February 20th - PSV scored with their only shot on goal, and it was the start of Arsenal's slump. The following weekend, they lost 2-1 to Chelsea in the Carling Cup final having dominated the game, but wasted their chances. That so-called "meaningless cup" took on too much importance, and resulted in too much damage with that Chelsea-biased brawl - suspensions for Adebayor, Toure and Eboue.

Next up were Blackburn in the FA Cup 5th round replay. Arsenal dominated the game for 87 minutes, but couldn't convert their chances (the missing Adebayor was important here). Predictably, Blackburn scored with their only shot on goal in the 87th minute, Senderos being made to look like an amateur by an African for the second time in 4 days, with Benni McCarthy leaving him for dead and thumping his shot past Almunia. Things managed to pull together a little bit with a 2-1 league win over Reading, but the second leg against PSV was the biggest game of Arsenal's season, and it ended in a draw with PSV going through. That was that, Arsenal's season over in 10 days.

So nevermind all that (sort of). I would like to focus on Philippe Senderos, because in Arsenal's 10 terrible days, his week of mishaps have been crucial. So much so that Gilberto Silva is now first-choice at centre-back, with young Denilson occupying his place in midfield.

Arsene Wenger has always talked at great length about how Senderos has terrific mental strength, and how he never lets mistakes get to him, but if that were the case then why would he be sat on the bench? With the team struggling, and short of goals, it just doesn't make sense for Gilberto to be at centre-back - not only is he a great defensive midfielder, but he has come up trumps with a hatful of goals this season when needed.

Arsene has always stated that Senderos would learn from his mistakes, but it's his third season now since he made that storming debut against Bayern Munich, and he still only seems to have made minimal progress. Compare that to Johan Djourou who has leapt into the first team and gotten better and better, and Senderos just seems like an awkward, unathletic struggler, always chugging away with that sad-dog face of his, and looking more and more error prone.

So one has to wonder about his future. Against PSV he just looked disorganised. Against Chelsea the Sunday after he showed all the reactions of a tortoise as Drogba cruised past him to power in the winning header. In midweek, against Blackburn, Benni McCarthy left him flat on his backside to score an 87th minute winner. Then on the Sunday after, he came on as a late sub against Reading to protect our lead, and succeeded only in making a mess of a corner that resulted in a goal for them. The ball somehow bounced backwards and down off his head, and was flicked in by a startled Fabregas.

I don't disbelieve Arsene when he says that Senderos will learn from his mistakes, but the question is... how long is he going to take? The team has suffered whilst the youngsters have been educated, that was to be expected, but Senderos somehow seems to not learn at all from his mistakes. Djourou in my mind is already ahead of him in the pecking order, and if another centre-half arrives in the summer, that should be the end of it.

We've always known and accepted that Phil was never the quickest, but the problem is he doesn't really offer anything else. He's a big lad, and so the least you'd expect is a commanding presence, but he doesn't really even offer that - he gets brushed off the ball and beaten to headers far too often. To add to that, he's awkward, and unathletic and frequently caught out of position.

As Kesky on one of the Arsenal forums said recently:

"Senderos is just not athletic enough (for this sport). He is big, but his waist is almost as wide as his shoulders; almost like an ugly woman.

Rooney is a fat man. Lampard is a fat man. Senderos is a fat woman."

I'm a fan of Senderos, because he seems like such a good character. But ultimately, when the team is struggling you need people like him to step-up, and he does the opposite. There have been numerous comparisons made to Tony Adams - they're both well built, and Adams as a youngster made his fair share of mistakes just like Senderos, but you just can't compare the two. Adams had such immense presence, charisma and power. He intimidated opponents and if he made a mistake once, you could be sure it wouldn't happen again. Big Phil has a long way to go before he's Swiss Tony.

