Before the Arsenal versus Manchester City FA Cup semi-final, I saw a Facebook status update – is that what they’re still called? – from a Gunners fan. “Just put a shift in and try…please.”
That day Arsenal did, of course, try. They won the tie, albeit in extra time. It was a ‘win’. So the formbook for the Gunners could be read as four wins in their last five games.
Despite that, there will be similar fears about Arsenal\’s performance levels when they take on their deadly rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon.The north London derby is a heated – sometimes nasty – affair and no quarter is given.
It would be unforgivable if Arsenal did not ‘put a shift’ in or ‘try’. There is, even more, spice to this fixture considering that if Arsenal merely avoids defeat they will almost certainly end Tottenham’s title aspirations.
Tottenham are 1.86 (Marathon) to get the victory they need to keep the pressure on Chelsea. Arsenal are 4.5 (Betway) and the draw is 4.05 (Unibet).
Our immediate reaction is to reckon that Arsenal are valued. Their form is good and their record against Tottenham at the Lane is strong – a draw and two wins in their last four.
But what if they’re not trying as hard you might say? Good point. Arsenal have looked lazy against West Ham (they actually won 3-0) and Crystal Palace where they were themselves beaten out of sight by the same scoreline. So they have been characterized as a team who are not trying.
There is a difference here. Trying to win and trying to be professional. The former, to the fan, means ‘wanting it more’. The latter means closing people down and concentrating.
A sports psychologist will tell you that the latter is much preferable. There is something in the brain called the amygdala.
It controls anxiety. Keep that part calm, more often than not, you win the game. But if you don’t and are 100 miles an hour, desperate to win, desperate to show everyone you want it, it does strange things. Muscles and sinews stiffen. Players become tight. They make mistakes. They get angry. They lose concentration.
Arsenal are far more likely to have control of their amygdala on Sunday. Tottenham? Well, they have proven to be a team who can’t control it when it counts. They imploded in extraordinary fashion when it counted at Chelsea in last season’s title race. When they had to win. They have just lost their seventh FA Cup semi-final in a row.
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