Since I last posted a fair bit seems to have happened, most of which you probably know about already, so I won't linger too long on it. But before we can get to tonight's Champions League match against AZ Alkmaar, let me sum up the weekend.

Mannone kept Almunia on the bench on Saturday before promptly doing an "Almunia". RvP proved that he hasn't let the international break affect his knowledge of where the goal at the south end of the Grove is, as his opening goal of the game was from a near identical position to the one dispatched against Blackburn a couple of weeks back. Andrey Arshavin proved his class when he produced an almost lazy finish from the edge of the box to seal the three points as the game drew to a close. Before we got there, of course, Theo Walcott had been once again dispatched to the treatment table as a result of a fierce tackle from Liam Ridgewell. I'm not sure about this one, you know. I've seen people call it fair and in that he won the ball, then fair enough. But you can still injure players in winning the ball- as I know myself and if that is the outcome then, by definition, it can't have been a fair tackle.

I'm not saying it was Martin Taylor (and well done to the classless Birmingham fans for their Taylor serenade), but the speed with which Ridgewell went into the tackle was reckless and perhaps a yellow card would have been a reasonable outcome. It comes to something when Alex Song can get a yellow card, as he continually does, for a little pull back on an opponent and a tackle like this is not deemed worthy of the same punishment. Yes, the pull back is cynical and therefore probably viewed as not being in the spirit of the game as much as a genuine attempt to win the ball. But you can make a genuine attempt to win the ball and still wreck someone's season. Surely there should be some adjustment in the rules, or is it a question of interpretation?

Long story short, then. No Walcott tonight, indeed no Walcott for the next month and with Tomas Rosicky unavailable due to a small knee problem, the forward options are somewhat shrunk. Eduardo and Nick Bendtner remain unavailable, which leaves Arshavin and Robin van Basten as our front line attackers. All of a sudden Samir Nasri's imminent return can't come quick enough for me! It seems likely that, with Diaby, Song and Cesc continuing in central midfield, Eboue will come in to the attacking triumvirate. It will not surprise you to hear that I would prefer to see Carlos Vela given a chance to make his mark- thus augmenting the technical aspect of our game above the physical. But with limited options on the bench, I fully understand why Eboue might be preferred from the start.

The back four, I suppose, will pick itself, with Clichy returning for Keiran Gibbs. The only question mark is the one that hangs over the man between the sticks. Will it Mannone, will it be Manny? We'll have to wait and see... If it wasn't Almunia tonight, that would be quite a statement from the manager, so I expect blondie to return. Incidentally, I was going to say something about his grumpy face being caught on camera on Saturday afternoon, but such is the Beeb's reputation for shady editing, it's possible the shot of him was from a different match altogether...

And whilst I'm on about the Beeb, has anyone else noticed how, in a season where Chelsea have been battered by Wigan, lost to Villa and had to rely on last minute goals in two home games and Liverpool have lost four games already and Manchester United have lost to Burnley and are relying on own goals- currently their second top scorer I think, poor little understrength Arsenal are still an afterthought on Match of the Day? What's that word Alan Hansen likes? "Shocking", I believe. Everybody in the country knows that on a different day, Man City's 4-2 win would have gone the other way and that Arsenal outplayed the Champions for 60 minutes of the 90 on their own patch. But we're the forgotten ones, trading on former glories. I was quite annoyed by this last season, but this season I've been quite accepting of our perceived status in the pecking order. I'll go further here, I like the fact that we're under the radar now. As Arsène heads towards his 60th birthday looking for more from his team, I think there's a few teams and a few pundits in line for the mother of all wake up calls, their lazy and complacent way of thinking is going to be challenged. Big time.

Watch Koeman orchestrate another Arsenal in Europe disaster tonight now...

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.

Following on from the day of no lunchbreak, today I had the day of an- unbloodybelievable, I've procrastinated about writing this blog for the last 40 minutes, I sit down to write it and Jo rings me!

Anyway, as I was saying, before I was so pleasantly interrupted, I had an early start today, no lunchbreak and therefore an earlier finish. But due to the nature of the last couple of days, not to mention the fact that I don't really do early starts, my brain has turned to mush- turned to? Yes, turned to- so you'll have to bear with me a touch.

Now, Tom the cat wants my undivided attention...

It turns out though, my procrastination may not have been a bad thing, because the blog that was set to feature the news of an argument between the boss and the Bordeaux president and the wildly exciting and in no way irrelevant news that Arsène has officially opened the Highbury Square development. And very little else.

But as it is now, I can bring you team news, yes glorious team news! And this team news is oparticularly glorious, because - cd change, Catatonia's International Velvet, just because I can- Andrey Arshavin should return for the short trip to south west London and Fulham. As a double bonus, Theo Walcott (I was desperate, for some reason, to type "Thoe" there) is also available. Though he may not be risked, with a Champions League game on the horizon. On that note, just by way of an aside, the splash on Arse.com saying something like "This is what Champions League night looks like" as they try and sell £43 tickets for a game against Olimpiacos would surely be more accurate if it featured fans sitting in glum silence adjacent to banks of empty red seating as opposed to the guys featured in the photo.

I wonder if the penny is beginning to drop within the green buildings that definitely don't look like Portokabins yet?

Anyway, back to that team news for Fulham. I'm sure there will be those of you out there gutted to hear that Manuel Almunia has yet to recover from a chest infection sufficiently to keep goal, but I'm not one of them. Arsène- Jo's back now, so I may get disjointed again- said this,

"Normally Mannone [would deputise] but we are 48 hours away from the game.” about who would keep goal in the waiter's absence. Which makes me think that perhaps Chesney did enough on Tuesday to suggest he might be a better bet than the decidedly jittery looking Mannone. So that's one to keep your eyes on.

Speaking of Highbury Square, which I mentioned seemingly a lifetime ago, I've just seen a report on it on the BBC. Apparently the worst case scenarios is that the board will only break even at the conclusion of the project, Ivan Gazidis has commented that the project is on a "sound financial footing". It may well be, but what about the football club, Ivan?

There's stuff on the official site about it, but to be honest, I'm not sure any of it is of that much interest- we all know how special Highbury is after all.

I also mentioned a contretemps between Mr Wenger and the Bordeaux president, Jean-Louis Triaud. Incidentally, if he's the same guy that sold us "So Vain" Wiltord for thirteen million quid, I would like to shake his hand on a job well done. Or do I mean wring his neck? Anyway, he is upset because he thinks the boss  declared an interest in Marouan Chamakh before contacting his club- as if a football manager would do such a thing. The boss says there is no issue and that he would be happy to have a press conference with the president and explain what happened.

And then he added, "The boy is fantastic". Which would have been hilarious had he done so with a wink as he finished speaking. Unfortunately it seems that it was in response to a question about whether the Bordeaux stance had altered his view on Chamakh. So, he may yet become an Arsenal player. Bordeaux may not want him to join us, but in just over 3 months, it won't be their decision.

That's all folks, hopefully I'll be back at my usual time tomorrow afternoon.

Oh boy.

Lots to talk about today, so perhaps the AISA AGM will have to wait until I've had a chance to establish what can and can't be mentioned before AISA complete their members mailing. It struck me though, as I was arriving home late last night; that as this blog approaches its first birthday, I have had access to the club I would never have dreamed possible a year ago. And, ok, part of that is having a friend who happens to work for a company with a Club level season ticket, part of it is working in Islington and the contacts we have at work. But another part of it is that writing this blog has made me realise just how important this club is to me- family and friends will be surprised that after 21 years, it's taken a 364 days of writing a blog for me to accept this. So I have joined something like AISA because I want to be involved, I want to have a say at a time when the future of the club seems, to me, like it's on a knife edge.

I think it's safe to say that what came out of the meeting last night is that we have a Chief Executive who is genuinely interested in the support, indeed Ken Friar baldly stated that without the fans, there would be no club, and what we have to say about a club that belongs to us. Mr Gazidis will listen to us, will take ideas on board and has done so already. Are Arsenal fans really the kind of fans that are prepared to throw that dialogue away, that promise of progress the both the club and team are showing in the name of a "sugar daddy" who can promise us nothing except, I suppose, a pile of cash?

Annnnnnyway, talking about the club and its supporters leads me very nicely on to a footballer who has had plenty to say about Arsenal's support of late. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I give you one Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor. He won't let it lie, like a wife beater who after years of abusing his spouse has seen his woman up and leave, it seems Mr Adebayor is still absolutely unable to comprehend why it is large sections of the Arsenal support took against him last year.

"If you boo your player every weekend, I am very sorry, you are not true fans... It hurt me a lot. That was the most difficult moment of my career."