1997-1998 The Double - Premiership & FA Cup (beat Newcastle 2-0)
1998-1999 Lost the Premiership on the last day of the season, and threw away an FA Cup semi to Man United)
1999-2000 Uefa Cup final (lost on penalties after missing numerous chances)
2000-2001 FA Cup final (lost to Liverpool 2-1 after Michael Owen scored twice in the last 10 minutes)
2001-2002 The Double - Premiership & FA Cup (beat Chelsea 2-0)
2002-2003 FA Cup (beat Southampton 1-0)
2003-2004 The Unbeaten Season - Won the Premiership without losing a game
2004-2005 FA Cup (beat Manchester United on penalties)
2005-2006 Champions Leage final (lost to Barcelona 2-1 after they scored twice in the last 15 minutes)
2006-2007 Nothing (out of all cup competitions, and in 4th place in the league with 10 games remaining, 20 points off leaders Man United)

That is the story for Arsenal with 10 Premiership games left. It is the first time since Wenger's first full season that we've ended with nothing to play for, and things look quite dire. Yes, the team is young and full of promise, but if we win nothing, then the players will never reach the next level. 20 points off 1st place, and having lost in the Carling Cup final, and been knocked out of the FA Cup, Arsenal went into the second leg of their Champions League tie against PSV 1-0 down from the first. It was the biggest game of their season, and they needed a good win. But despite going ahead 1-0, the game ended 1-1, with PSV going through 2-1 on aggregate. Sad stuff.

Arsenal worked hard and got their goal without ever looking brilliant, but wasted many chances. PSV had nothing from open play, but late on, Hleb gave away a stupid foul, and you just knew that PSV were going to score from the free-kick... and they did. 1-1 on the night, Arsenal now needed 2 because of away goals, an unfit Henry had just come on for Baptista and gotten injured again, and it was all over.

With 10 games to go, Arsenal have nothing to play for except a Champions League spot. So how does Arsene Wenger motivate a bunch of experienced players who are used to challenging, and a group of exceptional, but unproven youngsters whose inexperience and self-doubt might make their season self-destruct? It's tricky, because for the first time in years, Wenger himself is under tremendous pressure, and everyone is doubting his abilities. Other managers have been having a go at him, the FA and referees don't exactly like him at the moment, and this is his 3rd consecutive year of not challenging seriously for the league.

Wenger has always been a more psychological/motivational manager than a tactical one, and he will need to gather all his resources together now. Not qualifying for the Champions League would be 100% distastrous, and could put the club in serious trouble for the future. Arsenal can still take 3rd place from Liverpool (that would at least represent "progress" over last year's 4th place finish), fainter still are hopes of catching Chelsea in second. Also, while the others are playing in the Champions League, Arsenal will have to buckle down and focus on trips to Villa and Everton and the like, and no one knows how the players will respond.

Maybe with the pressure off, they will excel, but maybe with so little to play for, they might find it impossible to motivate themselves, and maybe see a a finished outside of the top 4. Either way, Wenger has a lot to do, and he will no doubt remind the players and fans that they are unbeaten in the league since December, so things are not all bad. Right now the best possible solution is to get behind Wenger and the team and stop criticising or doubting the club, coach or players, because really, it's a very difficult period up ahead.

So explain this to me - while fans all over the world are gettin hunted down and banned, and clubs being fined for their misbehaviour, why were Chelsea fans allowed to throw things on the pitch all game and get away with it?

Okay, yes, we know they are a bunch of classless, ignorant pigs, mostly Johnny-come-latelys and plastic fans, and even the traditional sort that were basically trashy drunks, were only slightly better than Spurs supporters to begin with. But even then, on an occassion like this - a cup final against a major rival, with millions of people watching (yes, millions of people watched, that was the effect of Arsenal's FOOTBALLERS reaching this final), you would have expected them to behave.

Instead, things were thrown onto pitch all game long - food, paper, plastic, all kinds of nonsense. Cesc Fabregas was hit by a piece of celery when taking a corner kick, several others players had to dodge and throw-away stuff. Manuel Almunia, the most non-controversial nice-guy figure that you could ever find was even struck by something from the crowd, and required treatment from the physio. (This was right when Arsenal had conceded the corner from which John Terry got kicked in the head, and it was because the Arsenal physio was close by treating Almunia that Terry's life was not jeoparised). It's funny that Chelsea get away scot-free again. In 2002 at Highbury, when a pound coin got thrown at Jamie Carragher, the fan responsible was hunted down and banned for life. Can you imagine any such thing being done by Chelsea? No chance. Why? Same reasons again, primarily a sheer lack of class, and additionally a lack of control, and a lack of standards being set by a club that despite breaking all the rules, persists with a siege mentality like no other. You have shameful people like Abramovich and Kenyon who have broken every rule in the book, and then bragged about it, and you have the ultra- (but very talented) Mourinho, and they've created this bizarre pseudo-posh yob culture at the club. It's honestly quite painful.

"Where were you when you were shit?"


