Keep On Rolling & Healthy Competition For Places

ARSENAL 3 – ASTON VILLA 0

The Emirates looks at it’s very best when covered in glorious sunshine, and Arsenal yesterday basked in those conditions to ease to a 3-0 win against Aston Villa.

It was a comfortable and assured victory, and from the moment Kieran Gibbs put us in front with his first ever Premier League goal in the 16^th minute, we never looked back.

Kieran Gibbs celebrates our opener

In truth, we never really found top gear. But we didn’t have to. Despite the pre-match concern surrounding Laurent Koscielny’s absence and Johan Djourou’s promotion to start at centre back, defensively we had very little to worry about. And anyone would, when the lead attacker you’re up against is Emile Heskey. Described at one point by the FOX Sports commentators as a ‘seasoned pro’, they didn’t quite arrive at poor old Emile’s main fault. He’s a terrible footballer. And other than elbowing Djourou in the face, and getting in the way, he was barely noticeable before he was substituted around the 60^th minute.

From our point of view, we’re in an exceptionally good place. Anyone would be when your League form looks like this: WWWWWWW

Not only are we playing very well, but there’s some decent competition for places occurring too. Up until now this year, that’s something that we’ve been abundantly lacking. It’s healthy, and bringing out the best in several of our players.

Theo Walcott, for example, who is probably going through the best spell of his career right now. Quite a turnaround for a player who two months ago, most were saying wouldn’t be worth a new contract at the club. I’m glad he’s shut that debate up, and once again yesterday he showed his centre forward potential in the 25^th minute as he latched onto another delightful ball over the top by Alex Song, took a great touch and slid the ball past Shay Given to make it 2-0.

It’s obvious that Theo’s resurgence has, by large, been aided by the return of Bacary Sagna. His forward runs and support provide Theo with additional options and space to exploit, that he wasn’t receiving as you’d expect when we were forced to play a centre back at right back in Sagna’s and Carl Jenkinson’s absence through injury.

Our two English goal scorers - the first time we've had two in a game since 1997

But I’m sure Theo’s game has also been upped by the emergence and competition of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. A month ago, a lot of people were split as to who they’d rather have starting out of Theo and The Ox. But as much as I rate The Ox and I’m incredibly excited for his future, this is another dead debate. Theo has to start on the right. He’d start there in any team in the League right now. He’s a delight to watch, and long may it continue.

The competition for The Ox over a starting spot now appears to be against Gervinho on the opposite wing to Walcott. Gervinho was a surprise selection yesterday for many, but I was pleased to see him get the nod. He gets a lot of negative press and comments, I myself have criticised him as much as any this season. But he’s not someone to give up on, and yesterday he showed that he is a really good player. Neat touches, bursts of pace, balance and vision. He has it all. He also showed his commitment in getting back to defend, which is imperative for the wide players in this Arsenal side.

All he’s lacking is the confidence he no doubt lost at the African Nations Cup, and that he’s also building as part of adapting to a new League and country. Robert Pires and Thierry Henry are prime examples of players who don’t always look the part in their first seasons, but turn out to be real top quality. With patience and support for Gervinho, he might not make the same class as those two just mentioned, but he’ll be very valuable for sure. If he could work on his finishing too, that’d be great…

Robin van Persie was a bit quiet again. No goals for two and a half matches now. Crisis, right? He scores when he wants, and he’s decided against it since the Newcastle match. Hopefully he’s saving himself for Man City or Chelsea in the coming weeks. I’m sure we’ll live with a mini-drought if that is the case.

The midfield completely ran the show again. Alex Song’s full time statistics were fantastic. 90% pass accuracy. 7 long balls all completed successfully (including the assist for Walcott’s goal). Through balls, interceptions, dribbles. He’s showing every game that he has what it takes to be an advanced midfielder, instead of the anchor in front of the defence. It’s working though, because when Song goes wandering, Mikel Arteta seems perfectly capable in filling in to that holding role. Much like how when Thomas Vermaelen goes on his forward wanders, either of those two would drop back to cover. It’s all part of the excellent understanding and connection our players currently have. It has never worked to such great effect with this set of players in my mind.

Talking about Arteta, what about that 90^th minute free kick, for our third? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how he seemed to score quite a few free kicks for Everton, but has yet to really repeat that for us. I can’t remember the last time we scored a better free kick. RVP has scored some good ones yes, but not as good as that. Keep it up Mikel, plenty more of that please!

Mikel Arteta celebrates our third and final goal

Tomas Rosicky was as solid as ever, too. Not as effective as he has been in recent weeks, but that’s not to suggest he was below par yesterday. To continue the talk of competition for places, the fact that he has Aaron Ramsey sniffing around, desperate for inclusion, is no doubt also bringing out the best in him. Ramsey came on late in the second half, and added to the control we needed to see the game through. With talk of Jack Wilshere stating that he will be involved before the end of the season, how shit hot is our midfield going to be at this rate? It’s a nice thought, for sure.

Elsewhere, Gibbs was again formidable at left back. He’s been exceptional since his return, and his goal was much deserved to reflect that. He looked a bit annoyed about coming off, but I’m sure that was nothing more than because he is enjoying his football so much right now. Rightly so, given the horrible injuries he’s had so far in his career. Andre Santos made a shaky return when he came on, but I’m glad our flamboyant Brazilian is back, and with some more game time it could be another interesting battle for a starting spot, this time at left back.

So a sound 3-0 win against Aston Villa. With Chelsea and Sp*rs drawing 0-0 in one of the dullest matches I’ve ever seen, it further extends our lead over them both in the race for third.

We have some tricky fixtures coming ahead, whereas Sp*rs now have probably played their hardest ones. But given they’re still in free fall, there’s nothing to suggest that any game won’t be a challenge for them now.

All we can do is keep winning, and keep performing. We’ve now won seven on the bounce for the first time since 2007. The challenge to keep that going takes us to Loftus Road next, to play one of the most miserable sides ever constructed. A team managed by Mark Hughes, and captained by Joey Barton. Bloody hell. Never before have I wanted us to demolish a non-direct rival so much.

After that, it is Man City at The Emirates, with Wolves, Wigan and Chelsea all following in the next month. Given our current form, they’re all very winnable. Arsene Wenger has talked a lot about keeping humility, mental strength, and to play for each other. It’s all happening so far, and it’s important we don’t take the foot off the gas for even a second, or it might cost us.

This leads me on to my final point tonight, because lately I’ve seen a lot of talk amongst fans about how we should be planning/expecting a charge for the title next season. This is extremely premature in my opinion, and the sort of attitude that plays down the importance of this year, which could have disastrous consequences if the players were to follow with that trail of thought.

Because there’s still a lot to play for this year, and quite simply talk about next year can wait until the summer. Or at the earliest, once we have our final position mathematically confirmed for this season. We’re still not guaranteed anything yet, and distraction from our surge towards finishing third could be what ends this fine run we find ourselves on.

So I beg you, wait until the summer to dream of what we can achieve next year. Stay behind the team in the mean time, enjoy the great football we’re playing, and look ahead to our next match against QPR next Saturday. There’s a lot of football left to be played this season, and we as fans need to focus and concentrate on it as much as the players and give them our full support as always. If we keep on rolling as we have been for the past six weeks, it’s sure to be an entertaining finish to the season.

Have a good week.

Third Place: Let's Enjoy It, But Keep Perspective

Some turnaround eh?

Last night was yet another fine evening of results for us Arsenal fans, with Chelsea and Liverpool both losing to Man Citeh and QPR respectively, and Sp*rs relying on a last minute equaliser to spare their blushes at home against Stoke City RUFC. On the other hand, Arsenal won our sixth Premier League game on the bounce and we now sit pretty in third place in the League, after a hard fought 1-0 away win at Everton.

I didn’t watch the game unfortunately, as I was too busy embarrassing myself on the sporting arena, and seeking an expansion into new social groups. Yet I was following proceedings as close as possible, and was utterly delighted to receive the full time score lines that I did.

