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.

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.

Written by SlimGingerGooner

Well, can you believe it!?

Arsenal have reached the landmark 40 points needed to stay in the Premier League!

Back in August another season of struggle was being predicted by the knowledgable Arsenal faithful. A lack of quality signings in the transfer window and an air of disappointment from pre season results even had some sections calling for a new manager:-

"Wenger will win nothing.

In recent transfer windows and recent seasons we constantly hear Wenger and the Board remind us that we are building a team for the future, a club for the 21st century, one that does things differently promotes from within and doesn't need to pay huge transfer fees to compete.

Some fans have countered this reasoning (fairly) that without a present the future means nothing, and that the future has as little guarantee as signing a £50million striker or a £35million striker depending on which team you prefer laughing at the most.

Written by TotalArsenal

Arsenal does not really do transitional seasons, or does it? Somehow, through the magic of Wenger, we have been able to rebuild squads and first teams without losing sight of silverware and European football in every single season the Frenchman has been at the helm.

Well, what a difference a day makes.

Emotionally we've gone from disappointed and disillusioned to euphoric over the result of one game. Beating Blackburn 7-1 was the sort of result we needed to awaken our supporters.

Arsenal played the sort of football that we all love to watch and for once the end result substantiated the level of our overall performance.

Hopefully you're still feeling a warm glow from Saturday's impressive win over Blackburn Rovers.

It has certainly calmed some of the pitchfork-and-torch brigade who were on the march after the 0-0 at Bolton.

They may not have had the imagination or panache to use pitchforks and torches, but they had their bin bags and were still determined to march on Castle Emirates and demand the head of Baron von Wengerstein.

Hopefully you're still feeling a warm glow from Saturday's impressive win over Blackburn Rovers.

It has certainly calmed some of the pitchfork-and-torch brigade who were on the march after the 0-0 at Bolton.

They may not have had the imagination or panache to use pitchforks and torches, but they had their bin bags and were still determined to march on Castle Emirates and demand the head of Baron von Wengerstein.

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

How long have we been hoping for a result like this? We said for a long time that somebody will get a hiding from Arsenal sooner or later and today Blackburn – together with a handful of wasted bin bags, filled with nothing but hot air were taken to the Bin-Bangers.

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold. If temperature is a guide to the revenge due then Blackburn are going to get roasted.

Our game at Ewood was a seriously depressing affair and one of the low points of this (and any) season. To concede 4 goals from 3 Blackburn shots and to lose from being 2 up after 20 mins was desperate for fans just recovering from the MU mauling.

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold. If temperature is a guide to the revenge due then Blackburn are going to get roasted.

Our game at Ewood was a seriously depressing affair and one of the low points of this (and any) season. To concede 4 goals from 3 Blackburn shots and to lose from being 2 up after 20 mins was desperate for fans just recovering from the MU mauling.

Down to 7th in the Premier League

We've fired a blank against the worst defence in the league.

And our great hope Wilshire is injured again.

Is this the lowest we have been as Arsenal fans in the last 7 years?

No, is the answer. The lowest was 6 months ago when we had just lost arguably our 2 best players in their prime, had been stuffed 8-2 at Old Trafford, and we're struggling to stay in the Champions League.

Down to 7th in the Premier League

We've fired a blank against the worst defence in the league.

And our great hope Wilshire is injured again.

Is this the lowest we have been as Arsenal fans in the last 7 years?

No, is the answer. The lowest was 6 months ago when we had just lost arguably our 2 best players in their prime, had been stuffed 8-2 at Old Trafford, and we're struggling to stay in the Champions League.

Still warm and cuddly after Sunday but a midweek trip to a freezing Lancashire is not what was wanted, particularly to a Lancashire team who are in the process of turning their season around.

The recent beatings of both Liverpool teams is evidence of Bolton's turnaround. Add in the Cup win over Swansea and we can see tonight's game will be a challenge.

Still warm and cuddly after Sunday but a midweek trip to a freezing Lancashire is not what was wanted, particularly to a Lancashire team who are in the process of turning their season around.

The recent beatings of both Liverpool teams is evidence of Bolton's turnaround. Add in the Cup win over Swansea and we can see tonight's game will be a challenge.

One of the least edifying spectacles in modern football is that of managers attempting to deflect criticism for a defeat by making spurious attacks on the opponents who beat them.

I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of this phenomenon, having watched our own otherwise distinguished coach, a certain Mr Arsène Wenger, pull the very same trick on numerous occasions.

One of the least edifying spectacles in modern football is that of managers attempting to deflect criticism for a defeat by making spurious attacks on the opponents who beat them.

I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of this phenomenon, having watched our own otherwise distinguished coach, a certain Mr Arsène Wenger, pull the very same trick on numerous occasions.

Written by fatgingergooner

With 3 defeats in the last 4 games and an unconvincing win against Leeds in the last round of the FA Cup, Arsenal fans were feeling far from optimistic ahead of this 4th round clash against Aston Villa.

Rumour had it that the Gunners injury list was starting to ease, and so it proved with Sagna, Henry and Arteta all named on the bench and also the young Frenchman Coquelin was deputising at right back.

