mansub by arsenalist Having just benefited from an assist by the Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Robin Van Persie joined thousands of Arsenal fans in a show of dissent when Arsene Wenger replaced the young Englishman with Andrey Arshavin. Oxlade Chamberlain had looked lively and had been the only Arsenal attacker who looked like causing the Manchester [.

Arsenal fans? Allow us to distract you with a bulge/bottom/belly related three-fer!

Two football matches, four teams, 22 players, five goals on the night, fourteen across the fixtures.

Holy smokes! We can't believe we got that right on the first attempt!

Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan (3-4 agg)

Image: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images.

Mr Arsenal himself would be proud of this team

One last job was required of Arsenal on the last day of 2011 and the job was duly delivered. 3 points was what we wanted to see Arsenal end the year on a high and it was a performance that deserved exactly that. The win moves us to fourth in the league, just 3 points behind Tottenham and 9 points behind both Manchester clubs.

That's right, folks. The Wenger Woys are back, and they've got a brand new lead singer. Andrey Arshavin has joined the band as a singer after impressing guitarist Arsene Wenger with this little jig and sing-song after coming on as a sub for Alex Oxlade Chamberlain during yesterday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

The President of Rwanda wants his buddy Arsene to step down? Robin van Persie is furious with Arsene...Or is he? And, does Real Madrid really want Arsene?

It's been quite an interesting week for the Arsenal so far. If you haven't been following the news as much as I have, allow me to illuminate you.

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has launched his second scathing attack on the club's current group of players, pointing out that the likes of Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin, and Tomas Rosicky are simply not good enough to be Gunners anymore.

In a recent interview, Petit had criticized Arsenal for going from an entertaining playing style to one that was highly predictable following the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri last summer.

Andrey Arshavin has moved back to Zenit on loan and that means £80,000 off the wage bill. That's if the list of wages Arsenalinsider has been sent is to be believed.

The bulging paypackets for players such as Sebastien Squillaci (£60,000-a-week) and Abou Diaby (£50,000) are astonishing as are the huge amounts being paid to backroom staff.

If you saw the post on Andrey Arshavin standing on an injured team-mate, you will have seen we were pondering what he was thinking. Thanks to OTP reader Jack Leech, who quite rightly points out that it was probably just his turn to be lookout. When meerkats are on lookout duty they like to stand [...

It was billed one the homecoming for Thierry Henry and in the end, the ending matched the expectation at the start. A single goal separated Arsenal from Leeds United and advances us to the next stage of the competition. A home tie against Aston Villa is the prize that we got and it was a moment of history being reenacted that sent us through.

Why, top of the morning to you, and you, and you with the crooked nose as well. May a squadron of Twix bars find their way into your mouth by day's end, and may time go by as smoothly as Thierry's first touch. The day has gone by that smoothly in fact; exploding capacitors and leaking transformers having taken up so much of my time that this review is sinfully late (A word of caution- never put the positive pin of the capacitor into the negative pin of the battery, unless you want the electronic equivalent of the Vietnam War in your face)

The FA Cup game against Leeds can broadly be divided into two storylines playing out in parallel- a feel-good fairytale with returning Kings, and a tragicomedy about knights whose swords have been replaced by rubber ducks.

Yes, you can count on me

Yesterday's round of matches was good wasn't it. Yes, not entirely. Paul Scholes scored in his "comeback" but we all know what happened in the first game of his comeback and how he contributed to City scoring their goal. So no, he doesn't quite do a "Henry". An Emmanuel Frimpong led Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed point at Tottenham and it's dropped points for them (Spers, not Wolves).

szólj hozzá: Swansea City 3-2 Arsenal

Arsenal's bright start through who else but Robin Van Persie was dashed within minutes as Aaron Ramsey brought down Nathan Dyer, an absolute pest to the Gunners, and Scott Sinclair converted the penalty. The foul looked pretty soft. Andrey Arshavin who had threaded the pass through for RVP's goal was guilty of less precision in the second half as Ramsey could not latch onto his errant service gifting the ball to Joe Allen.

