At moments like this you need a siege mentality, a closing of ranks and a middle finger up to the rest of the footballing fraternity, while the club staggers to its feet, punch drunk but swinging for the fences. Instead, we have more infighting than I can ever remember, focused on the future of the man who has been at the helm for the last sixteen years. People will have you believe that fans are firmly in two camps, and two camps only – those who refuse to criticise Wenger and are desperate for him to stay, and those that insist he should have gone long ago. Although there are probably a fair chunk of people whose opinions can accurately be described by one of those two polarisations, I suspect the majority are somewhere in the intermediate, between believing in him but carrying doubts, and suspecting his time is closing but hoping for a glorious finale. Nothing is ever as black and white as the picture painted in the monochrome of the red top.

I’m not here about to declare myself to be on one side or another – I’m sad that there are sides at all. Battle lines have long since been drawn, but now they are reinforced with sandbags of bile. We’re all guilty of it to an extent – you see a post or a comment that you think is unreasonable or antagonistic towards what you believe, and you can react. Human nature, perhaps, but the anger is misplaced. Ultimately, whether we think Wenger is the man to lead the club forward, whether we think a replacement is urgently needed, whether we believe in each player or not, we all have one thing in common – we want the best for Arsenal Football Club. We’re on the same side.

It doesn’t always seem that way. One thing I will always object to is the needless abuse that is being flung around with increasing abandon. By all means state whatever opinion you hold, and vociferously defend it, but when people start describing our players and our manager with the strongest possible abusive insults a line has to be drawn. Arsene Wenger is not a cunt, as was written in the comments of my last piece. When did we start thinking such descriptions were acceptable? Save those terms for the deserving. John Terry. El Hadji Diouf. James Blunt.

People with differing opinions are not the enemy. Spurs are the enemy. Chelsea are the enemy. Mike Dean is the enemy. Interesting debate is available with those holding a happier or darker perspective on the club’s situation, if you look for it. I follow plenty of people on Twitter whose outlook is radically different from mine – I read and engage with what they have to say because although I often disagree with their point of view, they express it in a thought provoking and intelligent way. Sometimes that debate gets a little spiky but if it ever developed into abuse I’d make sure we never crossed paths again (or at least I’d try to – Twitter has a habit of making even the blocked appear on one’s timeline – no matter how much I try to exclude anything written by Barton or Morgan, the two wastes of oxygen still invade).

Put another way – if you need to vent, pick an appropriate target. While people connected to our club might frustrate, they’re still ours. The rest of the packed (or recently slightly gappy) stadium are just more of us. Anger is being woefully misplaced.

All the more ironic, then, that some who fire anger in an unhelpful direction are critiquing Wenger for doing likewise in a press conference earlier today. Even the claim that his anger was as inaccurately targeted as a Gervinho shot is up for debate, as the bone of contention was an unfounded newspaper story about a prospective new contract, a piece that was planted with the clear and obvious aim of turning an unsettled fanbase outright hostile. But it all adds to the story that the press gleefully lap up.

Meltdown, they say. He’s losing it, they claim. Actually, if you watch the video you’ll see mild irritation at best, a bit of crankiness after sixteen years of banal questions and unhelpful spin. I don’t have a problem with that, and I suspect that few do. His tetchy demeanour isn’t the real story, and wouldn’t even get a mention if we were on better form.

But we’re not. As Arseblogger pointed out on Radio 5 this evening, people are quick to jump down his throat because of their overall frustration – at the state of the squad, at the two cup defeats to lower league opposition, at the league position, at the directionless feel of the football club as a whole.

That is the crux, and that frustration is shared between everyone connected to the club. The rest is fluff – don’t go believing that Wenger is losing it because he calls a journalist out on an fuse-lit plant of a story. Don’t dish out abuse to a man who, whatever you think of our (and his) malaise, deserves respect. We’re better than that. We’re Arsenal.

A sickly Arsenal, granted. But Arsenal nonetheless.

None of those facts are rare in cup competition – they are the recipe for most upsets. But for a decade and a half, Wenger’s Arsenal have avoided defeat in such circumstances, always finding enough to earn at least of replay on those danger days, enabling us to chuckle at the Liverpools and Spurs of this world, regularly dumped out by lower league opposition. None of us are laughing tonight.

The post match reaction has been understandably hostile. I do feel that some of the anger is misplaced, particularly at the decision to rotate a few players. I’ve seen many comments that we were ‘prioritising Bayern over Blackburn‘ which isn’t something I buy into. The facts are simple – we are playing the Bundesliga giants three days after a Championship side, and if we were looking to win both matches (as we should be), we should logically play the strongest possible team against the Germans and rotate against Blackburn, in the knowledge that a team of eleven internationals should have it within them to defeat a side who until recently have been the laughing stock of football.

