We’re halfway through the week, halfway to our next cup final and as awesome as it’s been drinking in all of the salty Scum tears, the focus absolutely has to switch to the challenge of Bournemouth, who will not be an easy opponent on Saturday lunchtime.

One person I will be hoping that is in the line up is Kai Havertz, who has been in superb form and the fact that he has been lambasted by that utter muppet Adebayor makes him all the more awesome in my eyes. I’m not linking to any of his words, but let’s just say Adebayor is to football punditry what Abba were to the music industry: an utter travesty.

Havertz has been in roasting form, has been one of the clear winners in our form in 2024 and has shown just how integral he is to our side with a goal and an assist in a North London Derby, shortly after bagging a brace against his former club in another London derby too. Keep on doing what you’re doing Kai, you’ve been brilliant.

Another surprise Chelsea addition who has also had a good season so far is Jorginho, with whom reports emerged yesterday from David Ornstein that he is about to sign an extension to keep him at the club for next season as well. And I think most Arsenal fans agree this is the right move. On the Same Old Arsenal pod on Monday night we had a chat about Jorginho versus Partey for next season and I think most of us and those in the chat room as well agreed that it probably has to be Partey that is moved on in the summer. On talent alone then it would clearly be Partey that stays – his verticality of passing and physical presence is just a little more dominant than Jorginho – but he’s barely spent any time on the pitch this season and as he gets older that’s only going to get worse. Conversely Jorginho has shown that he can play a big part in our season and it was only a month or so back that we were all talking about him and one of the first names on the team sheet. He arrived to a few grumbles and there were certainly a few of us raising our eyebrows as to why we signed a 31-year-old for £12million from Chelsea, but when you look at how he’s slotted in and the way some of those younger players look up to him, it just goes to show how valuable he has been for us in more ways than just his time on the pitch.

That has also been impressive too by the way. I remember seeing Chelsea fans laughing at how they got that amount of money for him and suggesting that he was a bit of a crab sideways passer, that he gets bypassed easily and that they couldn’t understand how they’d managed to mug us out of £12million. But nothing could be further from the truth. Under Arteta and in Arsenal’s system we have seen a range of passing in Jorginho that has been superb and something few of us truly knew about (why would we? Then we’d have to watch that horrible club in West London more than twice a season when they play us) and I am so pleased that it has worked out. It’s just another example of why we are all so much more trusting of the Arsenal set up when it comes to player acquisition; there have been one or two that perhaps haven’t worked out as well but broadly speaking in the last two to three years Edu, Arteta and the team that is responsible for player identification have been absolutely spot on.

Havertz, Jorginho, Rice, White, Raya, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard – the list can go on and on. You could probably also put the likes of Ramsdale, Zinchenko and definitely Gabriel Jesus in there too; yes the latter three have seen their game time restricted, but if any of us truly sat back and had to make a binary decision on players who have been successful or unsuccessful signings, you’d have to say that those three players have all played their part and done really well for us in the main.

So I’m glad Jorginho is staying and when it comes to the summer I’ll be trying my absolute best to just go with whatever Mikel and Edu opt for in certain positions. Because it’s working and they just need to keep on doing what their doing.

A quick little nod to Declan Rice before I toddle off for the day today. I did like his comments in the Athletic (posted here so it’s not behind their paywall) about his goalscoring. We know what a revelation he’s been since he joined us, we all have a chuckle at our “Declan Rice we got him half price” chant that rings out the grounds these days, but as I also said on the SOA pod, he has been a fundamental part of why we are in the title race talk at the closing stages. Yes, the fact Saliba has remained fit is a big part of our success this season and his partnership with Gabriel is immense, but I think Rice being that screen in front of them for most of the season is another piece in that puzzle that evidences the fact that we are so much more resolute at the back. I couldn’t give a monkey’s if Rice didn’t sore a single goal all season. Of course it’s nice that he has bagged some important goals, but this guy has come in to our team and helped to make us the most miserly defensive unit in the league. And I don’t think this is a one off season either like Newcastle had last season. As long as we can keep Rice, Gabriel and Saliba fit, I think we’ll keep on having this immense back line. Long may it continue.

That’s me done for today I think. Have yourselves a happy Wednesday and I’ll be back tomorrow as attention and focus starts to zone in on Bournemouth at The Emirates.