This comment conjures up images of that wife beater, chucked out of the marital home and completely unable to understand why he is out in the cold, with the warmth of home just a door's width away. How did he get there? Well, Ade, after that one good season you had with us, spending all summer talking about thinking of your retirement, saying you were staying one second, telling us you were undecided the next, what did you honestly think would happen to you?

For me, Ade may have a point when he says,

"Arsenal have a lot of fans who are not fans, Arsenal have fans from America and Jamaica. Today they are Arsenal fans, tomorrow they will be Liverpool fans, after tomorrow they will be Manchester United fans."

It is true that there are sections of the crowd at the Grove who are footballing daytrippers. But the flaw in whatever logic he applied to this statement is this. Does he honestly think those daytrippers would be able to find the motivation in themselves to boo a player? They aren't going to care enough to boo. They will just sit there in silence. Before I go any further, I'm not saying that it is fans from America and Jamaica who don't care. But I bet it wasn't them booing. In my opinion, it is those "true fans" who will have booed because they have spent upwards of £900 on a season ticket, or in my case £45 per game, to watch someone treat the badge treat the shirt like shit. I booed him at the Chelsea game because of what I had seen in the home game against Middlesbrough and the two Champions League semi final matches. He palpably couldn't give a monkeys about the situation we found ourselves in. By way of contrast; Nick Bendtner, who also arrived as sub in that Chelsea match, set about trying to change that situation and actually managed to improve it a little.

Speaking of Bendtner, Ade had words for him too, something like this in fact,

"Nicklas had a very easy route. He had the chance to be in the Arsenal academy, the chance to be an international for Denmark... Nicklas thinks he can make himself big."

Now, it may just be me, but I'm sure I detect a whiff of jealousy and bitterness at the way Nicklas has claimed a first team place at Arsenal. I don't doubt Adebayor had to fight hard to get to where he is, but this is just ridiculous. Whatever you might think of Nicklas, he didn't get into the Arsenal academy by accident, he did it through talent. He's still at the club now because he has worked hard to improve that talent. In fact in saying Nick thinks he "can make himself big", should Adebayor not be looking at himself there?  Adebayor talks about the confrontation at Tottenham taking place because Bendtner showed him the finger. If someone came onto a football pitch I was playing on and said to me, "I'm only on because you're shit", I think I would show them more than just a finger.

Let's leave it there, I could go on.

For his part, the manager has reiterated his belief in the striking options left behind, RvP, Bendtner, Eduardo, Vela and Walcott. He has done so whilst, as is his custom, wishing the two players he chose to sell in the summer well, and saying that he is confident they will be successful. I think he's quite looking forward to this afternoon's game, I know I am.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Theo Walcott back within the ranks. Today comes to soon for him, but he sounds certain to be available for the midweek Champions League opener. Now, I know his footballing ability is still subject to some debate amongst us all, but it is certainly true that nobody within the squad provides the threat he does with his pace. This is borne out by the fact that Theo has apparently broken Thierry Henry's 40 metre sprint record of 4.82/4 with a time of 4.7 seconds. Now, if he could just put the rest of his game together like Thierry, we would have quite a player on our hands.  

 "If I'm called up by any England team I'm willing to go. I'm not going to pull out of any England team. Ask any young kid who wants to play for their national team and everyone's the same. We're all dying to do it. I wanted to go and I let Arsenal and England deal with everything else. I left that battle to them."

I guess the comments above pull into focus what I was saying about Andrey Arshavin earlier in the week. I understand why Arshavin played for Russia, as I understand why Theo spent the summer playing for England. It's everyone's dream to represent their country and I'm not so stupid to think that Theo, Andrey or anyone else in the squad- maybe Jack Wilshere did- grew up dreaming of playing for Arsenal. But surely, as an athlete, you must listen to your body, and Theo has proved quite succeptible to injuries thus far- for a smart young man, I don't think he made a smart decision- ah, the impetuousity of youth!

An hour to kick off now, come on you reds! 

Vibrating with excitement, I am.