Sacrificial lamb?

The fallout from the defeat to Swansea has been dire and depressing. The "Wenger OUT!!" brigade has come out in full force after going into hiding for a good few months now. Granted, they had no reason to voice their concern during that period. What with the wins that we kept racking up and the continual move up the table.

szólj hozzá: Arsenal v Man United 1:2 MOTD

It was the 74th minute when Arsene Wenger went from mere arrogance to sheer incompetence. Replacing Alex Oxlade Chamberlain with Andrey Arshavin. The Ox had been Arsenal's best player on the pitch providing the side with desperately needed speed, ambition, and some quality skills.

Not the debut we hoped for

A 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United with each side coming on top in one half is not the worst of results. However, the manner in which we lost the game, left a bitter taste in the mouth. After what happened in the reverse fixture early in August, many Arsenal fans (including me) wanted to exact revenge but also conscious of the fact that we want to avoid another thrashing.

Who does this tasty torso and tent combo belong to? Answers can be found in the relevant section. Image: AP Photo/Frank Augstein.

This weekend's games offered their usual blend of record breaking rude boys, incomprehensible decision making and unnecessarily harsh twists of fate.

Be still our beating hearts; the summer break is a looooong way away.

It's undoubtedly been a bad few weeks for the club. Speaking to a friend before the United match I suggested that the previous five weeks had been the worst I'd seen us consistently play as a team in the 15 years I've been going to Arsenal. And after the match, we remain pointless in 2012.
But I do think people have suffered from raised expectations.

The end is nigh

Does everyone realise that there's only 5 days left in the transfer window? Technically the weekend doesn't count but no reason why deals can't be finalised then and the registration done by Monday or Tuesday. It's all gone quiet on the Arsenal front. Newspapers has even gone bored of recycling the same stuffs over and over again.

Former Arsenal manager George Graham (1986-1995) said the Gunners starting 11 are good enough to beat anybody when they're healthy, but once the club has to dip into its squad it struggles. Graham told James Olley of the London Evening Standard that If the team happens to finish in the top four this season and makes it to the Champion League it'll be one of Arsene Wenger's greatest accomplishments.

A dictionary definition of "hope" is: "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best."

In recent games there have been certain Arsenal players who, when they receive the ball, induce in me the opposite of hope.

What I mean by this is the very personal effect they have on me when watching the game.

A dictionary definition of "hope" is: "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best."

In recent games there have been certain Arsenal players who, when they receive the ball, induce in me the opposite of hope.

What I mean by this is the very personal effect they have on me when watching the game.

Trademark volley from the non-flying Dutchman Bergkamp still got it by soccermr Ajax's coaching team like to roll back the years from time to time. Take this video, for instance. Frank De Boer play a lovely Hollywood pass, Dennis Bergkamp gets on the end of it and works his magic by firing in a glorious [.

Trademark volley from the non-flying Dutchman Bergkamp still got it by soccermr Ajax's coaching team like to roll back the years from time to time. Take this video, for instance. Frank De Boer play a lovely Hollywood pass, Dennis Bergkamp gets on the end of it and works his magic by firing in a glorious [.

Arsenal have revealed that they may try to extend Thierry Henry's loanspell at the club from MLS side the New York Red Bulls as they bid to keeptheir attacking ranks as strong as possible during a crucial stage of the EPLseason. Whenever Henry plays for the Gunners, it seems, Arsenal are transformed into one of the better soccer betting tips so it makes sense for Arsenal to want to keep him.

Legend. Arsenal true blue. Competitor. Finisher extraordinaire.

You couldn't write a better script for Thierry Henry to end his England return. An added time goal for the winner against Sunderland. A bookend to the bookend he installed with his instant winner against Leeds. Both Wenger's subs made massive contributions to the victory as Aaron Ramsey scored the equalizer and Andrey Arshavin sent in a pinpoint cross to Henry lurking in front of goal to elevate his leg and guide the ball past Simon Mignolet.

