It's a good thing I work on the Pentonville Road, you know. It's a good thing because there's sod all happening in the football world. However, the Pentonville Road, on this glorious, South Eastern trains managed to run a service on time this morning, day is teeming with life. Just minutes ago the movers and shakers, dudes and earthquake makers carousing down the street were interrupted by an altercation between a young man and the Police. One punch in the mouth, 8 Police vans and a pool of blood later, I believe it's all sorted.

We carry on.

Last night, I was feeling a bit down, so after I went and bought some dill, amongst other things, for a dinner recipe which then went unused, I went to Borders. I was looking at the Arsenal books on display- including signed paperback copies of Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub- and thinking to myself how many more books can I read about this football club? The answer, as it happens, is quite a lot but on this particular occasion, my eye fell upon Barça! by Jimmy Burns. Seeing as Barcelona make a habit of targetting our players every summer, I thought it might serve me to know the enemy. As an added bonus for me, the book begins its tale with El Clásico from the 1998/99 season, which coincided with a year of insomnia for me in Bilbao. So my interest has been well and truly piqued.

How funny to read this morning, then, that Arsenal are rumoured to be interested in, Barcelona captain, Carlos Puyol. I can't see it myself, but checking out that well known bastion of sports journalism, Marca and its website, Manchester City are also said to be in for him so there must be something afoot with him. Albeit not neccessarily that we're looking at him, but it would make a refreshing change for a club captain to be departing El Prat de Llobregat for Heathrow, rather than the other way round.

Could it really be possible that Barcelona are interested in Emmanuel Eboue, by the way? I mean, I know the guy's improved from last season- but that much?

The gaffer is using the international break to take stock. He's been talking up our displays this season, noting that even in defeat the quality has been there. I think that's something that is true, we've all commented on the improved attitude this season and, whilst it may not have been present once United went 2-1 up a few weeks back, it was there at Everton and Celtic and the guys have worked hard since that double disappointment in Manchester to get our season back on track. I know others may not agree, but this certainly feels to me like a team that is a much different proposition to the wet lettuce bunch that staggered through autumn and some of last season's winter.

Of course, we may also return from the international break with Samir Nasri and the two goalkeepers back in the reckoning. Which may, or may not, be a good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing Samir back anyway, just trying to work out where he'll fit in!

It's all starting to get on top of me, you know, after three days of being late for work because South Eastern trains appear to be incapable of running a service on time when it rains a bit. Something of a drawback on an island like this I think you'll agree, I'm beginning to wonder why I bother getting up in the morning. 

One of the reasons, I guess, is the thought of writing this blog. I don't have a laptop, so I have to get up to bring you little slice of joy every day. 

Today, it's all about the exes. Hot on the heels of Thierry's rapturously received return to the Grove on Sunday and Patrick Vieira's January return being mooted, we have Sol Campbell apparently returning to Arsenal to get himself fit. He says that he's spoken to Arsène and we have yet more evidence of the man that our manager is. Here is a player who abandoned his colleagues at half time during a Premier League match, who subsequently left the club to go and play in Europe, but didn't make it past Portsmouth- leaving Arsène to wonder whether Portsmouth had been sold to a European country and yet, in his hour of need, he turns to Arsène for help. Of course, it's probable that there wasn't anyone else he could ask- Harry Redknapp? Hmmmm.

Following on from the prodigal son, we have... ooh, how it pains me to write his name, Mr Adebayor. Who kind of, sort of, regrets his stamp on his former team mate, Robin van Persie and has felt the need to again justify his move away from north London. He said,

"I talked with the coach and he told me I was one of Arsenal's best-paid players, that the club was in the red, so maybe they wouldn't be able to pay me any more - it would be better for me to go.

Yes, it's true that Ade was one of Arsenal's best paid players. But so were William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas- yet the boss didn't feel the need to sell them due to the club being "in the red". Why do we think that was? 

"I asked him, 'Is it your choice or the club's?' He answered, 'It's everybody's choice, from the whole club'. I was pushed out!"

I bet Arsène took a straw poll of the dressing room. Hands up,should he stay or should he go? It's not difficult to imagine that everyone except Eboue and maybe Toure would have wanted the guy to, as the saying goes, "do one".

He goes on to say,

"When I heard the fans singing and insulting my parents . . . I couldn't stand it. When I scored, I wanted to show them, 'You kicked me out of the club, now I've scored against you.' It was a response to what happened, but I did not in any way want to provoke them.

"My relationship with Arsenal has broken in two. I wanted to stay. It's true that I didn't score a lot of goals last season, but I was often injured."

Life on Planet Adebayor must be, like, so weird, man! The penny still hasn't dropped that a) nearly 4 weeks later, the Gooners there were not singing about his mother and b) that it wasn't about his 17 goals last season- not that it wasn't disappointing on the back of 30 the season before. But it was about the Beyonce comments, the Football Focus interview, the Stay/Go press junket, the 52 offsides in a match and a complete lack of effort when we needed it most.

Anyway, he's obviously still missing us, the poor lamb.

Speaking of Thierry Henry, as I was earlier, and speaking of Theo Walcott, as I was yesterday, Theo managed once again to come over all starstruck when talking about how he has another autographed shirt from the club's record scorer. This one's a little more special than the autographed 32 Theo got when he first arrived as it is, of course, the number 14 shirt that Thierry used to wear and Theo wears now. Though, I'm sure it isn't the one he scored in on Sunday afternoon, in the presence of the master, as that would presumably have been all sweaty and dirty and therefore consigned to the laundry room. Assuming, of course, there is one at the Grove and that Mrs Wenger doesn't have to take the kit home to wash every week.

Having managed to bring it back round to Arsenal and the players we have playing for us now, there's just time to tell you about a few alterations to the dates and times those players will be appearing on in the near future.

The Liverpool match has been moved from the 12th December to the 4pm Sky Sports game on the 13th- which also happens to be my sister's birthday, so um, thanks for that Sky! This has the knock on effect of moving our away fixture at Burnley back from the 15th December to the 16th, whilst the home game with Hull on the 19th of that month has also been moved. Albeit only from 3pm to a 5.30, live on ESPN, kick off. And then, in a Sky Sports frenzy, our first Boxing Day home fixture since we moved (I think) will now be shown on Sky at 1.30 on the 27th. That's against Aston Villa, whilst the away fixture at Portsmouth originally set for the 28th will now take place  at 7.45 on the 30th. Again, live on Sky.

Is that all clear? Good, I'll get the beers in. Or, more appropriately for December, the hot chocolates.

What do we have for entertainment?

Not cops kicking gypsies on the pavement, as Strummer once sang/rapped/shouted and not a lot else as the dust begins to settle on perhaps the finest team performance since the Grove opened for business three summers ago. I finally got around to watching MOTD 2 last night, I don't record games I'm going to because; a) everyone time I've done it in the past, we've either lost or played very poorly and b) because Jo never lets me have two hours to myself to watch a game we've already seen. Which, I suppose, is not that unreasonable.

Anyway, three things struck me about the programme.

1) In lauding Didier Drogba's muscular performance on Sunday, they completely failed to mention the fact that his theatrics are getting so embarrassing, "honest" John Terry had to tell him to sort himself out on Sunday. Not that significant, perhaps, but if you only ever watched MotD, you might be under the impression that it's only Arsenal players rolling around in the mud.

2) Sam Allardyce and his assertion that Blackburn had been denied a 100% penalty and that Vermaelen should have seen red for the challenge that should have led to the penalty. Yes, it probably was a penalty, but perhaps the referee was influenced less by the fact that it was in the Arsenal penalty area then the fact that Dunn seemed to be on his way down from the first, legitimate, challenge from William Gallas. Either way, it certainly wasn't a red card and even if the penalty had been awarded and then scored, I think the force was with Arsenal to the extent that it wouldn't have mattered a damn. Less a "turning point" and more just one of those things. Of course, we might also have had a penalty ourselves, just before Bendtner's rocket. Anyway.

3) Theo Walcott's interview. I know he's a nice, grounded young man and it's a pleasure to see him speak so articulately in the era of Rooney et al... yes, there's a !"but" coming.

But when I hear him talk of how nice it is to be able to play in the team and how he's just happy to be involved, I want to pick him up by his trendy little sideburns and shake him. I want him to go out there and know that he is out there because the manager believes in him. I want him to go out there and play because he believes in himself. I think what I'm getting at is, a touch of arrogance in his game wouldn't go amiss. He's not little Theo, the great English hope anymore. He is Theo Walcott of Arsenal and England. Of course, I'll probably be writing a blog in two years time bemoaning the petulant, nasty side that has developed in his game and praying that he gets shipped out to Chelsea. Or Manchester City. Such is the life of a blogger.

Of course, it isn't Theo Walcott of England this weekend (thank you Don Fabio), so the boy (see, even I'm doing it) looked set for a week in the company of the boss and Manuel Almunia- what a party that would be, eh? Until Psycho Stuart Pearce got on the phone to Arsène Wenger and said that unless Theo was made available for the England under 21's, Arsène would be getting stabbed up, next time he got into the shower. Or was it sleeping with the fishes? At least, I heard that's what happened, if you don't believe me, check it out here.

Finished? Okay, so maybe I, um, got that a bit wrong. Let's try Tomas Rosicky and his threat to quit Arsenal if he is not offered a new contract.

No, he didn't say that either. Well, actually he kind of did. But then, if no new contract is offered to him, we're kind of telling him we don't want him in the first place, aren't we? As it happens, he has spoken with the boss, although not the club. Furthermore, I'm sure his return to action and- to be fair to him, after 20 months out of action- almost seamless reintegration into the first team has proved his worth to the club already. Yes, he has had injury traumas the like of which we hadn't seen this side of Eduardo, but he is such a great player, he has to be worth retaining. I'm sure I'm not the only one who rose to applaud him off on Sunday who was thinking, "God, I love Tomas Rosicky".