Still here? Cool. Now that you have got that image out of your head, I should say it's not because of Celtic's should be academic visit to north London this evening, but because my ears have been treated to Massive Attack's first new release in three years. It's called Splitting the Atom. It's funny how when you don't hear someone for a while, you forget how good they are. I believe this is what's known as the "Tomas Rosicky Effect". Daddy G sounds like Leonard Cohen and "Massive Attack by numbers" this is not and I am now seriously excited at the the prospect of taking my sister to her first Massive Attack gig next month. But enough about the boys from Bristol. What about tonight? Well, Arsène isn't taking anything for granted. On the surface, at least. He quite rightly points out that tonight's game is "massive", explaining thus:

"Because against Celtic, you cannot catch back. Even if we drop points against Man United, you can always catch back. You still have 35 games to go. If you miss the Celtic game, you have zero."

A sobering thought and one that should guard against any complacency when the guys take the field tonight. Yes, Manchester United will be a great chance to get an early psychological blow in, but it decides nothing either way. We have seen all too often before the dangers of planning too far ahead and a good start to the season could easily be derailed by a lack of focus tonight. The Guardian reckons Eduardo will take a massive step in his recovery by starting his second game in four days whilst Aaron Ramsey will be charged with replacing Cesc, but that isn't the sense I get from reading around the blogs today where it seems like the midfield will be Song and the double Dees. Sometimes, going back to that Arsène quote above, he says one thing and then does the other, but I think the resting of Sagna and Clichy on Saturday shows that tonight is a game to be taken deadly seriously. 

Apparently, Tomas Rosicky is edging his way back to another return to the first team. Let's hope this one actually lasts, but one player who is still nowhere near available is Theo Walcott. Asked about Theo's chances of appearing for England against whoever they're playing, whenever they're playing, the boss laughed and said "You'll get Theo Walcott when you can diagnose whatever his injury is, because frankly, we don't have a Scooby-Doo".

For me, it would have been great if he said that, but unfortunately, what he said was, "There is no way. It would not be realistic."

Does anybody else think it's odd how Arsenal keep getting these injuries that nobody can diagnose? Mr Wenger says there is no mystery to the injury, but then says this:

“It’s difficult to say, he had surgery on both shoulders, his shoulders are less flexible, I don’t know. He’s injured and nobody can tell you where that injury comes from".

If not mystified, I can tell you that Mr Wenger, in my opinion, is at least perplexed.

I can also tell you, having opened this blog with a blatant plug for Bristol's finest, that my interview with Ed Draper on Absolute Radio's Rock and Roll Sport Podcast (catchy title, huh?) is now available to stream or download here. If I was tech savvy, I'd have it on this very page, probably, but I'm not. Trying to embed the Massive Attack tune here was a nightmare, so I don't want to mess with the podcast as well.

If you are so inclined, you can find the Massive Attack track here. It's rather ace.

If you're going to the game tonight, keep it red and white, enjoy the game and pity those of us left with ITV for company... and if anyone can provide me with technical advice on how to embed things, I'd be very grateful.

Till tomorrow, then. Come On You Reds!

This time tomorrow afternoon, Gooners will be driving up the, to quote Crowded House's Neil Finn, "M- whatever it is" towards Goodison Park. It helps to know where you're going, doesn't it? I'm reminded of the other Everton fan in my life, Kevin and his one and only trip to Goodison. Which took place on the same weekend as Gabs, the part time Gooner, took a road trip up to Tranmere to see the other team in his life, Brentford with some friends of ours. Kevin was given a lift up but the guys got lost en route and by the time Kevin got into the ground, twenty minutes were gone and Everton were 2-0 down. By the time he left, early in the second half, Everton were 3-0 down.

And if you were wondering where I was going with that not entirely planned opening paragraph, that's where. As Cesc Fabregas (him again!) made a first Premier League start as Arsenal annihilated Everton on the first day of their unsuccessful defence of the Premier League title in 2004, so the Islington Gazette, speculates that Jack Wilshere may be in line to begin a Premier League game for the first time in his career in exactly the same place, albeit in a slightly less terrifying Arsenal side. A debut doesn't sound like that far fetched a possibility as Theo Walcott has been added to the list of attacking midfielders attacking nothing more than their sofas this weekend, whilst Abou Diaby is doubtful due to a groin problem.

Speaking of Theo, I picked up the Gazette in a McDonalds this morning and immediately flipped to the back page, and he says it's "time to reward the fans". It's nice to know Theo realises we are "just as important as the players". If anything, we're more important, because without us there'd be no club.