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.

Filthy lucre: The ruble, the new green

Fabio Capello is reportedly in Moscow after his skiing holiday in Switzerland. The big drop is he's meeting with Anzhi Makhachkala officials who are looking for a replacement for their coach Yuri Krasnozhan.

The Russian coach is an acolyte of Alan Soziyev, the former director general of the club, who departed the club after his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

AC Milan v Arsenal Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds Champions League 15 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Italian Serie A leaders AC Milan host English Premier League side Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16. The match will take place at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.

Here is some team news for you Arsenal fans. Reports emerging claim that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering playing midfielder Alexander Song in defense. Wenger who is looking for the best possible formation to contain Milan, has been hit hard with injuries to key players in the past few weeks and is considering ausing his trusty anchor as a centre back.

Woody Woodpecker: Milan's Stephan Al Shaarawy could take a peck at Arsenal

Champions League, 1st Leg: AC Milan vs Arsenal at the San Siro @ 2:45 EST

Three positions where the Gunners face unpredictability are at left back, attacking midfield, and down the wings.

Left back: The most vexing decision is at left back where Wenger has Kieran Gibbs available after months away with an injury.

Looks good in blue? Nah....

The way it's going, you would think that we're now in June and the European Championship is upon us. Why? Have you not seen all the Arsenal related news having to do with transfers and how much money Arsene Wenger will be allowed to spend? Last time I checked, we're supposed to take every match as a cup final.

The one that got the ball roling

He's 5 foot 4, He's 5 foot 4, Thank you Arshavin, ...... Adebayor

Is one of the many variations of the song that would probably get some time during the derby tomorrow. Andrey Arshavin has returned to Zenit St Petersburg on loan until the rest of the season and we have probably seen the last of seen in an Arsenal shirt.

Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin has joined Zenit St Petersburg on loan until the end of the season bringing the curtain down on his fledgling career at the Emirates Stadium. The news came as a welcome relief for many Arsenal fans who have long since been frustrated by the Russian midfielder's lack of form, poor play, [.

Build-up to North London derbies is usually fraught with a gamut of emotions; excitement, nervousness, disbelieving head-shaking as Spurs go on ego-massaging trips and superior sniggers as they trip on the field. Well, that's what they did until a few years ago at least. This new and improved Spurs are disappointingly far removed from a travelling circus and resemble a football team like few of their predecessors ever did.

International Man of Mystery, Andrey Arshavin, celebrated his assist for Zenit St Petersburg team-mate Vladimir Bystrov to score against CSKA Moscow by standing on his torso. Shortly after his goal, Bystrov hit the deck with an injury. On-loan Arsenal flop Arshavin took the opportunity to deliberately trample all over him.

Theo, another one suffered playing too much too young

I hope you're having a lovely Friday. Another 29 hours before our clash with Chelsea at the Grove. Hopefully they will have Barcelona on their minds when the match starts. It's only fair, we don't have Mikel Arteta so they cannot be at 100% for tomorrow's match as well.

Russian winger Andrey Arshavin was a massive signing for Arsenal when he was brought from Zenit. In that period Zenit was one of the most pleasant surprises in European football, and Arshavin was the player who fuelled the surprise. His transfer to Arsenal also marked a point in the winger's career from which everything seemed [.

The Arsenal loaned-out winger Andrey Arshavin is delighted for choosing to make the move back to Russia in the winter, as he declares that it helped him get back into the form which once made him one of the most sought after players in Europe. Arshavin returned to Zenit in the winter, and the Russians [.

His time?

A good Friday to you. Looking forward to the weekend? It's hard to be when the weekend doesn't involve Arsenal. The first weekend without them and it's not easy. Though there's a match tomorrow which will close the curtains on another eventful and "exciting" European football season.