Get out of jail free weekend.

This isn't the first time I've said this, forgive me for the repetition, but its that kind of season. How fortunate are we again? We capitulate and have poor decisions taken against us and the fear was that it would cost us badly.

It seems that the luck was with us again. Chelsea and ManYoo losing softened the blow, but its still two points lost. I really would like to talk to the referee and his lino and just ask him what they think they saw Rosicky do? A ridiculous decision, one which could, conceivably cost us the league.

However, it will be interesting to see how ManYoo respond to the defeat at Wolves, where being honest they we're woeful and didn't deserve a pie at half time, let alone 3 points. I'm hoping they crumble a little, now would be a great time to catch up whilst their fixtures are tougher than ours...on paper at least.

I hope the players use that result against the Barcodes to enforce the siege mentality, everyone is punishing us at the moment. Lets show them all that we are not so easily swayed from our targets. We are Arsenal, victory through harmony.

That in mind however,I would just like to say, I've seen it lots of times and I still can't condone Diaby's reaction. I know he's been injured and had his fair share of bad tackles, but you have to be bigger than that. Getting injured happens in football, deal with it. He can't keep reacting like that everytime he gets a robust challenge.

WG

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Chelski win - still in the race - how poor is our preperation?!?

Whats the state of the Premier League nation? Chelski are having a stuttering stop-start season this year...and I love to see it. They were back with a bang last night against Bolton.

My thought for the day is this, how lucky are we to still be in the race and still be challenging?

Noone is setting the league on fire, this has really helped us recover from daft losses to Newcastle, West Brom etc. The Arsenal engine room is really starting to turn it on now with key players hitting form now when we need them. All we need is luck to keep them fit. Can we be lucky enough this season?

If we do finish this season well and win a couple of trophies, maybe the league will everyone paper over the cracks in our squad? Will they suddenly be winners instead of also-rans?

I'm still not convinced ManYoo will remain unbeaten because they still aren't performing well, albeit they are grinding out results. So we have to be on the money for the rest of the season. Starting tonight. We need a result and we need to take our fight to Ipswich and show them its not going to be a repeat of the first leg. They need to see the Premier League Arsenal.

A quick point....Every player that has come out talking about the Leeds games and the Ipswich game has said that they were suprised by both teams...thats a massive lack of preperation. Even in sunday league we had an idea of who we were playing and now to tackle them.

Were the West Brom and Newcastle games the result of similar poor prep?

WG

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Exacting revenge at the Emirates

On a cold winter night we stood at the DW watching Arsenal capitulate to a Wigan side that looked hungrier than us, more organised than us and generally performed better than us. Which is frankly embarrasing.

We were woeful. However, football is all about 2nd chances! So now we welcome them back to our manor and now to exact our revenge.

Without wanting to jinx it, our players are all coming back to fitness and form and that can only be a good thing. The league is definitely winnable with the inconsistent performances across the board by all the teams.

Drogba was quoted as saying Chelski can't win the league because they cant string two performances together. Its a situation that all of the top teams seem to be suffering with at the moment and it seems Drog wanted to try a bit of kidology to gee up his beleagured teammates.

The only team that worries me really is ManYoo. They're keeping up that run and whilst they're not setting fire to the league, they're not losing games and thats not going to break their morale, so we need someone rubbish to break them...come on the Brum!!

So onwards to Wigan, team preview to come tomorrow..

WG

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8 Personnel changes, disjointed performance - surely a coincidence?

Arsene Wenger said last night that the 8 changes he made to the first team after the game at Chelski had no effect on the game against Wigan. Its a shame for all of his money and brains he's not got a decent optician.

Diaby and Denilson had a shocker. Everyone in the stand heaved a sigh of relief when Diaby went off and Wilshire came on. We immediately looked a better side as Wilshire and Rosicky were on the same page immediately.

It was a very disjointed performance last night. It lacked pace, power, tenacity - everything that was in abundance against Chelski. When we were 2:1 up and N'Zog got himself sent off Wenger should have immediately put on Walcott and Nasri. Instead he procrastinated and thought we'd just try and see the game out only to watch Wigan equalise. I said just before they scored that if we didn't make a change soon we'd lose momentum, they'd score and then stick 10 men behind the ball. Exactly what happened. Everyone could see it coming and its disappointing to lose two points like that.

I'm not generally a fan of cheering for a player who's not on the pitch, but we all felt the same. We needed the dynamism and pace of Nasri and Walcott, so the chants began.

In terms of performances, several things were apparent last night; 1) Squillaci doesn't talk to anyone. 2) Diaby and Denilson should be sold. - Denilson isn't a central midfielder, he needs space to work and you don't get that in central midfield. Diaby is a conundrum in himself, I don't know what to do with him. He's so far away from being match fit its ridiculous he started. He was so far off the pace of the game he was practically static. When fit, he's powerful going forwards, but last night he had a shocker. 3) Bendtner isn't a right midfielder, at all, ever.

