Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. Since 2008 AC Milan is facing an English team in the second round of Uefa Champions League, but in all of these cases they have never managed to pass to the quarter finals of the most important European torunament for clubs.

Even this year beat Arsen Wenger's team won't be easy as Gunners are not the team they used to be at the beginning of the season, when, for example, they lost 8-2 at Old Trafford against Manchester United, in one of the most embarassing matches of the Wenger's era.

Slowly some of those long standing absences are working their way back into the Arsenal squad and not a moment too soon. The latest update has Kieran Gibbs ready and available for next week's Arsenal Champions League first leg against AC Milan if Wenger so desires. Thomas Vermaelen stuck at left back might finally get some relief and relocate to his more familiar centre back role with Laurent Koscielny.

Laurent Koscielny is old enough to be married. This is his wife, Claire. Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.

The Laureaus World Sport Awards took place at the Central Hall in Westminster last night. As is usual with these events, a smattering of footballers turned up to watch Bobby Charlton pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award and surely what must be the most shocking event of the year so far; Leo Messi not winning an award he has been nominated for.

Don't just sit there Robin. Get a fourth

That's our first rout of the season. The first of which we won and not the other way around. You can count the Chelsea game as one but then it was not as one sided as this was. Blackburn tormented us the last time we met and this was sweet revenge being exacted.

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.

Arsenal starlet Francis Coquelin has hailed the locker room impact of legendary on-loan striker Thierry Henry, insisting that the veteran does not need to be on the pitch all the time to offer his leadership.

Henry's two-month spell at the Emirates began with a bang as his decisive goal knocked Leeds United out of the FA Cup but the Frenchman has since been sidelined with injury concerns.

The tackle that started the comeback

The team needed a lift after results of recent weeks. A 1-0 win is great but coming back from 2 goals down to win it, is surely going to give the team the boost that we so desperately need. A game of two halves is the old cliche but certainly applies in this scenario.

The tackle that started the comeback

The team needed a lift after results of recent weeks. A 1-0 win is great but coming back from 2 goals down to win it, is surely going to give the team the boost that we so desperately need. A game of two halves is the old cliche but certainly applies in this scenario.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa FA Cup 29th January 2012

With Aston Villa going in at half-time two goals up, Arsene Wenger would no doubt have been preparing himself for a mountain of abuse from the Emirates crowd for the rest of the afternoon.

The Ox in the box will be quick as a fox to knock of Villa's socks

Jack Wilshere was set for a return mid February setting the medical world abuzz with his miraculous return. Then he suffered a stress fracture in the same ankle during training and now the story is he's lost for the rest of the season or at least a good portion of it.

Citroën UK and Arsenal Football Club have produced a series of cinemagraphs, subtly animated images, featuring New Citroën DS5 and first team players Mikel Arteta, Laurent Koscielny and Robin van Persie.

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 [.

By Chris Wright

What we have here is Arsenal trio Mikel Arteta, Laurent Koscielny and Robin van Persie posing in a clutch of brilliant but slightly creepy 'moving photographs' (or 'cinemagraphs' to give them their proper name) for Citroen.

The effect is really quite weird an otherwise static photo, just with the slightest hint of movement here and there.

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.

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: Arsenal v Leeds 1:0 HIGHLIGHTS

The stage was set after 68 minutes of frustrating football with Arsenal brought to a standstill by a Leeds Utd team that parked the bus. The moment everyone was waiting for with bated breath. Number 12 strode in to a standing ovation - Thierry Henry had arrived home to a flood of good time memories.

Keep Clam...and beat a Top-4 London Rival

Hey, remember that time I was freaking out because I was positive that Fulham F.C. were in a tailspin and I said manager Martin Jol was on the verge on getting fired if they didn't do well in their upcoming matches?

It was only two weeks ago.

Losing to Fulham to start 2012 hurt but it has hopefully served as a wakeup call for Arsene Wenger that his side cannot continue to challenge for the top four without recognised fullbacks. The regulars are out injured and have been for a considerable time. Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson are on the treatment table for the foreseeable future so now the January transfer window is open, Wenger must invest.

Arsene Wenger made it clear that poor officiating has taken its toll on Arsenal's season but admitted that his own defense was 'stupid' in conceding twice at Fulham last night.

The Gunners were leading 1-0 through Laurent Koscielny's early goal but a disappointing second half performance allowed their opponents to bounce right back into the match.

Debatable decisions from an otherwise horrible refereeing

In the two games that we've played Fulham this season, we've only managed to garner 1 point. For a club with ambitions of winning trophies and finishing as high up the league table as possible, that is simply not good enough. With Chelsea winning their match before the start of ours, it was imperative for us to match their result to maintain our 4th spot in the league.

Match report Video -

Defeat is generally a painful experience. Defeat in circumstances like yesterday's even more so. It was late, very late, and pretty much self-inflicted.

It came after what was a pretty good opening 45 minutes from us. We were energetic, good going forward and while Fulham had their moments I thought we contained them pretty well defensively.

szólj hozzá: Fulham vs Arsenal 2:1 MOTD

Depressing. Very depressing. As bright and incandescent as Arsenal were the first half, the second half was an absolute blight. The Gunners looked drained, bereft of ideas, and they let Fulham walk all over them. It was an reversion to many a game last season where Arsenal showed distinctly no ambition other than to run out 90 minutes.