I hear we rode our luck somewhat. I saw the disallowed goal, and yes, it was a shocking decision. But we’ve had next to no luck for the majority of this season due to unfortunate injuries, and tragic refereeing decisions, so we were due quite a bit of fortune. That’s not paranoia, as some hacks might suggest, merely obvious observations to anyone who has followed our season in any great amount of detail.

But the three points are all that is important, and as we all now know, we’re into third place and finally above that noisy-come-deflated mob from up the road.

As you can tell from the title of this blog, I’m going to talk about this occasion and our rise to third from two different viewpoints.

The enjoyment factor, firstly. And quite simply, we deserve to enjoy this moment as two months ago we weren’t given a hope in hell of ever catching Sp*rs, after a series of defeats against Fulham, Swansea and Man United in the League in January.

A fair enough assessment too, probably. We were playing crap, losing, and this combined with the lack of serious spending that so many were crying out for in January to strengthen a fragile squad, resulted in unhappiness amongst the Arsenal supporting camp.

Sp*rs were gone. 10 points clear, and it was looking like becoming 13 points until Bacary Sagna’s ‘I’ve had enough of this shit’ goal scoring moment that brought us back into the North London Derby that we eventually won 5-2. Smashed the bastards, I like to say.

Sagna's goal in the North London Derby

Sp*rs haven’t won in the League since then. We haven’t dropped a point in the same period.

For all the early/mid season jibes from them, and certain corners of the media too, about how there was a ‘power shift in North London’, how we were done as London’s premier football club, would never finish above them again, and one hilarious hack (who I won’t embarrass by mentioning his cold, seasonal name) suggested that only Robin van Persie would get into the Sp*rs side. They were assholes to us. They mocked us, laughed at us, and actually believed in their thick minds that one half season of moderate success actually counts for anything compared to the decades of domination we’ve had over their miserable excuse of a club.

For all the shit we’ve taken, and there’s been a lot, it has made this comeback all the more enjoyable. No one gave us a chance. Even some Arsenal fans probably thought it wouldn’t happen. I always looked at the North London Derby as the key match of the season. Lose that, and third would be gone. Which it would have been. Now, not even a full month on, and we’ve already hunted them down. Overtaken them. And plans for a St Totteringham’s Day 2012, which seemed so unlikely just two months ago, are now already being discussed.

But wait, as there’s a long way to go yet.

That’s the plea that comes with the second point of this blog. Yes, we’ve tracked them down, and they currently sit hiding in their lounges, re-watching Jurgen Klinsmann and Glenn Hoddle videos clutching on to half empty bottles of Holsten Pilsener, or whatever shit beer it was that sponsored them. Convincing themselves that the past month hasn’t actually happened.

And this goes to show how quickly scenes of jubilation can turn to shit. We need to maintain perspective of the current situation.  This season has had twists and turns at every corner. It takes one moment to ignite or put out a challenge mounted towards the goals you’ve set for the season.

In recent years, we’ve had more of the latter sadly. Horrible injuries, throwing away leads, being knocked out of competitions. We’ve seen it all. And weirdly that is the advantage we have, as hindsight is a wonderful thing. It always worries me that Arsene Wenger and Arsenal don’t make the most out of learning from the mistakes that have been made in recent years. And let’s not kid ourselves, there’s been a lot.

Now, I’m never going to be one to tell anyone how to do his or her job. Football related or not. But it does now appear that Wenger is learning from the mistakes of previous years both on and off the field, and it’s resulted in a strong end of season run (so far), as well as progression in transfer negotiations ahead of the start of the summer transfer window. Promising, right?

The man who knows how to do it in the end of season run in

Wenger also has the edge as he’s seen it all and done it all before. Knows how to handle the pressure of the end of season run in. Forget the past few years, and the fuck ups we’ve had. This is a man that has seen us home to three Premier League trophies (once as Invincibles), and four FA Cups. He knows how to end a season strong. Despite being the media darling of the 21^st Century, Harry Redknapp doesn’t. Unless ending the season strong means bankrupting clubs, and getting them relegated. Yeah that’s right, you twitching bastard.

This can only be a positive for us. And for all the years Wenger’s banged on about ‘mental strength’ without any demonstration of it on the field, now we have players who are personifying it to the max.

