Clams, Birds and Elves: A Summary of the Week

Often when misfortune befalls someone and the consequences are pretty upsetting, there will be that guy who tries to muscle in and gain a bit of credit for their powers of prediction. Whether it's the friend who tells their food poisoned chum that the clams had always 'tasted a bit iffy' to him or the parent who claims their son is suffering from pneumonia because 'he didn't listen when I told him to wrap up warm', it's infuriating when anybody rubs salt in a wound with a little nugget of I-told-you-so-ness.

For that reason and the fact that almost a week has passed anyway, I won't try and claim that I saw the events of the Man City game coming. I did unfaithfully predict a loss, but I nor anyone else saw us shipping six goals. It was a total freak result, with all the games played and and injuries and Yaya Toures catching up with us at the same time.

And it's because of this that I stand by what I said in my preview; I'm not too worried even though we did lose by three goals. I don't think the squad will be too cut up either. Wenger made the correct and least North Korean call by allowing the team Christmas party to go ahead despite a loss in the same week and Woody, Mario, The Bananas in Pajamas et al seemed to be in good spirits, undeterred by the presence of an intruder. I can remember just one other 6-3 scoreline in any game of football which tells you just how unusual our game with Man City was. We were outplayed but I still wouldn't read as much into it as the 8-2 of 2011. For the record, the other 6-3 was the time Julio Baptista, the original and best beholder of the nickname 'The Beast', wrecked Liverpool, Arshavin-style.

In other news, Jack Wilshere got a two game ban for flipping the bird at Man City fans. My reaction to this is pretty meh. He did wrong, he got a ban. Two games is obviously the norm for this sort of incident now which leaves little room for complaints. I'd be more upset if it was a more experienced figure like Per Merte-Cap'n-Jack-er who'd lost their composure. We know by now that Jack (Wilshere) is a little hot-headed so if a ban teaches him a lesson he needs to learn, the player and the club may benefit in the long run.

Other than that, it's pretty quiet. Some transfer murmurs are doing the rounds with January looming. Diego Costa is the latest name to be linked but you'd imagine even someone with as little loyalty as that guy would see leaving his adopted nation, only three months after claiming that Spain gave him 'all that [he] has in [his] life', as a tad hypocritical. Also I don't want him because he's a nasty guy. Some good news is that Lukas Podolski will return to the squad for the Chelsea game. He'll start on the bench but it's nice to have a player of his quality to change the game. I really like him too. His crazy ways make him prime material for cult hero status some time in the future.

The big news in football today is the whole Cardiff situation. For those who don't know, Cardiff's wacky/sinister Malaysian owner has fallen out with the manager big time and has apparently decided to sack him. He sent an email to Malky Mackay on Monday confirming his intentions which has left the media in the unusual position of reporting the fallout over manager being sacked... before he's actually been sacked. It's all pretty hilarious unless you're associated with Cardiff City Football Club in any way other than owning it. You do feel for the fans though who have already had to sacrifice much of their club's identity in order to reach the Premier League. Additionally, it makes me wonder what the FA's Good and Proper Persons test consists of if a mad dictator like Vincent Tan was allowed to purchase a club. Does the test perhaps ask the single question 'Are you a fit and proper person?'. Who knows.

Finally have a look at Santi Claus. The sound of the little Spaniard saying 'Santi Claus' is like a tickle on the belly and for me it's the best yuletide football joke since Gary Lineker ended MOTD with '...and Santa scores a hat trick.' following this game.

Anyway. That's about all we've got time for folks. I'll try and do a preview of the Chelsea game but if not, then I'll see you when I see you. Merry Christmas.

Well we beat them 2-0: A Post Champions League City Preview

Ok so I haven't written anything in way too long and instead of spending ages catching up on all the matches I failed to report on, I'll summarise the results with a series of emoticons:

Cardiff - 3-0 - :D

Hull - 2-0 - :)

Everton - 1-1 - :/

Napoli - 0-2 - :o

Good. Now we've got that sorted, I'll move on to a preview of today's game. We play Man City away and with the Citizens racking up a Mourinho like record of invincibility at home, I must say I'm a little worried.

The odds are not exactly in our favour; We had a longer trip in the week, our recovery time has been 24 hours shorter than theirs and, crucially, they had the luxuary of being able to rest Aguero, Negredo, Kompany and Yaya Toure (arguably the best four players in their squad) in their annoying win over Bayern while we had to play a much stronger team than we would have wanted to. Add in the fact that we played a significant chunk of our midweek fixture with ten men and the fact we haven't won in a couple of games now, and things are looking far from ideal.

This may sound like a hugely negative way of thinking about things, but I almost expect a loss today. I'm comfortable saying that because I think every single team in the league, even those with form behind them and luck on their side, will struggle at the Etihad. Shaky away from home they may be, but the mercenaries just seem to click into gear when they're in their comfort zone, as we saw when they executed Spurs a couple of weeks back. We could lose 3-0 today and for me at least it wouldn't be a major cause for concern.

Obviously it would be nice if we put in a good performance and even taking a point would feel like a win. However, I still think the game we play against Chelsea in nine days is a much more relevant test when it comes to gauging the potential of our team this season.

Arsene Wenger has hinted that we may go all out for the win which is certainly a risky strategy. But maybe it isn't. If we sit back and play for the draw, there's a good chance we'll get broken down by the array of attacking talent City have at their disposal so really taking the game to them might work.

If we do try and hit them early, it suggests that the inclusion of Theo Walcott from the start is a possibility. He's played no real part this season due to injury but a couple of assists in cameo appearances recently indicates that he may be ready for a start. He certainly offers something wholly different to the other contenders for the right-sided spot in the attacking three of midfield. Considering that Gael Clichy at left-back is as close to a weak link that the City first XI has, a bit of Theo treatment would be a good way to try and break them down.

Another players who hasn't quite hit the heights of last season is Santi Cazorla. The arrival of Ozil has certainly eased the burden that he carried in his inaugural year as a Gunner but you could argue that the German has also overshadowed him. If he can rediscover the mercurial, devilish incandescence that made us fall in love the first time, we have a real chance of taking this winter period by storm. He's my one to watch for today.

In terms of team selection, things are less straightforward than they were a month ago. Nacho Monreal has been given the chance he was pining for and created a real selection dilemma by reminding the boss what a good player he is. It is true that he's more developed in an attacking sense than Kieran Gibbs but...Kieran Gibbs. What a guy. For that reason I would choose the England man today. And always. But I like Nacho man as well.

Neguero (just thought of that) are in stunning collective form so I wouldn't stray from the Arteta Flamini combination in front of the defense today, to try and halt the service from midfield. They offer superb protection as a unit so even if it means we use Jack Wilshere as a sub instead of from the start, I think it's necessary to play them. Although, when I've made team predictions on this blog so far, I've been wrong almost ever single time.

I like Martin Demichelis because of a few things. Number One: He's got one of those ironically bad throwback/throwforward fusion hair cuts. Think Chris Waddle mullet meets Andy Carroll ponytail meets Pep Guardiola fashionably receding. Number Two: He's clearly not good enough to play for a team like Man City. I don't know what he has done in the past but at the moment he's just bad. Anyway there are more reasons, but I hope we target him today (if he plays).

So there we go. I hope for a win but I don't expect one. Please defy me Arsenal. Please.

For now.

Marseille: Solid

Well I seem to be in the minority here in thinking that our performance against Marseille was unspectacular. There were flashes of excellence but in my opinion it was a competent victory at best. Ozil missed penalty aside (for the moment) I thought we were sloppy across the midfield and although stats seem to disagree with me, a few big timers from this year disappointed.

However, our opponents still made us look a bit 1970's Brazil in comparison with what they had to offer. It was a grey, drab and turgid display from the French side who genuinely showed up to get beaten. It made leaving their star players Valbuena and Thauvin (who seems a good prospect but a nasty fella) on the bench plain illogical; surely you either play them for a bit of pride or leave them at home to chill for a few hours? Anyway, they really were a poor advert for European football, in particular due to the fact that they come from one of UEFA's stronger nations.

We started badly. Ramsey gave the ball away from the kick off. Then we did better. We won it back, Sagna played one pass which cut through the Marseille back line, Wilshere picked up the ball and, well, scored. Yes Marseille made it kind of simple for him but the way he looked up, cut back and just lifted the ball beyond Steve Mandanda was Pires-esque. He made it all look ever so easy.

Then, in a manner fearfully reminiscent of the opening day of the season, we got cocky. Having established the status quo within the first minute, people started making silly errors. Ramsey should have buried a chance and instead shot at Mandanda, Ozil failed to control a wonderful scooped ball from the Welshman when through on goal and all our midfielders gifted possesion to Marseille. Had we been facing an opponent with better ball retention, we could easily have conceded. The only saving grace for me was our uber-solid defence. And the Marseille manager's ridiculous ski-wear themed attire. On the former, special mention to Nacho Monreal who despite well documented frustration at a lack of proper playing time, came in and did a first rate job down the left. I was mightily impressed. I still love Gibbo though.

When we won a penalty, it came almost as a relief. We were clearly the better side but were having difficulty finishing off moves. For the record, I think it was an incorrect decision. The foul on Ramsey came outside the box but the mistake was marginal and his little flick deserved something.

As Mesut Ozil stepped up to take it, he did not for one minute look as if he was about to score like a striker brimming with form and confidence may have. Perhaps it was those eyes. Actually it wasn't. It was the way he stuttered like Musharaf in his run up, leaving himself very little backlift with which to strike the ball. He proceded to pass it towards the goalmouth and Mandanda saved easily. It was an insipid spot kick and he looks short of something at the moment. Not that I'm heavily criticising; he's world class and that will shine through at some point.

In the second half we were improved. Ozil for example upped his game to an acceptable level. However we still lacked the second goal. There was a sense that the football Gods may punish our lack of ruthlessness with a skiddy own goal or something so when we did knock in a second, it was very soothing. Jack Wilshere tapped in after good approach play and it was just what we needed after Valbuena and Thauvin's respective introductions to the game had significantly improved Marseille going forward.

Although the second goal made things safe, it was nice to have the options of Cazorla and Walcott to bring on late from the bench. They both stretched Marseille and if the lead had remained at one goal or we'd suffered a freak sending off, this could have been invaluable as neither of them are or ever will be Nicklas Bendtner.

Overall, I found myself upset but not worried that we scored only two goals when so many more were possible. Although I like the 'play ok but still win' Arsenal of the last couple of games, it would be great if we could see some real form going into another sticky run of fixtures. And with Cardiff and Hull our next two fixtures, there's a high probability of that happening. We face the Redbirds/Robin Blue Breasts on Saturday in Wales. We'll speak again then. Farewell.

I'd 6-0 be a Tottenham fan right now.

Apologies for my tenuous title but when you get punned into the dirt it is never forgotten. So any chance for redemption must be taken, even if it doesn't really make sense.

My underlying point is that Spurs were given a mighty whooping at the weekend which, despite being dealt at the hands of Man City's mercenaries, is a lovely sight to see once in a while. They carried on where Crystal Palace left off with regards to humourous defending and it cost them at least four goals by my reckoning. Admittedly City were downright spendiferous at times (Negredo in particular made Michael Dawson look a complete mug for his goal) but it's pleasant to see such a poor performance from our nearest rivals. The fact that they spent so heavily in the summer really is the cherry on top. And to my Hotspur mates, you may have made a profit in the market, but eight players collectively earn at least twice what Gareth Bale was on so your point is null and void.

Maybe it says a lot about me that I have focused so heavily on Tottenham's pain rather than our own success. Love thy Neighbour doesn't really apply in football though. Our performance was wonderful for me. Not how we played, no. In many ways, Southampton were the better side. But the fact that we never left second gear yet still ran out 2-0 winners. I love 2-0. 2-0 is the embodiment of professionalism. It's not a watery glass of squash 1-0. It's not an opulent hot chocolate complete with marshmallows and whipped cream 5-0. It is a lovely, warm glass of milk on a cold November evening and it couldn't have been more perfect. We once again displayed that classic champion's trait of not hitting the heights we can, yet still winning comfortably. Ah, milk.

Yes Younes Kaboul's gentlemanly behaviour towards a ball across his own six yard box was funny, but Artur Boruc wins slip-up of the week hands down. His attempt at a Cruyff turn was a good reminder of why goalkeepers are goalkeepers. He in fact managed to incorrectly execute three separate skill turns which is great. Anyway Giroud chased him down well and scored one of the two or three goals that such pursuits will earn a forward throughout his career.

Anyway I'm getting kind of bored now but we defended well and the passion Merty showed in winning that late penalty sent shivers down my spine.

We've got Marseille tomorrow at home, a game which will send us through to the next round of the Champions League should we better Dortmund's result against Napoli. I think.

Apologies for tailing off a bit here but it's getting late and we all know that short and sweet is better when things are going well. I may do a preview of the Marseille game. Sleep well Gooners.

Southampton Game Preview

So we play Southampton in about an hour. The Saints of course are the surprise package of the current Premier League Season and should they pull off an unlikely win today, there's a possibility that they could end the weekend atop the table. But that shouldn't happen.

I spoke earlier in the week of how badly Arsenal players were doing internationally. Well luckily, their fortunes improved a little. Per Mertesacker kaboomed England to defeat, The French had a night to remember and Woj kept a clean sheet for Poland. The performance from Les Bleus, even if the Arsenal influence was minimal, was something particularly special and from the look of this video, our boys will be on a high for some time to come. Don't be surprised if Bacary Sagna hits his first career hat-trick today.

On the subject of today's game, the team has just been announced. There are no real surprises with a first choice back five and front man then Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil and Cazorla in the middle of the park.  It's a strong side which, despite the risk that Southampton pose, should win the game. I was at this fixture last year when we totally un-beatified our opponents. I was sure that day that Southampton would go down. They were simply inept in every position and our scoring of six goals was deserved.

So they deserve a lot of credit for working their way into the position they stand today. Third in the table above the billionaires of Chelsea and Man City is a real achievement considering the season is well under way by now. They've got some real quality players including Adam Lallana who I thought did himself no harm in his first two England appearances. However, I do think we will defeat them this time.

In some ways the international break came at a good time. Some say it would have been good to get the Man United game out of our system with a win but the extended break with no games to talk about means that everyone has been focusing on the bigger picture. And our picture is pretty. By taking time to look at how well we've played in general, I think momentum has been retained where it may not have been otherwise.

Anyway. I hope we win. And Theo is eased back in. And no-one gets injured. That's not too much to ask for, right?

We're still top of the League! Say we're still top of the League!

It feels like ages since I last wrote on here. In fact it's only eight days. I refrained from writing partially through being occupied and also because we lost to Man United. I find it hard to do anything when we lose a game whether it be read the match reports, write the match reports or even watch highlights occasionally. I can't tell if this makes me a good fan who can't stand to see his team lose or a plastic one who loses interest when the sun isn't shining. I sense probably the latter but I know that Jack Wilshere was born in Stevenage which in my mind qualifies me as a dedicated supporter.

Since we surrendered quite meekly to United, it's been quiet. And I mean really quiet. Even the tumbleweeds have headed on out of town. Arsenal players have been in action, but not in Arsenal shirts. I do try and follow how our players do for their national sides. I kind of get invested in them which means my interest goes beyond what they do when playing for Arsenal. I like it when Olivier Giroud scores for France or Santi Cazorla gets a run out for Spain. Granted it's because I want good form throughout the squad but I also still believe in the romance of international football. Well more than most people do. To me it's the pinnacle of a career and to have so many of our players playing at this pinnacle so often makes me proud to be an Arsenal fan.

That's not to say that there aren't problems. Alleged corruption at FIFA has been under the spotlight quite frequently in recent times and although I have no affiliation with Real Madrid (aside admiring their nickname which translates as 'The Meringues'), I still feel for the fans who have seen one of their star players suffer a potentially season ending injury in a friendly that is beyond meaningless. That's the nightmare scenario. It happens time and time again without anyone taking notice and when it happens to your own club, you feel like breaking a stick or crushing a grape, such is the fury it causes.

Arsenal players haven't had the best of times this week. The French trio of Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Bacary Sagna saw their side go down 2-0 in Ukraine with the former sent off and the later sat on the bench. It will take something special from Les Bleus to qualify for the World Cup now which, despite their status as rivals of England, would be a shame considering the huge talent they have at their disposal. Jack Wilshere had a largely forgettable evening, save one sumptuous pass, for a disappointing England as they lost 2-0 at the hands of Chile. Ramsey missed the Wales game last night, Ozil played half an hour against Italy in Milan and Santi Cazorla may have scored but he was playing in Equitorial Guinea which was not, as I had genuinely believed, a joke.

They all go again on Tuesday when the second batch of friendlies and playoffs takes place. Cazorla and Monreal aside, all our players play fairly close to home with only Ozil and Metesacker away. They're convenietly playing at Wembley though so it's all good and Ozil is unlikely to feature at all anyway.

I'm going off on a tangent a bit here, but I have to say the England game was really underwhelming. I've said before that I try to support my home nation and although I wasn't expecting anything special against Chile, it was still a bit embarrassing. Yes the South American's had arguably the world's form player in Alexis Sanchez and yes our line up was 'experimental' (football lingo for not at full strength) but we still should have done better than we did. Leighton Baines was uncharacteristically poor for example and we showed none of the flair that the Chileans did going forward as they found holes in our backline that were at times wider than their entire country.

Despite the whole team failing to perform, there is one man who yet again proved to me why he is not cut out for this level. He's becoming a regular and his presence is representative of a real problem England have right now. He is of course Gary Cahill.

For a long time now I've watched Cahill in England games and thought to myself how ill-equipped we are at the back. He's somehow nailed down a spot as a starter at Centre Half and this makes me cry. Sometimes literally. He is just so out of his depth and I can't even describe how poor he is in my opinion. Regardless of how he performs for Chelsea, he is a liability for England and his mistake costing England the second goal had been a long time coming. If you watch carefully, you will see that he gives the ball away like that at least once a game for England and he is indicative of the problem that we have with producing players. He's made it because he's big, he heads well and he'll throw himself in front of the ball with regularity. These are good qualities but in other nations, that would not be enough.

Look at our own Per Mertesacker. He is phenomenally astute in possession and really knows what he's doing. I haven't always been his biggest fan and while he's not the World's best, he exemplifies that standard of international defenders. Every top nation has them and we don't. Cahill is nowhere near a Chiellini or a Pique or a Thiago Silva. They are Blue Sky and he's Chilli P (Breaking Bad reference alert!). I don't like either of them much but Terry and Ferdinand were leaps and bounds ahead of the current crop.

Rant over. In other news, Wojciech Szczesny has signed a new 'long term' deal. This is fantastic news but there's not a lot to say. I still believe 'long term' to mean five years and as long as he hasn't been given the 100k per week contract that some tabloids had suggested, it's solely positive as he's been almost flawless so far this season. Unfortunately another youngster seems to have suffered a setback. The Ox is set to remain sidelined until early 2014 at least. It's a huge shame for him as missing half of what was meant to be his real breakthrough season must be devastating. On the bright side, he'll be absolutely chomping at the bit when he does return and that sort of enthusiasm could be vital over the winter months. Luckily Theo Walcott looks set for a comeback against Southampton so it's not all bad news on the winger front.

I realise now that this week has been busier that I thought. Oh well. Till next time.

Stick to Telecom and United Preview

I woke up this morning expecting a quite pleasant Saturday full of food and football yet lacking in the nervousness that accompanies watching my team play. But very soon, Saturday turned sour. Firstly, it was and still is raining where I live. That's not supposed to happen. Its title may suggest otherwise, but Sunday is the time for rain, at least in my eyes anyway. But the second and more upsetting reason for my Saturday blues comes with the news that BT Sport have acquired sole rights to broadcasting the Champions League. And that sucks.

It may not be perfect, but the current set up for watching European football is one I quite enjoy. I don't have Sky so I can only view one Champions League game per week. That sounds bad at first but it does mean that when Arsenal are on telly, it's quite an event. I'll plan my meals in advance so I can dine in front of the TV with minimum mess. Then when the third ad break in fifteen minutes of build up (I said it wasn't perfect) finally finishes and that song kicks in, I'm really rather excited. At half time I get to see all the goals from other games and it being the World's premier club competition, those goals are often rather good. All in all, it's enjoyable. And of course, I get to watch the Arsenal.

But now times are a'changing. BT have paid around a squillion pounds and from 2015 to 2018, they will have a complete monopoly on showing European football. And seeing as I, like many other, do not have BT Sport, I won't be able to see nearly as many of Europe's big games. If I want anything at all, I'll have to sign up for something I don't want or need and to see the games that count, I'll have to pay. Perhaps I'm being melodramatic but this seems like a dark day for football followers in this country, akin to the time when the Premier League disappeared from the BBC altogether in 2001.

Luckily it's only a three year deal and you'd hope that ITV will do everything possible to regain their rights to these games when the bidding process comes around again. But those three years are going to be so, so dull. Des Lynam he aint, but I'd sure as hell prefer ITV's Adrian Chiles to Tim Lovejoy of BT Sport when it comes to presenting the Champions League. And just because they were good players, it doesn't mean that Jamie Carragher or Michael Owen are particularly good pundits. And Jake. Oh Jake. I loved you on F1. Please come back.

But that's a while away. I'll review my opinions when the finer details of BT's coverage come to light. In other news, we play Man United away tomorrow. Whichever way you look at it, it's a big game. It may not have the grudge factor that existed in the Ferguson era but it's still a fixture that means a lot to everyone involved.

Team news is fairly positive. Mathieu Flamini will play, barring any last minute alien abductions or injury inducing sneezes. I started this sentence with that aim of saying 'He'll slot in in place of...' but we've been playing in such a way that no-one had singled themselves out as a candidate to be dropped. If anyone has been slacking in midfield recently, it'd be Mesut Ozil and yet he's played a part in our crucial last two goals. He may be a bit of a luxury player at times, but his defensive work is not to be sniffed at and he will not be dropped for such a big game. He's too good.

I think we're classed as favourites for this game but it's hard to accept that tag. Yes we're on a fantastic run, especially away from home, but United have been settling at last in the month just gone and are starting to look ever so slightly ominous. Like a small tsunami picking up speed. Even so I don't think they will ultimately pose any risk to the Japanese coast. They're not a fantastic side but going to Old Trafford will never be easy, whoever's in the dugout. 

Speaking of United managers, it seems like Alex Ferguson's book is one great big wind up. He's rubbed just about everyone up the wrong way with his frankly ludicrous sense of self importance. Of course he was unrivaled in his success and I don't want to ignore United's trophy count during his reign but he was not the messiah. He built teams that won but could he claim to have ever claim to have created a truly brilliant side of the ilk of The Invincibles or Pep Guardiola's Barcelona? I'm not so sure. His teams never played great, great football like those two.

People he's criticised include his greatest captain Roy Keane, football's best known name David Beckham and our very own Aaron Ramsey who 'made the wrong choice' in turning down United. As Saj Chowdry of the BBC alluded to, a win would be all the more satisfying in light of those comments. Snippets from the book make it seem cringe worthy, so blindly arrogant Ferguson comes across.

In terms of how we line up tomorrow, I wouldn't expect major variation. Only Flamini returns and considering that he offers very little going forward, I think he may start from the bench. We'll be going out to win the game, as we have done on every occasion for nine months or so now and the fresh legs of Flamini at a later stage of the game, perhaps if we're holding a narrow lead, could be very useful. 

Anyway, I do think we have a good chance. And gloriously, we can't be deposed from top spot even if we suffer a horrific six goal loss and have a man sent off. But that doesn't happen these days.

Here's to a win and the imminent retirement of Tim Lovejoy from the public eye. For now.

Dortmund: A Point the Minimum Need

Well hello again.

It's been some time since I last wrote on here so naturally there are a few things to brush up on. I've missed a couple of games and a fair amount of news. And of course, we have a big game tonight which needs previewing.

But first the other games. Last time I wrote I gave a brief preview of Chelsea. It was a fixture which we afforded very little importance and somewhat predictably we came out on the wrong side of a defeat. Injuries to younger players (Eisfeld, Gnabry, Zelalem) forced us into an sticky situation. The complete lack of men dictated that we field a side not good enough to win, but still featuring enough first team players to make tiredness an issue for the next game. Realistically, with everyone fit, I think we would have thrown the game and thrust our inexperienced lambs to the slaughter against Juan Mata, Samuel Eto'o and the rest of Chelsea's 'second string'. However, we weren't able to do so and in the end we meekly surrendered, 2-0 the final score. I never enjoy losing a game but this really did have the feel of a distraction rather than a knock-out fixture.

So we moved on to Liverpool. We still lacked Mathieu Flamini but even so, I'm unwilling to call the team we fielded below full strength, such is the level of quality and competition in the side these days. We have had a decent record against Liverpool over the last few seasons but their good form coupled with a 2-0 home loss I witnessed a couple of seasons ago left me a little worried. The frustratingly well nicknamed SAS certainly have the ability to unlock any side.

As it turned out, SAS indirectly led to Liverpool's downfall. As well as failing to score a goal between them, their sheer quality forced Brendan 'Black Suit, Black Shirt and Black Tie' Rogers into compromising the defensive solidity of his side in order to accommodate the both of them. The back three/five formation had it's shortcomings flawlessly exploited by Olivier Giroud who put in a proper centre forward's shift.

He may not have scored a goal himself, but his intelligent movement drew all three centre backs at times, creating pools of space for our midfield players to exploit. I stressed before how reliant we are on a contribution to our goal tally from the midfield and Giroud makes that possible. He works hard as well to try and incorporate runners into attacks and the space Santi Cazorla was afforded for his goal is a credit to the work of the Frenchman. It didn't make Martin Skrtl's pivot on the spot defending any less funny though.

Anyhow, once we scored our first goal, we performed well to hold the lead. The way Aaaron Ramsey added a second was exquisite, even if Kolo Toure was ball watching a little. There were a few hairy moments though, Suarez's curling poke onto the post one of them, but overall it was a fantastic display. I still didn't like Szczesny's Manuel Almunia moment. He seemed to be copying the former Gunner directly as Almunia had his own similar, albeit worse, incident earlier in the day.

One player who had an exceptional game is Mikel Arteta. Many saw him as our MOTM and that would be a fair judgement. He played supremely, offering genuine protection to the back four (yes four Brendan).

This leads nicely on to a preview of our Dortmund game as I feel Mikel will once again be the key man. Our defeat last time out in this Competition has put us in the awkward position of really needing to avoid defeat in Germany and if anyone can help us achieve that, it will be Arteta. In the absence of Mathieu Flamini, he really will have to channel his inner darkness and act as an oh so visible wall. Dortmund could be seen as the world's best counter attacking side at the moment and while they won't have to rely on that side of their game so heavily at home, they will clearly carry a threat on the break.

The pressing style that Klopp advocates means that we could lose the ball at any time in places where our possession wouldn't necessarily come under threat against other teams.This means a few things. Firstly, we'll have to keep our shape at all times. Secondly, everyone, even Ballon D'Or nominees, will have to track back and lend a hand. But thirdly, and importantly, Arteta has to do his job.

Simply because we need some sort of result, I think we'll come out on the front foot. Yes Dortmund are a good side but we've shown in our last few fixtures that we have enough to score against them, even when facing the yellow wall. It should be a full strength team after my man Kieran Gibbs was passed fit. I think Thomas Rosicky may also start again. Reflecting on his performance at the weekend, my Dad and I agreed what a really good player he is for a number of reasons. I reckon he'll play so we can treat our hosts to a bit of their own high pressure medicine. Also, as we all know, he sets the tempo of most games which can be invaluable away from home. He did also used to play for Dortmund with current star man Marco Reus citing him as a boyhood hero. Mentally, having Rosicky in the side will probably have some effect. I can't work it it out now but it will.

Anyway. I can't say much else but I'll point out again that a draw at least is a requirement. If we face the same situation that we did late on last time, we'll definitely sit back and bring on three more defenders. Should we lose, we'll know that a victory in Naples is an absolute must and that's an uncomfortable prospect.

So here's to a victory then. Nothing personal though Jurgen. For now.

Giroud and Chelsea: Mixed Emotions

Evening.

Monday hasn't been fantastic as of yet. There's still time though. Perhaps Lionel Messi is sitting in Piebury Corner, munching on 'The Tony Adams' steak and ale pie ready to sign a pre-contract upon completion of his meal.

Perhaps.

On a more real note, there were a few things worth mentioning about our game at the weekend that I didn't get round to. Firstly, the overall performance of Giroud. Arsene spoke of him specifically in the aftermath of the game, noting his improvement in the last year or so and real hunger to do well. Against Palace, it wasn't always the easiest for him. But he stuck at it and took his goal well. He's not the kind of player who you can feed and then sit back and admire, knowing that he has the potential to score from wherever. No. Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez are two excellent forwards who play in such an unpredictable way and get plaudits for it but our striker isn't like that.

Giroud may not have the ability to make something out of nothing like those two but his overall game is fast making him an invaluable part of our team. The way he can use his strength and technique to hold up the ball with his back to goal is crucial in a side which relies heavily on goals coming from midfield. Delaying the move and keeping possession are key and he's able to do both yet he still has the awareness to dispatch the ball accurately to a Ramsey or an Ozil to keep the attack flowing. In that sense he's as good a forward as any.

It's what distinguishes him from someone like Soldado. The Spaniard hasn't performed to the level expected of him yet and many put this down to a lack of service. But Spurs' lack of goals in the league is no mystery when you consider that he contributes very little to their play. Waiting in the box and finishing when asked is no longer the job of the forward. Giroud knows this and his contribution to attacks as opposed to Soldado's lingering style is one of the reasons why we have scored eleven more goals than Spurs this season in the Premier League.