This shot of Andre Villas-Boas subtly reminds us of a similar pose Dunga held two years ago when Brazil were losing to the Netherlands en route to the World Cup semi-finals! It's one that screams "Estou desesperada!" (I'm desperate!) .

Chelsea moved back up to fourth place in the Premier League after picking up a 2-1 away victory against Wolves, although it took an 89th-minute winner by Frank Lampard to end Chelsea's four-match winless run.

Stephen Ward thought he had done enough to earn Wolves their fourth consecutive draw when he cancelled out Ramires's second-half effort with just five minutes remaining, but Lampard pounced to take the Blues a point above Arsenal, who failed to reclaim fourth spot after losing 2-1 at Fulham.

Chelsea moved back up to fourth place in the Premier League after picking up a 2-1 away victory against Wolves, although it took an 89th-minute winner by Frank Lampard to end Chelsea's four-match winless run.

Stephen Ward thought he had done enough to earn Wolves their fourth consecutive draw when he cancelled out Ramires's second-half effort with just five minutes remaining, but Lampard pounced to take the Blues a point above Arsenal, who failed to reclaim fourth spot after losing 2-1 at Fulham.

So, 24 hours later than originally planned, we take on Wolves today at home. Yesterday's results were relatively kind to us. Man City dropping points is nice but seeing Chelsea and Liverpool do the same is more relevant to where we are right now and it's crucial we take advantage.

The manager does have some decisions to make today regarding his team.

When was the last time you heard the words "Wenger must buy" followed by any of the following: Jagielka, Cahill, Samba, Hangeland?

It seems only weeks ago that were as many headlines linking us with other clubs' defenders as there are stars in the sky or skeletons in John Terry's closet.

Now.

"My mates tease me calling me the White Cafu!" Perhaps Laurent Koscielny has not shown the incredible consistency that Cafu had, but he has had performances that even the Brazilian legend would have been proud of. More impressively, his switch to right-back has only provided further defensive stability for the Gunners.

Let's start this morning with tonight's game against Aston Villa.

We all know about our injured full back situation (more on that anon) and Djourou's sprangled groin further complicates things. I would suggest we'll see a start for Ignasi Miquel at left back, Laurent Koscielny on the right with Vermesackser in the middle.

Laurent Koscielny has no problem helping ease Arsenal's injury crisis by playing at full-back, claiminghis friends have grown so accustomed to seeing him in the position that they have started calling him the "white Cafu".

Arsenal head to Aston Villa without any recognised full-backs after a spate of injuries denied Arsene Wenger the services of Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson.

Laurent Koscielny has no problem helping ease Arsenal's injury crisis by playing at full-back, claiminghis friends have grown so accustomed to seeing him in the position that they have started calling him the "white Cafu".

Arsenal head to Aston Villa without any recognised full-backs after a spate of injuries denied Arsene Wenger the services of Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson.

Laurent Koscielny has no problem helping ease Arsenal's injury crisis by playing at full-back, claiminghis friends have grown so accustomed to seeing him in the position that they have started calling him the "white Cafu".

Arsenal head to Aston Villa without any recognised full-backs after a spate of injuries denied Arsene Wenger the services of Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson.

Laurent Koscielny has no problem helping ease Arsenal's injury crisis by playing at full-back, claiminghis friends have grown so accustomed to seeing him in the position that they have started calling him the "white Cafu".

Arsenal head to Aston Villa without any recognised full-backs after a spate of injuries denied Arsene Wenger the services of Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson.

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny has dismissed suggestions that Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester City has brought the Gunners closer to another season without winning any silverware.

While Koscielny and his teammates now trail the Citizens by a massive 12 points and also suffered Carling Cup elimination at home to the same outfit a few days ago, they still have the Champions League and the FA Cup to fight for.

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny has dismissed suggestions that Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester City has brought the Gunners closer to another season without winning any silverware.

While Koscielny and his teammates now trail the Citizens by a massive 12 points and also suffered Carling Cup elimination at home to the same outfit a few days ago, they still have the Champions League and the FA Cup to fight for.

Please forgive the lateness of the match report at I was out all day and didn't finish watching the game until 1 a.m. Mountain Time.
It was a cold and brisk evening in the United Arab Emirates Manchester where Arsenal would line up with JG's expected squad as mentioned in his preview.

Thanks to the Siberian oligarch's team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.

The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world's wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.

Thanks to the Siberian oligarch's team conceding a late equaliser at the DW stadium last night the Arsenal travel to Rowsley Street, hoping to go level third on points as long as the Sunderland revival continues at the Looters habitat in the swamplands of N17.

The Etihad stadium is east of central Manchester and is a stadium leased from Manchester Municipal council, the irony of the world's wealthiest club occupying a council property is not lost on the majority of clubs in football struggling to make ends meet.

The 26 year old Laurent Koscielny was signed by Arsenal in the summer transfer window of 2010. The centre half had a rather rocky start to his Arsenal career where he needed time to adapt to the fast paced and physical Premier League. His blunder with Szczesny in the dying minutes of the Carling Cup [.

Appreciation

The legends descended on the hallowed turf of the Grove. This is probably the first time that I've ever used hallowed turf and new-ish stadium in the same sentence. For me (and I'm sure many others too), Highbury remained the truly real Arsenal stadium. However, with each match/season and the growing memories, not forgetting the continual Arsenalisation of the stadium, Emirates Stadium is turning into home.