Cesc holding up celery that the Chelsea fans threw

I watched Ashley Cole make his Champions League debut against Sparta Prague as a second half substitute for Silvinho, and he gave a zippy energetic performance. 3 days later, he scored his first goal for the Arsenal, starting the game against Man City because Silvinho was still injured, from a well worked set piece in a 5-0 win. Sometime later, he started against Bayern Munich in an important game, and was absolutely fearless and effervescent. That was the birth of Ashley Cole at the Arsenal, the Londoner who wore his heart on his sleeve, who was a Gooner through and through, and who claimed that he used to cry as a little boy when listening to the radio to matches that Arsenal lost. He was a rarity for Arsenal as well as England, a talented English youngster, who had come through the youth ranks and provided a left-footed, left-sided option to both club and country when they needed it most. The fans made him a hero - we loved loads of the players, but he was special because he was an Arsenal boy. He was being touted as a future Arsenal captain, and the heart and soul of the club. What a load of shit.

Ashley Cole is nothing but a fucking pretentious, dirty, money-grubbing, two-faced disgusting chav. He betrayed the club for money, lied all the time, jeopardised some of our most important games and moments, and showed disrespect to everyone including his teammates, all so he could make a bit of cash.

And he sunk to new lows on Sunday at the Carling Cup final. Although Ashley didn't play, he was warming up during the second half, and in the course of doing his warmups came close to the Arsenal fans section several times. It wasn't just enough to see his pathetic face during a final where Arsenal were having such hard luck, but Cashley Cole had the audacity to repeatedly make a point of kissing his Chelsea badge and grinning at the Arsenal fans everytime he was running past them. It's shameless and it's classless, and it's exactly what you'd expect from a pathetic, misguided cunt like that. We're all a bit bitter, we're all a bit sad, but hey... We've got William Gallas! Fuck off Ashley, you're lucky the Arsenal fans aren't as badly behaved as that bunch of monkeys at Chelsea, or you'd have had a bottle or two smashed over your head by now.

Back when he didn't have Roman Abramovich's mobile phone stuck up his arse:

Don't they look spiffy in their suits? A great day for the kids (and Gilberto apparently), and let's hope that Chelsea are dancing to Fabregas's tune on Sunday. Good luck to the Arsenal!



You can also listen to interviews with Theo Walcott and Arsene Wenger

It's really great to see the boys having such a good time, and the camaraderie in the squad is excellent, and is a big thing that sets us apart from a lot of other teams. These kids all get along, they're all friends, and if they can stay together for 4 or 5 years they'll form a fantastic team with remarkable spirit and attitude.

Not by any means the most talented player on earth, but at the same time one of the most consistently underrated, Mathieu Flamini has finally stumbled upon some kind of recognition in the shape of a call-up to the French national team by coach/nutcase Raymond Domenech. It's a great moment for the Flamster, who has had an interesting career so far.

He started off at Olympique Marseille, and broke through to the first team fairly late, but with considerable impact - at 18, a spate of injuries led to his inclusion in central midfield, and he kept his place, helping to drive Marseille to the UEFA Cup final. He showed a lot of determination, and quite a bit of creativity and enterprise in taking the team forward, as well as supporting the defence. He was one of the most promising midfielders in France by the end of that season, and what was most surprising was that at the ripe old age of 18, he was still on a youth contract. Compare this to players like Fabregas, Walcott, Rooney, etc, who sign full-time pre-contracts that go into effect on their 17th birthdays, and you have Flamini almost 19 and still not on a senior contract.

This provided a loophole, because since Flamini hadn't signed a professional contract yet, he was free to go wherever he pleased without compensation. At the time he was having problems at Marseille, and when he met Arsene Wenger on a plan and discussed his problems with him, Wenger moved quickly to snap Flamini up. It was a transfer that was deemed legal according to FIFA rules, but Marseille disputed it in the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport). Technically, the CAS had no jurisdiction over his transfer, but Arsenal were keen to avoid controversy and let the player and team get on with their work, and so they paid the compensation.

