Life has a habit of following you around, doesn't it? As the Metropolitan line tube was arriving at Wembley Park last night, I overheard a group of northerners talking about football. One of them was being ever so slightly condescending about the Arsenal "Invincibles". When did they ever retain the title, he wanted to know. I had to point out to him that football didn't begin in 1990 and that we'd done it "three times". It is, of course only twice, that we retained the title as part of the 30's hat-trick, but I had a point to make.

The conversation continued with and without me and then the guy said something about it being a sad day for football when Thierry took Cliff Bastin's record- "Wrighty's", I interjected and then we got off the tube and made our way to Wembley Arena for the Arctic Monkeys gig, which was breathtakingly good in parts and a little slapdash in others. It's been a while since I've been so far away from a band, seated as we were in row U of the block closest to the back of the stage. Anyway, duties dispatched for the evening, the closing track 505 gave way to the theme music from the Wire (which was proper weird) and then we had a synchronised slip down beer sodden steps those further damaging my right ankle. So we headed home feeling like we'd been part of a mosh pit that we'd been able to look down on and be thankful for the seats we had- Alex Turner even stopping proceedings early on Strummer style when spotting some fighting going down.

It's ironic that that bloke was talking about it being a sad day for football when Thierry... because that seems to be what everyone's talking about today. Gabs the part time Gooner texting me to say that Thierry let himself down last night, and he is by no means alone in his opinions. But, surely some of the guys absolutely slating Thierry today should know better. Yes, it was a blatant handball, accident or no, but I don't remember Michael Owen being similarly chided for the blatant dive versus Argentina in 2002. I don't remember Rooney being taken to task for either of his dives against us in 2004 and earlier this year. Diving is not the same as handball, this is true. But they are both instances of cheating, and you're either against it, or you're for it in all its forms. The only distinction here seems to be that cheating is ok, unless it's an Arsenal associated player doing it- that sounds like I condone a Gooner doing it, I absolutely don't. I just want the same standards to apply to everyone. When wankers like Tony Cascarino have penned character assassinations on the likes of Didier Drogba, currently representing the club Cascarino is most associated with, then come and have a go at Arsenal idols. Until then you are morally bankrupt and every word you say is, in the words of Hicks, "like a turd falling into my drink". I do wonder what Liam Brady thinks of it all though.

Now I've got that off my chest, and really I couldn't care less one way or the other, Thierry is a Barcelona player now and I actually wanted Ireland to win last night, so the French lads could get some rest this summer. But you know, anything to fuck off Robbie Keane (Sorry Kev).

Moving on, I postscripted my blog yesterday evening with the excellent news that Eduardo had signed a new contract with Arsenal. Apparently, Liverpool have been linked with him in the press over the last week (whether that link was based on the fact that Liverpool is a natural home for divers one can only speculate), but I think that the "courage, bravery and commitment" that Arsène Wenger attests to is the more probable trigger for the new deal. Eduardo himself is "very pleased" to have signed on again and will go to Sunderland on Saturday, I hope, with a spring in his step and a song in his heart. But not Alex Song, that would be... odd. Now, go score some goals, Eddie!

There was more good news yesterday, very uncharacteristically for Arsenal, it transpires that Keiran Gibbs is another player who will be back in a much shorter time frame than originally feared- like next Tuesday, perhaps. The suspected broken metatarsal is only"severe brusing to the bones and soft tissue...". I think that is what is known as a bit of a result.

But wait... there's still more, yes more good news! Though the English duo of Wilshere and Walcott are a bit short for the weekend, the manager can now count on the availability of not just Fabianski, not just Armand Traore, not just Denilson (definitely in Saturday's squad, apparently), but also Carlos Vela too! Can you believe it?

I can only assume a swine flu epidemic is about to sweep in and decimate the squad, because that's too much good news for one day. Tomorrow y'all.

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.

I wonder what changed Amazon's mind then? As you may, or may not be aware, the retailer has finally caved in to pressure and removed the chant from their website. The legend Rachid El- Ouaret trained as a solicitor and chatting over lunch, he suggested that Arsenal Football Club might have sought legal action over the defamatory nature of the chant. Amazon's statement confirms this.  

