy it mate. It won’t last forever”.

My response to that?

“Nah – we’ve got Arsene mate. We’ll always be good. I hope he stays forever”.

At the age of 21 I’d seen my team win the league for 24% of my life – almost a quarter of my time on the planet I had been a supporter of a successful side. And if you factor in when I actually started properly getting in to football at the age of seven, between 1990 and 2004 it was closer to a third of my life. If you then factor in all trophies, I’d seen us lift 10 trophies in 14 years.

I thought the good times would last forever. The team being consistently good across multiple managers, the impetuousness of youth, the expectation that being an Arsenal fan was easy, I thought it was great fun.

Oh how I wish I could have a sit down and catch up with my younger self. How I wish I could tell my younger self to “drink it all in now mate’ – you need to savour these moments”.

I’ve been writing this blog since around 2009 and although we’ve won a few FA Cups to ticking us over (which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every time by the way), the ‘proper’ big ones have alluded us and me. I’ve been a season ticket holder for around a decade. I have never really seen us go this close before. In 2008 it was done in March and that was the same in 2014. Last season it was April. We’ve not really got this close in 20 years. So I have formed a protective mental wall and that’s why I repeatedly tell myself it’s not going to happen. As I’ve crept in to middle age I’ve realised that I was just a very lucky young lad in my childhood and teens. So now I am learning to embrace those good moments. I still have my protective mental wall, but post wins like the one against the Scum last week, I take a little bit of extra time to just drink it all in. Enjoy the journey, even if the end destination doesn’t work out as you’d hoped.

Younger Chris, meet older Chris, this old guy has some things to tell you that will stand you in good stead.

And that’s where we are today. Enjoying the little moments. We have Arteta and his highly talented squad for getting us here. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, against United next week, at home to Everton on the final day and then in all of City’s games, I am going to be cheering and applauding the effort of the lads throughout.

Back tomorrow with some pre-match thoughts on Bournemouth. Have a good one folks.