Rosicky was one of our best players last night, Chamakh was tireless in his running and fighting for the ball, Koscielny did well at times, extremely well at others and then made simple mistakes, but generally the back line defended ok...Squillaci really disappointed me last night. He's capable of much better.

Its such a mixed bag of emotions, decisions should have gone our way that didn't, but we got decisions we shouldn't have too, so I cannot complain about it. It all evens out. I just hope we don't look back at this game and realise its cost us a lot more than two points.

For now gooners, i bid you adieu.

WG

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Staking a claim, right through scumbag Terry's face...

In big games like last night it needs a collective team performance to get a positive result. Last night we got that. Many are pointing to the waning star of Chelsea as a reason for the victory. I think that does Arsenal a disservice and we have much to be proud of,.

I'm loathed to pick out individual performances from such a fantastic team effort, but here are some that stood out for me.

- Wilshire, Young Jack excelled last night. Showing a maturity above his years he was no over-awed by the occasion and excelled in his role. Up against the likes of Fat Frank and Essien he played extremely well and its worth noting that the central midfield of Chelsea were very poor last night. Even swapping Mikel for Ramires did not inspire an insipid performance, no doubt they were hampered by the bustling of Wilshire, Fabregas and Song.

- Song, A great performance by the guy that Wenger said lacked the engine to be a central midfielder (no doubt kidology to make him work harder in training). He was snapping at heels from the first whistle to the last and covered every blade of grass. He's not perfect, but his goal was well taken and his performance deserves noting. His contribution in keeping Chelsea's midfield quiet was significant.

- Fabregas, Back to his mercurial best, if not trying a bit hard at times, it was a great game to have him for, his dynamism, drive and vision was a constant thorn to Chelsea and he deserved the applause he got when Wenger brought him off early to an ovation. Excellent performance from the skipper.

- Djourou & Koscielny, Both played extremely well last night to shackle the Drog. Both showed the best and worst of their games. Koscielny wandered once or twice into midfield and got caught when Chelsea broke, Djourou's timing of headers and runs with opponents was a bit hit and miss but between them an excellent performance.

- Theo, always a threat last night. Cashley was in trouble as soon as he got that stupid booking for kicking the ball away. Theo went past him time and time again and put in crosses (mostly poor) and had a shot on target which forced an excellent save from Cech. Theo's vision to put Cesc through clean on goal was excellent and he showed great composure to score his goal. Another performance showing the best and worst of a young professional who is clearly improving and showed that in abundance last night.

So, in summary and excellent performance all round. Not one player did poorly and will have much to be happy with today. Next game is paramount however, you're only as good as your last game and we need to go to the DW up 'ere in Wigan tomorrow night and get a result.

I'll see you there in the cold and rain Gooners, its a shame Cesc is suspended, he'd have ruined Hendry Thomas and Diame.

WG.

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We fought them across every green blade

Talk is cheap, hyperbole for the media. Before this match both sides were firing shots, some of ours were friendly fire, intended to inspire and stoke up our players. Should we have needed motivation for tonights match, it was in no short supply.

Tonight was a massively professional performance by a team wanting to banish some mental demons. Across the park there were some great performances. I don't want to analyse it today, this is best served with a clear head and deployed thought.

Needless to say I'm delighted, our midfield and attach terrorised Chelsea and Koscielny and Djourou shackled the Drog.

For now, its a great night and we're back in second place at the happy end of the Prem once again.

WG

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Dreaming the impossible dream

I said a few weeks back that I fancy us for the title. I said Chelsea and ManYoo look weaker than people think.

The odds for Arsenal to win the Premier league have dropped like a stone. Get in there while its worth you having a punt on it.

What about you guys? Do you think we've got what it takes?

I look at our squad, at the players yet to return from injury and I'm excited. The strength in depth we have is outstanding and I believe us to have the strongest squad in the league. We have world-class players still to come back and we are second, two points adrift.

We all know its easier to chase than to lead. But can we win it? Where are those people who knocked us now?

WG

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Unbeaten on Merseyside since 2007

The thing about Arsenal this season is that I'm still not sure which Arsenal will turn up to a game. Wednesdays performance against Wolves was awesome, it was a committed, determined performance and we aquitted ourselves very well against the physical threat of Wolves.

I didn't feel concerned pre-Everton. I really rate them as a side (they always start the season badly (poor pre-season?) ) and David Moyes continues to work tiny miracles on a half-shoestring budget but I felt if we took the intensity from Wednesday to the table then it would be us feasting on the sunday roast by 4pm.

