When you read about an Arsenal centreback saying the team are ready to ‘explode,’ you should probably check what he means.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: David Luiz of Arsenal discusses with Sokratis of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium on December 05, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: David Luiz of Arsenal discusses with Sokratis of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium on December 05, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Arsenal are ready to explode. I can hear you all now, ‘haven’t they done that already?’

Thankfully, it’s not that type of exploding for once and the defence isn’t going to self-destruct when they handball another own goal past a helpless Bernd Leno. At least I don’t think it is.

More’s the shame, you could be tempted into thinking.

But we won’t do that here. No. Let’s keep this positive.

“Sometimes, these games are games where you can explode,” Sokratis said ahead of facing Manchester City’s not insignificant, if depleted, attack.

“I think we need one good game in our home to explode and I hope we will have that on Sunday.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 30: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal speaks with David Luiz of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 30, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal speaks with David Luiz of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 30, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

“I don’t know if it’s a good time [to play them]. City is, I think, the best team with Liverpool in the Premier League and not just the Premier League.

“They have fantastic players. It will be a very difficult game.”

I get what he means. We just need one game where it all clicks and they remember all the stuff that Unai Emery made them forget. Like how to play football.

With Freddie at the helm you can already sense the players are having more fun than they were under the rigid regime of the Spaniard that seemed to punish individuality and creativity. Even if it hasn’t quite clicked on the pitch as a unit for Freddie’s team, happy players are much more likely to make that happen than miserable ones.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 09: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal celebrates after scores his sides third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on December 09, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 09: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal celebrates after scores his sides third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on December 09, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“It has only been 10 days, two weeks,” Freddie reminded us before the game on Sunday. “But I feel there are certain things that are much, much better in the games and that I feel really good about.

“I’m happy. The players are smiling at least and that’s important. Of course people that play are smiling more than players that don’t, but in general terms I’ve always believed in that. Of course you need to be professional and all of that, but they’re still human beings and they need to be happy.

“When I played, when I was smiling I played much better. I believe in that but then as well of course there needs to be structure in how you can express yourself. Happy players play better I think.”

Let’s hope we all have something to smile about on Sunday evening.