Another way that Giroud is so helpful is aerially. In the derby against Spurs, he won everything, and I mean everything, in the air. But he's not just some kind of flick-on player. He consistently out-jumped defenders on that day and brought the ball down with his head, chest, face, hair and just about any body part you can think of. And it wasn't a one off. He does it week in, week out and this sort of effort provides another option for a generally average sized side going forward. There are more positives to his game but I don't want to write one big love-in about Olivier so I won't mention them. For the record, we still need a another striker.

At last at the weekend we kept a clean sheet. It was our first in four games in all competitions and first in six in the league. Woj will be particularly happy after his personal contribution to shutting them out. Hopefully it will provide a platform and we'll be a little tighter at the back during our next crucial month.

Sadly that's about where the good news ends. Flamini's groin strain has been tested and he's been given the thumbs down for the Chelsea game. He'll miss three weeks in total and it's no overstatement to say that it couldn't have come at a worse time for the team. As well as Chelsea, we play Liverpool, Dortmund and United before he recovers and his leadership will be sorely missed. His covering presence is a major asset too these days, especially against counter attacking sides like Dortmund so we can only pray that he's back as soon as possible.

Other injury news is bad with several youngsters out of contention for tomorrow. Gedion Zelelam can count himself very unlucky as he may not get another chance to play for the first team this year. It looks like we'll have to play a stronger side than intended. It says a lot about the reputation of this competition that a team such as Arsenal have to be literally forced into playing their best players. I won't say having good players on the pitch is a bad thing but it will be an exercise in management for Arsene. He'll have to judge the situation and weigh up potential injuries to key players with getting a good result.

Mikel Arteta will miss the game after we decided against an appeal for his sending off on Saturday. That's an odd one for me. Knowing Flamini is out, someone of Arteta's experience and temperament could prove crucial at some point on Tuesday. I get that you can receive a fine if the appeal is judged to be opportunistic but it's surely worth a shot bearing in mind how contentious the issue itself was.

I'm not so hopeful of a win tomorrow given that Chelsea's reserves consist of Juan Mata and Samuel Eto'o among others. Even so it's a good chance of getting a rest for some players and a full 90 minutes for others. Thomas Vermaelen more than anyone will want to prove why he deserves a first team spot.

Finally, we heard news today that Serge Gnabry has signed a new 'long term' deal with the club. 'long term' always says five years to me so it's fantastic to have tied down such a promising player for that amount of time. He looks to be the real deal so far and no doubt he'll benefit from the lack of overblown hype that has surrounded Adnan Januzaj in his short career so far.

May do a proper preview of the Chelsea game at some point tomorrow. May not. Haven't decided yet. In case not, here's to a win so good it sinks Abramovic's speed boat. Or something.

For now.

Palace Away: Good Saturday

So we got the win we needed against Palace. I stressed this importance of points over performance yesterday and the message seemingly got through to the team. It wasn't fun at times but nevertheless, the result was satisfactory and I personally found Giroud's goal quite tasty.

John Hartson said on Final Score that it was never going to be an easy game for Arsenal. Coincidentally, this comment came during a period of Palace pressure but even so I disagree. We may have lost in the week and a result may have been important but however disrespectful this sounds, Palace are such a poor team that their dearth of quality makes up for any factors which may otherwise make a fixture against them tricky.

As it was, we started the game with sheer dominance. Our opponents completed seventeen passes inside the first ten minutes which for a home side is terrible. We made 118 in the same period which was a real display of the gulf in quality, Palace simply unable to make any mark on the game. Sadly, Mathieu Flamini missed out on his booking as he was forced off after only eight minutes. He picked up a groin problem and may miss our game with Chelsea in midweek although him being Mathieu Flamini, he won't give his injury permission to rule him out for too long.

Serge Gnabry replaced him with Aaron Ramsey dropping back to accommodate the German. We continued to probe but with no real incisiveness. The fatigue of which Wenger spoke was apparent as we failed to break down the Eagles. Credit to them, they made it difficult, showing a lot more relisiance than in previous games. They came close to scoring too with Damian Delaney (I think) inches away from heading into an open net. Half time came though and it was still 0-0.

I fear for the future of Keith Millen in football. Palace's cartaker manager said this of his half time team talk:

"We said to them we need to make sure we start nice and sharp and play off the front and try and get them on the back foot."

In terms of cliches, he performed like a seasoned pro of the game, reeling them off like a manager with many years of experience. However something must be going wrong if you can give such encouragement to your players only to concede a penalty like they did only 114 seconds into the second half. I hope I'm wrong about Keith Millen because he seemed like a nice guy, even if his name does read a little like an inaccurate anagram of Keith Lemon.

The penalty itself continued the Palace tradition of humourous defending. They went for slapstick this week with Guedioura thundering in on Serge Gnabry and felling him like a cartoon character. Not the dry, witty self mockery of previous weeks but I chortled anyway. Arteta dispatched the spot kick confidently and we had the lead that we just about deserved.

The next incident of note was the sending off of the Spaniard. An Arsenal corner was cleared emphatically leaving Arteta chasing Marouane Chamakh for the ball. Chamakh reached it first and leaned into Arteta causing a clash of legs which left both players on the floor. But despite the fact that the incident occurred just inside our half, Aaron Ramsey had a good chance of getting back to cover and Chamakh himself instigating the contact in full view of the referee, Arteta saw red. It's a card which we may well appeal.

Although the card may have been unjustified, Alan Hansen made a good point on MOTD. Arteta was the last man for the Arsenal corner and he was midway through the opposition half. He noted other occasions when this placement of men has hurt us and I think he did have a good point. You can't play someone offside in their own half so all an opponent has to do is wait on the halfway line and run onto a launched ball to get a free run at goal. Even on Football Manager I leave at least one man back so this is an issue to look at for the coaches.

That knocked us back a bit but Palace were unable to capitalise on their man advantage because... well... they're bad. It still didn't feel like a nervy 1-0 because Palace had scored two goals in their last five. Chamakh had his second shot of the season at some point. I don't agree with Robbie Savage often, but his scathing criticism of the Moroccan's antics and abilities were pretty accurate.

Szczesny made two excellent saves, the one from Mile Jedinak's volley brilliant in particular. But as Palace probed for a late goal, we sucker punched them just as Dortmund did to us in the week. Giroud controlled a long pass well and played it to Ramsey before continuing his run. The Welshman ran towards the box and checked back spotting the arriving Giroud. He then played a delightful dinked ball over the top of the defender in front of him which Giroud gobbled up gladly, heading past Speroni and maintaining his excellent scoring record in London.

That sealed the win and the three points. A good result proved crucial as all our rivals won on Saturday and Spurs may well do the same today.

We can now look towards the League Cup game on Tuesday, safe in the knowledge that we still top the Premier League. It's El Cashico today which means one of our rivals will drop points. I'd 'favour' a City win today but a demoralising 0-0 draw wouldn't go amiss either.

Happy Sunday.

Previewing Palace: Points the Primary Purpose

Hello again.

It's Palace away today and as we know, it's another game that needs winning. I said last week that Norwich at home was a game that should be won at a canter. As it was, we reached full blown gallop at stages but today I'd be happy to just take the points. Bouncing back is key. A good performance with a boost to the goal difference is always nice and seeing as this could be one of our easiest games this year that's a possibility. But no injuries and widespread low heart rates for fans is the primary aim. That and three points of course.

