The Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny has improved incredibly this season but has had his defensive partners changed, practically weekly, as injuries and suspensions have played havoc with the Gunners back line. But the French international says that it is too easy to simply blame injuries and the defence for Arsenal recent bad results, and says [.

Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal

Losses and goals conceded are always more palatable when your team acquits itself well. Giving up, or turning up expecting to win, or crumbling inexplicably has been something of a hallmark in recent seasons so one of the most pleasing things about this Arsenal side since October has been the blossoming of its spirit and its excellent attitude.

Arsenal only managed to win 1-0 over Everton this weekend and it was thanks to the usual Van Persie winning goal, but the Dutchman was not happy with his own performance and thought that his finish was just lucky! He said: "It wasn't a great game in my opinion, especially from myself as too often [..

After a rather disappointing trip to Greece, Arsenal play host to Everton in the Barclays Premier League. A win will see the Gunners back in the top four and with Chelsea up against Man City on Monday, they are most likely to stay there. Arsenal are truly in a red-hot run of form at the [...]

The in-thing at the moment, aside from rightly praising Robin van Persie for being a goalscoring machine, is to praise our new-found solidity at the back. While results have been good recently, I'd say it's more down to the form of our attack than any miracles happening in defence.

Looking at our form since the defeat at Spurs, we've only actually managed three clean sheets in ten games, hardly awe-inspiring, but victories have covered this up.

When it comes to players who played a defensive role in Arsenal's midfield, Arsenal fans will remember the likes of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit for their excellent ability in controlling the Arsenal midfield. The Romford Pele is fondly remembered too for his 'lungs of steel'. ... Alex Song, though, plays a rather different role [.

Norwich 1-2 Arsenal

Another game, another win. I've not dusted that little phrase down for a while now but it looks nice in print (and in pixels). Since losing at our lovely neighbours on October 2nd, we have registered seven wins and one draw in eight games fine form indeed.

Arsenal 3-0 West Brom

No perching on the edge of the seat, nails bitten to the quick or hearts a-racing. No early goal for the visitors. No visions of wildebeests surrounded by lions at set pieces. No clinging on to a slim lead for dear life as the clock approaches 90 minutes.

William was fooling no-one with his 'steady hand' display.By Jamie Dunn
The Europa League may not be at the forefront of everyone's thinking at White Hart Lane this season, but while Harry Redknapp is unable to attend Thursday's game against Rubin Kazan due to his recovery from minor heart surgery, William Gallas has presented him and the Tottenham faithful with reason to watch events in Russia with added interest.

When Mertesacker first arrived at Arsenal, the first thought for Gooners and football fans in general was the mouth-watering combination of the German and Vermaelen, together in one line-up. Two such experienced leaders – and among the best defenders in their respective leagues – playing as one central-defensive partnership was a pleasing prospect.

Arsenal 0-0 Marseille

Goonerholic summed up last night perfectly in his blog title it was a classic case of ‘After the Lord Mayor's Show'.

Fed on helter-skelter excitement, chaotic defending and a Gatling-gun of goals on Saturday, last night we were bumped back down to earth with a performance that if you were being generous was defensively sound, and if you were being less generous, as dull as ditchwater.

There's not much more that needs to be said about Arsenal's memorable 5-3 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday. I could repeat what everyone else has said about the entertainment and sheer brilliance of Robin van Persie, but that would render me somewhat pointless.

So instead I'm going to focus on the performance of the player that interested me the most Andre Santos, our new left-back.

Former Gunners left-back Nigel Winterburn has shared some varied thoughts in Arsenal's ability to defeat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Speaking to Goal.com, the ex-defender said, "Van Persie only needs half a yard to work the ball into a position where he can shoot at goal with his left foot, and I won't be [.

It is a situation that is both welcome and uncommon at Arsenal – one area of the squad is nearing full fitness. Whilst Mertesacker, Koscielny, Djourou and Squillaci are ready to play, Vermaelen is looking like a contender to be fit for the Chelsea game whilst Gibbs is days away from a return. Whilst Sagna [.

With seven wins out of the last eight, four wins a row, (albeit some scrappy ones) and goals galore from our star player van Persie, it suddenly feels good to be an Arsenal fan again.

It even seems the majority of gooners making themselves heard on the internet via forums, blogs and Twitter believe we can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

It's been another fortnight of stewing over Arsenal's weaknesses. The previous international break came right after the pounding at Old Trafford; this one came after the derby defeat. On each occasion the fortnight off has been seen as something of a blessed relief a time to lick our wounds and work on the basics.

Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal

Another league game, another defeat. It's hard to be positive when Arsenal's season lurches from one reverse to another with such predictable regularity. We sit 15th, which is pretty much where we deserve to be, so post-match yesterday Wenger ruled out challenging for the title.

Arsenal 2-1 Olympiacos

Whaddya mean, why can't Arsenal do things the easy way? When did we ever do things the easy way? No no no, we can't possibly put the game to bed at the earliest opportunity. Much better to give us all real value for our sky-high ticket prices by keeping the outcome of the game up in the air until the very last minute.

Arsenal fans are used to Arsene Wenger defending his players in public no matter how bad they play, but after seeing his team throw away the lead at Blackburn he has finally admitted that the defence must start to accept a bit of the responsibility for the lack of cohesion in front of goal. "I [...]

Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Arsenal

For some reason, it had not dawned on me how tough our Champions League group would be until last night. Maybe it was all the other stuff going on I simply hadn't thought much about it. Maybe it was years of sailing through this part of the competition (though we made a meal of it last time round).

Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal

‘Will you quit?', Wenger was asked following Arsenal's worst league defeat since 1896. That Wenger's future is now being routinely debated and he is being asked to his face tells you all you need to know about the situation at the club.

After the public argument between Arsenal and Bolton over Gary Cahill this week, it is looking unlikely that the two clubs will come to an agreement over the big England defender, so it seems that Arsene Wenger has switched his attention to the Chelsea and Brazil defender Alex. It is being reported in the Metro [.

The impending season would be tough but the mere mention of Anthony Gardner was comic relief for RedknappHere we sit, dear friends, on the verge on another Premier League season. The players have had their break, we've had ours, pre-season has come and gone and now it's time to deliver. It may seem like we say this before every campaign these days but this really is a big year for the Hotspur.

Arsene Wenger saw his Arsenal team surrender a two goal lead in yesterdays Emirates Cup game against Boca, but put the collapse down to tiredness after the first hour of play. Wenger said: "You never want to concede goals, but overall I do not give too much importance to that. What is important for us [.

The Arsenal Chief Executive Officer Ivan Gazidis has promised the fans that that the Gunners DO have substantial funds to invest and they still intend to strengthen the "areas of weakness" before the end of the transfer window. As every Arsenal fan (and his dog) know that it has been the defence that has been [.

LONDON, England Sir Alex Ferguson has been named Barclays Manager of the Season, with Nemanja Vidic taking the player's prize. Manchester United clinched the Premier League title with last weekend's draw at Blackburn and will receive the trophy at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Red Devils have also made it through to the final [.

Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Arsenal

And so, with smoke from the funnels of HMS Season Ticket Renewals visible from the quay of the port, Arsenal's end-of-season implosion continues apace.

It's now painfully clear that our Laurel-and-Hardy Carling Cup finale was the beginning of the calamitous end as far as this season is concerned.

If there's one thing I love about Twitter is it's ability to start a full scale debate from one person's tweet. At approximately 10.30 this morning a Spurs fan, Kevin Jones, said "As a welshman I'm not bothered but Michael Dawson is not an England captain".

What has followed in the last hour has seen Michael Dawson's ability to not only be England's captain but also Spurs captain come into question.

Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City

As a football fan you roll with the highs, but you also have to cope with the lows. Barcelona, a few weeks ago, was as good as it gets. Yesterday, losing in the last minute to an amateur defensive error, was of course the opposite.

You could line up the disappointing aspects of that game and ask them to form an orderly queue, but for me the most frustrating thing was the way we played.

Confession: I used the above headline as it's simply too cheesy to let pass, and if I don't use it now, it will be even later than the too late it already is. [I haven't seen it elsewhere but if I'm late to the party I'll be happy to admit it].

In brief though: Having sung the praises of the FA Cup and insisted upon the retention of cup replays, I can have no complaints about the draw at the Orient that forces us to squeeze another match into the jammed schedule.

With Djourou suffering an injury in Saturday's 4-4 draw with Newcastle I'm starting to wonder if the team's trophy challenge will once again sputter out as various squad members succumb to injuries.

You all read my thoughts last night, so let's have a few Guest Posts today. Here is the first from Ahmed... We're Screwed After what was a disappointing second half and the relief that our INVINCIBLE status is no longer under threat I find myself in mixed emotions. Djourou, arguably our best defender, went off [.

LONDON, England Chelsea have continued their extensive deadline day spending with the £21.3 million signing of Benfica's Brazilian defender David Luiz. Having signed Liverpool striker Fernando Torres for a fee rising to £50 million, Chelsea have also strengthened their defence with the acquisition of Luiz from the Portuguese club.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Miralem Sulejmani scored a goal in each half as holders Ajax Amsterdam came from behind to beat NAC Breda 4-1 on Thursday to reach the Dutch Cup semi-finals. Fouad Idabdelhay put Breda ahead after eight minutes when he broke through the Amsterdam defence and beat goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

A fact to wet your appetite for facts, this one proves that Arsenal's defender's aren't as bad as you would think...

Arsenal have not lost a Premier League game this season when centre back, Johan Djourou, 24, has played. (Albeit, he has played in 11).

Arsenal 3-0 Wigan

Habsi days are here again

Ordinarily, the post-match pint is accompanied by a dissection of the things that went to plan and the things that went to pot, but there was a general shoulder-shrugging when mention of pots was brought up yesterday.

As promised in my Strike Partnership article (Although not to the most pinpoint time schedule) here are my top ten defensive pairings in Premiership History.

10. David Wier and Alan Stubbs

Stubbs and Wier defied all odds in the 2004-05 season when relegation candidates, Everton, qualified for the Champion's League.

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City

In the pub beforehand, there wasn't a single member of our party who envisaged anything other than a home win, and some of us thought we might get three goals (I think I went for 2-1). All I can say in hindsight is it's a good job none of us are bookmakers by trade.

I hope everyone had a great new year, but now their is work to be done and New Year's Resolutions to be kept especially for Premiership sides and footballers...

10. Come to the realisation that you are not a ‘gangsta', far from it, you are a footballer

Visually we have You're boy, Ferdinand and Nigel Reo Cooker to prove my point.