And when having Rosicky means no Eboue or Diaby on the wing, well, I think that's certainly one contract worth renegotiating.

My day, as I alluded to on Saturday afternoon, began unusually early for a visit to the Grove. Calculating the amount of time it would take to traverse the distance between the London boroughs of Bromley and Islington, we decided that the 12.12 train out from Grove Park would see us nicely into Estadio Emiratio with time to spare.

But we didn't reckon on the uselessness of South East trains (a recurring theme this morning, let me tell you), the uselessness of the Piccadilly Line, in its usual Arsenal are at home state- ie not working very well, Jo wanting a Frappuccino (so we got off at Angel rather than carrying onto Kings Cross, a move justified by said uselessness of Piccadilly Line, and finally, me deciding to stop for a can of lager as we wandered down Holloway Road. All said and done, we were outside the Grove about five minutes before kick off when we heard sustained and quite loud applause. Ah! For the beloved manager I thought.

By the time we made our way round to block 22 and Jo decided she wanted a wee, the teams were about to enter the arena, so I went to find our seats, which were conveniently located next to the aisle and by the time she joined me, I had found out that the team I predicted here on Saturday afternoon was indeed the team beginning the game. The crowd seemed in good voice and despite the inconvenience of N'Zonzi beating Vermaelen to a massive Paul Robinson hoof and his header leaving Vito Mannone stranded from Blackburn's first... to call it an attack is being generous I think, but I suppose that is what it was, that didn't change. Even with the Blackburn fans who had bothered to make the journey cavorting around in the block to our right.

As Arsenal pressed for a quick response, Cesc nodded against the bar with a looping header and, coming forward seemingly at will seemed certain to be the man to make the difference in the match. You could almost say he was on a personal mission. Just past the quarter hour, with my neighbour back from the loos minutes earlier, Thomas Vermaelen strode forward, got fouled, got up, took a pass from Cesc and ripped the ball into the far corner of the goal below us. An absolute screamer from this season's top scorer, I think it was even better than the Wigan goal.

There were more chances, Cesc forcing Robinson into a parry low down that RvP was just a fraction slow in reacting to. So, it was somewhat surprising, irritating even, that the next goal came for t' Rovers. A long ball out of the back, Sagna and, on the far side, Clichy were not too interested in getting back, David Dunn shot, the ball flicked off the isolated Gallas' leg and wrongfooted Mannone to give the idiots the other side of the stewards more of a reason to jump around.

Not that that bothered Arsenal unduly. It seemed like seconds later as the stadium echoed to what seemed like the umpteenth rendition of "Stand up for the Arsenal" led by a Lewis Hamilton lookalike- was it Theo's younger brother?- that Cesc took a quick free kick to Diaby, back to Cesc and a lovely through ball that gave RvP all the time he needed to smash home our second equaliser of the game. And silence the bastards next to us. Not that they needed much help in that regard. An almost carbon copy of the movement for the second goal saw Arshavin played in, again by Cesc, and again the same result. With minutes to go till half time, the Gunners had finally hit the front.

"Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry" sang the crowd. "What the hell is going on?" thought I. When the DJ played the Thierry Henry song at half time, the penny began to drop. The great one had come to celebrate his mentor's 13 years at the club. It hit me this morning, when I saw a picture of him on the pitch before the game that that was the applause I'd heard outside the stadium. Colour me gutted.

But that was the only thing I had to be gutted about really. The second half began, as they tend to, with the players emerging and Cesc sharing a word with former Real Madrid defender, Michel Salgado. People may say Cesc was enquiring about life in Madrid, I think he's more likely to have been asking how a formerly great player has come to be sitting on the bench for a club like Blackburn Rovers.

Cesc got the goal that his performance demanded to kill the game off early in the second half, and it was a wonderful strike. Chesting a ball from Rosicky down, his half volley from the edge of the box found the top corner. He celebrated like a man possessed, even indulging in some badge kissing. For someone whose form was being questioned like a week ago, he's come back strong this week. Nine Arsenal goals, one goal, 6 assists and one "pass before the assist" represents quite some output from the little genius.

I think it was before that goal that Vermaelen may consider himself lucky not to have conceded a penalty. From where I was standing, er, sitting, it looked like he made a good tackle. But perhaps the foul had been just before.  Anyway, it wasn't given and there followed an almighty scramble of Arsenal boots trying and failing to clear before Clichy did what all good defenders need to do from time to time and smashed the ball up and away.

Once Mannone had made the kind of flying save I don't believe Almunia has in him anymore and Vermaelen made a good intervention with his head to flick a goalbound effort onto the post, that was pretty much Blackburn done.