I hate to call any opponent 'easy' to beat but as I said yesterday, Palace are quite literally out of their league. They are Championship quality and a team that comes up as surprise Play Off Champions is always likely to struggle. I look through their squad and see a side with no match winners at this level and lacking the in cavalier spirit that might have made up for this. Their defending, at times, has been quite literally comical. The manner in which they conceded a penalty at Old Trafford is my personal rib-tickler of choice.

We have what it takes to break them down ten time over and while the Cup game at Chelsea midweek will be when most rotation occurs, we're unlikely to field our very strongest side today. Despite this though, our renewed depth means we will put out a team capable of winning the game. Central defense is the only position I worry about with that nasty run of fixtures rearing its head.

With regards to injuries there's nothing new. I cursed the squad last week by noting a refreshing lack of setbacks in recoveries, a statement that directly lead to Theo Walcott further injuring his hamstring and Abou Diaby requiring surgery again. We still have Walcott, Podolski and Ox out but Flamini should return from concussion induced absence. As Arseblog noted, he needs one more booking to rule himself out of the Chelsea game midweek. That would ensure his availability for the frankly more important Liverpool encounter a week today so a yellow for the Frenchman, as if it wasn't already, is a given.

I won't predict our line up but Wenger spoke of fatigue in the week so players who have played a lot (Mertesacker, Ozil, Gibbs, etc.) may expect a rest of some description.

A win is a necessity against the weakest team in the league and without wishing to sound over-confident, I anticipate nothing less.

For now.

Pulis' Potters Philosophy Probable at Palace

Hello again.

I won't go into major depth now because there's not a lot to say. I missed most of our game with Dortmund (damn you Bake Off and your addictive ways) and I'll do a preview to the Palace game tomorrow so in the mean time I'll touch on a couple of stories floating around.

It seems as if Tony Pulis will take over at Palace imminently and I must say I'm sorry. Palace fans were never going to have an easy time this season with a squad as pitifully poor as the one they possess but now it seems that even going out with a bang will be beyond them. I'm not suggesting that Ian Holloway had them playing particularly attractive football but with the appointment of Mr Pulis forthcoming, the only bangs the Eagles fans can expect this year will fit nicely between crashes and wallops. But as a friend of mine suggested, Palace almost deserve a double relegation for being so out of their league.

It's interesting to see the animosity that exists between Pulis and Arsenal. I myself had a grudging respect for him and Stoke when they first entered the league. People who hammered them for playing ugly football didn't understand that for clubs struggling against relegation, any style that got results was beautiful. I think it was the seeming willingness to continue with this Route 1 style and the souring of the relationship between the then Stoke boss and Arsene that turned most Gunners against him. The Aaron Ramsey leg break didn't exactly endear him to us but ultimately it was the two differing philosophies that meant we just never understood each other. Pulis' Stoke were often called a Rugby team and Wenger's Arsenal write poetry on the football field, as displayed by Jack Wilshere's sultry goal last weekend. We're polar opposites.

Palace do seem a club suited to him though. Chamakh is a player capable of playing that most splendid role, the 'Knock-Down' man, that Peter Crouch and Kenwyne Jones fulfilled at Stoke and Jimmy Kebe is a player that typically would fit into his system. They're still going down though. It would take a miracle of messianic proportions to keep them in the league and Tony Pulis ain't no Jesus.

In other news, there's another race row erupting in football. I don't wish to trivialise the situation involving Yaya Toure, but it does seem like the same old story. Player tells of racial abuse suffered, UEFA state how opposed they are to racism and discrimination, club in question receive paltry fine. If UEFA genuinely cared, there would be hard-line measures in place by now to kick out this sort of disgusting behaviour. These incidents occur primarily in European football so the five or low six figure fines that teams get when their fans dish out racial abuse is offset by the money earned by competing in Europe in the first place. An incredible incident that sticks in my mind is Manchester City returning one minute late after half time in a Europa League fixture and still receiving a bigger fine than the team they were playing who's fans hurled racist abuse at the City players. I must say that Michel Platini is really sullying his reputation in the game in his role as European Football's chief big-wig.

There are so many steps that could be taken to stop this sort of thing happening, as it does, on an all too regular basis. If fans of a club are heard chanting offensive songs at a game, why not force the club to double their ticket prices for European games in the next year, with the additional money going to a racial equality charity. If racist bigots were faced with a choice of keeping quiet at games, or being priced out of them altogether then surely they'd choose the later. Proper bans for the teams could equally work. A three year European ban for a club with repeated incidents of this ilk would force them to get their fans in check.

However, it seems that UEFA, for one reason or another, will not take decisive action. And while this remains the case, we can never suppress this ugly side of the game.

Anyway, back tomorrow with that Palace game preview. More light hearted, I promise. Till then my friends.

Friday Summary

Really a quick post this evening because there is not a whole lot to say. I'll do a short preview of the Norwich game later on.

First, the week in Gunnerland, which is not a pun on Wonderland because I try to maintain certain standards. International breaks always are, but on this occasion it seems to have been especially quiet. Even when someone whispers something of questionable importance, people turn their heads in wary shock as if somebody had tried to engage in conversation with them on the tube or bus. They're not sure whether to believe the person as it's been so long since they heard real human voices but they can't help listening to what's being said.

Anyway, the major story was the AGM which took place yesterday. Even that was, dare I say mundane. Which is of course good news when you consider the spiky atmosphere at last year's event. With the charismatic Peter Hill-Wood departed and new Chairman Sir Chips Keswick still finding his feet, the whole event screamed of the corporate varnish of Ivan Gazidis. Not that I'm complaining. After all, an AGM is perhaps the perfect stage for a man such as him. He does seem to be winning the fans over little by little and the 'What the f*** do you do?' brigade were no doubt appeased by his role in the signing of Mesut Ozil.

I'm not a share-holder and the club must have forgotten to personally invite me meaning I wasn't at the event itself. I can say though that the general mood was positive for pretty clear reasons and instead leave you to find reports or tweets or whatever from people who know what they're talking about if you have a real interest in what went on.

In other news, the week went by without incident. A number of players competed for their respective countries again. Notably, Laurent Koscielny completed 90 minutes so may still play this weekend. Mesut Ozil (who is in serious need of a nickname) scored again for Germany as they completed an eight goal umlaut-fest of an away win against Sweden and celebrated his 25th birthday on Wednesday. England qualified for the World Cup with a tidy victory over Poland. Jack Wilshere, who I fear may be forced into a bit-part role for next summer's tournament for one unjustified reason or another, made a short appearance. Other than that, there's not much to report.

So on to the Norwich preview. Injury news is all good with Cazagna (or maybe Sagnorla) declared fit although both are likely to appear from the bench if at all. We still have at least three wide men out which is a tad worrying with a run that reads Chelsea, Liverpool, Dortmund, United on the horizon but I haven't heard of any setbacks which is a rare and welcome relief. With regards to the game tomorrow, it's really one we should win. Every fixture seems to be a 'must win' according to someone or other these days and while I'd hesitate when referring to this match in such a way, it is the sort of game that Champions win at a canter. It'll also be interesting to see how the team come back from the disappointment of failing to beat West Brom.

It's silly to be talking about it in October but there is transfer speculation at the moment. Karim Benzema is a name popping up all over the place and I'm cautiously accepting. It does seem almost plausible: a player of proven quality going through a rough patch and being sold by a top club to fund the Chairman's crippling Galactico addiction. The prices suggested seem more than reasonable too but when all you can think of is paying for the next hit (possibly Luis Suarez) getting value for your belongings is the last thing you would consider. Pray for Perez.

