Me and the machines

First of 2 trips to Wearside, starting with the league match tonight and the FA Cup the following week. Beginning of a very important 7 days for Arsenal Football Club according to Arsene Wenger. 3 matches that will decide our season. An European cup tie against AC Milan sandwiched in between 2 meetings with Martin O'Neill's Sunderland.

There was a point yesterday – just before Sunderland scored their freak goal – when I was thinking: we need to change this game from the bench, but who can we bring on? We have no quality on the bench!

Silly me.

All it took was one Ramsey pot shot, one sublime cross from Arshavin and one trademark Henry finish to prove that Arsène Wenger still knows what he's doing.

Fine margins

February and all we've collected from 2012 is a solitary point in the league. Unfortunately for a club the size of Arsenal and the ambitions that we harbour, that is not good enough. 7th is where we are right now in terms of the league standings and hopes of staying with the top pack and clinching that vital Champions League position is not mathematically out of grab.

Henry to start?

Horrible is the word to describe our last meeting against Blackburn Rovers. Steve Kean's side only had two shots on goal and still managed to beat us 4-3. That was a dark day in our season but nothing compared to the run of form we are in now. The draw at Bolton was the first league point we picked up this season and we're now facing an uphill battle to find our way back into Champions League spots.

What a game in store for us this afternoon. As was said earlier this week a barometer game. A resurgent Sunderland looking to continue their very surprising run against an Arsenal team confident as a result of last week's big win.

And yet, in my opinion both appear to be skating on thin ice.

Time to upgrade his statue to silver

If you're a Arsenal fan today, you'll be buzzing. Nothing beats coming from behind and winning by scoring in the final minute of the game. Especially when it's an away game and we weren't firing on all cylinders. Especially when the winning goal was scored by one of the club's greatest ever player.

As far as starts to difficult weeks go, that turned out to be half-decent, yeah? After eons of bumbling around in the wilderness every time our rivals slipped up, Arsenal finally took advantage of dropped points around them yesterday by squeezing past Sunderland with very little toothpaste in the tube to spare.

Match Report Video By the numbers

Despite the fact this was Thierry Henry's final Premier League appearance for the club, despite the fact he capped it with an injury time winner, and despite the fact he goes back to New York after our Champions League game against Milan in midweek, it's hard to think that the Henry Arsenal story is completely written.

What an excellent day of football we all had yesterday, starting with the controversial Manchester United, Liverpool match at Old Trafford , and a result that went our way with Liverpool losing 2-1.

I am not so sure about all the Suarez, Evra hype though as it is obvious that there is bad blood between the two of them, but to the credit of Evra he was willing to shake Suarez's hand before the match, but Suarez refused.

From an interview by Simon Hattenstone with Paul Gascoigne, The Guardian 7 October:

But no, he's [Gascoigne] not thinking about going back into football, either as a manager or as a pundit. He says he's not got the constitution for it. "I've been told when a player's playing well praise him, and when he's having a bad game fuckin' slaughter him, and I couldn't do that.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Michael Farfan talks about his training stint with Sunderland, most of which was spent with the Sunderland reserves. "I don't think it was any change of play compared to here," Marfan says. "It was a good level and I held my own.

Marfan says players were interested to learn more about MLS.

What an exciting and challenging game we can anticipate tonight. A return to the scene of the European recognition of Fabregas's genius (sorry GM!). That night is etched in the memory alongside so many other astonishing and unexpected Arsenal victories win this and we may get a repeat of the TH inspired win in the Bernabeu!

A week is a long time in football. Just 7 days ago we were wrapped up in enthusiasm following our last minute victory, and yet those happy days seem a long gone. Will the confidence of the team plummet because we got spanked by a rampant AC Milan? We shall see today.

I cannot remember a time under Mr Wenger when there has been so much uncertainty amongst the fans.