Today’s problem was not that we rotated – we still fielded a team that would be expected to win – but that the eleven that started the game did not do what was expected of them, did not perform at the level required of them. Football is a squad game and the notion that we should play our strongest eleven in every game is a foolish one. We won’t beat Bayern without Wilshere, Cazorla and Walcott – we can and should still defeat any Championship side at home in those circumstances. That isn’t complacency, that isn’t believing we just have to turn up to win, that is just the opinion that if the eleven that began the game had played to the standard we demand from them, and that they are capable of, we’d still be in the cup. They didn’t, and we aren’t.

A big problem with this Arsenal side is the inability to learn from past mistakes. I don’t believe that players don’t try, but performances vary too wildly in intensity, which has a similar visual effect. I’ve lost count of the number of times that players and staff have come out after games admitting that opponents had been underestimated, which is disappointing the first time and inexcusable on every subsequent occasion. I sincerely hope that the club has more sense than to allow such quotes to appear this week but you never know with our PR team. They did, after all, create a poll asking if fans would prefer fourth place or a trophy. Who are we, Spurs? Come on.

Where do we go from here? Well, to Bayern on Tuesday. I’m not saying for a moment we brush this under the carpet, but no players or staff will change before the summer, so any speculation on significant changes are moot at this point, and emotions are running too high to even have a rational discussion in those areas without getting lost in a sea of shouting. We must deal with what we have until then – a Champions League campaign that may or may not be short lived and a battle for fourth. Is that ideal? Not in the slightest – it is actually faintly depressing to type – but we are where we are and no amount of complaining will change it. The season needs rescuing in the meantime.

One of my biggest fears is that when he finally leaves, Wenger’s reign as Arsenal boss will be remembered for days like this, rather than the glorious and unprecedented success he has also brought. I hope it never gets that bad. For some, it already has. I doubt I could ever get to that stage – there have been too many good times.

Some more fun times wouldn’t hurt. Tuesday would be a good place to start.

I have to confess to feeling extremely frustrated whenever I turn on sports channels these days. I don’t just mean Sky Sports News, but everyone. Without wishing to hark back to ‘the good old days’, I remember a time where the whole week built up to a match, you’d watch the game, and then possibly catch the highlights later, with a bit of analysis thrown in. Then, you’d flick through the papers as you built up to the next one. It was simple, it was easy, it was fun.

Maybe I had a different perspective at the time, being considerably younger, but it certainly seemed that there was less ‘fluff around the edges’ in the analysis. By that I mean that the likes of Match of the Day would show the game, chat about the incidents and move on. Interviewers would ask about the performance and perhaps the wider context of the league. Thrilling games were enjoyed.

These days, it seems no analysis is complete without sowing the seeds of a story that can be talked about for the rest of the week. It makes sense in a way – when broadcasters only had to worry about a single highlights package, they did exactly that. But with 24 hours news coverage, they need something to talk about in between, so the focus shifts to the controversial, to the debatable, and often to the banal. Witness the aftermath of the victory over Newcastle on Saturday evening. We had just been treated to a remarkable 7-3 victory, one of the ridiculous scorelines becoming associated with us these days, and despite limited time to talk about it, and ten goals to get through, the main focus was Theo Walcott’s contract.

Let me repeat – we had just witnessed a game that finished 7-3, and they were talking about (in fact, idly speculating on) a player’s potential contract decisions. Nothing had changed, no more information had been gleaned, both club and player were continuing their stance, and it wasn’t even the first hattrick he had scored this season.

There are times where such discussion is appropriate – if the player says something controversial, if the manager suggests a change in the player’s future, or perhaps simply if the match ended as a 0-0 snoozefest and there is nothing else to speak of. But surely not here.

Yet talk they do, and talk many do. It saps the life and fun out of the ninety minutes on offer to spend the rest of the week worried about the peripherals – after Saturday’s game I read plenty of fans speaking about Walcott’s hattrick without enjoyment, as if it had been scored for someone else. No, it was for us, and it won us the match. Why can’t we just find the positives in that for a change, rather than worrying about how many more times it will happen?

We are in the midst of perhaps the best fortnight of any season – the Christmas period is always packed with matches (and usually goals, for some reason), games come in a constant stream, and just as you feel January coming on and the thrill dissipating, along comes the third round of the FA Cup, which remains my favourite day of the entire campaign. It is a fabulous time to be a football fan.

But ask yourself this – what was your first football-related thought today? Was it the opening of the transfer window, or the fact we’ve got a match in a few hours against a Southampton side playing better than their results suggest? I hope the latter, but the news coverage is very much focused the other way. Sky, and their infernal ‘transfer ticker’, drive me nuts with a stream of stories that will mostly end up being agent plants, and the press write in the same way. Is this really the most important thing going on?