But not us. It's fitting that as Arsène celebrates becoming the longest serving manager in our history, we marked the occasion with an Arséne kinda goal. Cesc passed to Arshavin inside our own half, the little Russian positively tore down our left, bringing fans to their feet as he passed them, before squaring the ball to Cesc. Cesc might have shot, but chose to touch the ball onto Walcott so perfectly that Theo lashed the ball past Robinson without breaking stride. My suspicion Thierry was in the ground confirmed by the big screen's shot of him applauding Walcott's goal.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Theo is back. With a vengeance.

He replaced Rosicky who might have completed a perfect day for the front three when his shot from the left flew narrowly wide in the second half. Bendtner then replaced Arshavin and Cesc exited stage left to a standing ovation, replaced by Aaron Ramsey. But this didn't affect the quality of the play. Ramsey was finding gaps throughout the Blackburn defence, a backheel from RvP might have allowed Bendtner to score. There was a wonderful move that culminated in Diaby shooting just wide. Theo was played in, and probably should have scored, the chance was cleared off the line, Paul Robinson made some great saves. But, as the ground began to empty- "Is there a fire drill?"- Nick Bendtner finished his week from hell with a goal straight out of Pro Evolution Soccer, collecting the ball on the left and, given all the time in the world, cutting inside before unleashing a ferocious drive that just caught the inside of the post as it flashed home.

Game. Set. And match. 

A fantastic end to a fantastic performance. People may say, yeah, but Arsenal always batter week teams at home. I don't think that's true and I don't think people should be looking to pick the bones out of what was a truly wonderful attacking performance. So Cesc abdicated his defensive duties? So what? I say. And so should everyone else after an attacking performance like that.

As I logged on today, I caught the opening paragraph to today's Arseblog, and him saying that he isn't going to preview tomorrow's game today. Well, as I'm going to the game and am not prepared to get up an hour earlier on a Sunday just to write a blog... you've guessed it, I am going to preview the game now.

Starting with the news that Vito Mannone will keep his place in goal as the Spanish waiter is yet to regain full fitness following his chest infection. I wonder if he will have learnt to come and catch a cross when he does make his inevitable return to the first team? Not wanting to get to negative on your ass on a Saturday afternoon, who would have thought when Vito conceded 2 goals in his first five minutes in the first team (and he could do little about either) that he would go on to keep his sheets clean for the next 355 minutes? Okay, you can argue that after those opening 5 minutes, Standard Liege offered almost nothing, we then beat a very poor Wigan team and Olimpiacos may have the distinction of being the most negative team to have ever come to the Grove (and that's some accolade) but Don Vito earned national respect with his perfomance at Fulham. Not to mention the fact that thus far this season, Almunia has proved incapable of repelling almost anything thrown at him. Or fired his way, if you prefer.

Clearly, the defence picks itself. It is strange how the massively improved Eboue, last seeing calling Wenger his "dad", is trusted to come and play on the right side of defence instead of Sagna as and when, yet Keiran Gibbs can't get a start for love nor money on the left. That's unlikely to change with the improved Clichy performance on Tuesday night. Vermaelen and Gallas pick themselves.

As do Cesc and Alex "security" Song. Diaby, Rosicky or Ramsey to fill the third spot? I'd like to see Rosicky in there, but perhaps the manager will be wary of over using him having managed, seemingly, to get him back in one piece this season. Especially with the added physical challenge that Blackburn are likely to provide- so it's got to be Diaby, hasn't it?

Up front, Nick Bendtner, who missed chance after chance in the corresponding fixture last year, has recovered sufficently from his car crash to take his place in the squad. He does so with a timely reminder from the manager that he  needs to improve his "movement and finishing". I guess there won't be too many, least of all Bendtner himself, disagreeing with that. Of course, his return to the fold offsets the fact that Eduardo managed to aggravate a thigh muscle complaint on Tuesday night and is once again unavailable. Crowded House's best of album was called Recurring Dream, this situation seems to be turning into a recurring nightmare for Eduardo.

So we will miss his finishing ability and intelligence, Bendtner will give us added strength and aerial power and the returning Theo Walcott, albeit surely from the bench, will provide the game stretching acceleration that nobody else in the squad can provide.

I wonder though if Rosicky might be moved up into the attacking three, leaving Bendtner on the bench, joining Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin in the attack. Arshavin is a man that the boss has also had some words for this weekend. He says the Russian can exist in the same category as Messi and Ronaldo, but he needs to win things. In many ways, he's in a similar situation to Dennis Bergkamp when Dennis arrived in north London a UEFA Cup Winner (twice?) and massively respected as an international footballer. But with little else to show. Dennis and Arsenal were very good for each other, at least until he turned 30 and then got subjected to the ridiculous yearly extension policy. Arshavin doesn't have to worry about that so much just yet, but for him the clock is ticking. He seems like an intelligent fellow and I'm sure he's in a hurry to stamp his mark on the club as Dennis did. We can only benefit from that.

Of course, "stamp his mark" is an apt choice of words coming into this Blackburn game because it was against them last year that somebody stamped his mark on Andrey's foot, Blackburn style, in the first half. Only for him to come out for the second half and stamp his mark on the game, Andrey style, with that wonderful goal.