Written by fatgingergooner

With 3 defeats in the last 4 games and an unconvincing win against Leeds in the last round of the FA Cup, Arsenal fans were feeling far from optimistic ahead of this 4th round clash against Aston Villa.

Rumour had it that the Gunners injury list was starting to ease, and so it proved with Sagna, Henry and Arteta all named on the bench and also the young Frenchman Coquelin was deputising at right back.

Remember our last FA Cup game? One of the great moments in the history of the Emirates. An average performance completely dismissed by 5 seconds of theatre. Today I would love to see a 90 minute performance which will raise the despair around the ground following 3 defeats.

We have to accept that we are not going to be Champions this year yes, even you Peaches.

Remember our last FA Cup game? One of the great moments in the history of the Emirates. An average performance completely dismissed by 5 seconds of theatre. Today I would love to see a 90 minute performance which will raise the despair around the ground following 3 defeats.

We have to accept that we are not going to be Champions this year yes, even you Peaches.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

Witch hunts, apathy, delusion and greed, all pathetically wrapped up in an unshakable belief in a divine right to win. Recognise it? Of course you do. Unfortunately it describes many so-called Arsenal supporters, who today stand supreme amongst football folk in their ability irrespective of the injury situation and short of any real knowledge of the internal politics or financial situation facing the club, to defame our great clubs name just by confessing their poisonous support.

Do you suffer from any pre-existing conditions?

Ah, that old question on the health insurance form. The one if you answer falsely you're fooked if they find out and you need to claim, and the one if you answer truthfully are fooked anyway because it'll make it harder to claim.

Do you ever expect to win the league again while Wenger is manager at Arsenal?

I was listening to Talk Sport the other evening (I know, I know) when suddenly they posed that question and it struck me like a bolt of lightning. I don't usually take too much notice of the anti-Arsenal rhetoric that Adrian Durham spews out.

I have spent the last season and a half bemoaning the boo boys, this week I was not alone as Arsenal fans rallied round our beleaguered manager and club in an attempt to rid us of the discontented.

But today as we prepare ourselves for our pilgrimage to the red half of North London it is time to consolidate, stand side by side and live alongside each other in harmony.

Arsene Wenger seldom criticises his players in public.

So this comment about Andrey Arshavin, made to Sky Sports, has massive implications:

"It does look at times that he doesn't want to be in this country and I think the way that the winning goal was set up for Manchester United – you expect a player in that position to have focus and make it hard for the winger.

Understandably, none of our regular authors were inclined to write a match report following yesterday's game, so you will all have to suffer the thoughts of someone who will I'm sure, not be expressing the mainstream opinion on this site.

I couldn't go to the game as I had to work. I followed the live commentary on BBC Sport football, listened to the radio phone in on my way home and watched the lowlights on MotD through the lattice of my fingers clamped to my face.

Written by MickyDidIt89

I do wonder how difficult all this football management malarkey really is. You see, I'm a Rocket Scientist and even that, which is so often used as the benchmark clever dick occupation, is not that hard either.

However, for the purposes of this article, I think it would be fair for me to clarify my qualifications as a Rocket Scientist.

Written by Double98

Robin van Persie, the balon d'or snubbed, true king of world football, has been reeling in the plaudits for his exceptional scoring feats in 2011. By eclipsing Thierry Henry's mark of 34 goals in a calendar year, and particularly by playing in a less competitive and more transitional team, he has booked himself a seat in the waiting room of the Pantheon of Arsenal Greats.

First off, I accept that this is a pretty unfair comparison.

To rank any Arsenal team from any era against the most feted group of Gunners ever to have worn the sacred cannon is clearly destined to be a mismatch.

It's a bit like comparing Dan Brown with Charles Dickens, or Boyzone with the Beatles.

We're a bit in the doldrums here at Arsenal Arsenal. At the moment we're still numb from the defeat on Sunday and finding it hard to be upbeat and forward thinking. Our twin posts today are in celebration of the return of Thierry Henry. Hopefully our bloggers will come out from behind the sofa and remember the positives of this season so far, but don't let that stop you commenting on where we go from here.

The most frustrating thing is that, after a disastrous start to the season, we had done the hard bit.

Written off by everyone, we somehow battled back up the table, all the way to the top four.

A team that seemed to have been cobbled together off the back of Steptoe and Son's wagon on the last day of the transfer window was starting to look like it could really do the business.

Almost a year ago, in the Evening Standard of 20 January 2011, Arsene Wenger was quoted at saying:

We have a shared leadership in our team, but I believe Fabregas is an outstanding leader, especially when you consider he is 23 years old, with personality and character and Van Persie as well.

Of all the things that disconcert me about the Emirates experience one of the most boring and unnecessary is the crowd shouting shoot when a player is anywhere inside the opposition half.

I mainly sit in the lower tier when I can get a ticket and behind one of the goals. At the Wolves game a number of build up passes would be greeted with growing cries of shoot, no problem you would think, but the perspective from the lower tier is such that when the ball is up the other end there is no way you can judge how far the ball carrier is out from goal or otherwise.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.