Flamini has since proved a very handy player for the Arsenal, but perhaps a different one to what French fans might have envisioned. At Marseille he was a smart box-to-box player, who could drive a midfield. When Arsene Wenger signed him, he said that one of Flamini's talents was his ability to play creatively in both defence and offence, and to use the ball well. Mathieu has since been regarded as more of a workhorse at Arsenal - a young, modern day Ray Parlour or Gilles Grimandi; full of determination and spirit, but not the most technically gifted. This is unfortunate because Flamini is really a very underrated player with more-than-admirable technique, but unfortunately in a midfield that has had Vieira, Edu, Cesc Fabregas, Pires, Bergkamp, Reyes, Van Persie, Rosicky and Alex Hleb since his arrival, his light has shone a bit dimmer than it did in France. Those guys are amongst the most talented players in the world, nevermind Arsenal or the Premiership, and it's easy to see why Flamini has been viewed as a water-carrier whilst playing alongside them.

The truth is that Flamini is a very talented guy. Physically and mentally, his workrate, determination and doggedness equal if not surpass those of the names I previously mentioned. He is also a quite decent player, although you don't see that from him when Cesc, Hleb and Rosicky are on their game, because they take over as playmakers. He is happy to play his role for the team, and chip in with goals wherever possible. However, if anyone watched the Arsenal v Portsmouth game from 2005-2006 where the Gunners were 4-0 in 15 minutes (that was my last time at Highbury), you would have seen two exceptional through balls from Flamini to Henry, who scored off both of those. That day a lot of players were missing, and the Flamster was in the centre along with Gilberto, and duly took the initiative. Flamini definitely has bags of talent, but in the context of the team, he always plays the supporting role, and you have to give him some credit for that.

Flamini also possesses remarkable intelligence; he chugs around the midfield well, but in Arsenal's run to the Champions' League final last year, he was terrific as a left-back. He got up and down the field, and kept some of Europe's top wingers quiet. It's not easy to just step into a completely unfamiliar position like that and do so well. He also has played at right-back, and over the past two seasons has played in a midfield three, a midfield five, and on the left and right flanks, and done decently. He is not the kind of player that is going to beat his man and score a stunning goal, but he understands the game well, understands what he needs to contribute to it, and understands how to support his teammates. These are all highly important, but highly underrated traits.

So people should look at all these things when they immediately write him off as a Grimandi or Parlour or Deschamps (the latter two did some great things in my opinion), and also remember that he's just 22. Not every footballer is perfect from the age of 17 like Fabregas. Some develop much slower, and imagine in 2-3 years when Flamini has significant international and club experience under his belt, has won a few things, and has played and done well in so many positions. He will be invaluable, and one of those players that you never ever want missing from the squad. Technically, he will probably never take the world by storm, and physically, he will probably never tackle the opposition into submission, but hard work, determination and intelligence are all equally important characteristics, especially in a team full of artists like Arsenal.

Well done Mathieu, and congratulations!

In addition to Gallas and Ljungberg, Robin Van Persie, Alexander Hleb, Julio Baptista and Johan Djourou have all joined the injury list.

It's a serious problem for the Arse, because Arsene Wenger didn't start off this season having the biggest squad anyways.

Van Persie is top scorer, Hleb has been one of the most influential and important players this season, Gallas is a top, top class defender and Freddie is the longest serving player at the club, and very, very experiened. Julio Baptista has been showing tremendous signs of improvement - 6 goals in 2 Carling Cup games, and a very economical and important performance in his cameo against Bolton on Sunday. Djourou is backup to Senderos, and has put in some great performances this season.

Jeremie Aliadiere and Emmanuel Eboue were injured last week, but are fit again.

Hopefully Johan and Julio will be back for Wednesday, because their quality will be required to hold strong at home against Tottenham. Arsenal have the away goals advantage, but conceding one now would cause some serious flutters for the youngsters, so let's hope they can take things a step further than last time and get to the final.

The injury crisis is something that's potentially serious. Last season it damaged the flow of the team completely, and although the continuous injury ravages of the last year at Highbury can't be compared to this current crisis, the worry is that it will undo all the good work that this team has been doing. The run of results and performances has been excellent stretching back to that defeat by Fulham. Apart from the 1-0 loss away to Sheffield, we have been undefeated in 14 games in all competitions. The run reads like this: Played 15, Won 9, Drawn 5, Lost 1

Some of those have been "strategic" draws in the Champions League or first-leg matches in the Carling Cup. In the league, it read lie this: Played 10, Won 7, Drawn 2, Lost 1

The team is definitely on the up, but the injuries are seriously in danger of blunting this. Hleb is out for a whole month, and Van Persie is probably going to be out for close to 3 months. Big trouble. Gallas is yet to reappear. The only consolation is that Freddie will probably be back quite soon, but his form has been poor this year. I'd still pick him ahead of Theo Walcott who still lacks a lot of experience and probably is more useful as a sub coming on against tiring teams.