Things conspired against me to post the above pre-match. No excuses about the game however, I watched it and I was pleased to see that intensity again. The determination stemming from Fab4 set the marker for our performance. We were in control for the 90 minutes and it was disappointing to concede that goal in the dying minutes. Albeit a scrappy goal, I felt we didnt really help ourselves by not keeping the ball and clearing our lines better.

All in all though an excellent away performance against a top side. Lets not fool ourselves, Everton aren't rubbish and will be around the top 6 by the end of the season. Chamakh played well yesterday, his movement constantly keeping Jagielka and Heitinga on their toes. Great goal by Sagna (66-1, might have a quid on him for the next game, these things seem to go in sequences) to beat Howard at his near post and his first goal for two years.

Great news with Chelski getting done by the Mackems!! I had a feeling the ascendency was with the Mackems pre-match so I had a couple of quid on sunderland to beat chelsea at 17-1. Result.

I'll be posting something this afternoon about Aaron Ramsey and his reintegration this month.

WG

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Entering the Den of Wolves!

Wolves tonight in a away game that in the past has left us with a difficult task. Wolves have been performing well of late with a loss to Chelski, then a win against Citeh and a loss to ManYoo that could well have been a win for Wolves.

This season, Wolves are playing more expansive attacking football than last year. It has seeing them concede a goal in every game this season. Something which will assist us greatly tonight I feel. Marcus Hahnemann of Wolves has said they're in great form at the moment and fancy their chances.

Arsenal never really get started in a game until they have their first goal and with Wolves having previous in letting goals in, it should lend well to an Arsenal win. Especially when we're hurting from losing at the weekend.

Tweeting on twitter, Wilshire has been saying Sunday was just a bad day and the players are focussed on getting a result tonight. I'm hoping the squad will look something like this;

Fabianski
Sagna	Squillaci Djourou			Clichy
	Wilshire Song
Arshavin		Fabregas		Nasri
		Chamakh

People in certain quarters are criticising Chamakh for his performance at the weekend. Personally I feel his form has been excellent for us this season and one game doesn't make him a bad player. It was a bad day at the office, move on. I expect him to start tonight and I think he will score.

I'm hoping for a resounding win tonight, I'd like Citeh to get a result against ManYoo or at least get a draw and Chelski to draw or lose to take us closer to the top of the table.

I'll not be able to see the game as I'm in Manchester watching the hilarious Jason Manford so I expect him to be commenting on the game being a diehard Citeh fan. I'll attempt to heckle him without mercy if the opportunity presents itself.

Come on Arsenal!

WG

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Sometimes its better being an ostrich!

I've been off the radar this weekend. 'Er indoors and I have moved into a new home and naturally my focus since thursday has been on facilitating the move as smoothly as possible.

I was unable to watch the game, I currently have no Sky Sports or Internet so I chose to ignore it altogether ensuring that my focus was securely on the job at hand. Needless to say the fallout in the blogosphere has been pretty hyperbolic at best and people are enjoying banging their knee-jerk drums.

I've discussed the game with a colleage who watched it and we've made the following conclusions; Firstly, Fabianski made a mistake, a bit of a howler but bearing in mind he's been excellent recently I don't think its fair to castigate him further. Goalkeeper is a lonely job at times.

It seems for all of our posession and attacking flair we just didn't stick it in the bag. With the attacking talent we have that shouldn't happen. It really shouldn't. Defensively Newcastle did well to keep us out and a lot of that is down to their young keeper.

However, football is a results game and we didn't get the result. No point in analysing it futher but to say that we should have done better. Now lets move on to the next game and put it right. Chelski getting stiffed by the Scousers was a great result. Super happy about that and I'm sure a few scousers were too...and probably saved a few cars from having their radio's and wheels nicked.

Onwards and upwards gooners, its a slip up that we could have done without, but really no harm done. We can easily still peg back ManYoo and Chelski, they're not playing well either.

WG

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Exciting - isnt it? Champs league and Europa roundup

Looking across the performances of the english teams in the Champions league, it begs the question. Why aren't we winning the league?

ManYoo looked poor at best on Wednesday, Chelski won but I don't feel they are as strong as they used to be. Spuds, whatever way you wrap it up, you lost 4:Bale. 4:0 at half time is a right drubbing and I'm sure you only got back in contention because Inter stopped playing.

Liverpool were a joke yesterday. They are too good to go down, but they are awful at the moment. Absolutely awful. They need to rediscover some form or this time next year they really could be out of europe altogether. Watching them last night, it didnt even look like the pool. Its wierd. They look so devoid of confidence, it was a good point, but scraping a 0:0 draw isn't going to fix their problems.

Citeh did ok last night. They should have absolutely ruined that poor polish side. Seriously, Adebaywhore got a hat-trick but it should have been double figures.

All of the top 6 sides from last year don't look as good as they did perhaps with the exception of Spuds with Van Der Vaart who is an awesome player and I'd love to have him at Arsenal.

