Sep 12, 2026 · 33 min · 15 segments
That is the stuff of absolute Champions! Arsenal traveled to the Stadium of Light and delivered a monumental, gritty away performance to take a massive three points against Sunderland. In this…
But what I want to start with first is that when you followed Arsenal for as long as I have, I'm into my fourth decade now since the mid-90s.
I've seen a whole array on the spectrum of Arsenal teams, both good and, let's just say, not so good.
And I've seen many, many Arsenal teams crumble under the spectacle of nights like this, under certain occasions when the spotlight's on the team, under pressure, raucous atmospheres, Saturday night fixtures where everyone's watching.
I've seen Arsenal go away to places in Europe, such as last season, Athletic Club Bilbao, right? With what a huge occasion it was for them, their return to the Champions League and just the buildup and the energy across that whole stadium.
I could feel it all the way watching on the other side of the world.
And just the way Arsenal are now able to handle occasions like this, like I first stood sat up and took notice of this at that Champions League match last season when I saw the way Arsenal could just, we can just dial the temperature down.
We just know exactly what we're doing.
We are mature, professional.
We can knock the ball around, take the crowd out of the occasion and handle.
We can handle whatever's thrown at us.
And we took it.
We took it all.
We took it all on the chest.
We absorbed it all.
And it was almost a point just thinking, is that it? Is that all you got? And we went down the other end and did our thing.
We would have crumbled just even a few seasons ago.
You know, even in that first title race, the first of the three... consecutive second place finishes, where we took a lot of people by surprise, even myself, maybe even ourselves at the club.
And as it came to show across the season, we weren't quite ready for it.
We weren't quite ready to handle that pressure, to handle the spotlight, the intensity that comes with it.
And just what a far cry from what I'm seeing now.
We are blessed.
But what I want to start with first is that when you followed Arsenal for as long as I have, I'm into my fourth decade now since the mid-90s.
I've seen a whole array on the spectrum of Arsenal teams, both good and, let's just say, not so good.
And I've seen many, many Arsenal teams crumble under the spectacle of nights like this, under certain occasions when the spotlight's on the team, under pressure, raucous atmospheres, Saturday night fixtures where everyone's watching.
I've seen Arsenal go away to places in Europe, such as last season, Athletic Club Bilbao, right? With what a huge occasion it was for them, their return to the Champions League and just the buildup and the energy across that whole stadium.
I could feel it all the way watching on the other side of the world.
And just the way Arsenal are now able to handle occasions like this, like I first stood sat up and took notice of this at that Champions League match last season when I saw the way Arsenal could just, we can just dial the temperature down.
We just know exactly what we're doing.
We are mature, professional.
We can knock the ball around, take the crowd out of the occasion and handle.
We can handle whatever's thrown at us.
And we took it.
We took it all.
We took it all on the chest.
We absorbed it all.
And it was almost a point just thinking, is that it? Is that all you got? And we went down the other end and did our thing.
We would have crumbled just even a few seasons ago.
You know, even in that first title race, the first of the three... consecutive second place finishes, where we took a lot of people by surprise, even myself, maybe even ourselves at the club.
And as it came to show across the season, we weren't quite ready for it.
We weren't quite ready to handle that pressure, to handle the spotlight, the intensity that comes with it.
And just what a far cry from what I'm seeing now.
We are blessed.
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