Not much else to say. A comfortable win after a long break would be nice. So here's to it.

Farewell.

Wanted: English Team. Englishmen need not apply.

Evening.

We are of course in the midst of an international break and while it's nice to spend two full weeks atop the table with no chance of moving from there, it's also really, really dull. I'm spending hours upon hours refreshing Arsenal themed news feeds in the hope that a story from a reputable source will pop up and I can spend a few minutes legitimately not doing the other things I'm meant to be doing. But no. All I get are pieces about a fake Dennis Bergkamp twitter account and GMS claiming that letting Gervinho go was a major error. Sigh.

The fuss of the week again centres around Jack Wilshere. Last time it was smoking and now people are crying to their mums because Jack said that the only people playing for England...wait for it...should be English. And I seem to be alone in agreeing with the comments he made.

Now before anyone comes out and proclaims that both myself and Wilshere are racists of the highest order, let's just look at what he actually said

"The only people who should play for England are English people. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain."

I'm sorry to have to state the obvious, but all he has done here is state the obvious. To play for England, you have to be English. That's a given. The only issue that can possibly be discussed is what makes someone English, or any other nationality for that matter. Technically, you could play for a nation if you had lived there for five years after your eighteenth birthday. All Jack was saying is that he didn't really agree with the rule that states that. It's not like he's come out and said 'The only people who should play for England are white people'. Although you wouldn't know it from the hoo-hah this week.

And to be fair, I think he's got a point (about the five years rule, not white people). He never said that players like the already capped pair Wilfried Zaha and Raheem Sterling, who emigrated to this country at ages four and five respectively, shouldn't be allowed to play for the state they grew up in. In fact he endorsed Zaha and athletes with similar stories such as Mo Farah (who is, for the record, my favourite guy out of all guys). Zaha and Sterling both came here with no choice at young ages, learned their trade from our coaches, played for the England youth teams and have made the step up. Jack clearly has no problem with these blokes and neither should anyone.

The issue clearly surrounds that guy from United, Januzaj. I'll skip over the ridiculous levels of hype surrounding him and the fact that by the time he's eligible, he may have become another player whose development is stunted by unnecessary pressure from a young age. In five years this chap could turn out for England. This is clearly different from a Zaha or a Sterling. This is someone who moved to England at the age of 16 not because his family were fleeing a warzone or wanted a better life for their next generation but because he was a skinny kid who could kick a ball well. Much of his development was behind him too and now he's at an age when he might want to be playing international football, he's still not an English citizen. 

This to me is clearly a loophole. The Belgian FA would have a right to feel miffed if a player they had put time and effort in to improving were to jump ship and represent England. But they wouldn't get a penny for their sorrow. Manchester United wanted him to play for their first team in future, so they had to pay. Yet England, a nation to which he has no affiliation, blood relatives or otherwise, want the same thing but for free. It's ludicrous. 

It seems there are two options:

1. FIFA introduce legislation so nations pay each other in compensation for time spent training players. For example, England would pay Belgium a fee agreed by a tribunal in order for Januzaj to play for them.

1. FIFA abolish the 'five year after eighteen rule'. They decide an age by which you must be eligible for a nation by. For example if a player was not nationalised by age 21, they could not play for any other countries than those they were eligible for at that time.

For me, it has to be the second option. Arsene made a similar point when he said that we could not allow international football to become like club football with nations buying passports.

Besides that nonsense, this week has been another uneventful one. Gunners on international duty mainly had a good time. Bendtner, Ozil and Giroud scored five goals in three games between them, the highlight being a sumptuous lob from the Frenchman. There are a few more games to come and if we avoid adding to our injury list we can start to look forward to our game with Norwich next weekend. Those who have seen Breaking Bad will understand me when I say that our treatment room must look like the waiting area outside Saul Goodman's office; an uncomfortable medley of men in neck braces and casts, cramped like a tin of sardines and waiting to see the guy who will make it better.

Anyway. I hope something happens soon so I don't have to write about non-stories like this time.

For now.

I do like Mondays

Evening All.

I wasn't going to write this evening because, well, I couldn't really be bothered. We drew 1-1 yesterday at West Brom. An acceptable, if unspectacular result. Nothing to set the heart racing and not a good enough performance to force me into writing a bespoke piece. But this evening we received a piece of good news, depending on how you view it. I'll touch upon that later and, for the record, I see it as most excellent news.

While I'm here, I'll give a quick summary of our game yesterday. I haven't yet seen highlights of the encounter. The BBC wait until Tuesday to put MOTD2 on iPlayer. Who's still talking about the weekend's games on Tuesday? Ridiculous. I'll watch when I get round to it and in the mean time, keep this report brief.

When the teams were announced, I must admit that West Brom looked a surprisingly good side. Their midfield and attack in particular looked very strong. Mulumbu and Sessegnon are players I have always rated. The former is an especially underrated talent and seems the type of player we could have made a move for in the last 12 months, had he been a couple of years younger. Along with the promising talent that is Saido Berahino and of course Le Sulk, it was clear from the off that the Baggies could earn something from the game.

As I said, I haven't seen even a minute of play so I'm going on the opinion of others when I summarise. It seems like we dominated the early stages before our opponents got into it a bit more. Not much to comment on the first 45 aside from the torrid performance of Jack Wilshere. Playing out of position is not ideal and being thwacked by every team in the land cannot help but he's been a little under par recently. I would have started a more natural winger like Gnabry to really get at West Brom's defence but I'm no expert. Perhaps the boss wanted a more experienced figure playing in a potentially tough game. Nevertheless I disagree with his proclamation that out wide is one of Jack's best positions. He's known for his direct runs but they really do not work on the flanks.

Frustratingly, we conceded on the brink of half time. I hear the marking was suspect and this gets to me because despite our supposed solidness, our defensive record is in fact quite poor this year, most of all in the league. It’s unfair on Woj that we insist on conceding goals he can do nothing about, particularly in light of his fantastic form this season and OCD about clean sheets. In fairness though, Claudio Yacob will not have been the man pointed out as an obvious goal threat in the pre-match preparation.

As much as I'm loath to use the cliché, we started the second half much like we ended the first. Wilshere still seemed to be uncomfortable as a wide man although he showed good spirit to try and rally the team as we emerged to take the field following the break. It's been said time and again, but that is exactly the sort of captain's behaviour that has made the lad a shoe-in for the arm-band when it next changes hands/arms.

When the inevitable change came, it was a surprise to see Aaron Ramsey removed despite his quiet nature on the day. Wilshere would have been the obvious candidate to replace, but major credit to Wenger; it paid off big time. Minutes later, the substitute, Thomas Rosicky, laid off Jack who shot from 30 yards. The ball ended up in the net although it took a nick of Olsson I think on the way. I've heard it described as both a 'small deflection' and 'basically an own goal' but regardless the strike went down next to the name of our man. He called his goal scoring record embarrassing in the week. He should say things like that more often.

In all seriousness, fair play to the guy for bouncing back from his first half performance and indeed the media storm that engulfed him this week. He also implied today that he had in fact been smoking but apologised. I think that's a nice response after that shambolic press release from his cousin or his dog or whoever represents him.

Not much else to report from the match aside from us holding out nicely. It looked like West Brom spurned a few chances but we were comfortable otherwise. Bendtner came on for Giroud just a little too early for it to count as time wasting which kind of harked back to the bad old days of introducing Marouane Chamakh to try and chase a game. That wasn't pretty but Spurs capitulating at home to West Ham made up for it big time. I don't use text speak often when writing, but seeing as I really did LOL on this occasion, it merits a one off inclusion. 

The big news tonight is that Keiran Gibbs has been called up to the England squad to replace Cheryl Tweedy's ex. As much as I've tried to, I just can't dislike the England national team and when one of our players gets a call up, I think it's kind of great. I get that this makes me a bit of a football hipster in a time when it's cool to play hard to get when supporting your own country. (‘I’ve given up watching England. Just can’t keep the ball’ etc.) But Gibbo has been playing so well for such a long time that it makes me happy to know that the big guys at the FA are watching. In all likelihood he won't get on the pitch for these crucial qualifiers but even though he made his debut for the Three Lions a few years ago, it kind of feels like a breakthrough. I really do love the guy. He’s so polite and friendly off the pitch but he leads well on it as well as being a superb defender.

So here's to a bruised rib forcing Cashley (Sorry. It still hurts.) into international retirement and Gibbo going to the World Cup. I'll try and write again soon.

G'Nigh.

Saturday Review

Evening. Sorry about the delay in publishing this first actual post. I've been as busy as the proverbial bee this week and haven't got round to writing anything. But now that's it's Saturday, the undisputed King of the Days, I can kick back, relax, and write about Arsenal. It's also set up quite nicely for a sort of Review of the Week so that's what I think I'll do.

The only way to start is with the game we played this week. We faced the much hyped Napoli and with Thomas Rosicky returning, we were able to field a strong team indeed. Our opponents strangely left out that man Gonzalo Higuain, weakening them significantly on paper, although it later turned out that he was suffering from a minor injury. I maintain that we could have had something special, him and us. I'd pre-nicknamed him, so sure was I that he was destined to become a Gunner. It would have just been so perfect. But hey, not much point dwelling on the past now and even though I wasn't one of those who, quite ridiculously, planned to boo him on Tuesday, I can still take pleasure from this picture found by 7amkickoff. 

I went to the game with my Dad and, despite the general air of confidence around the club right now, he was a little worried going into the contest. I seem to have inherited the recessive optimists gene from him so I, like most other fans, was more assured. Even before kick off, the atmosphere was warm in and around the Emirates. It was a balmy evening, the singing was raucous and we all looked forward to seeing how Mesut Ozil would perform against serious opposition. 

And it was this last fact which made it such an enjoyable evening. You got the sense going into the ground that whatever the result turned out to be, it is ties like this one that make qualification for the Champions League so worthwhile. I think 9/10 Gooners would rather have played this game than face the Champions of Liechtenstein or Lapland or wherever like we have in previous years at this stage of the competition.

This match itself was of course a delight. Many have said that our first half performance was the best Arsenal have played in many a year. I wouldn't quite go that far but no doubt it was a fantastic display. Our Barcelona-esque ball retention early on was outstanding and, to use a cliché, our opponents really were chasing shadows (For those of you adverse to stereotypical turns of phrase, insert 'huffing and puffing like Jack Wilshere' in place of that last remark.)

Ozil was the star of the show with his goal and assist. He made a turn at one point which didn't get any coverage post match but left me physically screaming with amazement at the level of skill involved at the time. Other players performed to a high level as well, with the returning Rosicky perhaps the only player I would rate at below 8/10. Even though away goals count for nothing at this stage, it was good to keep a clean sheet. We just need to make a habit of it now. My praise for Kieran Gibbs will become a feature here because he keeps playing to such a wonderful level. I agree with Arseblog in that I think his sustained omission from the England squad is baffling, despite the high standard set by Baines and Cole.

Overall, it was a near flawless display, the only downside perhaps being Mathieu Flamini remaining un-booked for the entirety of the 90 minutes.

It's been fairly quiet otherwise this week, which is brilliant. No moaning, no groaning and very little to complain about. Voyeuristic it may be, but I'm particularly enjoying this slow Manchester United start to the season while it lasts. It feels like they are a car that broke down when S'rAlex departed. They replaced the engine with a newer, less skilfully crafted model, the kind you might buy from a guy who knows a guy. Anyway the car is trying to start for the first time but it's spluttering away like a rusty old banger. No doubt it will get going in time and drive around in an equally annoying and road-ragey manner as the last incarnation, but while the key is still in the ignition and it remains stationary, we, Arsenal, have rolled up in our Mercedes with our shiny new German hubcaps putting the 'Anderson' model hubcaps on the other car to shame.

Anyhow, there was that whole Jack Wilshere cigarette thing that I alluded to earlier. Some have overreacted, some have under reacted but I felt that Arsene Goldilocks-ed it. He got the tone just right. It is completely unacceptable for a leading Premier League footballer to be pictured with a lit cigarette between his lips. I don't smoke but you don't have to be a genius to work out that if someone has a face like Jack did and the cigarette is glowing orange, the said person is probably inhaling, whatever their PR team has to say about it. I just hope he steers clear of incidents like this in future because any more misdemeanours coupled with his at times...prickly, let's go with prickly, on field attitude and he risks being portrayed a certain way by certain people, which could lose the fella a lot of money in sponsorship deals.

There is not a lot more to discuss. I haven't previewed the West Brom encounter but the injury to Sagna aside, no pressing issues spring to mind. It'll be interesting I suppose to see who of Gnabry and Rosicky plays. The performances of others mean that they are competing for the same spot at the moment and with a rest and good form on his side, I'd favour the German to start tomorrow.

Let's hope for a tidy win at the Hawthorns then. Clean sheet if possible. Until next time.

Kick Off

So here we are. After spending months make no real progress, Block 101 is here. Of course there was no sense of anticipation among the masses and no excitement when I finally went live but it feels good to be up and running at last.

To give you some background, I am an Arsenal fan with not much going on in life but an intense passion for the Gunners. You may note here that this gives me no real right to start a blog based on the subject and you'd be correct. I have no formal writing experience and the quality on show may turn out to be very poor indeed. In response to that I say this: I wouldn't have entered into this endeavor without first considering whether if I had any talent whatsoever when it comes to writing. I've thought about it for quite a while and I finally concluded that you don't have to be Shakespeare to write material online. So while I hope to entertain with my style and content, don't expect anything mind blowing. Very poor should be out of the question though.

Block 101, the blog title, derives from the seating block of the same name at the Emirates. It lies in the North Bank and happens to be where I sit when I make it down to games. I manage to see about seven or eight matches in a season as part of a season ticket sharing scheme. I realise that this makes me extremely fortunate and you only need to look up the position of Block 101 within the ground to understand that watching games is very pricey. Nevertheless, for a full time Gooner (Sort of. I do have a job.) it's a price worth paying.

The first Arsenal game I ever saw was the curtain raiser to the 2007-08 season against Fulham. Before then I'd only been able to follow games on the radio or online. On that day, we conceded within the first minute in the goal directly in front of me. Safe to say it was not the ideal start. But in the end we clawed back a victory in typical Arsenal style thanks to an eighty-fourth minute Robin van Persie penalty and a smart finish from good old Alexander Hleb with only 10 seconds left on the clock. The jubilation was incredible and from then onward I was totally and utterly hooked.

So you might say that this blog, started over six years later, is a natural progression. It'll be good fun but I can't promise to post every day like the talented writer of Arseblog. And I can't compete with bloggers who write for a living either. But that's not really what I'm here to do. I'm going to write to productively fill up my free time doing something I enjoy. I'll be vigilant when searching for typos and I hope, in time, to add a couple of new contributors to mix it up on here. And hey, if a few people read and enjoy what I have to say, then great. But if not, I won't lose any sleep.

I'll keep writing, ideally keep improving and wish Arsenal the very best. Anything else that happens is a bonus.

Evening.