For all the crisis talk, it hasn't been a bad fortnight for Arsenal. At half time against Villa, we were staring down the barrel of a fourth successive defeat, and an early exit from a competition that was beginning to open up thanks to some high profile ties that we had managed to avoid. Since then, we have seen actual mental strength (as opposed to the professed type that leaves us scratching our heads in disbelief) in that comeback win, a match against Bolton which, while frustrating from a result point of view, was a sharp improvement in performance on those that had come before, and a thumping seven goal win over a Blackburn side that inflicted perhaps our most painful defeat of the season back in September (yes, I count that 4-3 loss as worse than the United hammering).

Bolton 0 Arsenal 0
(Premiership)

Last night's clash at the Reebok was a classic example of a football match not being an isolated occasion, and not judged as such, but rather an act in a bigger play, with interpretations not purely taken from the ninety minutes of action, but from the wider context of both clubs.

Arsenal 1 (Van Persie 71) Man United 2 (Valencia 45, Welbeck 81)
(Premiership)

The bare facts make for grim reading. Defeat to United leaves us fifteen points behind them, and eighteen off the pace set by their city rivals. Our own neighbours remain ten points above us despite their loss earlier in the day, and that critical fourth spot is still an elusive five points away.

Swansea 3 (Sinclair pen 16, Dyer 57, Graham 70) Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 5, Walcott 69)
(Premiership)

Two weeks ago, the Arsenal fanbase was pretty content. A win over QPR had lifted us back amongst the top four at the turn of the year, a remarkable turnaround given the position we were in after seven games.

What an incredibly frustrating week not to be able to blog. Henry's return in the cup against Leeds, a dour affair until he emerged from the bench, was settled by three sublime touches a delicious through ball from Song, an immaculate piece of control, and a trademark cool finish to take the man to 227 goals for Arsenal and send thousands of Gooners into a mad bouncing frenzy.

Fulham 2 (Sidwell 85, Zamora 90) Arsenal 1 (Koscielny 21)
(Premiership)

It is always difficult to write a match report after a game like this. I was tempted to pen my thoughts in the immediate aftermath, but decided to let the game settle a little and write in the morning.

Tom Goom is a physiotherapist and Gooner. He loves Arsenal, cheese and shooting thirty yards over the bar. He hate grass munching, racist centre halves, and former Manchester United strikers who look like Black Beauty's ugly diving younger brother.

This week, the grisly details of Abou Diaby's ankle injury:

May 1st 2006.

Man City 1 (Silva 53) Arsenal 0
(Premiership)

Rarely do you feel so positive after a defeat. Improved form, a greater sense of team spirit and unity, and perhaps a slight readjustment of fan expectation has mended a lot of the bridges between the club and the supporters since our last trip to Manchester, and despite tasting defeat in the league again there yesterday, none of that will have been sullied thanks to a terrific performance that deserved more than it got.

A little over seven years ago, Tom Goom, a good friend of mine, fellow Gooner and all round good egg, told me about this 'great fansite he'd come across', and that I should check it out. At the time, I'd grown bored of gossip sites, as well as the majority of the printed press, such was the dearth of accuracy and logic on offer, so I was naturally a little cynical.

Olympiakos 3 (Djebbour 16, Fuster 36, Modesto 89) Arsenal 1 (Benayoun 57)
(Champions League Group Stage)

It seems the knives are out again. Described as Euro flops in some quarters, and a laughing stock in others, it seems many of the press are finally able to pull the trigger on the negative stories they've been unable to run over the past month, thanks to our improved form.

Over the past few years Arsenal have had some exceptional players. For all the bemoaning of the lack of trophies, there has remained a bountiful supply of top talent strutting their stuff at the Emirates Cesc Fabregas remains the best young midfielder in Europe, one we kept for seven years, and we have more that could be labelled 'amongst the best in their position, or for their age' the likes of Vermaelen, Van Persie and Wilshere can certainly be counted in those categories, with others knocking on the door.

I'm going to take a small break from writing about Arsenal today to vent on a subject that has infuriated me since listening to the European Championship draw on Friday evening, and that is the supreme arrogance of English pundits with regard to the national team. We all know that England are forever overhyped before major tournaments, but it is the dismissive contempt for many of the other countries (those not called Spain, Germany or Italy) that winds me up the most.

Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 49, 86) Borussia Dortmund 1 (Kagawa 90)
(Champions League)

You should never get ahead of yourself in football. Sing the praises of a team too early, and they can fade away and make you seem foolish (see the pundits handing Chelsea the title after five games of last season).

I see a lot of frustration brewing around how the media have been portraying Arsenal in recent weeks. After a couple of months of daily 'crisis' articles, many have been chasing other negative angles due to the team's improved performances and results on the pitch. There was Van Persie's contract (which still has nearly two years to run), Walcott's contract (ditto), the 'one man team' nonsense, and finally the completely out of context claims that Wenger said he might leave at the end of the season.

Pinch, punch, first of the month and all that.

And pinching is something we've been doing a lot of since Saturday. Did we really go to Stamford Bridge and become the first side in the Premiership era (the twentieth year of it, no less) to score five times? Did we really come from behind twice at a ground that has caused us so much grief over the past five years?