We have a fit squad. A strong squad mentally. And a squad full of leaders and warriors. Also a squad that's playing exceptionally bloody well at present. Wenger’s call last night after the match was for them to ‘keep humility, focus and fight for each other’ in the remaining nine games of the season. Spot on, boss.

I fully believe in them, but the point is that there’s still a long way to go starting with Aston Villa at home on Saturday, so the celebrations can’t start yet. Sp*rs are spiralling down now, but after they visit Chelsea on Saturday they don’t have many tricky fixtures left. We still have to host Man Citeh and Chelsea, and travel to Stoke City RUFC. In current form, they are all winnable. But current form can quickly turn dire, if the focus and concentration disappear.

Having said that, let’s still enjoy the fine run of form we’re having now. And appreciate the effort and performance levels that the players are putting in, and give them the credit they deserve for this impressive turnaround. Third place is now in our hands. Let the celebrations come if we’re still there once the season is finished.

Keep playing and believing as we are now, and they will be might fine ones for sure.

3rd Place Is Our New Trophy

It’s been less than a month now since Arsene Wenger fatefully said how ‘the first trophy (for Arsenal) is to finish in the top four’. This was on the back of a disappointing week in which we were knocked out of FA Cup against Sunderland, and put to the sword during our Champions League first leg in Milan.

The reaction to the quote was mixed, with enviable frustration that we were now, once again, entering the business period of the Premier League season with no realistic possibility of ending our seven year barren run without a major trophy to celebrate. However, it also highlighted the obvious. That despite the glory associated with winning the likes of the FA Cup, the real financial success a club can achieve in this day and age, aside from winning the league itself, is to ensure qualification for the premier European club competition.

Unfortunately in recent years it’s been the only success we’ve known. But it’s a success nonetheless, and even though we’re all so desperate to win a trophy, ANY trophy, ensuring Champions League qualification is of the upmost importance. This year, as much as any other.

And when Wenger gave that quote shortly after our FA Cup defeat to Sunderland, you’d be forgiven as an Arsenal fan for wanting to take 4^th place, should it have been offered to us at that point. Even in my previous blog, I said I would probably still take 4^th place if it were offered to us then after the Liverpool match. Such is the importance of finishing there.

But something has happened in the past couple of weeks that has altered the height of expectation we now have at our club.

Just 35 minutes into the North London derby on Sunday 26^th February, Sp*rs were leading 2-0 and seemingly heading comfortably towards a 13 point cushion over us in the League. And it would appear that 3^rd place in the division was all but wrapped up for them. But we were having none of that.

Bacary Sagna’s ‘I’ve had enough of this Tottnum bullshit’ attitude was just the beginning, as he clawed us back into the game. And with an impeccable performance from then onwards we came back to beat Sp*rs 5-2. It was beautiful.

Follow this on with a hard fought 2-1 win away at another c**t ridden team named Liverpool, and most recently a storming 3-0 victory over Milan, which although wasn’t quite enough to keep us in the Champions League, it showed we meant business. That on our day, we could batter absolutely anyone.

Luckily for us (and believe me, we’re owed a shit load of luck from this season), our rise to form has coincided with a drop in form for those nearest to us chasing a coveted top four spot.

Sp*rs’ ten point gap (13 if we include their 2-0 lead against us) is now down to just four points, and with a victory against Newcastle United tomorrow night we can close that to just one. Despite their narrow victory yesterday in the c**t-side derby, Chelsea are still manager less, not playing attractive football, and a few days away from themselves being put out of Europe (probably). Liverpool haven’t won since they lifted the Carling Cup two weeks ago, and as they trail us by ten points you have to wonder if they’ve now effectively screwed it. Hell, they should be more worried about who’s coming up behind them (steady now). They’re only six points ahead of Aston Villa, in 15^th place. Newcastle are doing very well with what they have, but I don’t honestly expect them to truly take us to the wire on this chase. Beat them tomorrow, and there’s a decent amount of space between us. They also haven’t won in their last three games, including their 5-0 spanking at the shit hole down the road from us.

