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.