Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers

It may sound a tad melodramatic, but I've not enjoyed watching Arsenal as much this season as I should have done. All the peripheral stuff has been as fun as ever the Saturday morning anticipation, hopping on the tube, having a pint before the game and chinwagging with the usual motley crew.

Bright Eis

Did anyone really expect Wenger to burn holes in Arsenal's chequebook this month? The general climate in football hinted at no, the fact that Arsene is our boss said no, and the apparent need for backup up front or at the back said – haha – no. No no no.

So I started writing a blog the other night, canned it, and came back to it again with the intention of letting time dilute my disappointment. Why? Well the first effort was just too doom-laden, hairshirt-wearing, chest-thumping and – well it was a miserable read all round. I didn't enjoy writing it so I added one and one together, made two, and realised that nobody of a sound mental disposition would much care to read it either.

I'm afraid I retreated into my shell somewhat after Sunday's loss, which I watched in the company of my six-year-old. He glared at me a few times plaintively towards the end. "It's a good lesson for life", I said (or I thought about saying, before patting him on the shoulder and muttering something pointlessly unreassuring.

Wallowing in the glory of Henry's movie-moment comeback was not meant to last all week, but for me it has. The YouTube video I breathlessly uploaded at about midnight on Monday has now had about 37,000 hits (and Analytics tell me 90.6% of those who watched it were male, with 9.7% female how do they know this I wonder – though my brother did confidently predict that he had watched it "about 28,000 times" so maybe there's some truth in that).

Arsenal 1-0 Leeds

I have nothing long-winded to say about this. There are times when raw emotion wins out.

On that note, enjoy.

It's that time of year again when I allow myself to go all misty-eyed about the FA Cup while the less sentimental (and perhaps younger) among us tut-tut and denounce the old jug as a busted flush.

The Champions League is bigger, bolder, more watched, more important and above all more lucrative than the FA Cup, this we all know.

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

So, a pretty dismal start to the New Year, but perhaps a focus sharpener as this month's transfer window opens.

It was the ultimate clichéd game of two halves. Arsenal were pretty damn good in the first, creating loads of chances, passing neatly, very enjoyable to watch and well worth their advantage.

Truth be told I'd prefer the 2002 vintage, but I'd be lying if I said I was completely cold about the possible return of Sir Thierry of Henry. It's difficult not to be taken in by the romance of our all-time top scorer coming back for a few months, even if he is now one score and fourteen years old.

Arsenal 1-1 Wolves

Twenty-seven attempts on goal, eleven attempts on target, thirteen corners, one goal. Frustrating, to say the least. The goals have dried up again at home (three in three league games – conceding two in the process), giving Wenger a fresh headache to mull over as we head into the New Year.

The Villa win – having not played that well, and right at the death, and thanks to a header (rare), and from a corner (plentiful but rarely fruitful) – was a deeply satisfying result. It's a game we may well previously have lost, but coming after the loss at Man City, it showed tremendous bouncebackability.

Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal

Losses and goals conceded are always more palatable when your team acquits itself well. Giving up, or turning up expecting to win, or crumbling inexplicably has been something of a hallmark in recent seasons so one of the most pleasing things about this Arsenal side since October has been the blossoming of its spirit and its excellent attitude.

Arsenal 1-0 Everton

And so it was (and in hindsight, so it was always going to be) that on Arsenal's 125th birthday party the score was one-nil to the Arsenal. That was a nice touch, eh?

To top it off, it wasn't just any old bog standard, common-or-garden winning goal, it was a veritable van Persie humdinger; a sumptuous volley right up there in execution with the one he scissored in all those years ago at the Valley.

So Friday rolls round again in a flash, apparently seven days after it last did. That doesn't feel quite possible.

Olympiacos on Tuesday started badly and never really picked up, but if you haven't yet filed that one away under ‘nothing to dwell too much on' then I shall politely recommend that you do.

If drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham and losing in the Milk Cup with an understrength team can be described as a blip, then our blip was batted away with that assured win at Wigan.

Nice too that the goals were scored not by one man, but by four. Particularly pleasing too that Gervinho netted one: I think he's had a big effect on our attacking potency, even if he's not sunk as many goals as we might have liked – though three league goals in ten starts is hardly a drought, either.