So while we are winning, the others around us aren’t. Momentum is capital during an end of season run in, and whilst there’s still plenty of games left to be played, you can’t help but think that given our form, then maybe 4^th isn’t all we should be aiming for. And given how the season has played out so far, finishing in 3^rd, above Sp*rs, would be nothing short of an absolute delight given they’re having their best season ever, and we’re having our worst apparently.

There are other reasons for the importance of targeting 3^rd place as well, as finishing in the top three positions in the League guarantees automatic qualification for the Champions League group stages. Rather than having to slug it out in a qualifier against a decent European opposition, also desperately craving that elusive spot in the main draw, and the £25m added revenue that comes with it.

It’s not only good to have that as a guarantee, but it also enables much clearer planning in terms of playing personnel for the season ahead. Last summer is a prime example of how it can go wrong.

It was a monumental fuck up generally in terms of how we managed our transfer dealings. But also, the fact we had no guarantee of Champions League football proper until we beat Udinese with less than a week remaining to do business in August didn’t help. Because the ability to offer Champions League football is often a fundamental bargaining chip when it comes to transfer negotiations, as well as the additional cash you have available which obviously enables further use in the transfer market, should you wish to of course.

I’m sure a lot of the business we did we would have done regardless, but the late ‘panic’-like way in which we handled the activity was, at large, due to the wait to see exactly what finances we had to play with. £25m is a lot of money for players and wages. Obviously the fact that Cesc and Samir were both being horrible little twats didn’t help, but that’s a story that isn’t relevant to this piece.

At least we appear to be putting that right this year, with the rumoured signing of Lukas Podolski seemingly getting closer and closer. Although we won’t know for sure until it’s 100%. That’s Arsene’s way. But it’s good to see the club going for him early. Beat the competition, especially ahead of Euro 2012 whereby his stock could go up considerably if Germany have a decent run in which Podolski is involved. Which isn’t impossible to imagine.

You learn the most in life from your own mistakes. Last summer we made a big one, so it’s good to see the club are trying to get it right this year. It’s going to be an interesting summer.

But before I get too carried away talking up the summer, the angle of this blog is to actually persuade the opposite. As there’s a lot still to be done before we can truly plan ahead for next season.

I’ve mentioned the importance of player bargaining associated with Champions League football, but the point I want to end on is by mentioning the commercial aspect too.

It’s well documented that Arsenal have several commercial contracts up for renewal in 2014, including our main shirt sponsors Emirates, and kit suppliers Nike.

We’ve been left quite far behind in this area compared to our rivals, all of who far exceed us in terms of commercial revenue. Even Sp*rs make more than us out of shirt/kit sponsorship. That’s poor for a club of our stature.

But the fact is that if we can’t offer Champions League football as a club, it will (probably) restrict the level of sponsors we can attract. I say probably, as the likes of Sp*rs and Liverpool have still done very well considering their lack of participation in the competition in recent years. We might do OK out of it anyway. We can’t do any worse than now, surely.

However we want to be able to say to prospective sponsors, ‘Hey, we’re Arsenal, we’ve been playing in the Champions League for 16 years in a row now’ once 2014 comes along. That would put us in a fantastically strong position in which to sell ourselves commercially, that in turn would aid our finances by providing considerably more via commercial revenue.

Something to think about. And another reason why making the Champions League this year is so bloody important. This part isn’t specific for the 3^rd/4^th debate, granted. But the point is that even though we must aim for 3^rd now, 4^th spot isn’t guaranteed. And there will be many consequences should we not even get that.

So 3^rd place is the new trophy to aim for. You don’t always win every trophy you go for though, however this time the runners up medal (4^th spot) isn’t a disastrous alternative. Anything lower, and it is.

Big players have contracts we need to renew this summer (RVP, Theo, Song). Securing Champions League football is just as important in terms of securing those three, as it is attracting new players, and even attracting better sponsors.

3^rd place is the target, 4^th place is the minimum. Anything less, and well, we can all expect another torrid summer.