If I can be self indulgent, for just a second, before the oddysey continues, I took part in an interview for ESPN ahead of the new season, the results of which can be read here. Those of you who read this blog and think I'm an arse can take pleasure in the fact that the buggers have missed an "s" off the end of my name. Which has its' own special irony, I can't stand spelling mistakes.

Back to this weekend and the good news is that Thomas Vermaelen has been passed fit. He's going to have quite the test tomorrow against the aerial prowess of Tim Cahill, scorer of two goals in midweek against the Republic of Ireland. That must have been weird for Kevin, as well as being an Everton fan, he still wears the Republic's World Cup '94 kit when he plays football. Cahill has developed, like Jermaine Jenas an irritating ability to score against us. In 2006, this led to a never to be forgotten sight of Luke- pretending to be a Gooner in the 12 Pins- shouting an obscenity and wandering off into a corner apparently distraught, but secretly celebrating.

Well, I will never forget it anyway.

For the season to come then, le boss has set his side the goal of winning the league title. Not challenging for it, not qualifying for the Champions League, but winning the damn thing. I mentioned yesterday that this season represented a watershed for the manager and it seems to me that he agrees:

"At 22 or 23 I think a team is mature enough to deliver and it is a massively important year for our club. I am conscious of that."

The way that he is talking, of this being the period where we will see whether he was right, indicates to me that this is it. This is the manager laying his cards on the table and saying "This is what I've got, I'm all in". The woaaaaaah moment of any poker game, not that I play it but I've seen enough films... I hope that the manager is right, he has built a fantastically talented, but fragile squad. It's time the boys become men.  

Txiki Begiristain seems to me a man torturing himself, unneccessarily, in what cricketers past and present refer to as the "corridor of uncertainty".  He says, and "he", for the uninitiated amongst you, is Barcelona's sporting director- ie their chief tapper upper- that Barcelona don't know how much it will cost to bring Cesc back to Camp Nou. Barcelona "have not asked Arsenal" yet.

Why not? Joan Laporta said a while ago that they wanted Cesc, now we have Begiristain saying they want Cesc, but they don't know how much he would cost and that if the price is "too high we will not try". God, Txiki, how difficult can it be to find out? Barcelona remind me of those men who know they're ill, but don't want to go to the doctor, because the doctor might tell them how ill they actually are (I'm not talking about myself here).

You would think, and if I was Cesc I would certainly be wondering just how much I was really wanted, that someone at Barcelona might have got around to, you know, putting in a phone call. Or, and here's a novel, 21st century kind of suggestion, maybe dropping Arsène Wenger an email to find out how much money Barcelona would have to put our way to secure Cesc's signature. You would think that, wouldn't you? Yes, but, no. They talk in the media and it's like they're almost asking us to come to them with a figure, well, I go to Barcelona with my finger. And it's high, just like the price will be- if Barcelona actually bother to ask Arsenal- and proud. 

Just as the summer wouldn't be the summer without one of our star players being subjected to a bizarre kind of courtship from a Spanish club, well, I say Spanish.., it wouldn't be the start of the season without the players, just about ready for a new season, being spirited away for a round of meaningless international friendlies. Actually, in my opinion, there's no such thing as a meaningful international friendly, but three days before the season kicks off? Whose bright idea was that? Ridiculous. It turns out, however, that the boss thinks it is good for Theo Walcott, who has been limited in his pre season preparation, due to international business, to get some more minutes under his belt. I wonder if he'll still be saying that after John Heitinga has smashed Walcott into a million pieces leaving us with a shortage of wide attackers at the dawn of the new season.

What was that? Oh, right, positivity. Yes, sorry.

Here's something positive. Jack Wilshere has been promoted to the England U-21 squad for their meaningless.. sorry, sorry, their friendly with their Dutch counterparts. Fabio Capello says that their is no rush to make a decision on a World Cup for Wilshere next summer and that it depends on how much game time he gets with Arsenal. Quite right too. I don't expect to see it; but how fantastic would it be for us all, given the crap we have had to listen to on a daily basis about Arsène's distrust of English players, to see Walcott, Wilshere and Gibbs in the squad next summer- assuming we get there, of course? Going back to the point I made last week about the quality of player now coming through, there is a little bit of irony in Wilshere's call up coming on the back of an injury to Fabrice Muamba, an Arsenal youngster who wasn't quite good enough for us. It'll be interesting to see if Jack gets any game time, I may even watch it.

As the new season beckons, this week is going to be a tough week for any Red member with designs on our opening three home matches of the season. The fun begins at 10am on Wednesday morning, with tickets on sale for Portsmouth. Followed ninety minutes later by the release of tickets for the Celtic match. Then, on Thursday, if you plastic hasn't melted already, comes the release of tickets for the Wigan game. I reckon I'll only do one of the three and, hopefully, that will be the Portsmouth game. I think Arsenal, in a financial sense (assuming we don't get knocked out) have got quite lucky with the Celtic tie, it promises to be an event in a way that a home game to against Dinamo Zagreb, or whoever, wouldn't have been. And as such will probably ensure a full house, where empty seats would have otherwise been expected.

Thomas Vermaelen is expected, now, to be fit for the opening clash of the season at Goodison Park. Wouldn't it be so typically Arsène to spend pre season getting Djourou and Gallas ready to play together and then throw the new boy in for either a mauling or an injury about ten minutes into his debut? Sorry, that's probably me being negative again.

I'll try harder tomorrow, keep smiling for me.

Andrey Arshavin says he's happy to play anywhere he is "useful" for the team. Good news, I know I advocated him playing just off Eduardo a few weeks ago, but there is a clear argument for someone who can be as productive as Arshavin has been for us on the wing, to stay there and supplement the goals scored by the strikers, rather than being one of the strikers. I mentioned Jose Reyes a few blogs back and his case is an interesting parallel to the little Russian with a big heart. Reyes arrived as a second striker who was supposed to be able to play on the wing, but- precipitated by a battering at Old Trafford- he seemed inhibited, restricted there and quickly faded into obscurity. Arshavin is obviously more mature, probably a lot more confident in his own ability and faced with a similar situation, he talks of the "freedom" he is granted on the pitch by the boss. Not that it is much of a surprise, seeing as the Russian is probably our most dangerous player.

I can imagine the team talk before the game:

"Sagna, Clichy, I want you to attack the goal line constantly. Toure, Gallas, stay strong, don't get too far up the pitch. Cesc, just keep the ball moving, Tomas, you try and stay in one piece and Andrey..." (looks at Andrey) "Andrey, you just do whatever you want".

One man not mentioned as part of my imaginary scenario is Theo Walcott. Theo the enigma, Theo the world beater one minute, couldn't beat an egg the next. Seriously, I still think he could have a big impact at Arsenal, but his level of consistency has to improve, and soon. Theo finished the season, more or less first choice as part of the attaking quartet/ triumvirate but though he is clearly a better option than Eboue, you would have to think that, with Andrey untouchable on one flank, he's going to be fighting it out with Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky on the other. And that isn't a fight you'd expect him to win, except when raw pace is needed. However, it seems Theo is approaching the next stage of his Arsenal development, the stage called "How to be a Centre Forward. He says that's his natural postion and that is where the boss hopes to begin playing him this season. Theo talks about needing to improve his final ball and score more goals, I think we all agree with him. And it looks like he will be given the platform to do so, but he will have to deliver. Here, in his 4th full season with the club, if results are not forthcoming the murmurs of discontent may quickly become full blooded howls.  

Of course those howls may reverberate around the Grove if the team doesn't start to learn the art of grinding out results, Theo calls it doing the "dirty things" and being clinical. I think that's rarely something we've seen with Arsenal. Even the games that have been won 3 or 4, could have been 7 or 8. I do think, though, that in the absence of Cesc last season, the team did find a way to defend that served them pretty well. At least, until Gallas got injured and began to get results they may not have done earlier in the season. It's probably to do with a little bit of experience and know how. As Randall the Spurs fan observed earlier today, even though Arsenal finished 4th last season and everyone expects us to be the victims of Manchester City this season, we can play most teams off the park when the mood takes us. The experiences, sometimes painful, of last season can only help us in the season ahead.

As can the return of Tomas Rosicky. I'm sure you've picked up by now how taken I am with our midfield man, but I'm not the only one. Cesc "can't wait to see his best friend in the team return. And who can blame him? After 18 months in an injury blasted wilderness, you have to feel that Rosicky is going to be raring to go, he has certainly impressed Cesc with his mental toughness. Coming back to experience and know how, Rosicky will certainly help in that regard- anyone who has gone through what he has and come out the other side must be harder than parmesan, but it is his technical abilities, as hailed by the captain, that will be a huge bonus to the team.

Underhill awaits...