Anyways, i've forgotten what the basic point of this piece was. Yes, OK... Arsenal have lots of injuries. That's right.

So many injuries, that the majestically miserly Arsene Wenger has actually said he is considering buying someone before the transfer window closes, and he even went so far as to be self-analtyical and critical and say that he might go for a "panic buy"... a term he's often used loathfully in the past in refence to the cavalry of players coming in and out of England when the transfer window is about to close and people have run out of ideas.

Anyhow... let's see what happens. Hopefully Julio Baptista is declared fit, because he is getting better and better, and could have a real impact in the end to the season.

It was announced after the game that Robin Van Persie had fractured his foot when scoring the goal. So that explains the limping afterward and the fact that he wasn not really much involved. Arsene Wenger said he had hoped not to use him because of his ankle injury, but now he's out for at least 6 weeks with his 5th metatarsal fractured. No one knows exactly how it happened, but it did, and it brings up the immediate question of whether Van Persie's equalising goal was worth not having him for a few months. I'd say yes.

Footballers and metatarsals are funny things. Some of the most high profile injuries have been metatarsal related - David Beckham before the 2002 World Cup when Aldo Duscher of Deportivo crunched into him during the Champions League, and and Wayne Rooney before the 2006 World Cup when he went down in a heap after a tackle by Paulo Ferreira. The whole of England gasped and sighed in 2002, and they did it again in 2006, because their heroes were endangered. Eventually both Beckham and Rooney were declared "fit" for each of those tournaments, but it didn't matter because England were pure crap anyways.

In the spirit of good old jingoism, the BBC prepared this great page on metatarsal injuries in football. It's worth a read.

It's bad news for Arsenal, because Van Persie is the top scorer this season, and he's score some crucial, crucial goals. He's also the only left-footed attacking player, and that balance will be missed. The problem with this type of injury is also that the healing times are crazily inconsistent. 6-8 weeks is supposed to be a sort of predicted recovery period, but means nothing. Here's why:

David Beckham (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
Gary Neville (2002): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Danny Murphy (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Scott Parker (2004): Second metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later
Steven Gerrard (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later
Wayne Rooney (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later
Ashley Cole (2005): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later
Michael Owen (2006): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later

So it's quite possible that RvP's season could be over. We will just have to wait and see (and hope).

Arsene Wenger has said in the past how he is very critical of bladed boots (like the Adidas ones), because they can cause injury, and Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy both had identical injuries wearing those boots. Rooney did too, and so did Roy Keane, so there is something in that. Footy Boots has done a great overview of the bladed boots/injuries extravaganza that is worth a read. They say that the ongoing tendency to make boots more and more lightweight and flexible has basically contributed to more injuries because of lack of support of the foot. If you've bought boots consistently over the last 10-15 years, then it's something you'd definitely notice.

Footy Boots: "The metatarsal injury was unheard of years ago, now with modern ligtweight foortball boots its responsible for 30% of long term injuries."

Anyhow, the good news (sort of) for Arsenal fans is that this is the one position for which there is great competition. After Henry and Adebayor, there's Baptista and Aliadiere. Just last week Wenger was saying how he wished he could give Ali more playing time and how he needed chances to show how good he is, and this will have opened the door. Baptista has been hungry and waiting as well, and this will help. Theo Walcott can (and probably will eventually) play as a striker, so there's no lack of options. Van Persie will certainly be missed, but this is a great chance for the other lads to stake a claim. Especially Aliadiere who has been unfortunately beset by injuries and rubbish loan moves throughout his career. He is the king of the reserves and the Carling Cup, but he needs to start having an impact in the league.

Once again the Arsenal youngsters showed their mettle, this time against a high-flying Man United team. The league leaders left their first encounter at Ashburton Grove empty handed, and it really was a super game. Various accounts have been given of the match, including a ridiculous match report in the Independent by Sam Wallace which is disgustingly biased and if you hadn't watch the game would give you the impression that Arsenal kicked and poisoned their way to a completely undeserved victory with a bunch of thugs, hooligans and charlatans, and Manchester United were a noble glorious force, cheated at the death, who basically deserved to have won 7-0 and didn't only through some self-induced philanthropic desire to throw the game away to that bunch in an attempt to spice up the title race. Nigel Spackman said post-match that it was a game that Manchester United had dominated from start to finish and that they were very unlucky to have lost. Steve McMahon rightly called him on his absurd views afterwards by saying that he didn't know what game Spackman watched, but it certainly hadn't been this one.

As Kurt Vonnegut would say... Listen:

The story was this - a confident, good United team started brightly, at a high tempo, and tried to dominate. In the first half, they did, and they had a lot of posession against a young, nervy Arsenal who tried to stick to their game but were being pegged back under a constant barrage of pressure. Jens Lehmann had saves to make, and he did (Wallace has erroneously reported that Rooney hit the bar when Lehmann in fact had saved; perhaps he too, like Spackman, was watching a different game). United had several chances right before half-time, but were unable to capitalise, and Arsenal came into the game in the second half. They largely tried to play their way, but mixed it up a bit. They started to show what they were capable of, dealt with United and started to impose themselves. And then on a counter-attack, United created their only real chance of the half and Rooney scored from it. It was a great run off-the-ball from Evra, a good cross and an excellent diving header from Rooney to score. In the media, fingers were being pointed - Fabregas didn't pick up Evra's run, Clichy had Rooney unmarked behind him, Toure got a touch on the cross as it went by but couldn't cut it out. But finger-pointing doesn't help, and we didn't dwell on it - these things happen in football, especially on counter-attacks... if you have players charging back the length of the field all at different speeds, and the ball is in behind you, it's difficult. Crucially, I think Gilberto was missed. As Arsene says, "he smells danger", and usually picks up the supporting and overlapping runs that fullbacks or midfielders make against us. 0-1 to the Mancs.

But again, no matter. The boys regrouped, and went for it. The second half was all Arsenal possession, all Arsenal dominance, and even if it was not effective at times, the direction of the game was changed. Man United played their part as well, after going a goal up, they sat back a little deeper (wary perhaps of Henry's pace), and Senderos and Cesc's probing long passes to Adebayor were starting to push them deeper and deeper. Then the subs came on. Van Persie in attack on for the innefectual Hleb, and Baptista more latterly for Flamini, to offer some more of a goal threat and experience. And Monsieur Wenger... take a bow, because the subs worked a treat.

With 6 minutes left, Cesc and Rosicky fought doggedly for the ball. Scholes and Evra were on the ground after having put in tackles, and 3 or 4 times the ball changed hands, but our two little dynamos never gave up. Never. Finally Cesc came away with the ball, and released Rosicky down the right flank. He crossed to the near post, Henry tried a cheeky backheeled-instep Kanu-versus-Boro flick type thing that didn't come off at all, but Robin Van Persie came screaming in at the far post to lunge and bang in an equaliser into the roof of the net off that precious left foot of his. He wanted it, and he got it. He covered loads of ground, and showed great hunger and anticipation to take the chance, and of course exceptional technqiue to direct the ball high and past Van Der Sar. 1-1.

With the pressure of defeat, and their unbeaten home record off, the team regrouped and went back for more. Then in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Eboue played a terrific one-two with Rosicky, ghosted in behind the player at left-back (Heinze had come on to supplement Evra who moved upfield, and maybe they got confused), and he delivered a pacy, accurate cross into the box. Henry was lurking behind Vidic, and he jumped perfectly to thump a bullet header past Van der Saar. Magnificient stuff, and typical of Henry this season. He had faffed around the entire game, wasted a much easier headed chance from a great ball by Adebayor, and done not very much apart from having a penalty decision go against him (probably wrongly), and squabbled with Gary Neville the entire game. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. 2-1; game over.

Baptista has not been mentioned much, but he did well when he came on. Was positionally good, and supported the team well in defence and in attack. We all expect him to be scoring goals, but it's easy to forget that he started off as a defensive midfielder, and that he understands the position. Cesc, who was majestic all game really hung around the final third towards the end of the game, and Baptista helped him to do that. Everyone was good; Clichy was superb apart from their goal, Eboue was minimally dramatic, made some good tackles, had Ronaldo in his pocket and crossed for the winner. Senderos was decent, and although had donkey moments (including falling backwards while trying a simple pass to Toure), he was always alert to danger. Rosicky was wasteful and although involved, was ineffective for most of the game, but played a crucial part in both goals. Flamini worked hard as he always does. Hleb tried but failed on the day, and was probably the second worst player on the field after Henry, but Henry scored and he didn't, and that's the way it goes. Adebayor was probably man of the match, full of running excellent control and technique, and he always managed to hold up the ball and lay it off neatly. He created good chances for Henry and Cesc, and although he didn't really have a shot to speak of, he gave them massive trouble. Van Persie as I said earlier produced an excellent finish, but fractured his foot (metatarsal #5!) in doing so and that's a big worry now.

So Arsenal win 2-1 deservedly, and things become a wee bit more interesting. It's unfortunate that sections of the media have had a field day somehow managing to slam Arsenal for coming back and winning the game. In Paris, 10 men Arsenal had lots of possession and more shots, but lost. The media however had no hesitation in proclaiming Barca as worthy winners. I bet if Man United had been the ones to win that way, they would have been applauded for their "British spirit" and "never say die attitutude" and all that malarky. F*ck off.

Spackman and Wallace, you pair of twats, here are the stats (yes, yes it rhymes):

	Arsenal	Mancs
Shots (On Target)	19(11)	10(6)
Fouls	13	11
Corners	8	6
Offsides	1	2
Possession	53%	47%
Yellow Cards	1	3
Saves	4	7

Images shamelessly ripped off from the Beeb.

Let me start off by saying that I will massively miss Lauren, and that he is still the best right-back at the club. Or was. Eboue might be electric and exciting going forward, but he is too busy being an actress and believing in his own hype to focus on defensive improvement. Hoyte is ok, but it will take something special for him to be a worthy first-choice right-back. Sorry for all the hyphens. In any case, Lauren is a legend, maybe not in the legendary sense (?), but the fact that he was the toughest mo-fo on the team, he was unbelievably consistent, quick, strong, skillful and versatile. His first season at the club was in his natural position of central/defensive midfield - he scored goals, passed well, and did a good job. But his second season, the beginning of his career at right-back, also coincided with Arsenal's first leage title in 4 years, the double of 2001/2002. From then on he made the position his own and was the best right-back in the Premiership for several years. A boxer in his spare time, Lauren was the kind of player you loved having in your team - opposition players absolutely shat themselves when he stared them down, and every once in a while you knew he was just going to flatten an attacker (only ever getting a yellow card of course). From 2000-2005, there were large patches of inconsistency in the team every now and then, but it was always Lauren who would stand out for his calm and accurate passing, good link up play, and dogged defending. I think i've used up every stereotype in the book here. Anyhow, after almost 7 years at the club after arriving from Mallorca, Lauren leaves with 2 Premiership titles, 3 FA Cups, 227 appearances and 9 goals. He will never be forgotten, and especially so because he was one of the invincibles. Laureano Bisan-Etame Mayer... we salute you. I'm glad he was able to part with the club on such amicable terms (although i'm sure we will dread facing him when we play Pompey). To read a bit more about Lauren and his interesting history, click here.

And now to the main event. Arsenal vs Manchester United, on Sunday, at Highmirates Stadium. Sad to say, the emergence of Chelsea has somewhat taken a bit of the heat off this rivalry, but this will no doubt be a classic encounter. Both teams are playing excellent football, Chelsea are lost in between them and in their own politics, and funnily enough with Ferguson top, and Wenger as underdog, things are back to the way they were during those years of Arsenal and United dominance. United need the victory to keep up their title challenge and to avenge their home defeat to the Arsenal earlier this season, and we want the victory to keep up our faint title hopes. Van Persie is a doubt, Gilberto is injured (if this has a highly negative effects, someone needs to go give Robbie Savage a black eye), and Eboue or Hoyte will be an interesting question.

As for United... well it's quite amazing - they come into this game without a single injury or suspension. That's not to say that we are in bad shape, but Gilberto and Gallas, and potentially Van Persie and Eboue missing will take it's toll. It's going to be a lot of pressure on young Cesc Fabregas, and one wonders who will deputise for Gilberto alongside him. It will probably be Flamini, but the Flamster for all his effort is not really the same kind of player. Still, 4-5-1 might be an option, with Adebayor up front and Henry playing the withdrawn role that he assumed when Gilberto was sent off, or Henry might be stuck up front with Baptista or Diaby affording both more protection and more energy in midfield.

And i'll leave you with some Lauren goodness. There was another great clip where he really gives Mido a tough time, but I couldnt find it. So. Anyways: