Those of you who've watched Arsenal this season, will have known the eventual outcome within 15 minutes of the start of yesterday's game against West Ham. It was the same old story. Arsenal created a glut of chances and didn't score. You wondered whether West Ham would pinch one off a counter-attack, and sure enough on the stroke of half-time they did. And then Arsenal continued to create a glut of chances but to no avail. SAME. OLD. STORY. One-nil not to the Arsenal.

There was all the intricate passing, pretty football, and scintillating build-up play and movement that you'd expect of Arsene Wenger's sides, but nothing at the end of it. To take Arjun's “just can't score” metaphor a step farther, this Arsenal team have all the foreplay imaginable, but when it comes down to getting the job done, they just can't raise themselves to the task. There's far too much fannying around, and the look completely impotent without their big guns. Excuse me for that series of puntences please. I just couldn't help myself.

The point is that Arsenal can't really find a goal from anywhere at the moment with Robin Van Persie and Thierry Henry both out for the rest of the season. Judging by his overall lack of mobility and effectiveness, Julio Baptista has proved to be more of an “immovable object” than an “unstoppable force” - talk about the biggest let down of the season.

Emmanuel Adebayor, is always a threat, but is not prolific, and can't be expected to shoulder the goalscoring burden alone for long periods. He does so much, so well, but needs people around him to finish. Aliadiere? Well he's quick, slippery, works hard and holds up the ball well, but has all the threat and accuracy of a water pistol. And that's about it.

It was a 3^rd straight league defeat, and things are becoming pretty serious now. They are 5 points behind Liverpool, and 3 ahead of Bolton, and barely clinging onto that last Champions League spot with a game in hand. The problem is that there is absolutely nothing to look forward to in terms of personnel, because everyone who could be fit right now is fit, they're just not good enough to score goals, and ultimately that is the basis of football. Wenger might wax lyrical about how Cesc, Hleb, Rosicky, Denilson and Freddie pass and move and dribble, and how unlucky Arsenal are to not be winning, but he's not fooling anyone. It's the old cliché of “goals win games”, except by having a team devoid of finishers, he's in a way responsible for them being unlucky. Some solution will have to be found to solve this problem for the remaining league games, then come the summertime, it's time for some investment.

With Arsenal's most potent strikeforce consigned to treatment tables for the rest of the season, nostalgia has taken over amongst the fans, who tired of the tootless duo of Julio Baptista and Jeremie Aliadiere, have glossed over the problems in the partnership between Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie, and decided that they are in-fact Batman and Robin.

Well, there is no doubt that if Van Persie and Henry were still fit and playing, that Arsenal would be in at least 1 of the 2 remaining cup competitions, and playing much more imposingly in the league. But as a pair, it is very hard to judge if they combine well or not, especially since they are both such brilliant individual talents, but not always the best fit for each other.

Well, here are the statistics i've collected below, and hopefully you guys can draw your own conclusions:

Games Started Together: 15 (won 8, drawn 3, lost 4)
Goals scored in those games: 24
Games in which both have scored: 2
Goals scored by Van Persie: 6
Goals scored by Henry: 8 (2 pen)
Assists by Van Persie for Henry: 1 (1 pen)
Assists by Henry for Van persie: 1 (1 pen)

Van Persie - All Appearances (starts + subs): 31 (25+6)
Total goals scored by Van Persie: 13 (1 pen)
Assists by Van Persie: 8 (3 pen)

Henry - All Appearances (starts + subs): 27 (24+3)
Total goals scored by Henry: 12 (2 pen)
Assists by Henry: 4 (1 pen)

* note that for assists, pen = when that player was brought down and a penalty was awarded

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:

First off, Chelsea are a bunch of fucking horrible cunts. Now that we've established that, we can move on (briefly) to the football, where Arsenal went ahead 1-0 with a great Theo Walcott finish. Chelsea equalised not too long after with a goal from Drogba, where he was clearly offside, but we're Arsenal, and they're Chelsea, so obviously nothing more can be expected of the officiating. Robin Van Persie scored a perfectly good goal last season against Chelsea, which was ruled out for offside, and Drogba was a good 2 yards further on this effort, so it was pretty poor officiating. The young, inexperienced Traore didn't help by being sucked upfield, and Drogba had time to take 5 or 6 steps to settle himself before slotting through Almunia's legs - no challenge on him at all. Then late in the game Arsenal gave the ball away cheaply in their own half, Robben crossed, and Drogba easily beat Senderos to the ball to make it 2-1. Another Drogba goal that is down to very poor defending from Senderos, and I don't know why Djourou wasn't playing. Almunia was OK without being great, but Cech was monstrious for them and it could have been 2-0 long before they scored if it wasn't for him.

So on paper, Chelsea win 2-1. Anyone who watched the game would have seen the real story - Arsenal's young players playing brilliant football, controlling the game, and running circles around a bunch of unambitious overpaid shitheads. Chelsea celebrated afterwards as if they had just won the Champions League (regardez the "Winners 07" shirt that they put on), and Drogba's over-exaggerated celebrations are always hard to take given the cheapness of some of his goals. I'm angry about this not just because of the late brawl, but also because the Arsenal kids didn't get the result they deserved. It was gutting. Overall there are definitely more positives to take out of this game than negatives, but footballwise only.

And now to the incident. Kolo and Mikel were challenging for the ball, and Lampard was around. Toure and Mikel were getting heated, and then Lampard wades in and says something and suddenly Toure went mental like you could never imagine and that sparked a huge brawl. Lampard was definitely involved in the middle of it, not sure exactly what John Obi Mikel did, and there were several players in the thick of things. Watch the highlights carefully, Kolo and Mikel are angry, but then Lampard steps in, and Kolo absolutely loses it like he's never lost it before, and that sparks a huge brawl. Cesc, who always gets involved, got involved, stepping in to let Lampard know that he can't just say and do whatever he wants, and then Lampard and him went at it, and Drogba came and had a go at Cesc as well, and once they were all separated, Lampard went after the little Spaniard again. I love that Cesc plays with so much heart, but i'm worried it will burn him out.



Kolo and Mikel did nothing but shove like crazy, maybe they deserved their reds, but Lampard got away with just the yellow. As always, it's Arsenal who are portrayed as the dirty ones, but Lampard is as fucking horrible as anyone else you'll find. But what else is he? He's English, he's one of England's only half-decent midfielders, and he's a fat overrated overpaid cunt playing for a team run by an arrogant monkey and owned and funded by a criminal. As you can see neutrality is not my concern at the moment. Cesc stepped in, alternating between aggressor and peacemaker, but Lampard was the one who waded in to start with, and shove, and say something, and then just kept going at it. Cesc was booked, and he was frustrated but he understood. Lampard you could almost see smirking as he received his token yellow - he knows he's untouchable.

Most ridiculous though, was the sending off of Emmanuel Adebayor, who stepped in 3 times as a peacemaker when everything was going crazy. He did absolutely nothing, and he was quite rightly absolutely livid when the assistant ref told the linesman to send him off. He was furious, he had to be restrained, and it took the physio Gary Lewin, Henry and everyone else to get him off the pitch. This was the problem with the replays not being shown, but to everyone watching it just looked like a bunch of angry thugs being sent off. Adebayor did NOTHING at all, and that was why he was angry. I'm told that Emmanuel Eboue might have clashed with Wayne Bridge and that Adebayor was sent off for this. What kind of stone age are we in where the linesman can't tell a 6'3" ponytailed black man from a 5'10" shaven headed one? This was nonsense. African football fans will be very, very unhappy.

It's very dissatisfying as you could imagine. Lots of positives for the youngsters to take, because they outplayed Chelsea, but the red cards are a horrible after-effect - Toure and Adebayor suspended for 3 matches. Cesc's yellow will mean that he needs to be careful, because he's gotten a few this season. Diaby and Denilson were oustanding, and the team was in general. Up front Aliadiere worked hard, and Baptista tried (but was sluggish and off the pace). Once again, Senderos was at fault for Drogba scoring a winner, and despite all the qualities of the Swiss defender, his mistakes seem to outweight them.

John Terry was injured in the game as well, heading a 50-50 ball and getting a kick in the head from Diaby for his troubles. It looked like a very serious injury, and I was concerned for him at the time, but right now i'm just disappointed that the big fucking r***ist hasn't ended up in a coma. Diaby had a wonderful game, but he looked quite distressed by what he'd done to Terry, and I think that's probably more the reason why he was substituted.



Unbelievable bitterness stemming from undeserved loss is what the doctor would probably diagnose right now, but Chelsea really do make it difficult with the way they behave, and the media compound it by always pointing the finger at Arsenal and their "foreigners", and always backing up Chelsea's nonsense, especially as far as Lampard and Terry are involved. I'm sure Zokora and King and Chimbonda over at Spurs were quite happy to see TheWorld'sBestDefenderAndBestPlayerInEnglandCosHe'sEnglishJohnTerry flat out on the turf.



Anyhow. Enough. That's two losses on the bounce now for the Arsenal, and it's tough for the team. The lack of an offside call for Drogba's goal was pretty gutting as well, especially when the big fucker acts like he's just scored the best goal ever. Last year Robin Van Persie had a brilliant left-footed effort disallowed for offside when he was at least 2-3 yards more onside than Drobga. But it's Chelsea, or it's Arsenal, or maybe it's both. Explain why Michael Essien wasn't given a second yellow, while poor Denilson good booked for a harmless foul. Early on, a cross was put in from Walcott, and Baptista dragged it back instead of taking a shot, but was tackled, and the defender was nowhere near the ball. Where was the Penalty? Where was the penalty when Aliadiere was brought down clearly at Blackburn? Where was the penalty when Hleb was chopped down at West Ham? Where was the penalty when Flamini was brought down at Highbury a couple of years ago against Chelsea?

Arggghh. Big, tough week of football up ahead. Congratulations to Chelsea, good luck to the Arsenal, and fuck off to Fat Franky Lampard. Look out for some heavily biased, heavily edited highlights to start circulating all over the place soon. I'm sure you can guess by now what the purpose of those will be. Rupert Murdoch can't die soon enough, the disgusting prick.

Apologies for all the expletives.

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.

Mark Hughes came to Highmirates on Saturday and played a 9-1 formation. One could see the value/logic/patheticness of it in a league game where a dogged draw would be worth a point to beleaguered relegation battlers, but that wasn't the case. This is no longer Blackburn Rovers circa Graeme Souness. This is a Blackburn side that is challenging for Europe, and has been scoring goals and beating teams. Yet they came to Arsenal on Saturday with absolutely no ambition, and made no attempt to win. It was 90 minutes of defending from Rovers, and the closest chance they had was a flukey looping cross-shot from late substitute Matt Derbyshire with his back turned to goal. I can't remember Almunia having to make another save of note.

I don't really understand how the papers get away with describing them as "Gutsy Rovers", and how they "earned a deserved draw". HELLO! Football is about attacking, and defending, and even though you might be better at one than the other, you at least TRY to do both. This was not the case, because if anything, Rovers were completely gutless. And it's an FA Cup tie for f**k's sakes... what have they got other than a replay at home where they've already been outplayed 2-0 by a 10-man Arsenal side? Are they going to attack over there? And if so, why didn't they try attacking in London? The 7 players being out injured for them is a poor excuse. There have been far worse Blackburn sides, that have beaten far better Arsenal sides. Ok, they were missing Gamst and Benni McCarthy, but there was enough attacking talent in the team for them to have a go.

Nonda was playing alone up front, and he scored twice against Arsenal in Blackburn's 6-2 defeat at Ashburton Grove earlier this season. There were also two strikers on the bench - Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire. Roberts has scored against Arsenal before, and given our defence loads of problems when he was at West Brom and Wigan, and Derbyshire is a young striker in fantastic form, who looked dangerous in that same 6-2 defeat. It was header that bounced of the bar for Nonda to score from, and almost scored later but miskicked his shot. Both of those could have really troubled an Arsenal defence with a tired Kolo Toure and Philippe Senderos - who is very prone to pace.

In midfield, they might have been short of options, but they still had Brett Emerton, David Dunn and David Bentley. Ex-Arsenal boy Bentley has been one of Blackburn's brightest attacking talents over the last two years. Dunn is a player of oustanding talent who was instrumental in Blackburn's 3-2 victory at Highbury in 2001/2002, and even in a 4-5-1 he could have easily driven forth from midfield to provide an attacking threat. Emerton, although he's been deployed at right-back this season, is a player who can dribble, cross and pass, and made his name as an attacking right-winger.

The point is that Blackburn could very easily have put their injury excuses aside and tried to win. They were WOEFUL. It was an Arsenal side without Rosicky, Hleb, Gilberto, Eboue, Adebayor and Baptista, and with Aliadiere and Flamini filling in, and a rusty Freddie Ljungberg putting in his first start since December. Arsenal were vulnerable today, but Blackburn didn't try to counter-attack, didn't try to put in crosses... they didn't try anything at all. Arsenal played their part by not testing the Blackburn defence enough. They were, as Arsene Wenger described - "flat", and with all the changes made there was a little sharpness lacking. Henry was absent, although Aliadiere was tidy up front, and they didn't really test Blackburn until the end, but unfortunately Brad Friedel was more than equal with a couple of stunning saves.

I think the root logic behind Hughes' strategy was this - he knew that Arsenal didn't want a replay and another game on their already hectic schedule. They have already played in excess of 40 games this season, and they will be well near the 70 mark by the end of it. Be assured that with Premiership and Champions League commitments, there will be another "rotated" Arsenal side out there, but there was one of those at Bolton, and two of those against Tottenham, so I don't think the Arse will be too fussed. Here's to hoping that the replay ends in normal time and that there's not another 120 minute extravaganza - if there hadn't been one at Bolton, Baptista, Denilson, Diaby, Adebayor and co would have quite likely have impacted the game against Rovers.

So here is the story in short:

1. There was a lot of pre-match buildup including - "Bolton are Arsenal's bogey team", "Arsenal's 'pretty' footballers can't handle Bolton's thuggery", "Allardyce spurts bravado bullshit and slags Wenger off". This included the usual rubbish about Bolton's "honest" English players, Wenger's diving foreigners and all sorts of usual xenophobic nonsense that the English press loves to throw up. Wenger stuck to his guns (as he always does, and said that they would play football and try to win.

2. The story of the first-match was - Bolton going up 1-0 through Kevin Nolan early on, Arsenal equalising for 1-1 through Kolo Toure late on. Both teams were wasteful, but it was a tense, tight affair.

3. The story of this match was a little more complex. I'm tempted to use bullet points, but i'm too lazy: Arsenal played football, and how. Mesmering passing and dominant possession throughout the first half resulted only in a one goal lead. Hleb, Denilson, Rosicky and Adebayor all combining beautifully in the build-up, and the Togostick scoring with a left-footed shot via a deflection off Stelios. Diaby and Denilson were magical in the centre of midfield, controlling the play, going in for tackles, and above all always moving the ball around. This lead was almost lost just before half-time when Stelios hit the bar. Time for a new paragraph.

The second half was a little bit more even, but not much at all. Arsenal lost a bit of their flow and rhythym but still controlled the game. Baptista showed great Brazilianity to win a penalty, which Gilberto slammed high into the roof... of the stadium. Still 1-0 to the Arsenal. Bolton's influence on the game was increasing, but Arsenal countered well, and Adebayor sprinted through on goal, neatly rounded the keeper, and with the goal COMPLETELY at his mercy, he fired the ball in.. to the post, from where it rebounded away to safety. Still 1-0 to the Arsenal, but things get more tense now. Then, the predictable happened. As a few Arsenal counter-attacks and half-chances were again wasted (Baptista was particularly guilty), Bolton equalised in the 92nd minute. How? Through a corner of course, because Arsenal were once again "brilliant" with their set-piece defending (although to be fair they actually were for most of the game). With Bolton keeper Jasskalainen mucking about with Toure on the penalty spot, three players queued up unmarked at the far post, the ball was headed in, and Meite stabbed it home. Pandemonium. End of normal time, and end of paragraph.

Extra-time started off with the Arse looking nervous, and I really feared for the result. I am always confident that we can win penalty shootouts when Almunia is involved, but getting to the end of extra-time seemed like it was going to be a problem, especially when stand-in centreback Gilberto flicked a cross towards his own goal, fortunately it hit the post and was sent to safety. The first-half of extra-time ended without further event, and with both teams looking tense and tired, penalties were very possibly on the cards. Not to be so however, and two substitutes combined to give Arsenal the lead. Jeremie Aliadiere showed great pace and skill to run about 45 yards, beating about 4 or 5 players along the way, and tapped a neat ball into the path of the onrushing Freddie, who a la 2002, took the ball in his stride with his right foot, and struck a perfect early shot with his left that was only ever destined for the far corner. 2-1 to the Arsenal.

Bolton surged forward in search of an equaliser, and with their keeper up for another corner, Arsenal broke, Adebayor was clean through on goal, and Anelka fouled him from behind in the penalty area. Why was it not a red card? There was no keeper in sight, so Adeabyor had a clear goalscoring opportunity and Anelka was the last man, and he made no attempt to get the ball. All that he got was a yellow. Perhaps the referee didn't want to send off a second Bolton "footballer" after dismissing the dirty, smelly and irritating Tal Ben Haim earlier on, but it's not Arsenal's problem that people like Tal Ben Haim exist is it?

Anyways, Baptista stepped up to take the penalty, and obviously him and Gilberto are having some sort of "Best Brazilian" contest, and the Beast being his humble self, he decided to let Gilberto win and smacked the penalty even harder and more inaccurately than Gil. Still 2-1.

Then finally, Arsenal got their deserved scoreline. Baptista broke through on goal, tried to round the keeper and messed it up, and ended up "passing" the ball to Adebayor who tucked it home. He deserved that second goal, and Arsenal deserved their scoreline, and Bolton deserved absolutely nothing but a loss and a lesson in football, both of which they got.

Full time: Bolton 1 - 3 Arsenal, and Blackburn await in the next round on Saturday. This was one of the most exciting games of the season, and for both excitement and quality of football, patches of it sensational.

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Almunia (8/10) - So solid, so composed. Is this really Almunia? He's good in these phsyical games, because of his temperament. People tend to always have a go at Lehmann, especially Bolton. Almunia just gets on with it, which helps the team. His shot-stopping has never been in doubt, but this season his aerial ability, judgement and command of his area have been super.

Djourou (7/10) - Played at right-back to try and combat aerial attacks and did well. Was surprisingly declared fit after his suspected "broken nose". Started to disappear later on, and was apparently injured and subbed off for Hoyte.

Toure (7.5/10) - Some people said he struggled, but he did well. He must be exhausted, but he's such a force at the back with his pace and power. He's looked a bit out of sorts and positionally suspect, but he's always there, and always trying to drive the team forward. Got beaten by Anelka once, but didn't give him a sniff after that.

Gilberto (7.5/10) - Another oustanding performance filling in at the back from Gilberto. Very composed, and turned in a great performance, although he almost scored an own goal. He never looked confident for the penalty, and the miss was no surprise.

Clichy (8/10) - Just oustanding from the zippy Frenchman. Another one who must be completely shattered, and there's really very little relief in sight for him with Gallas still injured and Traore not being ready to play week-in, week-out yet. So quick, so alert and composed on the ball even if his passing and crossing are still off the mark. Really has come into his own over the past month or so. Was such a threat going forward and combining with Rosicky, and providing instant pace and presence on counter-attacks.