This week has been all about one man and something he once said,

"The imprint you make in the spirit of the people is more important than the result."

We've seen that week, with even people who have questioned pretty much the majority of his post 2004 decisions (and even some that year) lining up to acclaim him as the genius he is. Ever the ideallist striving for perfection, Wenger said, as he prepared to face the club against whom it all began 13 years ago,

“I haven’t exceeded my expectations in my time here, because I always expect much more.

“My expectation is to win every single football game I manage and I didn’t do that so I can never exceed my expectations. There are still more targets to achieve.

In thirteen years at Arsenal, so much has changed, the club have moved home and the playing staff has evolved almost beyond recognition and yet one thing never changes, and that is the desire of the manager. As we head into a match against a team managed by a man who took much of what Wenger brought into the English game and perverted it to produce an almost exactly opposite philosophy, we should remember that we're lucky to have the man we've got.

Enjoy the game, wherever you are.

Reading Lady Arse's blog yesterday afternoon, it struck me that I had forgotten all about tickets for the Halloween encounter with Tottenham going on sale yesterday morning. With the carry on she suffered, it looks like it was a good thing I did. I have to say, though, that I decided I wasn't going to get tickets for the annual hate fest as Luke is quite keen to get together and watch the game- and let's face it, who couldn't do with an extra £135 in their pocket?

Speaking of things Tottenham, and Luke, we had a text exchange yesterday afternoon where Luke sided with Harry Redknapp in Ol' Twitch's opinion that Mr Adebayor did nothing wrong in celebrating as he did a few weeks back. Personally, in the light of news that Twitch's odd on being sacked have been cut right down form 50/1 to 2/1 overnight, I think he might want to concentrate on matters his side of the fence but even if you share Harry's opinion (and I'm sure most of you don't), as one writer on the Online Gooner pointed out, if Sol Campbell was to celebrate a goal by sliding to his knees in front of the Tottenham fans it can be fairly surmised that Redknapp would have something to say about that.

Incidentally, Randall reckons Harry's odds have been slashed as he is in fact actively pursuing the signing of one Sol Campbell. Which would be funny if it were true. Also, whilst on Harry, I'm reminded of Bill Bailey's Ferrero Rocher routine from years gone by... Ferrero Rocher the snack you can twitch to. Can you see where I'm going with this yet? Of course you can, let's move on.

In the gym last night, I caught a glimpse, whilst exercising my underworked pectorals, of a Thierry Henry goal against Liverpool in 2004 that basically won us the title (I know it didn't in literal terms and the great man had some things about another great man.

"I am happy to admit that if it wasn’t for Arsene Wenger I would not be where I am today... I’d love to go back some day.”

Some accolade from the man who has pretty much won all there is to win in the modern game. Though I have no idea how Thierry is planning on coming back to the club.

 If the ex captain feels that he owes much of his success to the manager, then the man who has eventually replaced him is of a similar opinion. Cesc picks up a theme from Thierry when he talks about the manager's desire for continuous improvement from his players. I think, in describing Wenger as "a God", he may be going a bit over the top. Nonetheless, in the face of another equivalent of a drunken pass in a nightclub from Barcelona's Xavi, it is good to hear Cesc saying,

"But I am the captain of Arsenal and I have a job to do here. Everyone has their own life and you do what you feel is better for you.

"Being at Arsenal is the best thing for me at the moment. I want to win things here and I'm very comfortable with Arsenal.

"I love London, it's a great city, it's like my house, it's really good.

"It is very important for a player to feel at home and I feel like that."

So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Xavi.

I wonder if it's a coincidence that just days after Myles Palmer, yes I'm still reading, confirmed his own story about Patrick Vieira returning to Arsenal in January, Vieira has raised the possibility of a January departure from the San Siro saying he needs rhythm. I think we could all do with some more rhythm in our lives, well I know I could. I'm sorry, but the idea of Patrick returning to fill the hole that Alex Song will leave in January makes me a little hard. Yes, it does.

And on that note... 

As I drew my blog to a close yesterday, I idly took a gander at the BBC website and saw the news that Stan Kroenke had upped his stake in Arsenal to 28.7%. He is now just 1.2% away from being obliged to make a formal takeover offer for the rest of the club's shares. But I can't see that happening anytime soon. Which is probably why the news slipped my mind as I returned to my conclusion here.

Today, though. Today is a day to celebrate the acheivements and accomplishments of the longest serving manager in Arsenal's history, Monsieur Arsène Wenger. Arsenal.com have chosen to do so by running an interview with surely the only man who can have worked at the club at the same time as both Mr Wenger and George Allison, the man whose record  has just been surpassed. I refer, of course, to Mr Ken Friar.