Currently basking in a warm goodwill glow are Manchester United and their Chief Executive, David Gill, who will chair a fans forum in October and seek to end the years of abuse the great man has suffered. So, again, well done to United. We'll see how successful this move is the next time we head to Manchester.

Whilst on a Manchester United tip, whilst Manuel Almunia was clearly at fault for the penalty awarded to Manchester United, it's fair to say Wayne Rooney is not a player who needs much invitation to go down. So it was quite infuriating to read, in the Metro this morning, his comments on diving, how people know he is not a diver and that players should play the game "honestly". Whatevaaaaah Wayne! 

The man of the week, and it was nice to see Manchester United fans on the F365 Mailbox  applauding Arsène Wenger's conduct at the climax of that match, has spoken about how Cesc has been liberated by the new formation. It certainly seemed to be working well in the first two league matches. I think it makes more sense to have Fabregas operating at the head of a midfield three, but with multiple options ahead of him than it did to have him operating and lmited behind a lone striker. I just think that Arsène has yet to find the perfect mix of the front three. By having the midfield three though, it has probably helped Denilson not to have to be the one doing the defensive work. I say it again, I believe in Denilson, but I don't think he's a defensive midfielder. Having three central midfielders limits the need for a purely defensive player, though Alex Song has enjoyed a strong start to the season. 

I saw an idea mooted in the week that the 3 midfielders concept is what is going to cover Alex Song's departure in January. With Denilson switching to Song's role and then Rosicky, or Nasri, taking Denilson's role. I still have doubts over Denilson's suitability for this and we'd be awfully short of cover in that position, but perhaps in this system he doesn't have to be a perfect match.

Arsène has often spoken about the importance of a style and culture that runs right through from the grass at Shenley to the upper tiers of the Arsenal's home ground. So, it's good to see that the reserves have also embraced the idea of collective leadership, though Kyle Bartley has been handed the armband for the season. I wonder if we will see Kyle in the Carling Cup this season, he must be in contention somewhere along the line. I've mentioned before that we have a few centre backs at the club, so it would be a big surprise to see the Song/Djourou partnership from lasts season again. In keeping with the manager's Carling Cup philosophy, I would be quite surprised not to see him in there- though I guess it might also depend on how the manager sees the Senderos situation.

Questions for another time, perhaps.  

Even as Amazon hide behind a ludicrous "freedom of speech" defence to justify their sale of a Manchester United cd featuring that chant, the press pack, finally, have got involved. The Guardian and The Mirror questioning why the Football Association, the Police have not acted to stamp out the abuse routinely suffered by the Arsenal manager.

Some people read my blog yesterday and apparently wondered where I get off emailing Manchester United about this. It's really very simple, it's gone on for years and United have had ample time to do something about it. They haven't. Some people read it and wondered whether I'd like to take my middle class sensibilities for a cup of tea and a game of rugby. I'm sorry, but if that's the way you feel, then this blog isn't for you. I can't help the fact that I was educated enough to know that 70,000 thousand people singing a song about our manager, that decries him as the lowest of all humanity, is totally unacceptable. As it happens, I do like tea but, despite the fact I went to a rugby playing school (yes, I did) I can't stand the game. Yet another person wondered whether the fact that Wayne Rooney is widely lampooned as Shrek is even worse than the abuse that Arsène suffers, because it intimates Rooney is ugly. Let me answer that one, no it isn't. There were some good points like the one that said, shouldn't the media bear some responsibility for this as they were the ones who started it and then have pretended it never happened? It is funny that the media have suddenly picked up on this after all these years.

It can be put down to Arsenal having just had a very bad week and, I think, us fans thinking that enough is enough. UEFA are out to get us, we shot ourselves in the foot on Saturday evening and on top of that, on top of all that, we had to listen to our manager being demonised. The internet has given football fans the world over a louder voice than ever before, and we've been able to use it to get the media to wake up to this embarrassment.

Good.

Speaking of UEFA, as widely predicted they will not be pursuing the diving culture wholesale. This standpoint rather negates Mike Parry (yes, I know) and his opinion yesterday that Arsenal should accept the Eduardo punishment as for the good of the game. I don't see any good for the game in the fact that Eduardo seems fairly certain to be the one and only player in the history of football to be charged with diving. Just typing that sentence makes me think how ridiculous it is. In the era of Gerrard, Rooney, Ronaldo, McGeady et al, it is Eduardo whom UEFA have decided to tar and feather. How absurd.  

Moving onto something rather more positive now. As also predicted (although not by me) in the absence of any last minute signings this week, Arsenal have got busy tying down more of the youngsters. And what a wonderful image that is. Denilson's looking to "build" on the solid platform laid last year, whilst Nick Bendtner is looking for "success". Is he dressed for it? As long as he keeps his jeans on. Now, I know Bendtner signing a new deal and Adebayor being the one gone is not how everyone saw our future- though it is how Mr Bendtner Snr saw it at the time of the Tottenham debacle. But don't we, as fans, clamour for players who want to play for our club? Bendtner has, for me, shown not just that he wants to play for our club, but that he has the ability to do so. I also think that anyone prepared to write a 21 off as a professional footballer, is being a little bit premature.

I've just read that Chelsea have been banned from making transfers till 2011- how funny is that?

I said yesterday was the beginning of a sequence of must win games. It didn't quite go to plan, really did it? Had it not been for a worthy addition to RvP's personal canon of wonder goals, Arsenal would have succumbed to a defeat leaving them looking over their shoulder at Everton in 6th and 6 points behind 4th place Aston Villa. As it is, we're merely five points behind Aston Villa and our fate is a long way from being in our own hands. I must confess, dear reader, that I'm worried about where this team will finish this season. Although, if we can garner enough points, I'm convinced Liverpool are there for the taking.

I know we have Walcott, Eduardo, Cesc and Rosicky to return and they can only help our cause, but we don't know exactly when Cesc and Tomas will be back, which leaves the task of reinvigorating our attacking play, as I type, on the shoulders of Theo and Eduardo. After a year out, how much can reasonably expect from Eduardo? After four months out, is it reasonable to expect Theo, who seems to have become a much better player in his absence, to return to the side and take the mantle?

It is for that reason, that whatever our worries about the state of central midfield, our the central defence, or the form of Gael Clichy, that I think signing Andrei Arshavin is so important. The midfield needs an injection of quality that isn't currently available to the manager. If Arshavin, and the deal is 90% done acccording to the boss, comes in, our wide options become varied and should be adjusted on a game to game basis without a big drop in quality. As it is, at present, we are seeing the likes of Eboue and Denilson feature there and whatever their qualities as footballers are, they are not what we require in our wide midfielders. I don't understand how the manager can play Denilson wide. It's like a rerun of the deployment of Cesc 3 years ago. That didn't work, no matter how good Cesc is as a footballer, a winger he ain't. He had better players to play with then as well. It might not be an option to explore when playing away at your (ouch) nearest rivals, but I really want to see Carlos Vela tried on the wing. With his pace and trickery, he would surely offer more than any other option we've got at the moment.

I said it yesterday, I shudder to think where we would be without Robin at the moment, the man is on fire and, call me naive, I don't think that, as Myles Palmer suggests, it's to do with playing for a contract. I think it's to do with Robin beginning to realise his full potential, it's to do with him playing at 100% and not having to recover from injury every 5 minutes and, perhaps most importantly, it's to do with him relishing in becoming the team's talisman. Robin, Robin, Robin, how could I ever have doubted you? His strike partner cuts an interesting figure at the moment, without the goal out of nothing qualities of Robin, and starved of quality service in the absence of Cesc, Ade seems to be turning up for his appearance bonus. I don't know, I do know that after the summer shenanigans, Ade was expected to work hard to win us back. Has he done this? I'm don't think he has, really.

For those of you hoping for better things and thinking about happier times, perhaps Arse.com can interest you in this?:

Part of me prefers the Nike version, and then I look at the canon, with the balls and the JVC logo and I think "Ah, memories!" I'll probably buy it.

Rejuvenated West Ham are up next...

This morning brought the news that Zenit St Petersburg had decided to agree a fee for you know who. It seems, though, that with Zenit's CEO Maxim Mitrofanov saying that "£12million is not enough" the two clubs are still a way of agreeing a fee. However, they have promised to give Arsenal a decision today. If this game of brinkmanship from Arsenal comes off, and I think Zenit accept that the player wants to leave and, more pertinently, wants to come to N5, then we can congratulate Gazidis on a job well done. It seems nuts to me that Zenit reckon we should pay £20m (or £15m for that matter) for a player who can buy himself out of his contract before the year's out. I'm glad it will be sorted soon though because it's getting as tedious to write about as I'm sure it is to read.

Meanwhile club captain Cesc, is on the mend and feeling good. He also talks here of how he's spent time with his family in Spain and... I think you might like this bit, of his admiration for Kaka, who he calls one of his idols. I don't take this to mean that Cesc is going to remain here for the rest of his footballing days, but I do think that Cesc, like Kaka, is someone that prizes loyaltyL happiness and footballing philosophy above the monetary gains he could make. Of course it helps that he is also good enough to practically write his own cheque.

Arsenal's stadium is apparently up to host the 2011 Europa league Final- What? it's the new name for the UEFA Cup and doesn't it sound crap? But it's up against Wembley Stadium's bid to host the Champions League Final in the same year. Not surprisingly, both UEFA Finals can't be staged in the same country in the same year. I do think it would be good for us to have a game like that at the stadium, but I'd like it if we could play in a genuinely massive match there first.

The mention of a massive match leads me nicely onto Aaron Ramsey's return to Cardiff in the 4th Round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon. For which William Gallas will be available. I hadn't thought of it before, but 18 year old Aaron Ramsey has more experience of Wembley Stadium than anyone else in the Arsenal squad. Except, perhaps, Theo Walcott. It's a situation I think we'd all like to see change this year. Especially with the lucky bastards up the road heading there for the second time in a year. I wonder if they'll release a dvd of that Burnley game as well? As ever, with these cup games, there is another little subplot.

Jay Bothroyd left Arsenal as a young lad, following an incident in a reserve team match where he threw his shirt to the grass on being substituted. He will be reunited withe club on Sunday afternoon and surely looking to prove Arsène's decision to let him go was wrong. The manager is not surprised by the striker's form. He has also taken the opportunity to big up Denilson. I have to say, and I'm happy to be told I'm wrong, (nicely though) that I think Denilson does a very good job for us. He passes the ball well, he passes it inventively and is generally growing into a role thought to be beyond him in the summer. His big problem is that he is not Mathieu Flamini. But none of the coaching, experience, or personal growth in the world is going to change that.

We're up and running again. If not on the pitch, then on this blog. Apologies for the lack of a preview over the weekend, but following work's Christmas party on Friday night and then three hours in Bromley spending money on a ridiculous array of items, there didn't seem to be anything worth saying on Saturday evening. Sunday came and all too soon it was half an hour till the game kicked off.

A game that, as it turned out, did absolutely "nothing" for Arsenal's flickering title ambition. I'm not sure what to think about yesterday to be honest. Robin van Persie scored an absolute belter- okay, we knew he could do that. Robbie Keane profitted from some very charitable defending from messrs Djourou and Gallas- who were otherwise excellent in my view and when Emmanuel Adebayor was somewhat harshly removed fom proceedings with half an hour to play, it seemed certain that Liverpool would take advantage of the numerical advantage granted them. A better, more adventurous side, dare I say, one with pretensions of winning the title surely would have. It's difficult to imagine that Chelsea or Manchester United wouldn't have taken all three points from us yesterday, or at least would have made a better fist of trying. As it was, I guess Liverpool paid us quite the compliment by not going for the jugular, even as our bare, naked throat was exposed to them.

I don't have much to say about the sending off, it was a touch harsh, but as Joanna pointed out to me, I'd have been asking for a card, or something if it had been the other way round. That being said, it's difficult to understand how Adebayor gets sent off when he hasn't made contact on the second instance and Lucas Leiva was given license to foul with impunity up until the latter stages of the game. Which was also picked up, unsurprisingly, by the boss in his pre match interview. He also spotlit the rather dangerous tackle by Robbie Keane which crunched Gael Clichy early on. What seems to be causing frustration, and I completely understand why, is the lack of consistency shown by referees. If we go back to the very first away game of the season at Fulham, John Pantsil did exactly what Adebayor did (in fact he went further, actually making contact) to Emmanuel Eboue and yet Eboue not only had a free kick given against him, he got booked. I don't believe we get a fair deal from referees and will someone please, please, please explain to me how Steven Gerrard is able to dive in and around the penalty area so often and is never picked up for it, either by referees or the media? Oh, silly me, it's because he's english, isn't it?

Anyway, Ade off, Cesc replaced at half time after what looked a rather unpleasant knee injury sustained in a challenge with Xabi Alonso and it was all up for Arsenal, Liverpool were at 72% possession around the time of the sending off. Such was the galvanising effect of what crowd and team saw as an unjust decision that twenty minutes later, Arsenal had not quite turned the stat on its' head, but had stormed our way back into the match. That we did so whilst carrying Abou Diaby (perhaps he thought we were in red shorts, not shirts?) made the display even more impressive. If only we had started as we finished.

I thought, aside from the sumptuous assist, Samir Nasri showed an industriousness and a willingness to accept possession under pressure that really bodes well for his Arsenal future. Up front RvP, apart from the Bergkamp style goal (ironic that Hoddle made the comparison given that he was Begkamp's idol and Bergkamp van Persie's) battled his little cotton socks off and showed the kind of fight I think we all like to see. Alex Song, and Denilson battled hard, and battled well. It was the kind of display that's been lacking this season and if we can play as we did yesterday on Boxing Day then, even shorn of Ade and Fabregas, Aston Villa might be in for a shock.

The paucity of options available to the manager was shown in the fact that Robin battled through a full shift, the last half an hour on his own, the midfield finished up as Eboue, Song, Denilson and Diaby and on a pure quality basis, that's beyond worrying. Abou Diaby may be one of the most frustrating players we've seen in an Arsenal shirt, Eboue- whatever reception he got yesterday- is not good enough and Song and Denilson, I respectfully suggest, are nobody's idea of a midfield that will challenge for a title. I say nobody's... Actually, I think Denilson would be infinitely better suited to playing the more advanced midfield role than either the "holding" role or wide right. But the gaffer, having backed himself into a corner simply has to either show some confidence in the likes of Vela, Wilshere and Ramsey or get his chequebook out in January. But please, no more square pegs in round holes whilst telling us how great the kids currently keeping the bench warm are.

Which isn't to say I'd have brought any of them on yesterday, by the way.

If there is a silver lining to be found in any of this, it's that the injury to Cesc (dedos cruzados) has ocurred with the transfer window imminent, and so it's a perfect opportunity to sign a central midfielder. You can never have too many of them, I think. Arsène said "no, no, no" to rumours about Tevez and Arshavin, but a wide player must also be on the radar... surely?  

A personal hero of mine died on this day in 2002. With the quote (taken from a live version of The Magnificent Seven) that forms the, apt, title to this blog, I salute him and his music.

Joe Strummer, the original Clash City Rocker.

I wake up having got to bed stupidly late last night following a hilarious night spent at Wembley Arena, watching Noel Fielding's new gay robot character. I think he was supposed to be a gay robot, I lost track of it in the end. Boys... what a missed opportunity, a first half of hilarity backed up by a second half that came close to, in my opinion, stinking the place out. Not that it mattered to the thousands of teenagers dressed as characters from the show, drinking their first beer and experiencing the thrill of live performance for the first time. It was a bit like a Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party. Only without the shit music and better jokes. Only just, in some cases. Boy, I felt old. My final word on this -[;p0lo] (that was Joanna's cat, Tom, by the way) is that the Boosh boys' reputation greatly exceeded their performance last night.

Moving on, I can tell you it's a momentous day in north London.

For Hoyte the Younger anyway. Yes, reserve team captain and Carling Cup regular this season, Gavin Hoyte, the full back who had a rather harsh introduction to first team football at Eastlands, has inked a new, long term, deal with Arsenal. He's probably on 40 grand a week now.

And, of course, Eduardo. At least, we hope it will be a momentous day for him. The reserves take on Portsmouth and Eduardo is expected to feature. The game kicks off at 7pm and anyone with Arsenal TV can watch it live. So, I'll be being very, very nice to Joanna for the rest of the afternoon. I think I can speak for all of us, when I say welcome back Eduardo, we've missed you.

Elsewhere, le grande saucisse, Patrick Vieira has backed Denilson to come good for the Arsenal. Actually, he called him "wonderful" and pointed out that he is in the embryonic stages of his Premier League career and so needs time. Which is all well and good, but I think the main complaint about Arsenal this season is that, in midfield in particular, there are too many players who have only just begun life in the Premier League and we don't have time to give them, um, time. I'm with Patrick as far as Denilson goes, though, I do think he's fantastic player. I just happen to think, as many do that he is ill suited to do the job being asked of him. And that we need someone who can do that defensive midfield job.

Theo Walcott has confirmed he will be out till February. Not much of a shock here, but with talk of Samir Nasri being out till the new year and Rosicky presumably back on the day that hell freezes over, the wide areas need to be addressed asap. In the meantime, I think we'd all love to see that fabled faith in youth being demonstrated and Jack Wilshere brought into the team. Diaby, Denilson and Eboue may be many things to many people, wingers, I'm sorry Arsène, they quite simply ain't. Of course, there is an argument that Jack may not exactly be a winger, but he certainly knows how to go past a player.

There was some other news relating to north London football, Tottenham Hotspur have released the planned design for their (sound familiar?) 60,000 seater new stadium. I'd link to a picture of it, but a) it's Tottenham and b) anyone who's been to our stadium will know what it looks like anyway. I wonder how long it took the powers that be to come up with that design?

Seems my last blog piece- because that is what this is, a blog- has upset a few of you. Yes it may have been self absorbed whinging, but if you can't have a self absorbed whinge after seeing your team blow a two goal advantage in 4 minutes and then lose to an inferior team because they can't handle, as they couldn't last year, a couple of set pieces, when can you have a whinge?

I am upset, I am upset because I care passionately about this club and am no longer sure the manager will make the (minor) changes he needs to to make this team successful. I'm sorry if my mood yesterday upset some of you but my mood was directly related to us losing to Stoke and fielding a midfield full of central midfielders because Arsene thought that was our best option.
Questioning my support because of what I write here… I've spent more than enough time, money and effort in support of this team over the years. And this season in particular. If a whinge about losing to Stoke qualifies me as a fair weather fan, then yes it must be that every single Arsenal blogger on t'interweb is a fair weather fan. Take a look around cyberspace, please check out the Online Gooner, read the Arseblog or Gunnerblog and see what you think then. If you still feel I'm a fairweather fan, fine, but please, bear this in mind; I had a sore throat by half time on Wednesday night, I never boo the team, I never go for a half time beer or a hot dog, thereby missing goals, as so many did on Wednesday night, and guess what? I never leave before the end, either.

I am not turning against the team, or in fact the manager. I am questioning, legitimately, I happen to believe,  some of the decisions made in the summer, and the somewhat odd decisions made recently. No, I'm not a football manager, no I don't know better than Arsene, but what good is knowing better if it doesn't help you to make the right decision? One of my first blog entries was the piece about Arsene's vote of confidence in the midfielders at the club. Does that confidence look justified to anybody right now?

Midfield, for me, is where games are won and lost and it's an area that Arsenal have traditionally been strong in under Wenger. Of course, we were blessed with the Big Sausage for 9 years, but alongside him he had battle hardened players such as Parlour, Overmars, Petit, Pires, Gilberto and Edu. Whilst a player like Freddie Ljungberg, already a Swedish international at 21,  grew into such a player. Now we have Cesc Fabregas and… and? Samir Nasri in his first season in English football, Theo Walcott in his first season as first team starter. And if Tomas Rosicky had been fit, would Theo be getting all these games? The central midfield options are poor beyond belief when compared to what we have seen before. If Cesc Fabregas gets injured, then what? Diaby, Denilson? Both are obviously decent enough players, but they are not ready to deliver a League title. What was once an area of strength has become a playground for our overpaid kids. Cesc has been overplayed since his return to injury and is going to be frazzled come the run in because we can't afford to rest him now. Is that healthy?

I touched on our central defence issues yesterday and don't particularly want to go back there again, but the inability of our central defence to deal with set pieces is compounded by our first choice goalkeeper's complete refusal to do so. Is he scared of getting his nose broken? What's the deal here? He's a fine shot stopper, generally speaking, but behind a defence that seems unable to deal with aerial threat, he is nothing more than a liability.

I hope for better things on Wednesday, I really do. I'd love for the boys to respond to disappointment as they generally have done this season and put in a big performance and, when Saturday comes, I will be shouting my head off in Block 100. But I'm not sure they're capable of it. That isn't their fault, it's the manager's. He has miscalculated this season, and okay we're only 6 points off the top but we haven't played anyone yet, and it looks like costing us. If you don't like what I'm saying, maybe a better question for you is not "Why can't you show respect to Wenger?" but "Why can't Wenger show us respect?" 

You see, I have long said that we don't have a right to expect anything in football, but when you are told the squad you have is good enough for a title challenge and the evidence of that is shredded before November is even begun, you are supposed to ask questions. I close here, reminded of an exchange between Brian Glanville and George Graham during the Makita tournament of 1991, George had read a piece by Brian about Arsenal's defensive weaknesses and said of it,

" I expected more quality".

Brian's reponse?

 "When I see it, I'll write it."

I started this blog post with a rant about South Eastern Trains, but unless you have to get a train to London Bridge every morning, it wouldn't interest you, so let's revise that, shall we?

I posted yesterday without having read much of the fall out from Saturday's match either in the press or online, but it seems that the trouble at the game on Saturday was very definitely our fault, perhaps the guys were getting ready for next Wednesday night, but it reflects very poorly on the club as a whole when stuff like this happens. Irony of ironies, the matchday programme on Saturday ran a small article saying that Hull and Sunderland had been in touch congratulating the club on the comportment of our support! Oops.

Fenerbahce beckons tomorrow night. Unbelievably, ITV have decided that more people would rather watch the European and English Champions take on the Scottish Champions than watch the Arsenal under 12s go to Turkey. Shocking. Can't think how they came to that conclusion, but anyway... A win there would put us in firm control of the group with two home games still left. I wouldn't bank on anything from tomorrow night, especially as we've seemed relatively unable to string two good performances together this season and are missing 3/4 of our first choice defence for tomorrow night. So what does Arsène do?

Well, Alex Song on Saturday was a bit like me, as I put my feet down in Lake Constance over 20 years ago only to discover I'd ventured beyond a depth of five foot, so with Song likely to be at centre back in any case, he's probably got a choice between Johan Djourou and Eboue. I think Eboue should get the nod, but only because he has experience of playing in this position. No matter how poorly. I hate saying that because I'd love to see Djourou given a chance, but not at full back and not in a game like this.

Abou Diaby gives Arsène a central midfield alternative to Denilson, and I think having played more football than anyone else this season, Denilson could probably do with a rest. Not to mention watching from the bench and learning something. Though, who he's supposed to learn from is open to question...That's your lot, I'm hungry!