It tells you all you really need to know about International breaks (or as we now know them - the dreaded Interlulls - a sort of void between two real footballing galaxies apparently) that Birmingham at home this weekend is a game we eagerly anticipate! I saw a little of the games last night and is it just me or do hardly any "real" fans go to England games at Wembley. It seemed that it was just like a pop concert or film premier with flash photography all game and 90% of the audience just waiting to see David Beckham appear so that they could scream wildly. Steve Bruce was obviously being ironic, wasn't he, please tell he was when he gave DB7 (I probably have to pay to say that don't I) the MOTM award. Brings back memories of the old song in the 80s to Bryan "Man of the Match" Robson as all he had to do was kick one ball in the 90 minutes to be rewarded with the Champagne.

What struck me about the whole World Cup qualifying is that when you look at the teams that qualified and  the teams in the play-offs that there are very few real shocks or surprises. Okay so a Slovakia got in ahead of a Sweden and Portugal/France have to beat the might of Bosnia or Ukraineto to get to South Africa. Like the Champions League group stages it all seems a lot of effort for very little excitement - how many groups went down to the wire and produced real finales! The whole press coverage of Argentina summed it up - it was the only story in town. I know we have to do it this way but it's so tedious. I suggest a giant "It's A Knockout" style event in each continent to determine the qualifiers in one weekend and so avoid all this Interlull dullness! Imagine John Terry and Rooney doing this against Ballack and co - I'm sure we'd get less injuries anyway.

As it's Interlull and the only stories are those relating to International football I thought I better talk about the two biggest local stories. Switzerland are playing Israel tonight in Basel and only need a draw to ensure that they win the group. I think that they can lose and still would be in the play-offs but Greece are hoping for a Isrsael win so they can get the winners spot! St Jakob Stadium was getting ready at lunch time as I went past (after my Gym session) and despite the FIFA ruling of no beer in the stadium I think the fans will manage to get enough before and after the game!

Over the border in France they are relieved to be in the play offs and L'Equipe reported yesterday (here's an English report) that Ligue 1 will be postponed for the 11th round in October, The odd fact is that the games are on the 28th October - well in advance of the play off games in November (14th / 18th) so it really seems a little strange.

Despite the Interlull I am quite looking forward to staying up late and watching the Uruguay - Argentina game tonight.

I do remember that we bought our own little Super Swede from an Italian club, Cremonese, but I had no idea that he actually also played for that strangest of named clubs, Young Boys of Bern. In fact, at the time of playing in Switzerland (88-89) it was a very cosmopolitan league with some half decent players, even if many had seen their best days. It was so competitive that the mighty (okay imagine it if you can) clubs like FC Basel and FC Zurich were in the second division. Ottmar Hizfeld even cut his managerial teeth here before moving on to win Champions Leagues and returning to manage the Swiss national side this year. All of this came from WSC273 - so get it for a read and ignore the normal football media during the Interlull.

At the very least it got me thinking of one of my all time favourite Arsenal goals....

Really Dull,

The Interlull is really Dull,

It's Dull, Dull and Dull

The Interlull is really Dull..

repeat ad nauseum

Now that song is out of my head I can concentrate on surviving week II, the return of the Interlull.

Have fun

In the past we had the ability of Stevie "He's Got No Hair but we don't Care" Bould flicking on (or passing superb balls to) for Tony Adams to score (either by headers or 20 yard left foot volleys!!) and we thought it was a thing of the olden days. Then Thomas Vermaelen arrived and it coincided with William Gallas scoring too - who needs forwards when your centre halves score 8 goals in 12 games!

It seems that this effect has rubbed off on another of our centre halves as I flicked on the TV this evening to see that Switzerland were 2-0 up after 8 minutes and both goals had been scored by Phillipe Senderos!! Arsene has obviously abandoned all defensive training at the club and is preparing the ultimate goal scoring team! Keiran Gibbs scored twice last night for England U21s (yes one was an own goal but what the heck) and it seems that we just need to get our keepers to score. Almunia has no chest infection - he's been taking intensive shooting practice and penalty taking so that he can join in with the fun... you know this makes sense.

BUT I've just seen Gallas miss a sitter for France, maybe it's not so true after all! Of course it could all be a mirage brought on by being at a beer making and tasting course all day!

Yep we've nearly made it through the first week of the Interlull, hope you've all survived without resorting to too many drugs. So what are you going to do this weekend with no Arsenal?

1) Watch the Twenty20 Champions League in French Commentary, can't beat the Delhi Chargers vs Sussex!!!

2) Watch an International game with a lot riding on the result - so that's Russia v Germany

3) Go to a Beer festival - Stuttgart or Munuch or smaller ones..

4) Go to a beer making course with the emphasis on tasting the results!

5) Recover from a hangover induced by too much beer

6) Make a calendar to count down the days until the Interlull ends

7) Visit friends and try to remember what Saturdays were like when there was no football on

8) Go shopping with the wife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9)  Have a long, really long lie in - maybe 2-3 days?

10) Watch Ukraine v England for £11.99 on the internet - HA HA HA HA HA HA there must some nuts out there....

I shall be doing one or two of these - I'll leave you to guess which ones?

So here it is, La Croix D'Or, the Pub of legends or, in this case, the Pub where Arsene gained the knowledge to be able to say "Arsene Knows"! One thing that I can say having visited this Brasserie/Restaurant (no it's not a pub and no there isn't such a thing in France just imitations of the real English establishment) is that it is uninspiring inside.

There was no "Arsene etait ici" scrawled into the bar or any plaques, photos or trophies to give you any idea. Then that is no surprise as it's a completely different owner to those days. However, maybe you could just imagine a young Arsene Wenger not seeing who nicked the Ricard and perhaps trying out a more attractive way of playing cards some long time ago.

At least I didn't get wet today on this second leg of the pilgrimage and, in truth, the cycling was as important as visiting a mere glimpse into the history of our illustrious manager.

I woke up this morning to find a beautiful, truly beautiful day and an expected high of 26-8 degs. Despite fiddling around I finally got my act together and packed for an overnight cycle trip to Duttlenheim to visit that pub we all heard about a week or so ago. I thought that I would get as much riding done today as the weather doesn't look so great tomorrow. So I've managed 130 of 145km and am in Schaeffersheim, a mere 15km from the bar. Of course I'm knackered and, of course, it will be a shabby French bar of no particular beauty but that's not the point and what better way to spend two days of the Interlull!

Our game yesterday seemed to encapsulate much of what has been going on during most Premier League matches so far this season. Apparently the Premier League has seen the highest "goals per game" average in its entire history as well as being the highest of all the major European leagues. So as much as we have one or two concerns regarding our defensive capabilities it's good to know that this seems to be a disease affecting most, if not all, clubs including the other "big 4" teams. Combined with the fact that we have the greatest array of attacking talents that this club has ever seen then we can surely cash in this. However, if our attacking players have an off day (which we've seen before) then those are the days that we do have to defend slightly better than yesterday but it ain't going to be boring.

Watching the game against Blackburn was both enthralling (80% of the game) and quite scary (the other 20%) for a wonderful 90 minutes. I read somewhere that a reporter felt very sorry for Alexander Song because apart from the four defenders and the goalkeeper, everyone else on the team only has a desire to attack and certainly not defend. I think the reporter got that wrong since it seems Vermaelen, Clichy and Sagna seem more intent on supporting the attack at various stages too! I wonder what George Graham thinks when he watches us play now.....

The great thing about this is that whilst you can work on the team concentrating and the art of tracking back you cannot teach the technique, passing, movement and football genius that is endemic amongst Fabregas, Van Persie, Rosicky, Arshavin, Walcott and Bendtner. It's obvious we haven't quite got the balance right just yet but I'd rather be watching this team develop than any other team on the planet at the moment. Is there anyone who could possibly begrudge spending the price of an admission ticket for most of our games.

Like Arseblogger said today we have a lot of pent up articles to write on how we can improve as the two week interlull starts today. Let's just start the week with a few prayers, rabbit feet and finger corssing that all our players come back uninjured.

On the Swiss side of things Basel learnt from watching us I believe and won 5-0 too! However, this was marred by violence by Basel fans.

What do you think BFS thinks when he sees teams like us, Barcelona or even United (grits teeth and grimaces as he says it) play beautiful passing football that entertains and enthralls fans of their own clubs as well as those from other teams. Does he sit there planning how he can convince any of the players he has that this is the way the game should be played or does study each player in detail to work our where a perfectly aimed kick will stop any of those players doing what they do so well.

Whilst Arsene apparently watches football 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a a year (he takes Xmas Day off - maybe?) we all know that BFS is watching sports such as Rugby Union, Wrestling and probably a bit of cage fighting to see if he can get any tips for his side. What BFS does do so well is that he has managed to spin the media so well (thanks to a few friendly words from his big mate Sir Awex - who he rewards by generally getting his players to all fawn at United and let them take a nice easy 6 points a season) that his team is seen as tough rather than a bunch of dirty cloggers. 

So today we face Blackburn in a run of good form but (whatever we may think about their style of play) we need to match them for effort and physicality as much as we can. Then we can play our football and hopefully come out comfortable winners. If at the same time BFS can either choke on his chewing gum or get multiple electric shocks through his headset we all be happy.