Hleb (8/10) - Immensely classy player, and never afraid to take on a game. He ran at Bolton time and time again, and was instrumental in setting up the opened. Not often the man who gives the final pass, but almost always the facilitator of it, he really is a special, unique talent. There aren't many dribblers like him, and he gives this team a whole new dimension on the right. Worked back to help out the fullback and central midfielders as always. 2/10 for the haircut thought.

Denilson (7.5) - The youngster was brilliant. What a find. So strong, so skillful. Together with Diaby he ran the show for the first 70 minutes or so, and played commitedly for all 120. Had a few lapses, but he's only 19. He plays Wengerball properly, and if Bolton's midfield is supposed to be tough, then this kid is a monster in the making. Happy birthday!

Diaby (7.5) - Time and time again, it seemed like Patrick Vieira had somehow been secretly smuggled back in to London and was playing for the Arsenal. Using his physique and winning the ball and gliding past players just like Le Grand Saucisse used to, Abou seems to have recovered well from his injury. He had quite a few awry passes, but found his feet soon enough, and was really dominant. Didn't break Campo's foot this time, but there'll be time for that at the Grove.

Rosicky (8/10) - Man of the match by a long way for the first 60-70 minutes, he faded from the game after. He tormented the Bolton defence, tackled well, and generally created almost everything in that amazing first half. He was all over the place, but always in the right place at the right time. Bolton couldn't get near him, and his style of play is perfect for situations like these. He's stronger than he looks, and almost always looks to turn and face when receving the ball so he's always got time, always got space, and is always seeing the game. Avoided all sorts of challenges, and rarely ever lost the ball. Would have been man of the match if not for Adebayor's superhuman efforts.

Baptista (4/10) - Nonsense. Wasted chance after half-chance, didn't combine well with anyone, was sluggish, and didn't look at all confident. Tried too hard at times to make up for playing shit, but this was often at the expense of teammates, especially late on where Adebayor was open in space and all that was required was a simple square ball, but Baptista dribbled and shot his wasy to nowhere. Showed bad decision making in quite a few situations, but encouragingly doesn't seem to let it get to him. Did a tricky stepover to win a penalty, but took a horrible penalty late on. I am convinced that he looks just like a Ninja turtle, but the question is... which one?

Adebayor (9/10) - Just immense. Ran from the first minute to the last minute (that's over 2 hours!). Combined well with everybody, scored two well deserved goals, but missed a sitter in the second half that would have settled the result. He's quick, he's strong, he's tricky, and he gives 150%. It was unbelievable how he just kept on running all game. Gave the Bolton defenders so many problems, and tracked back equally well, including one situation late on where he sprinted back some 60 yards to dispossess Diouf (or was it Anelka?). Man of the match by a long way. Has found his space in this team, and he loves being here, and we love having him here.

Ljungberg (8/10) - 8!! EIGHT!!! OCHO?!?!?! Yes - 8/10, because he deserves it. Not just for that super finish (which only he could have scored), but because of the way he led and guided the team when he came on. People may say he has nothing to offer anymore, but his experience is immeanse. Just watch how he dispossessed a few Bolton players, tracked back, and the positions he took up in attack and the way he tried to use the ball (not always succesfully albeit). Made two great fouls (one resulting in a booking) that were again down to experience - he made the fouls early on, before the Bolton players could leave their own halves, and both would definitely have resulted in very dangerous counters. We love you all over again Freddie!

Aliadiere (7/10) - On for Rosi in extra-time and had a profound effect on the game, setting up Freddie. Very sharp, inventive and quick. His fresh legs turned the game, and he ran at Bolton time and time again, and held the ball up very well on the flanks.

Hoyte (6/10) - Did his job, but was shaky against Diouf and Anelka. Came on for the injured(?) Djourou.

So that's the story. It's special to see this new Arsenal team developing, they all have skill, they all have camaraderie, they all love being there, and they're all about giving 150% effort. Guys like Hleb and Rosicky can easily act like primadonnas with the amount of skill that they have, but they play the game in full - attack and defence (unlike say - Pires, or quite often Henry). This is the future, and in a team full of technicians, this kind of attitude is the key to success.