Arsenal got a dog

Hello,

The week started out positively with the news that Aaron Ramsdale signed a new contract with Arsenal. Arsenal released a nice video of Ramsdale talking to the camera. I’m enjoying this new sit-down-and-speak-to-the-camera thing the club is doing when a player signs a new contract. I’m a simple man. Sit down in front of the camera and tell us that you like us. Gets me every time.

In the week's most important news, it was reported on Friday and confirmed later that day that Arteta has started bringing in a chocolate lab named Win that just roams the training ground a few days a week. The thinking is that research has shown petting a dog can help reduce stress.

Look, this is the signing of the summer. No notes. 10/10.

The week finished with a trip up to Nottingham Forest.

This match reminded me of the end of the school year. It was as if it was the last week and that one overachieving teacher assigned more work even though you’ve got one foot out the door.

In fact, you’ve got one foot in your parent’s car, your bag is already in the back seat, and the teacher is yelling out the window “You’ve got two more assignments before you can leave” and you’re thinking “I’ve already calculated what my final grade is going to be. I can’t do better or worse than my score now no matter how these assignments are graded.” But, you have to drag yourself back into the building and go through the motions of these last two assignments. You don’t even bring your bag back inside from your parent’s car because you don’t think you need it.

That was Arsenal on Saturday. Luckily there’s a dog now that Arteta can rely on.

Of course, there’s one match left where we might possibly being say goodbye to some players.

Community pet drawing:

This a new section for the rest of this season. At the end of each week, I will create a post in the subscriber chat asking for pictures of your pets and I’ll select one to draw.

Olive and Velma update: