'Tis the Season to Be Jolly

It's been too long since I wrote and due to the nature of this period, I've missed a lot of games. Some were good, other not so good but every single one of them crucial and overall I think we've done ok. We've played five games in the last couple of weeks (two of which I saw in person) and there's a big one coming up tomorrow so I'll just round up a bit and preview a little.

There are too many games for me to write about individually but a good starting point would be the 0-0 draw with Chelsea. That was one of the two that I attended but to be honest, I almost wish I hadn't. Of course it's always treat to go and see the Arsenal and a big London derby like this is no exception. However, the spectacle is not always fantastic and our encounter with Chelsea was a turgid game. I was more fascinated by the spectacular weather at the Emirates than the game being played which might have been true of some of the players as well (I'm looking at you Aaron Ramsey) (but in a playful way that acknowledges your achievements so far this season so as not to offend you). It was a really rotten night in North London, with heavy rain joining forces with howling wind to produce conditions that even the world's best may have struggled in. I got soaked high up in the stands so I can't imagine how the players might have felt.

Tactically, Mourinho set Chelsea up not to lose. Which is kind of fair enough but it did make for a dull 90 minutes. We were nowhere near our best and despite the denial of a clear penalty, a draw was just about fair. Nevertheless, it did feel like an opportunity missed. This Chelsea side may be the expensively assembled play thing of a Russian Sugar Daddy but I don't think that they are an excellent side at all. They get built up thanks to Mourinho's character and yes they may win the League but we're just as good a side and at home, we should have seized the opportunity to win.

Something I'm finding very annoying now is the Love-In between the so 'Happy One' and the Press. I think we all indulged in a little admiration first time round when he arrived with the continental swagger, accented one-liners and silvery hair but the effect wore off a long time ago for most people. Now he's damn right obnoxious. He's so boring and most of the things he says are blatant falsities. He can't open his mouth without uttering some ludicrously innacurate statement to defend his team. Penalty? 'It was a dive.' Red card? 'They cry too much.' Racism? Actually I'll avoid putting words into his mouth but you get the message.

I should add that our own manager is not adverse to protecting his players. The famous Wenger 'I didn't see the incident' is one such example. Yet despite this, I appreciate how Arsene tries to maintain a degree of honesty. Mourinho these days spouts such rubbish that he's almost inviting a response in the knowledge that he is the darling of the Press and they will never truly challenge him. It's easy to see where AVB got his odious personal traits from.

Rant over. We beat West Ham after coming from behind which I think was a notable result due to the identity of our saviour. Theo Walcott rarely scores goal that win games. Ok maybe not rarely but it's somewhat uncommon. So for him to pull the cat out of the bag, even against a poor West Ham, was nice to see and indicative of a bit of mental strength.

Anyway, we beat Newcastle then I went to the Cardiff game on Wednesday. It was another foul evening, with a little less wind than the previous Monday. Despite injuries to four automatic starters, the feeling was that we should capitalise on the Cardiff situation and record a victory. However the first half was an inert performance. Nothing really clicked (despite the best efforts of messers Cazorla and Wilshere) and Cardiff were already wasting time. It was clear that they were playing for a point and they were doing so quite effectively. In the second half we were a different team, a bit more zip added going forward. Jack Wilshere, playing in the No. 10 role that surely beckons for the future given the number on his shirt, stepped it up a gear. He was really running the show and pushing the whole team forward. The introduction of  Rosicky and Bendtner for the ineffective Podolski lead to another level of improvement and we pepered Cardiff with shots.

Some people said that it was going to be one of those days but I was personally kind of confident. It's something about this side at the moment that radiates assurance. Even so, it was getting desperate in the end so when Bendtner finally broke the deadlock, the relief was tangible. The delightful chip from the unusually involved Walcott was the icing on the cake. Aside from Podolski, the whole team performed very well. It was a confidence building victory and it rounded off a generally jolly festive period. It also sets us up well for the Spurs game tomorrow.

Once again it's got late so I may have tailed off towards the end. I've a lot to do so there won't be a preview for the FA Cup game tomorrow. I'd expect a strong side though. Anyway. I'll see you later.