But let’s worry about that when it comes around. Starting tomorrow night, we have 11 games left. There’ll be plenty of twists and turns a long the way, but the one thing that will remain constant between now and the end of the season for sure, is that 11 blokes will turn up to play in a shirt with the Arsenal crest on it each game. It reads ‘Forward’. Let’s keep on moving that way…

A Night of Pure Emotion

ARSENAL 3 – AC MILAN 0 (MILAN WIN 4-3 ON AGGREGATE)

Yesterday was one of those days that truly showed what a beautiful game football is. And it wasn’t due to one moment of magic from an individual player. Or the celebrations of winning a coveted trophy. And sadly it wasn’t quite because of a stunning Champions League comeback, where a team overturned a 4-0 deficit, to qualify for the next round of the knock out stages of the elite European club competition.

For me, yesterday highlighted the beauty of football as it displayed almost all of the possible emotions that one can experience as a result of the beautiful game. Belief, joy, expectancy, disappointment, and pride. And it’s not often that you get a night where they all fall into one place.

Belief

Before the game, there was an unprecedented amount of belief amongst the majority of Arsenal fans. That we could actually create history and beat Milan by enough to qualify for the quarterfinals. Crazy, right?

Well on the back of two excellent comebacks in the form of a thumping 5-2 victory over North London neighbours Sp*rs, and a hard-fought 2-1 win against Liverpool at Anfield, why not believe that it was possible to do it again. Complete the hat trick, and knock out Milan?

Most people laughed. A lot completely dismissed the match as a ‘non-event’. Some actually had the audacity to suggest that the FA Cup replay between Birmingham and Chelsea should be considered a better choice of viewing.

But in the Arsenal camp, the belief was ever present, albeit cautious. There wasn’t expectancy pre-match, but there was hope. There’s always hope. And if Milan were good enough to score four against is at the San Siro, why aren’t we good enough to score at least four against them at the Emirates?

#IBelieveInArsenal was circulating around twitter, as were several inspiration quotes including the famous ‘Impossible is Nothing’ as uttered by Robin van Persie after the Liverpool match. We all believed, and I don’t think any of us predicted what would happen in the first 45 minutes of the game.

Joy

And it started with a bang. Laurent Koscielny met an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain corner to head us 1-0 up, before a Theo Walcott cross fell to Tomas Rosicky whose low shot crept into the bottom right hand corner. We hadn’t even played 30 minutes of the game, yet we were already half way towards levelling the tie.

Kos celebrating Arsenal's first

Just before half time, the very impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain darted into the box, only to be scythed down from both sides, and after a long and needless pause the referee pointed to the spot. RVP converted, and we went into the interval one goal shy of the minimum target.

I don’t think anyone could believe it, and after all the pre-match talk of not giving up hope, and battling to the very end, we were so in this game it looked as if we were the only ones able to go on and win it.

Expectancy

RVP and Walcott after our third, just before half time

After a first half like that, with three goals and complete domination, the belief floating around the Emirates pre-match suddenly turned into an air of expectancy. At half time, I really thought we were going to go on and do it. We were going to go on and absolutely thump the Italian League leaders. We needed four to take it to extra time. It looked like we could get six or seven.

We were outstanding in the first half. Everyone was up for it, everyone believed, and the stadium was bouncing. Milan looked hopeless, without any kind of an idea, and as if they were heading towards the most embarrassing screw up in the history of the competition. No one had thrown away a 4-0 lead in it before. They were three quarters of the way towards doing that, and our pre-match odds of qualifying at 75/1 had been completely reversed to around 5/6 in some betting houses in favour of our progression.

Gary Neville, who I am worryingly starting to like more and more, summed it up pretty well. ‘Defend, Arsenal. Defend and you’ll win this tie’. It seemed he was right. Goal scoring was never going to be an issue, it was our defence that had to hold tight. It was more than likely that we would score again, so should we not concede, that would surely be enough to at least take the game into extra time. The miracle comeback was totally on.

Or so I thought…

Disappointment

It just didn’t happen in the second half. We weren’t without chances, as RVP missed what can only be described as an absolute sitter on the hour mark, after he attempted to chip the ball over Abbiati in the Milan goal from close range after a deflected Gervinho cross, instead of placing it into the corner.

RVP's close range miss

We can hardly hold it against him, given the season he’s having, but it was a horrible miss. And it surprisingly turned out to be our last real chance in the game.

As the second half went on, we grew more and more tired, and Milan started to control the game. This was aided by the fact that the referee was one of the worst I’ve ever seen, giving Milan free kicks for fun, and booking players (for both sides to be fair) for relatively little. He was appalling, and if not for the otherwise useless fifth official behind the goal, he didn’t seem overly keen to give us the penalty in the first half either. Even though it was possibly the most blatant one I’ve seen all season. Wenger has subsequently been charged by UEFA for his comments post-match. Can hardly blame him…

That said we still should have had enough in us to finish the match off, given how poor Milan were playing. Fatigue was one reason for the dreary second half, but a limited bench was another. The Ox was clearly carrying a knock for most the second half, but the lack of options on the bench prompted Wenger to keep him on and hope for the best. He didn’t look right, and was eventually replaced by Marouane Chamakh, who offered absolutely nothing up front.

Theo Walcott, who had another excellent game and tore the Milan left back to shreds, also went off with an injury towards the end, his replacement being Chu-Young Park.

Now I’ve been desperate for both Park and Chamakh to get game time lately, but it’s impossible to expect them to come on and change a game like that. They obviously have no confidence, and why should they? They never get picked. There’s no trust in them from either the manager or the fans. For them to do something for the team, they’d need regular game time. Which, unless someone else gets an injury, I can’t see happening before they are inevitably sold in the summer. Unfortunate, but that’s football.

As the minutes ticked by the match got flatter and flatter, and eventually Milan held out to qualify 4-3 on aggregate. We just ran out of gas. A hard worked win against Liverpool on Saturday, and an explosive first half means it’s not hard to see why. Still, we got a whole lot closer than anyone really thought we would, so a huge amount of credit must be given to the players for that.

Pride

And it duly was. Heroic. Brave. Inspirational. Just a few of the words thrown around to describe what had been witnessed at the Emirates during the previous 90 minutes.

Rosicky looking dejected post match

The fact that the players and fans alike were so visibly gutted after the match shows just how close we were to the greatest European comeback of all time. The fact that we went from having a less than 5% chance of winning pre-match, to being huge favourites at half time. That was never expected to happen. And the players gave absolutely everything to ensure a thrilling night of football was once again delivered at the Emirates.

In fact, there was very little to be disappointed about. As in truth, the tie was completely over after the first leg and the main thing the players were playing for were the fans and for the momentum. Both were satisfied.

A compelling 3-0 win against the Italian League leaders is not an easy feat. It’s a very good result, and ignoring the overall aggregate score, it adds to our excellent recent run of form. That’s ten goals in three games now, against two excellent European sides full of history and tradition, and also Sp*rs.

The players showed again they have the required mental qualities to take on and beat a big side; something we thought was missing from their inner arsenals only a few weeks ago.

There were again some big performances from the likes of Rosicky (who absolutely ran the show in midfield and scored AGAIN), Oxlade-Chamberlain (who excelled playing in the middle and also worked hard tracking back), Walcott and RVP. But the defence need a special mention too, I think.

Is it a coincidence that our best form of the season comes at the same time we’ve only really been able to play our best back four? Probably not. And keeping those four guys fit as a group is probably as important as keeping RVP fit. Probably. Maybe. Hey, I’d rather they all kept fit to be honest.

And if they do, and if they keep this run going starting again against Newcastle on Monday night, then there’s no reason to think why we can’t go on and finish third. A week ago I would have taken fourth spot at the time if we were offered it. Actually, I probably would again now, such is the importance of finishing there.

But playing like this, with this passion, desire and belief, there’s no reason why we can’t go from strength to strength and end the season in the stunning form that can catapult us over those pricks from N17.

There’s a long way to go yet, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty more twists and turns along the way. No doubt we’ll again experience all of the above emotions, as we did last night. But hopefully not all during the same match. It’s not good for our hearts.

But my heart belongs to you, Arsenal. You may do with it as you wish.

Roll on Monday.