It's a good read. I think it highlights the fact that Arsène's acheivements see us taking for granted things we had no right to expect before he arrived. Whilst I would never go along with Gael Clichy's "Arsenal is Arsenal because of him (Wenger)" statement, the following statement really brings home just how things have been for us all in the manager's time here,

"In the period he's been here he's won three League titles, four FA Cups, four Charity Shields, plus we've been finalists in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the Carling Cup."

We have also seen the likes of Vieira, Henry, Pires and Bergkamp become superstars under his tutelage. We've seen how he extended the careers of that famous back 4. And David Seaman and Martin Keown. We've seen how he rescued players like Marc Overmars from injury and Ray Parlour from himself.

Whatever people say about the lack of trophies in the last four years, it can't be denied that Arsenal's status in the global game has been lifted beyond all expectation in the last 13 years. To have acheived what he has on the pitch, whilst being the driving force behind a new training complex and a new stadium we can all go and watch the team in- providing we've got the money, of course- is remarkable. As Mr Friar says, whilst also highlighting Wenger's human qualities, he has "engraved" himself in the history of the club and ensured that he will never be forgotten. It's difficult to imagine there will ever be a time when the first team will play in front of a crowd of less than 28,000 and yet that is where we were just three years before Arsène arrived. It was much cheaper then too.

I mentioned Gael Clichy above and the Frenchman who is now the longest serving squad member had more to say about the manager here. He highlights Wenger's man management skills, saying that- as we all know already, I guess- that he is a manager who likes to leave his players to work things out for themselves. He is a manager that will not chew a player out in public, preferring to wait to speak privately- I don't think you have to be a footballer to appreciate that particular approach. Clichy also says that the players want to win something for the man who has put so much faith into each and everyone of them.

I do worry though that if Arsène's main tactical instruction is "Play the way you play", we may be waiting a while for that trophy.

I jest. I guess a good way to finish today would be to ask what your favourite memory of the last 13 years is, so, um, have at it.

Regular readers of this blog may have sussed by now that sometimes this blog is written in my head, at least partly, by the time I sit down and spend my lunchbreak typing it out. And sometimes I sit down without a clue of what I'm about to say. Well, this afternoon I can tell you that having thought about the game last night, I have no idea what I'm going to say today.

Which is exciting for me, if not you.

Let's start chronologically, I sat down having had the quickest of quick showers- even a gettting up late for work shower takes less time than the one I had last night. But still the game was just about underway. It was a pleasant surprise to sit down with dinner three minutes later and see that the score was still 0-0. Of course, if someone had said to me that Arsenal were going to play spectacularly for half an hour and the score would still be 0-0, I would have laughed. I would also have thought here we go again. It seems like there is always one performance a year in the Champions League where we batter a team 0-0. Last year it was Fenerbahce who frustrated us, I seem to remember a team from Prague doing the same two years back and there was a ridiculous game where Thierry and Tomas contrived to miss an open goal each amongst countless other chances created in 0-0 draw the season before that.

Last night, Fabregas, van Persie and Arshavin created and missed a whole heap of chances between them. The Greek goalkeeper Nikopolidis equal to everything thrown at him, though in truth he didn't have to move much for most of it. The one time he was clearly beaten, from a wonderful Fabregas effort, the ball smashed back off the crossbar. Though Rosicky was first to the follow up, the Greek was equal to his outside of the foot effort.

There is always a worry when a team so completely dominates a game without reward that the second half can change things around dramatically and though Olimpiacos never really threatened that, they did come closest to breaking the deadlock as Don Vito, who might as well have had the cigars out all night, flicked away a header from Mellberg. Clichy, who I thought back to his turbo charged best last night, looked to be in a position to clear anyway, but who knows what might have happened?

One thing I had said to Jo as I asked her for a score prediction at half time, was that Arsenal needed to get the ball wide more often and that they needed Olimpiacos to come out and play a bit because the Greeks had pitched a ten man tent in front of their goal. They also needed the intelligence and predatory skills of Eduardo on the pitch rather than on the bench.

 By the way, she predicted 2-0 very confidently, if only I had an internet betting account..

As it turned out it was a combination of those three things that brought about the crucial moment in the game. Eboue began a move in our own half which eventually saw RvP passing to Cesc, who in turn played in Eduardo- who had replaced Rosicky- who drove to the byline before cutting the ball back for the onrushing RvP to crash the ball home. I thought Robin lived up to his manager's pre match words rather well last night, I hope he keeps it up. "Eboue. Eboue" Jo said to me, a smile on her face. He did play well last night, I must admit. But then, I think everyone did.

Just before the goal, Carlos Vela had also joined the fray, in place of Abou Diaby, which saw a welcome return to the 4 strikers on the pitch approach, the likes of which we've not seen since the days of the 2002 era Arsenal. It didn't last very long, as the game began to stretch, so the goalscorer was replaced by Aaron Ramsey and- as so often happens in football- a goal quickly followed. I can only imagine the furore had the goal gone against us, but it didn't.