So, when considering our competition for the League and Europe, shouldn't we be topping the league? Is it a confidence thing? Is it motivation? Two weeks ago against Chelski I thought we could have got something out of it. Taking a minute to look at the rest of the league, we should be winning. We really should.

My bravest prediction ever(read:stupid): We're going to win the league.

WG

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Ok...so 2:0 then...

My predo was off it seems, though not without its own merit. Taking the positives where we can, we should have been at least 1:0 up inside the first ten minutes. Chamakh had the beating of Chelsea across the ground and we should have used that more.

I was delighted in the way our midfield performed. I thought Wilshire and Nasri continued to impress and Song sat back for the most part and did a decent job of tidying up. Diaby was picked for his power but I wish Wenger had picked Rosicky instead, his guile would have made a difference over 90 mins. Diaby slowed us down going forwards with his dribbling where a quick pass would have benefitted.

Fabianski did well again yesterday, I am very pleased for him. Drogba's flick was at his near post but difficult to judge due to the pace it was hit at so I don't allocate blame there. I felt we were naive for the second goal to allow the Chelsea player such an easy time in the wall, rookie mistake to not put our own player behind him and push him forwards out of the wall. Again, Fabianski no chance.

Despite all of the positives, there are two big negatives. We controlled the game for 88 minutes and didn't score. We were practically toothless upfront for all of Chamakhs movement and workrate we just didn't create enough and we didn't put anything in the onion bag. The second negative is something we've all been driven crazy by, why didn't Wenger try changing it sooner. He could have started ringing the changes at the 70min mark and brought on Vela and gone 4-4-2. Or pushed Arshavin and Nasri further forward for 4-3-3 not the current 4-2-3-1.

Even so, I think we deserved something, in the end all we got was a kicking, but we will play worse and annihalate someone, so there is something to take from this.

Chin up gooners its getting better for Arsenal, least its party town in Wigan, Latics and the Warriors both won! Come on the Pie-Eaters...LOL

WG

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Chelski preview - mobility is key

I'd like to start off this post with a predo....I believe Arsenal will win this game - providing Fabianski doesnt flap about and gift them a goal or two.

As the title suggests, mobility is key for us tomorrow. We need Nasri, Wilshire, Arshavin and Rosicky to be swarming about creating space, confusion and combining in attack to bamboozle. These four players are critical, if they are on form we will win.

Confident of me to suggest, but beliefs are rarely without base. The fab four listed above are on the same wavelength and provided Song does what he is good at and just defends and breaks down attacks then I think we can get a result.

Chelski aren't that good. Against Citeh they were woeful, Terry looks like he is running with UHU on the bottom of his football boots. Cashley is playing well but the rest are hardly showering themselves in gold. This is a good time for us to play them and I am confident.

I feel super-confident and last night in the pub my confidence was questioned. I've been hilariously wrong before so we'll see.

Til then gooners!

WG

Debut's delight - Liverpool 1:1 Arsenal

As predicted in my last post, I did get rather innebriated and therefore was unable to write this post yesterday. Mainly because I couldn't remain conscious for any real length of time.

However, I will muddle through this now.

Firstly, yesterday we saw Premier League debut's for Kozza and Chamakh...I think they played really well, Chamakh was a bit isolated but he worked really hard and forced the error from Reina, 100% effort from the first second til the last, I was impressed by him and I think we'll see a lot of good things from him this year. The Adebayor comparisons being made I think don't do him as much credit as I'd like as I can see there is much more to his game than being a tall striker..His workrate is excellent and his movement is very intelligent, always looking to pull the defenders about. I really think he will do well for us this year.

Our second debutant, Koscielny was awesome yesterday. I think he was swift across the ground, composed when required and fitted in well with the rest of the defence and even lost his composure when the rest of the defence did - what a team player!!

Humour aside, it was a good point to take home yesterday. Starting the season away from home against a top half side is harsh and we did well. Almunia did nothing to change my mind on his future, his performance perfectly summed up the best and worst of his game in equal measure. The best, his diving saves and bar-tipping action was all on display and he saved well. The worst, his positioning and handling of crosses was there for all to see..the Liverpool goal was bad positioning mixed with sloth-like reactions that I struggle to forgive.

If we haven't signed another 'keeper by next Saturday then I would hope Wenger sticks Fabianski in, Almunia looked lost at times and I think his head is elsewhere...probably in his "happy place". Fabianski whilst not showering himself in gold, I think is a greater prospect and I think Almunia knows it.

So, lets bring on the Tangerines on Saturday and give them a spanking to show them what life in the prem is all about...we need a result similar to Chelski's lesson to West Brom, we're at home and its my birthday..I want to see a cracker!

I'll put up a post midweek, previewing the game and mulling over the transfer guff.

Til then gooners!

WG

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