Is it a sign of the times or are managers just getting madder these days as they desperately try to keep pace with the expectations of fans, boards or the media? Looking at our line up for tonight it seems very odd just as we have seen Benitez criticised and Scolari too (along with a score of others) then perhaps Wenger felt left out.

After the game on Saturday, Arshavin stated he was knackered in the second half just as it started but yet he starts tonight. Van Persie, our sole bright spot these days is rested and Vela is benched after one (admittedly poor) start. Of course, we know nothing and the manager has always done these sort of things when games come thick and fast but it strikes me as an admission of not really knowing his best team. You can't really blame him as the only consistency this season has been our inconsistency.

Meanwhile in the Telegraph today the question is raised, by Alan Smith, of whether it's time for Wenger to be sacked. Well that's the headline but the question is one of many and dismissed by teh ex-gunner. There are some words on the criticism Wenger deserves but the headline is way off the mark fo rthe resulting article - the media eh?

I've given up predicting or even hoping on results so will just sit back and watch something else and wait till the end of the game. Maybe not knowing will help the result!!!

For some strange reason the Europeans still have a fascination for the grand old FA Cup despite the FA, the clubs and Setanta/ITV making a determined effort to make it really crap. So over here in Switzerland I can get highlights on French TV and DSF (the German Sports channel) shows many of the live games over the weekend. Tomorrow I get to see Arsenal/Cardiff and the Mersey derby - even though it will be delayed as I'm out all day - hopefully skiing.

Whether I'll be getting a good surprise on my return is a little bit undecided as Cardiff are in good form and this side of ours is completely unreliable when thinking of games such as these. Hopefully Van Persie and co will be "up for it" as they say and the hostile atmosphere will be nullified early on by slick passing, a couple of goals and we'll all be happy*.

* - finger crossed, living in a dream world etc...

Apparently last week he might be coming, Arsene even hinted that we may be close (to what was never really discussed) and yet all we ever hear are the bleatings from either/both of Zenit and Arshavin's agent. Today we have had a £12M bid rejected according to certain newspaper sources. The story goes on about Zenit wanting £20M, City possibly bidding if Kaka falls through and yet more blah, blah, blah...

Well I've already decided I don't want him now as it's clear all he and his agent are after is a big money deal, whether that stems from the club or the player or both I don't care. Either you really want to be an Arsenal player or you don't and if he's spoken to Wenger (and who really knows) he must know what we are looking for. I'm sick of these so-called superstars appearing at clubs all around the planet and their clubs/agents all remarking about how they are in talks with "several" clubs etc. I'd rather finish seventh than buy players who will in 6 months time be interested in a move to a "bigger" club or whining they don't get to play every week.

What we need are signings like Van Persie (who deserves all the plaudits at the moment) and suchlike, who were pretty much rumoured literally just before we signed them. Too much rumour and distraction normally means the player is just looking for a few bucks.

So you're in the centre of Basel and the crowds are heaving (though thankfully nothing like London at its worst) and all you're thinking is shall I check the Arsenal score. You need to know, of course, but it's Middlesbrough away and you just know it's unlikely to be good news. Anyway you treat yourself to some personal christmas presents (a pair of shoes and a shiny new iMac!) before daring to check on your phone how it's going.... hoping .... praying ... that all might be well. Then when the phone browser slowly downloads and the anticipation grows you finally get the disappointing (though thankfully not entirely depressing) news of a 1-1 draw. According to the BBC text it seemed we could of won, could have lost and Van Persie can't shoot for toffee. Was that the correct summary? I shall just have to wait until I get to see the recorded highlights on MOTD tomorrow morning.

It may not be the best way to discover the result of a match (or even try and "watch" the game's last 20 minutes) but persuading my wife to let me use her Blackberry whilst waiting to board a flight at Gatwick will suffice with a game like yesterday.

Of course I claim all the glory as I could only play 2 of my 3 strikers in my fantasy league side and with the psychology of "I'd rather he scored and we won than get points for my team", l left out Robin and the rest, as they say, is history. I'll need to remember this policy.

I've seen the highlights and a few things come to mind, yes Van Persie's first was offside but that has happened to us too many times against Chelsea so I'll take that with no feelings of guilt. Secondly, the EBJT (copyright The Fiver) and his so called tackle on Sagna. Apparently Sky refused to show it  despite spending hours on Eboue's tackle last year (cheers Arseblogger) and MOTD didn't talk about it after the game as per usual. What is it about England captains that gives them complete Carte Blanche to do what they like!!! Arseblogger also mentioned the Chelsea fans copying the United fans with their P#####hile chants (yes everyone knows it) and the Guardian did print a story about it today but didn't seem too keen to take it any further. It comes to a sad state of affairs when the only person speaking out about it was Alex Ferguson (even if it took him 10 years too many to say it!).

What's next - well we all know that is an impossible question. Our kids will have a tough game at Burnley this week and that's a team that is doing well and playing good football too. After that the first team will return against Wigan though after the last round maybe we should play the two teams in reverse this week!

Oh and we've got Plymouth in the cup which is fun as my wife comes from there and I'm in Plymouth Argyle for christmas where I will see their Boxing Day game against Southampton. I did also see the last game between the two sides in the cup when we won 6-1, I'll take that with a Jack Wilshere hat trick.

I've just read the latest comments from Arsene Wenger regarding the game at Stoke and, as is often the case, there is a just argument in there somewhere but it will always get lost in the British media because of the point of the attack. As with other statements he's made in the past (often after a Bolton game!!) the attack will be perceived as an unjust and vile attempt by this foreign manager (who's bloody French for Christ's sake) to get rid of the blood and guts of the good old English game (see this blog for the typical reaction).

In fact I'm convinced he makes these comments for two reasons, one is the pure frustration of losing a game and the fact he lingers over the defeat (these comments are often made 2 or 3 days after the event). The second and more just complaint is that certain players, he believes, make rash and unjustifiable physical challenges on Arsenal players. The problem with this second and valid point is that of proving it to a public who have brainwashed by the media with the "look at how many red cards his teams have" and "he never sees anything when it's his player" campaigns that may have started with rumour but are now perceived as fact. I once delved through the records to look at our red card record and over his first 10 years Arsenal had about the 6th or 7th BEST disciplinary record but the the press never let facts get in the way of a story. On the other point he makes it easy for the media because he does come out with some ludicrous excuses sometimes and, as a result, his good points are missed, never heard or ignored.

Let's just take the challenge on Adebayor on Saturday, the Stoke player did him with a studs up slide on his ankle OFF THE F##KING PITCH and didn't even concede a foul (the ball had long gone out for a throw) never mind a booking, yet neither this challenge or the one on Walcott were discussed on MOTD. Yet in the same game the petulance of Van Persie (and it was f##king stupid) is given a red card. Now I'm not excusing the Dutchman but where's the justice in that.

What I would like Arsene to do is to come to a press conference in a less emotional state of mind and categorically state that he has no problem with sides being physical (a la Bolton /Stoke) within the LAWS of the game but he would just like refs to actually punish (or maybe the FA on video evidence) clear and deliberate fouling (aka Kevin Nolan's "it's all right to give Walcott a kick" comments). 

The other galling point is that he's the most friendly to the media of most of the managers, he always makes himself available (unlike Old fergie) to the press, will answer any question thrown at him, give his opinion and won't eff and blind at reporters when they say the wrong thing (oh that's you again fergie) to him. Of course he makes stupid comments, of course he defends his players when they shouldn't be defended and of course he makes excuses sometimes but then which manager doesn't.

Sometimes heavy rain can be a truly glorious thing. If it hadn't been p###ing it down last night and so f##king cold I may have taken a trip to the pub in Basel town, drunk too many beers, seen a wild Spurs fan celebrating yet another draw and let anger take hold of me with disastrous consequences! Maybe that would have been the case, I just don't know but I do know (and I've a feeling that my season ticket colleagues at Arsenal may agree) that I let the anger out when certain things happen and the alcohol has been consumed. I've never lashed out at someone (that's just immature isn't it and violence never solved any problem) but when a really annoying sod of a newbie football fan (who has, by definition, never really followed the game until Sky came along) flaunts himself in your face it's hard to control oneself.

So thanks to the weather and the fact that Teleclub didn't show the game last night I relied on the wonderful experience of Guardian MBM and BBC Live Text service to "see" the final 5 minutes of a game we should've won. There is something really "digital" about seeing the score appear online with no anticipation of what has unfolded or about to unfold. It's depressing and brings back really bad ceefax memories (York 1-0 Arsenal, springs to mind!).

Anyway for various reasons (one being, irony of all ironies, preparing dinner for my wife's friend's family - mum, dad, 2 sons - ALL Tottenham Supporters who didn't know the game had ended 4-4 as they have turned all media off at 88 minutes!!) such as letting the anger subside it has been good to wait before blogging today. 

So you're expecting comment - I'll just leave you with one and it's a truism: A good game for the neutrals is f##king awful for those involved.

 Oh and BTW - they're still bottom!!

I've never been confident of beating bottom of the table teams even if, over the last few years, we have generally managed to win the majority of such games easily (remember Derby last year - we even managed to make them look good for a half at their place before Adebayor came on). I think this stems from the season Stoke City were last in the top division, 1985, and they finished rock bottom. We played them near the end of the season (when they had all but been relegated) and they beat us 2-0 in a year when they only won 6 games all season. For some reason that season has always stuck in the memory and even when we've had some of our best sides under Arsene Wenger it's never gone away.

This irrational fear is increased exponentially when it just so happens that the team at the bottom of the table is our local neighbours and they've just got a new manager. Any slight rational argument fails with me at this point as I remember times in the 80s when we approached the derby as the underdogs and we always seemed to play better on the day (it meant so much more to us) and we managed some great victories (1985 (A) was a favourite when Roberts missed a penalty for them). Despite their position their players know how much this one game can save their season in the eyes of their supporters. If you add the new manager effect and, this is the really intangible one as sometimes it can be one game and then back to the same old rubbish, I'm approaching paranoid fear about tomorrow night. Part of that fear is the absolutly awful feeling of losing to them (thankfully fairly rare but by that argument also more painful) and I know many supporters (especially more recent ones) seem to hate losing to Man Utd more than Spurs but, for me, it's this game that hurts most if we lose.

So I've a need to try and put my optimistic hat on assume our players will want this (Van Persie seems to know it matters) more than they do, that Gomez will continue to whack his own defenders and Adebayor continues his goalscoring run against them.

As the game is not on Teleclub over here (we get Hull v Chelsea and all the midweek Bundesliga games instead) I'll hope to see one of these on MOTD:

Thankfully the THIRD international break of the season so far has nearly come to an end and we can chat about the more mundane issues such as Arsenal's defensive injury crisis and how Robin Van Persie can recover from his latest injury (the one he doesn't have yet but will get obviously tonight when he trips over the corner flag and breaks all 206 bones in his body).

For a Wednesday night game there is at least the opportunity to nip into town and have a beer with mates in one of the bars that won't be showing Switzerland's probable defeat to Greece. Hopefully McGuinnesses will be showing all the home nation games as just watching England will be a bit tedious.

Because of this break I've just realised that I'm back again in the UK to watch the forthcoming match against Everton on Saturday afternoon (yes, a 3 o'clock KO) and I haven't missed a home league match despite being in the centre of Europe. I'm just hoping that the current high pressure dissappears as this will lead to fog at Luton Airport and a delay on my Easyjet flight on Saturday morning. I've got a little bit of leeway but I can do without a reduction in the most important part of the day, the pre-match drink. I can't miss out on my London Pride at the Hemingford Arms.

Apparently it is impossible for Robin Van Persie to meet up and/or play with his Dutch team mates without incurring some injury or other. At least this time he tried to get it out of the way early on during the Interlull (!) but he will probably suffer numerous relapses (based on previous history) and will come back in April to help our bid for a UEFA Cup place (pessimistic doom and gloom version). Of course, maybe Arsene Wenger has finally realised a method to remove injury risks from International weeks by provoking minor injuries via a voodoo doll that he will then heal when they return. This would obviously explain the reason Gary Lewin left Arsenal for the England job (optimistic scenario)as he has never been a fan of unorthodox medical remedies.

For such a common occurrence, Van Persie's injury actually made the local Swiss newspaper. However, they suggest an Achilles injury as opposed to the hamstring suggested by Arseblog but I haven't done too much research to check who's right or wrong, only Arsene and his voodoo doll knows.

Meanwhile Switzerland have the difficulty of recovering from their loss to Luxembourg last time round and are pretty much in the last chance saloon this weekend when they play Latvia. The locals don't seem too confident at the moment though.