In some corners, this was meant to be the partnership in the Arsenal defensive midfield. Our 'German of Africa', Song would thrive with the Albania midfield dictator and conquer the world. Well, that was the talk anyway.

In fact at some point last season there were even calls for Arsene to sell Song, Denilson and Diaby because none of them were worthy of Cana's shirt.

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Our regular Guest Contributor, Ted Harwood, takes a look at Cesc Fabregas' secret weapon, Alex Song, and his emergence this season as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. Song's form is directly related to Cesc's performances this season of 10 assists in 10 league matches, just one less than the total that led the league last season, as well as his 9 goals in all competitions. Click to continue reading...

So we are just shy of being one-third of the way through the season and we're already at our third (!) interlull. When we return, it will be crunch time with 11 matches in the next 42 days, including Chelsea at home, Liverpool away, the final CL group stage fixtures, and, of course, City away in the Carling Cup quarterfinals.

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Despite getting off to a start that has gone beyond all expectations, the football pundits continue to dig around for any reason to stick to their idiotic pre-season predictions of Arsenal's impending doom and gloom. The club is 15-2-2 overall having scored 55 goals, 10-0 at home having scored 33 goals at the Emirates.

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Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong, born 9 September 1987 in a Cameroon, fondly known by most as Alex Song. He's the nephew of Rigobert Song and plays in the heart of a midfield three at our fine club.

It is only now though that he is regarded as an important first team player for Arsenal by some, and I am firmly in that category.

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A couple of weeks ago, it was hard to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic. Many commented that the general criticism of Arsenal post-West Ham was over-the-top.
But the problem was, that on the 29th of October 2008, at about 9.30, the season so far had provided enough to be pretty optimistic. Click to continue reading...

The headline pretty much sums it up... as headlines are wont to do. Another 4 goals for the Arsenal, another late consolation goal for our poor victims. Wanderers came out into the amped up atmosphere of Molineux and really took it to us for the first 25 minutes. Until a Arsenal went ahead, completely against the run of play on a Zubar own-goal, that is.

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As always, highlights are below and are also archived on the right sidebar. Don't forget to click on "see all videos" at the bottom of the widget for the rest of the highlights from this season and preseason.

Last week, following our last-minute capitulation to AZ Alkmaar, I wrote a post entitled, "Déjà Vu," which talked about how the result was reminiscent of all those draws, many nil-nil, from last season.

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See below, as always, for match highlights and a post-match interview with Arsene Wenger.

Another multi-goal margin of victory. Another "more than two goals" tally. Another soft goal conceded. Arsenal have seemingly picked up where they left off before the international break. Birmingham's visit to North London proved to be an entertaining match that is open to interpretation.

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Arsenal fans have been crying out for a defensive midfielder ever since Vieira left this despite the fact that Vieira was not a defensive midfielder in the mould of Makelele. What Arsenal fans have really been looking for is a player to protect the defence and to dominate the midfield.

This season Wenger has realised that to give the defence the protection they need, we need to change formation, and we need to play 4-1-2-3.

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I had a theory. The theory was that since there was such a dearth of Arsenal news, I would leave a reasonable gap between each post - that way I would still have something to write throughout the summer.
Well actually I didn't blog for three main reasons:
1) I had exams and had to pretend that I was revising. Click to continue reading...

A young man has developed into a vital cog in our team, this man has been slated by fans and pundits in the past, but now we pull our hair when Wenger does not pick him. The player in question in Cameroon international, Alexandre Song.

Wenger bought Song from Bastia, had him on loan for a season and eventually paid €3.

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At the start of the season Alex Song was regarded as a last resort for the central midfield berth. He had not shown much over the last few seasons to change people's opinions. In fact when he did play this season there was more frustration than elation over his performances.

The good displays were few a far between, but when Alex played well, then he stood out.

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No doubt that it's a big game this morning with a visit from Blackburn. There's no reason to focus or think about Roma now it's over with. Today is a chance to get the three points and put the pressure on Villa for once, as they play Tottenham tomorrow. We all know that Blackburn is a game that we can win, although in recent weeks that's been the problem.

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We had now reached the summit of the loftiest crag. For some minutes the old man seemed too much exhausted to speak. 'Not long ago,' said he at length, 'and I could have guided you on this route as well as the youngest of my sons; but, about three years past, there happened to me [...] Click to continue reading...

The Boro game at the weekend saw yet another woeful midfield display from an under-performing Arsenal side. The only man in the Gunners' midfield to come away from the dour draw with any credit was Cesc Fabregas. The skipper was everywhere in the Arsenal midfield, tirelessly trying to make up for the inadequacies of his [. Click to continue reading...

Once again Cesc Fabregas popped up with a last-gasp equaliser to snatch a solitary point from the jaws of defeat. This time, though, Arsenal's blushes were not spared at Anfield, but instead at Sunderland's Stadium of Light - a ground at which The Gunners should be claiming all three points. Granted, since the introduction of [. Click to continue reading...

This weekend could see the debut of Mikael Silvestre who has finally overcome a muscle injury. The former Manchester United defender is likely to be benched for the clash against newly-promoted Hull, although he may start ahead of either Kolo Toure or William Gallas if Arsene chooses to rest one of his first-choice defensive pairing. Click to continue reading...

The following piece takes a look at the footballing origins of Arsenal's sensational starlets who romped to a 6-0 victory over Championship outfit Sheffield United on Tuesday night. The position of the player refers to their natural position(s), and not the role in which they played in the aforementioned fixture. Click to continue reading...

The following piece takes a look at the footballing origins of Arsenal's sensational starlets who romped to a 6-0 victory over Championship outfit Sheffield United on Tuesday night. The position of the player refers to their natural position(s), and not the role in which they played in the aforementioned fixture. Click to continue reading...

Alexandre Song is the third Defensive Midfield Candidate. Born on the 9th of September 1987, in Douala, Cameroon, Alexandre Song had football in his blood. Alex's uncle is former Liverpool and West Ham defender Rigobert Song, who is currently with Turkish side Trabzonspor. Song first started along the path of his uncle in the 2003/04 [. Click to continue reading...

That is all that's around today. There are a number of nicey, nicey happy stories doing the rounds this morning, amongst the odd piece of transfer fiction. A young Arsenal side produced a quality display in a rather relaxed affair against Burgenland yesterday. I won't go into that into too much detail but I am [. Click to continue reading...

Arsene's midfield solution is closer to home Whilst Arsenal fans grapple with the fact that one of their best players this season, if not the most improved, has left Arsenal for the fashion capital of Milan, Gooners all around the world should not be worried, as Mr Wenger really does hold all the cards. Click to continue reading...