Who cares if we win today, when there is the much more enticing prospect of a big name signing this month? The same sort of big name signing that is often planted to raise excitement levels, only for the player to sign an improved deal days later. Or perhaps we should analyse the body language of Theo Walcott again, and how much he claps the fans, rather than sitting back and enjoying the actual game?

I don’t get it. At heart we are all football fans, and it is on the field where the best experiences are had. Every wonderful memory is driven by the men in red and white (and variety of increasingly ugly away kits) doing something special on the grass, not by the men in suits negotiating with clubs, agents, players and families. So why is the majority of our time spent speculating and worrying about that? We choose to read uninformed talk of invisible action instead of discussing what is right in front of our eyes, and the very thing that made us so passionate about the game in the first place.

(There is an exception – reading the analysis of those who bring up points you haven’t thought of based on information you don’t have is interesting – but rare. We know who those people are, and theirs are fascinating pieces to read).

I realise I sound like a grumpy old man, and I realise that there are only so many ways you can analyse a game before running out of things to say, but perhaps that is the inherent flaw in 24 hour coverage – you have to fill in the gaps with ‘our sources tell us’, ‘we understand that’ and stories that are so fanciful that they just make you laugh.

So here’s the thing. If we sign someone this month, I’ll talk about it. If we sell someone this month, I’ll analyse it. If Theo signs a new contract, it’ll get a mention. I might even throw in some transfer window thoughts when the blasted thing finally shuts and Jim White can crawl back into his hole. But until then, I’m going to enjoy the games. Fancy joining me?

Of course, some experiences are worth repeating, which is why we all watched the game, and followed it up by chuckling in front of the highlights, particularly at the Spurs fans who cheered so joyously when they took an early lead, in the belief that the pre-game bravado was going to be followed up by a victory to wipe out the memory of the humiliation they received back in February. Instead, they suffered a replica caning, and left long before the end once more, with the taunts of the brilliant home crowd ringing in their ears.

Arsenal fans have a reputation for being a little bipolar, both for swinging between raucous support and despair on matchday and for the contrast in volume between the home and away fans. I’ve always found that to be a baffling accusation, particularly given that a lot of the home and away fans are in fact the same people, and I find it highly unlikely that they sing their hearts out at Carrow Road and then sit rigidly in their seats at the Grove. There is a difference in atmosphere, but I think that is borne more from the corporate feel of our stunning amphitheatre rather than the actions of the individuals within. Still, when the place is rocking, it is something to behold, and yesterday’s game was played out to the backdrop of a united fanbase driving the team on with inspirational force. It was a beautiful thing to see and hear.

The game itself turned on another moment of madness from the man who rarely endears himself to his existing employers, let alone his former ones, and when Adebayor recklessly planted his studs into Cazorla’s ankle, despite the Spaniard being a long way off the ground, there was only going to be one outcome. Howard Webb, who actually had an excellent game (something that isn’t said enough when a referee performs well) produced the red, and the excellent start made by the visitors evaporated. Mertesacker powered a header home, his first for the club, to level the scores, before Podolski and Giroud all but ended the game by the break, the latter after excellent work from Cazorla, fortunately unhurt by the earlier act.

At half time, my only wish for us was to push onwards. Never at our best when sitting back, it was clear that our best option was to keep attacking, and perhaps make this a humiliation that Spurs’ season would not recover from – they have plenty of recent history in that regard. Apart from a wobbly opening to the second half, and a few worried moments after Bale reduced the deficit, that was exactly what we got. We never settled for what we had, we kept trying to drive another nail in the beliefs of all of those that thought this would be The Season Spurs Finish Above Arsenal, a phenomenon many young fans have never seen.

Picking out individuals seems churlish after such a focused and impressive team performance, but the triumvirate of new signings were all excellent – Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski threatened throughout – and Walcott answered yet more critics with a barnstorming display down the right, capped off with a goal after he moved to the centre. But despite all our excellent attacking verve, one man at the back deserves special mention, and that is Laurent Koscielny, who covered superbly on at least three occasions in the first twenty minutes when Vermaelen found himself in the wrong position. The captain started in wobbly fashion, but to his credit grew after those early moments and was superb from there on, but without Koscielny’s alertness we could have been in big trouble in those opening moments.

Ultimately, North London superiority was re-established (or just re-emphasised, if you believe it was never really lost), and while there are those who still cling to the claim that Spurs have the better team or squad (the sight of Huddlestone lining up in midfield against Wilshere, Arteta and Cazorla was entertaining on that particular front), I don’t believe they will be a challenger for a top four berth this season. Say what you like about Harry Redknapp (and after his embarrassing performance on Match of the Day last night, you or I are unlikely to say anything positive), but Spurs looked a better team under him than they do now, and I stick to my pre-match prediction that Everton will finish above them. I also fully expect St Totteringham’s Day to arrive in the customary months of March and April, rather than being delayed to the final day.

But all that is for another time. For now, we bask in the glow of another thumping victory over those who seek to overturn us. Monday morning looks brighter for all that face those on the other side of the fence, and a much needed feelgood factor is back.

I might go and watch those highlights again.

On the face of it, a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford isn’t something to get you too bent out of shape – they win the vast majority of their home games and the scoreline suggests a tight match nicked by the odd goal. Sadly, the scoreline today bore no resemblance to the pattern of the match itself, in which the two United scored should have been a few more, and the one we mustered was with the last kick of the game, and barely celebrated.

The teamsheets made for worrying reading. Aside from the sideshow that always accompanies former players making their return, the thought of Santos trying to combat Valencia was not a prospect many were looking forward to, while Mannone’s continued presence in goal is an accident waiting to happen. Ironically, Mannone was good throughout, pulling off an excellent save from Rooney in the first half and van Persie in the second, and along with Mertesacker is the only player that can hold their head up and say they played well. Santos, on the other hand, was every bit the weak link United were hoping he would be.

Better full backs than the Brazilian will struggle with Valencia’s power, pace and trickery, but the winger found life embarrassingly easy at times today, and dominated the flank all day. Probably the only foot he put wrong was in the early moments of the second half, when he miskicked a tap in that would have put them two up long before they eventually put the game to bed. That stemmed from a bad mistake from Vermaelen, who will not look back fondly on this game, having started by presenting the returning van Persie with a golden chance that he was never likely to miss, in doing so casting aside our entire game plan. It would be fair to say that captaincy has not enhanced the Belgian as we hoped it would – instead he has been culpable on a number of occasions so far this season, and were it not for the armband his position in the starting eleven would surely be in question, an unthinkable suggestion a year ago.

Following the early goal, our response was disappointingly flat. United’s tactics were perfectly simple – they harried Arteta, denying him the space to pivot and supply his midfield colleagues, and as a result Cazorla dropped deeper to get involved, thus putting him in an area of the field from which it is more difficult to create. Then, when they won the ball back, the spread it wide to Valencia and charged into the box. None of that was unpredictable, or even a new approach in our recent meetings, but it worked worryingly easily.

Mannone’s saves and United’s wastefulness were keeping us in it, none more so than on the stroke of half time, when Rooney put a gift of a penalty well wide. But while we improved after the break, they still created the bulk of the chances, and when their second eventually came, no-one could be surprised, even though Evra winning a free header six yards out tells a story of its own about our defending. The closest we came was when Giroud smacked an effort against the outside of the post, before Cazorla gave an already flattering scoreline a bit of gloss with a superb effort in the final moments.

Before then, we were down to ten men, when Jack Wilshere ignored the last chance saloon he was in and went in late on Evra, a red card decision that I don’t think anyone can question. I would argue that Cleverley should have seen red earlier – his challenge didn’t warrant the final warning he was given – but so one-sided was the match that it surely would have made no difference. The gulf between the sides was far greater than the 2-1 scoreline suggests, and United looked like they had plenty of gears to go through had the situation required it. It never did.

All in all, it was a very bad day at the office, and isn’t the first since the international break ended. There is, however, a danger of criticism going too far, as it certainly did on Twitter during and after the match. Every staff member at the club was vilified as a moron, every player dismissed as hopeless, even those who actually performed adequately. Suggestions were made that no-one cared, that it was all the fault of people not even in the stadium, and much more. I understand the frustration, I really do, but I wish the post-mortem didn’t include so much mud-slinging. It really helps no-one, and creates a poisonous atmosphere from which it is difficult to recover.

But, at the same time, these are worrying times, and Wenger has some serious issues to sort out, and quickly. November is packed with hurdles, and we need to stop tripping over them if those at the front are going to stay in sight.

Like I said, a painful day.

That can have its disadvantages – no-one really wants to read my take on the nuances of a game that happened a week ago, but it does also have the occasional benefit, such as the forcing of analysis over a longer period of time than ninety minutes.

The last ten days have been telling, both on and off the pitch. After the Man City game, an excellent performance in which we matched the champions stride for stride on their own turf, many believed us to be genuine title contenders. Fast forward a week to a home defeat against Chelsea, and the majority view was that we still have the same old problems and will challenge for nothing. But the ability and aptitude of the squad doesn’t change dramatically in seven days, so what gives?

The answer is simple – neither conclusion can be gleaned from a single match. Teams play badly and lose some weeks, yet raise their game on other occasions and pull out impressive victories. Both extremes are felt by every single team in the league, and neither sets the tone for the season or can be used as a barometer for overall success or failure. For the bigger picture, you have to look at a string of games to see whether the great or terrible performance was the oddity.

The defeat to Chelsea was only our first of the season, not that you necessarily would have known that from the reaction. Having already faced Man City, Liverpool, Stoke and Montpellier on our travels, that is actually quite impressive. Our ability to fight and come from behind has already been shown on a few occasions, while certain players, including new signings Podolski and Cazorla, have shone. There is also real evidence that from open play at least, our defensive stability is greatly improved.

On the flip side, our goalkeeping situation is still an issue, with the two incumbents being at fault for at least three goals already this campaign, and we haven’t yet found a way to effectively replace the goals of He Who Must Not Be Named. Giroud is taking the flak, which I think it unfair – if he manages fifteen goals this season then I think he has done his job, and it is also up to the likes of Gervinho, Walcott, Cazorla and Podolski to head towards double figures. Share the burden, and all that.

But overall, I think we’re doing okay. The ten days may only have gleaned one point, but there were the aforementioned excellent and poor performances, which could easily have resulted in a win and a loss, or two draws. Neither went or way. In between, we thumped Coventry in the Carling Capital One Cup. Add those mixed days to a start that has been highly encouraging and I don’t think we should be sounding the alarm just yet.

For me, our main issue is that we need to cut out the stupid goals. The only one we have conceded that didn’t feel daft was actually the consolation Coventry managed last week – every other one has either been the result of a goalkeeping howler or an avoidable free kick. That needs to improve, and that it can be identified so easily will hopefully lead to such improvement.

But in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic. Losing at home to Chelsea is always painful, and it wasn’t a good performance, but it also doesn’t mean that your eyes were deceiving you on every other occasion this season. It is how we bounce back that counts.

Champions League tomorrow, and Sam Allardyce at the weekend. Time to focus on what is coming.

Turns out we needn’t have worried. Since the domestic season restarted, we have seen a 6-1 demolition over Southampton followed by a 2-1 win in Montpellier in the opening exchanges of the Champions League. The former was a reminder of how difficult we are to play against when ahead – Southampton’s entire gameplan was destroyed by the early own goal that gave us the lead, and had no answer to the multi-pronged onslaught that followed. Montpellier, meanwhile, represents a more interesting mindshift to me – early in the season, particularly after the sales of Van Persie and Song, many were exceptionally pessimistic about the campaign ahead, but just a few short weeks later, there was a considerable amount of criticism after a victory at the home of the French champions.

For me, that is extremely interesting. The bar has been raised – we are not so wary of this team’s ability that we’ll snatch any three points with relief, instead we will look with a critical eye over things that may cost us those points in the future, even though they didn’t on the night. It is certainly no bad thing to analyse in this way, but it certainly shows a change in expectation level brought on by that impressive victory at Liverpool. An understandable shift – the defence looks more solid, while the seamless integration of Cazorla and Podolski must surprise even the most hopeful. We knew they had quality – watching them slot it so quickly and effectively has been a sight to behold.

Tomorrow, the season takes a turn for the difficult, with a trip to Eastlands to play Man City, themselves unfortunate not to win in the Bernabeu midweek. It is already being described as the acid test of our season, of how far we have come since the summer, and a marker for how well we can expect to do this season.

I say that is nonsense. It is a single match, nothing more, nothing less. A big match, no doubt, but a single match all the same. Our recent encounters with City have all been close, all able to change on a single moment, so to draw too many conclusions from tomorrow, irrespective of the result, would be erroneous.

If we win, it will be a fantastic three points, and further evidence that this team is moving in the right direction. But do not forget that we have had spectacular results in big games before – last season we scored five at Stamford Bridge and another five at home to Spurs, with a crucial late season win against City also fully deserved at the Emirates. The issue is consistency – if we are to move forward it isn’t by winning those games, but by not screwing up so many ‘simpler’ games, as we did last season. In short, consistency is what we aim for, and what we need to turn into genuine title contenders. Tomorrow doesn’t give that – more performances like the one against Southampton could ironically prove more important.

Likewise, if we lose then we should not react by throwing our hands up and claiming that nothing has changed for the better. All that would have happened is that we would have lost at the home of the champions, something that will happen to most clubs this season. The positives from the last few weeks would not suddenly be eradicated, the players who have made forward strides would not have regressed, we would simply have lost a football match against a very good team.

That might sound boring, but it is true – tomorrow really is about three points, and nothing more. The team should be judged over a longer period than ninety minutes. If, over the next ten games, we win seven or eight, then we might just have ourselves an excellent season. If we win two, we’re likely to be waving hello to Liverpool in the standings.

The point is – we could win, lose or draw tomorrow and it wouldn’t enormously affect the bigger picture. The squad is growing together and has an efficiency I haven’t seen in a number of years, so I’ll remain optimistic even if the result doesn’t go our way.

Tomorrow is a big game, no doubt. But a barometer for the season ahead? Nonsense.

Enjoy the game.

There was a moment in today’s game where you sensed that something had changed with this Arsenal side. Lukas Podolski had just put us into the lead after an electric break involving Santi Cazorla, but up until then the match had been fairly even, so a response was expected. Pressure was certainly anticipated, given that we were up against a Liverpool team eager to impress their new manager, and backed by a supposedly raucous Anfield crowd, but as we awaited the reaction, a strange sense of comfort washed over many of us, the kind of comfort that a single goal lead hasn’t provided in years.

Liverpool looked bereft of ideas, certainly ideas that would cause the towering duo of Vermaelen and Mertesacker any serious issues, and they had no-one (bar Downing, so genuinely no-one) to threaten from the bench. The goal had already proven our potency on the counter attack, and with further pacy options waiting in the wings, we had plenty of threat if the home side pushed forward too far. And Liverpool knew it. One goal down at home, in the first half, against a side supposedly not at their best, and their belief was gone.

Heads dropped on the pitch, and in the crowd. You could hear a pin drop in three quarters of the stands, with the away support gleefully going through their repertoire and banishing the notion that Anfield is an intimidating place to go. On the field, Arsenal chests puffed out, and an unprecedented level of control was taken of the match. For the rest of the game, Mannone was troubled only by a few crosses (that the defence dealt with) and a couple of late efforts by Shelvey, which came after Cazorla’s strike had put the game beyond Liverpool’s reach. It was bizarrely comfortable.

A lot of the comfort stems from the improved defensive solidity throughout the team, to the point where Liverpool lost the belief that they would ever break us down, an impact we’ve rarely had on opposition teams in recent years. Most are putting this down to the Steve Bould effect, and there certainly is a big element of that, but I don’t think it is all that simple. You also have to bear in mind that the defensive side of our squad is settled – our first choices and reserves in the whole of the back line are unchanged from last season, and that alone helps the cohesion.

However, you can see Bould’s influence on the organisation, particularly from set pieces. It is easy to overlook the fact that we already had plenty of coaches who were defenders in their day (including the outgoing Pat Rice), but ultimately fresh ideas rarely hurt, and a man schooled in the George Graham era is always going to have new wisdom to impart. In a way, we saw the merging of two Arsenal eras – Graham’s fearsome, physical and impenetrable back line and Wenger’s slick attacking units. For every body thrown on the line to deny Liverpool an opening, there was a beautiful thirty pass move dizzying them into submission. The defence was classical, the goals were counter attacks attributable to the best of Wenger’s ideals.

It was a potent combination, and far too much for a Liverpool side who were made to look extremely poor. When you consider that this was the same team that should have beaten the champions last weekend, it was a very creditable victory that should instill the squad with a great deal of confidence. The attacking unity was much improved, particularly between Podolski and Cazorla, and the improved barriers at the back mean that we shouldn’t have to go chasing a game over and over again (no more stupid 4-3 losses to Blackburn, please). And all this without Szczesny, Koscielny, Sagna and Wilshere. Not bad, not bad at all.

One of the most pleasing things about the game was that we didn’t just outplay Liverpool, we outfought them. Defensive responsibility was never shirked, most evidenced by the hugely impressive Podolski, who took it upon himself to protect Gibbs throughout the entire match, playing a box to box role from the flank. But while the whole team performance was impressive (Jenkinson’s second half shackling of the impressive Sterling, and Arteta’s efficiency throughout deserve special mention), the standout man was one who spent the match confounding critics in a big way – Abou Diaby. The guy was an absolute monster in the middle of the park, with power combined with incredibly quick feet, and Liverpool never got near him. Even when he suffered a Skrtel clattering in the second half, he just got up and carried on dominating those around him, providing the platform from which the likes of Cazorla could build.

Fitness will always be the worry when it comes to the Frenchman, but he served up a timely reminder of why we have stuck by him so long – he is a fearsome talent when fit and firing. He always takes a few games to get up to speed, and too often has then been cut down by another problem. He deserves better, and it would be a wonderful story for this to be his breakthrough year after so many seasons of strife.

Back to the present, and today could be a breakthrough match. Two goalless draws left many unsure whether to be optimistic about the clean sheets or pessimistic about the lack of goals, but the signs of improvement are now clear to see. Time to build on them.

A good day.

Statistical warping

If you have been on Twitter over the last 24 hours, you may have seen the line ‘three in, thirteen out‘ bandied around. This is, no matter how you look at it, factually incorrect, indicating that we have ten less players than last season. The thirteen not only include players that were never going to make it at Arsenal, but players who were previously out on loan. For example, Bendtner was out last season as well as this – if you count loans in your ‘ins and outs’, then he is actually both. Alternatively, if you don’t, then he is neither. Similarly, Carlos Vela was out on loan last year and has now been sold. And if you are going to count the return of Benayoun to Chelsea, then you also have to include the return of Arshavin.

My point is simply that those 3-13 numbers are nothing more than a statistical lie. The reality is that we have lost two players who had anything to do with our first team squad, both of them key starters (Van Persie and Song), plus the bit-part loanee Benayoun. In return, we have gained three first team starters (Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla) and gained back a bit-part squad member in Arshavin. Whatever way you look at it, whether you include loans or not, we have a first team squad one member bigger than before.

Of course, the quality and the balance is the real question, and I will address that later in the week. Before then, I want to tackle the issue of Alex Song’s departure.

The midfield restructure

For a number of years, Wenger favoured a sole holding midfielder, tasked almost exclusively with shielding the back four and moving the ball forward to the playmakers in front of him. Gilberto is probably the most successful exponent of the role, with his ability to find the key destructive positions perfectly matched with his short passing accuracy, enabling him to locate the deadly talents that made up the forward line of the Invincibles.

When he made the switch to 4-3-3, he remained true to the concept of having a single ‘defensive’ midfielder, with the rest of the three man core being a two-pronged creative hub, sharing the responsibility of getting the wide men into dangerous positions and supporting the central striker on the goalscoring front. It would be fair to say that the new tactical layout has had mixed success, with us demonstrating a particular vulnerability to the counter attack, perhaps not surprising when five players (the front three plus the two creative central midfielders) do not have defensive responsibilities as a high priority.

Sometime in the last 18 months, Wenger decided to change approach. More and more we’ve seen the midfield triangle reversed – instead of one holder and two attacking players, two have sat with one further forward. This has two major effects:

a) It allows the two sitting midfielders to create more. While both still have defensive responsibilities, the sharing of these means that either or both can venture forward and look to add more to the creative side of the game. Alex Song has actually been one of the main beneficiaries here – with Arteta pairing him in the sitting role last season, he was allowed more creative freedom, leading to his impressive assists tally.

b) It adds more pressure to the man at the point of the midfield triangle. While the sitting pair gain support from their partner, the man further forward becomes the hub through which the team play and can become isolated if they aren’t up to it. This was a problem last season, with no-one able to dictate the play as we would want. Many were tried, but no-one really rose to the admittedly difficult task, which lead to the sitting two moving further forward to support their teammate, which in turn led to a big gap between defence and midfield, and to the overexposure of the back four. In my opinion, our defensive issues actually stemmed from a lot further up the field.

All change in the midfield

This season, I think Wenger found his man – the player able to control the match from the front of the triangle, and cope with the pressure and responsibility that comes with that. That man is Santi Cazorla. Many believe him to be Cesc’s replacement, and while I can see the reasoning behind this, I’m not sure it is all that simple. By deploying Cazorla in the key position behind the front three, we can play with two sitting midfielders without lacking in creativity.

In turn, having two sitting midfielders alleviates the need for either of them to be a ‘true’ defensive player. Instead, both have the remit of good positional play, shielding the back four where necessary, but also they need a creative side to their play, most importantly a quick creative ability. What I mean by that is that they need to be able to take the ball from the defence and move it quickly forward, able to feed Cazorla or the wide players with razor-sharp passing. And once you make that the definition of the role, is Song the right man?

I don’t want you to think that I am rewriting history – Alex Song is a very good player and is certainly capable of playing that role. But we have other players equally able to sit with discipline and create at speed – Arteta is the obvious one, but Wilshere is the man I believe the role suits best. Rosicky also turns and moves forward quickly, and it is also Diaby’s best position for as long as he remains fit.

My perfect midfield trio is Arteta and Wilshere sitting behind Cazorla, and I don’t think Song could displace any of them as first choice. I think Wenger has taken a look at the squad, at how many players can play in that pair (where Song would be deployed) and considered that a player who is causing a few problems is not worth keeping when a decent offer comes in.

I don’t actually think Song will be missed – as I said, I think we have plenty of players for the sitting pair positions. My concern is further forward – when Cazorla doesn’t play, we have the same options as last season in the more advanced role – Ramsey, Chamberlain and Arshavin, assuming he sticks around. It is a lot to ask of the former pair to take on the responsibility currently on Cazorla’s shoulders, and I wouldn’t want to push Wilshere into the role just yet either. It is why the pursuit of Sahin made sense – sharing the advanced role with Cazorla would mean we are well covered in all areas.

That, of course, didn’t happen, but I still think we’ve got more numbers in there than people realise. And with Cazorla the new jewel in our crown, our midfield finally has the shape that I believe Wenger has been seeking. Now we just need them to click.

But now, it has happened. Our captain, our best player, the talisman of our football club, has left. And not just anywhere – to one of our fiercest rivals, certainly the club with which our manager has had the strongest and most long-lasting rivalry. It is a momentous day, and not for the right reasons.

Despite all of that, I feel strangely cold about the whole situation. Since his dreadfully worded plea to get the fans on his side, I, along with many of you, had accepted that is was only a matter of time before he left. With Juventus the only destination that wouldn’t sting, it became about getting the best deal possible. When the Italian club dropped out of the running, it became clear that United were a more realistic prospect than we had guessed at the outset. I don’t know whether that preparation softened the blow, or whether the fee we’ve managed to extract has helped (it certainly seems that we have been compensated for where he is going) but somehow I’m shrugging and looking forward to Saturday.

That isn’t to say that this doesn’t hurt from a football point of view. It does – we’ve lost one of the world’s best players, who has been performing at the peak of his powers for eighteen months. Those who write him off based on his injury record are wrong on two counts – firstly he has been fit enough for long enough to suggest that he will be fine next season, and secondly, he actually isn’t injury prone. Yes, you read that correctly.

Van Persie isn’t injury prone. He has been the victim of a number of poor challenges, which have caused a variety of impact injuries. Crucially, it hasn’t been the same body part each time – he isn’t a Michael Owen, who is only a few games away from twanging what remains of his hamstring. I’d actually compare him to Gael Clichy, who suffered a myriad of bad injuries early in his career, all through sheer dumb luck. Once that luck turned, his availability became constant, and the same is true of the Dutchman. So prepare yourself to see him play plenty of matches next season.

I’m sure many of you are angry right now. But frankly, if your ire isn’t aimed squarely at the player, it is misdirected. All his claims to be ‘always Arsenal’ are laughable – he has merrily gone to a hated rival, something a true Gunner would never do. I can understand his reasons, perhaps you can too. But he isn’t a Gunner.

My advice? Move on. We’ve signed three very exciting players this summer, and I think two more will come in before the end of August, especially if Alex Song does boost the coffers further with a move to Spain. We’ve survived big name departures before. We will again. I know we seem to be saying that a lot (which is an entirely different discussion), but we always survive.

As for van Persie? Could have been a legend, but is no more. Was a good player for us, a good captain too, but ultimately chose to throw loyalty back in the faces of those who showed it to him in spades.

Season preview

Time to move on from all that. We are tantalisingly close to the start of a new season, and despite the events of this week, I am more optimistic than I have been in years. Every year, I make a few predictions at this time, and last year‘s actually turned out to be pretty decent. So here we go again:

League Position – 3rd

I think we’ll finish behind the same two sides again this season – both Manchester clubs. However, there is a big difference – I think we’ll be closer to them, and further ahead of the rest. I’d go as far as to say we’ll be in the title hunt until March at the earliest, but ultimately fall short, perhaps by 7-9 points. I’m going with City to retain, with Spurs (yes, Spurs) finishing fourth. Chelsea are my tip to struggle this time around – I don’t think Di Matteo is the man to lead them over a whole season. Liverpool will take time to adapt to Rodgers.

Arsenal Players to Watch

Vermaelen – it might seem strange to pick one of our best players as one to watch this year, but I really think Vermaelen, complete with armband, will step up in a big way. Outshone by Koscielny last season, I fully expect him to take to leadership like a duck to water, and be one of the very best around.

Ramsey – this time last season, young Ramsey was placed under ridiculous pressure. Only a matter of months after recovering from a career threatening injury, he was asked to do too much in the absence of our missing midfield, and never really recovered. By the end of the season, physical fatigue had added to emotional strain, factors that too few fans accounted for. But his character is strong, he never stops trying and he never hides. Unless less scrutiny, I expect him to resume the giant strides he was making before that Stoke oaf came along.

Cazorla – seriously, just watch the guy, enjoy, and try to work out exactly how we got him on the cheap.

Gervinho – talent isn’t a problem, confidence is. But Gervinho has been showing great signs in pre-season, and is another I expect to raise his level this year.

Concerned about

Wilshere – this time last season I predicted a tricky campaign for Wilshere. Expectations were insanely high, such is the talent of the kid, and his nationality meant the pressure would be intensified. I said at the time that his first dip in form would be greeted with derision from the areas of the press who believed he had been hyped up far enough. This all still stands, but his long term injury almost guarantees that his early form will be patchy. He also doesn’t have the benefit of pre-season, and will return in the Autumn a step or two behind the rest. Keep expectations reasonable.

Diaby – such a talent when fit. Never fit for long enough. I would love nothing more than to see Diaby string 20 games together, to remind us how good he can be as much as anything. But I just don’t think he will – he has practically had to relearn how to walk after the consistent problems caused by that Dan Smith ‘tackle’, and that doesn’t lend itself to staying healthy under pressure.

Other titbits

Can we win a trophy this season? Yes, if luck falls our way. It will be a domestic cup if we get one, and you always need a little bit of luck to capture one of those.

Our defence will be much improved. Vermaelen + Koscielny + Mertesacker + Sagna + Gibbs + Santos + Bould. I like that.

Overall, I’m really quite optimistic. I’m sure many will consider that misguided, but for some reason I just think we’ll surprise people this year. What do you think?