Arshavin played the ball to Ramsey and made a run for the return ball, which Ramsey ignored and played in the wider Cesc. Cesc drove his cross across the six yard box and Arshavin who hadn't checked his run and was offside when the ball came in, beat the keeper to it and backheeled the ball into the corner of the net. A good end to a curious night for the Russian. Some of his dribbling, and his ability to shoot in tight spaces is magical, but he looked knackered after half an hour and, well, a bit grumpy at half time. But then he scores a goal like that, how can you complain?

Carlos Vela then had a clear run from deep, where he could have played the ball either way much earlier than he did. Perhaps he was trying too hard given the limited time he's had this season, but the chance Fabregas eventually had was more difficult than the one he should have had and so he smashed the ball wide. And, basically, that was that.

The Merse, in Sky's studio, said afterwards that he felt the game was made hard work when it didn't need to be. And if there was one complaint about last night, it would have to be the finishing, on this occasion, we were okay. But we can't afford to miss the quantity of chances we did last night on a regular basis. He (Merse) thinks we need another centre forward. I disagree, but I do agree with him when he says in games like last night, where we know we're going to dominate possession, we could easily make room for Eduardo.

And if that means Abou Diaby missing out, then so be it. 

Regular readers here will have noticed, I hope that the banner at the top of the page now features yours truly supping absolutely beautiful red wine in an empty box in an empty Arsenal stadium at the end of the Emirates Cup. I was going to choose the image of the first set of Arsenal players "embracing" the stadium, but I couldn't make it big enough to do it justice. Anyway, in the course of trying to make that work, I briefly ended up with a default banner, featuring Mr Adebayor- Bunch.Of. Arse!

In the meantime, I was joking about Nick Bendtner and his car crash yesterday afternoon, Having seen a picture of the smash, I'm less inclined to joke.

Apparently, he has only suffered cuts and bruises in a crash that took place when he swerved off the road on his way to training. I can only wonder at the speed he must have been driving at to have caused so much damage to his car, if not- somewhat fortuituously- himself. I can only wonder at a 21 year old footballer who has, in real terms, acheived very little in his career driving around in an Aston Martin. I'm not going to say the photo above is a graphic illustration of all that is wrong with the game we love, because I don't really think it is, but it does make me wonder.

So, he won't be available tonight. But the man I wanted him to replace as our line leader this season will be. Furthermore, Robin van Persie will line up against Olimpiacos with songs of praise from the manager ringing in his ears,

"We play with plenty of offensive players, so it is important you have somebody up front who can make a short control or a short pass. There is no better player than Robin at that."

"It (the Fulham goal) is a fantastic goal. The ball in was brilliant, the first touch is brilliant, and the second touch is in the back of the net. It was all perfect."

I think that Arsène, in saying "short" actually means "quick", nonetheless you know what he means because you see it demonstrated in the penalty area quite often. My frustration with Robin in the past has been because of his tendency to drop into midfield, take the ball and then take five touches to get it under control and pass it. But perhaps that's because he doesn't feel as natural making passes in midfield as he does in the penalty area.

Arsène also backed up Robin in his desire to demonstrate when he is fouled on the pitch. And I guess, when you think about it, when defenders get away with such things as shirt pulling and various methods of obstruction on a regular basis, is showing the referee there has been a foul really such a bad thing? The problem with Robin is that he can look slightly ridiculous when he does this and so the referee, whoever he is and whatever the rights and wrongs, can be inclined to look the other way.

As Eduardo will apparently return to the squad tonight, one man who will definitely not be seen tonight and for the next couple of months is the unfortunate Denilson. He will miss at least two months with a small fracture in his back. Like the Arseblogger, I remember Gilberto missing a large part of the 2004/05 season with a similar injury, so I don't expect to see the young Brazilian, well... for the rest of the season, I guess. It'll be a nice surprise if he comes back early. Unless, of course Aaron Ramsey gets a run in the team and takes his chance like a lion takes a deer.

Sorry deer lovers.

On Thursday, the man who has guided us into the Champions League in every single, full, season he's been in charge will become the longest serving manager in the history of this great football club. An unthinkable prospect when he took charge amongst a barrage of "Arsène who?" headlines, with people like my friend Harry mumbling about Frenchmen taking over the club- not that Harry was alone in that, as a certain Anthony Adams admitted in a book called Addicted. He says now, as he details his career high point being the unbeaten season, that the Arsenal board were "crazy" to take a chance on someone with "no name".

Perhaps he, like me, considers them lucky too.

Let's hope the team give this great man the great performance his acheivements merit tonight.

When I wrote The Zombie Room, at the beginning of the weekend, I had no idea that my weekend would finish with another viewing of 28 Days Later. That only happened because Jo and I were at a loss for something to watch and happened to catch the opening, stunning, shots of a deserted London on Channel 4. The opening 20 minutes are always worth watching, but we ended up hooked again. Coincidentally, as the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed, 28 Weeks Later came up in the comments section on Friday- how coincidental can it be when I was going on about zombies in the first place? Not very is the answer, I think.

Anyway, that was Sunday night. On Saturday night, of course, Arsenal travelled from north London to south west London and I travelled from south east London to north west London- with little help from South Eastern trains and the seemingly permanently crippled excuse for the weekend London Underground. Whilst Arsenal were in Fulham, I was in a pub next door to Finchley and Frognal station on the Finchley Road. Which, before I began working in Islington was a station I used to travel to all the time. Without ever visiting the pub. But Jo and I were with Luke and Pia (Luke's girlfriend) and Luke likes watching the football in that pub, so there we were.

We soon discovered, after Luke had a minor panic attack as to the open or closed down status of the pub, that although it was open, it had been done up to resemble a turkish brothel? What does a turkish brother look like? You will be disappointed to know that I have absolutely no idea. By the time TFL and South Eastern had worked their magic, we were running a bit late. So the game was already in prgress as drinks were bought and nice comfy seats in front of the tv were found. And then we settled in to watch an Arsenal masterclass.

From Vito Mannone! Bloody hell, talk about zombies, it was as if the entire Arsenal team were members of the undead, staggering around in an impersonation of the football team they used to be. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, and I may be exaggerating in order to continue the zombie analogy, but against a seriously up for it Fulham, it is fair to say that we struggled. I don't know who Mannone made that instinctive reflex save from, but I don't believe Almunia would have had the reflexes or the agility to make it. The follow up save with his shoulder? Lucky perhaps, but then again, didn't he do well to be in a position to block in the first place? There was another fingertip save later on that was almost as good.

The quality of Mannone was capitalised on in the second half with the one true moment of quality that Arsenal produced amongst the pedestrian. Cesc Fabregas' lobbed pass, expertly controlled with one touch by RvP and then a delightful right foot (right foot!) finish beyond Schwarzer and into the corner. I took off, past the pool table I had beaten Luke on at half time, and jumped into the air in celebration. So I missed the players' celebration, but there were some good photos in the papers yesterday.

Bendtner, seemingly the only other Arsenal player to hit the target, produced a save from Schwarzer, whilst Eboue rolled a good opportunity on the counter attack wide as Fulham searched for what would have been a deserved but, in the context of the game, utterly infuriating equaliser. It never came. And so Arsenal rolled back north with three points in the bag. The kind of result that Championships are won on, I think you'll agree. Though the performance, Mannone excepted wasn't up to much, you can't have it both ways. The only thing that matters is that we took the points. Looking at the fixtures this weekend, this was not a game that anyone with Arsenal at their heart would have wanted anything other than an away win from. Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool's fixtures all looked like bankers, it is a bit of a bonus that come 5pm, Chelsea just looked like wankers. And so, we edge three points closer to the top spots.

Moving ahead to tomorrow night's Champions League fixture with Olimpiacos, it appears that Nick Bendtner will be unavailable as he was involved in a car accident. Rumours that witnesses at the scene, who tried to flag down the other vehicle, reported seeing a big black man in a floppy hat at the wheel have not been substantiated. Seriously though, Bendtner is expected to be okay for the weekend, along with Theo. I don't know what the deal is with Eduardo, who didn't make the bench on Saturday, but if he is injured again, we're looking a little light up front. I'd like to think Carlos Vela would get the call if needed, yeah, I'd like to think that...

In other news, Peter Hill-Wood and Ivan Gazidis gave a full, 21 gun salute to Arsenal Holding's Financial Results for 2008/09.

Not only did matchday revenue jump £6m, to a figure of £100.1m, showing the value of a good cup run or two- Arsène, but the group were able to announce the following good news,

"• Of the 655 private apartments in the development, sales have now completed on 445 units with a cumulative sales revenue value of £172.4 million.
• The balance on the bank loan used to fund the project has been substantially reduced to £47 million and agreement has been reached to refinance the loan and extend its term to December 2010."

Hill-Wood said,

"The Group’s profits have now risen in each of the three years in which Emirates Stadium has been our home. This is excellent news although I should perhaps stress that making and reporting profits is not in itself the primary objective for the directors. First and foremost we are supporters of this great football club and, as such, our main goal will always be the achievement of success for Arsenal on the field. Hahahahahaaaa, you mugs think we want to have a successful team? No! We just want money in our pockets, lots of lovely, dirty, sexy money!"

Um, I made have made a bit of that up, I'll leave it you to work out which part whilst you read this from Ivan Gazidis,

"Clearly, the Club already has a first class stadium, an excellent world-wide reputation and outstanding core support. Football is a hugely competitive and fast moving business and we must ensure that Arsenal is not just keeping pace but setting the pace, both on and off the field. The Club is superbly positioned for the future and I am tremendously excited about the opportunities we have ahead of us.”

And not a word of that "Actually guys, we're doing just fine" message has been fictionalised.

Oh, I nearly forgot, Liverpool at home in the Carling Cup? That's pretty exciting, isn't it? I'm very much looking forward to that one, if not thousands of scousers invading the north London hostelries we like to call our own.

Tomorrow, y'all.