Mikel Arteta has expressed how changing roles this season has been a fulfilling experience, and one that has dramatically helped the team's overall structure.
Previously Arteta had been more of an attacking midfielder, thriving at Everton in this position. However after the Gunner's saw holding midfielder Alex Song depart for Barcelona last summer, Arsene Wenger saw Arteta as the logical replacement.
It's that time of year when everyone reflects on the somewhat tumultuous journey we've been on this past season. Today we give you all the opportunity to vote for those players you believe were the most influential in the campaign.
I have added a supplementary poll at the end to stimulate discussion for the day.
That's what this game is all about. The last game of the season before the boys head off for their holidays and us on the other side of the white line, scour the inter-web in hope that we've signed someone spectacular. One last effort is needed for the boys. Our record since the 2nd week of March stands at 8 wins and 2 draws in all competitions.
Luck may be coming back to Newcastle, as Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta was substituted in added time in the 4-1 win against Wigan last night that sent Wigan down to the Championship and madeSunderlandsafe. Mikel Arteta serious doubt for Newcastle game Arteta picked up a calf injury, and it's very doubtful he will [.
Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea. No, I'm not singing their song but that's how many times we will keep a look out for the results of their matches before we play our next one. It all became more important after last night's results. Both us and Sp*rs won our respective matches and it keeps up with the intensity of the chase for the last 2 Champions League spots.
With the Barclays Premier League crown already heading to Old Trafford for a record 20th time Arsenal and Manchester United will clash at the Emirates this weekend in hopes of finishing the 2012/13 campaign strong.
The Gunners are currently in a close battle with Chelsea and Tottenham as all the respective clubs are in search of securing a spot in the Champions League for next term.
The result was a lot better than the performance on Saturday April 20 when Arsenal snuck in and out of Craven Cottage and took three points from cross town rivals Fulham. An argument could be made that if Fulham didn't have Steve Sidwell sent off in the 12th minute of play then points would have been dropped.
This Saturday, 10th placed Fulham will host 4th placed Arsenal at Craven Cottage. The Gunners will be looking for maximum points against the home side as they currently sit one point behind Chelsea for third place and the subsequent direct qualification into the UEFA Champions League, though the Blues do have a game in hand.
We are Arsenal and there's no point in doing things the easy way. We provide all the hallmarks of a great movie despair and fear turned into jubilation when the odds are overcome. Well, maybe not to that cinematic level but somewhere along the lines because that was what happened yesterday against Norwich.
Once Arsenal's big guns all took to the pitch late in the game the club woke up in time to slam home three late goals for a 3-1 win over a pesky Norwich side. The three points move the Gunners into third place for the time being with 59 points as they leapfrogged over London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea.
Arsenal scored three times in the last five minutes as they came from behind to defeat Norwich City 3-1 at the Emirates to leapfrog Spurs and Chelsea and move into third place in the Premier League.
With Tottenham Hotspur not playing this weekend and Chelsea playing Manchester City on Sunday in the second FA Cup semi-final, the Gunners took advantage against their struggling opponents.
Mikel Arteta says that he and his Arsenal teammates gave their all in the second leg against Bayern Munich and their performance on Wednesday night was nothing to be ashamed of.
The Gunners defeated the Bavarians 2-0 at Allianz Arena but crashed out of the competition as Bayern had scored more away goals than them in the tie.
Champions League football is still possible for Arsenal next season, but there's no denying that it's going to be quite an uphill battle after dropping a 2-1 decision to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday March 3. Third-place Spurs are now seven points clear of the Gunners while fourth-place Chelsea sits five ahead of them.
Arsene Wenger has sprung a little surprise with his selection of Arsenal team for a hugely important Game against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Lukas Podolski starts on the bench with Cazorla in his left sided position, Aaron Ramsey will start alongside Mikel Arteta, possibly as an answer to the threat of Gareth Bale.
Last night I dreamt that Arsenal's manager was an evil clown, in full make up, who had a cutlass for a hand and none of the people in the press conference would ask him any questions for fear that he'd behead them. This enraged him more than being asked a question he didn't like, so he went on a frenzy, chopping and slicing and all kinds of stuff.
Arsenal FC have identified Juventus' second-choice right-back Martin Caceres as a potential signing for next summer, according to the latest Arsenal transfer news on talkSPORT.
After suffering a humiliating exit in the FA Cup at the hands of Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers last weekend, it was reported that the Gunners will hand manager Arsene Wenger a £70 million war chest to inject some real quality in his squad.
Arsenal have dug themselves a hole so deep that it's going to be nearly impossible to climb out of after dropping a 3-1 decision at home on Feb. 19 to Germany's Bayern Munich in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in the European Champions League. It was a rather sloppy affair in the first half with the Gunners improving greatly in the second 45 minutes, but they were simply beaten by a better side on the night.
Jake Kean of Blackburn Rovers-Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Blackburn Rovers will have revenge on their mind this Saturday at the sold-out Emirates Stadium as they face off against Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round.
Last season, when the two teams faced each other in the league Arsenal ran Rovers off the field with a 7-1 victory, highlighted by a Robin van Persie hat-trick.
Michael Owen is set for an FA charge after kicking off the least fearsome scrap in history. The Stoke City benchwarmer threw an outrageously poor punch at Arsenal's Mikel Arteta during yesterday' match at the Emirates Stadium. The Spaniard then responded with a strange forearm backhander. Via Feint Zebra
A better start than recent weeks We didn't concede an early goal. Yes, the opposition is not as strong as Chelsea or Manchester City but let's not forget that West Ham also scored early against us. We can only take it a step at a time and against the team the fixture decides.
Arsenal FC have delivered some good news to their fans by confirming that ticket prices at Emirates Stadium for the 2013/14 season will remain unchanged.
The Gunners' ticket pricing policy is considered very high and it got criticised earlier this month after more than 900 Manchester City fans refused to be bullied over the issue and decided not to buy tickets for their team's clash with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger was hoping that he would be able to select at least one out of Mikel Arteta and Francis Coquelin for Arsenal tomorrow. Liverpool come to the Emirates and the Gunners are well aware that Brendan Rodgers' team have plenty of attacking threat. Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling have lots of creativity and movement and Arsenal have not been at their best defensively this season, not by a long way.
Arsenal has once again been linked to a move for French midfield enforcer Yann M'Vila from Rennes, according to The Times.
It was widely speculated that M'Vila would make the move to the North London club in the summer, especially following the sale of midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona.
Chelsea's Juan Mata and John Terry-Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Chelsea play host to London rivals Arsenal on Sunday in an important match for both teams. After surrendering a two goal lead at home against Southampton mid-week, Chelsea will be looking to end their poor run of form at home, which includes two losses and a tie in their last three outings against Arsenal.
Who will Arsene Wenger purchase before January ends?
Although Arsenal have still not locked up Theo Walcott on a lucrative, long-term contract, Wenger recently stated the club will "spend big" on a strikerbefore January ends.
The Gunners have taken a fairly quiet approach so far, unloading Marouane Chamakh to West Ham United on loan, and JohanDjourou to German side Hannover 96, but have thus far neglected to reel anyone into their squad.
Yann M'Vila of France (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
After the departure of Alex Song to Barcelona last summer, many tipped Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila to make the move to Arsenal in order to fill the void left behind by the Cameroonian. While the move never materialized, it looks as if the interest from both parties has been reignited in this transfer window.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry has had a go, so why can't Big Raddy?
However, this post is not just about the pitch and boardroom No, this review will go elsewhere... For example, what did we think about the team kit this season? I thought the home kit was excellent but was disappointed by our away colours.
Chelsea's loss was Arsenal's gain on Saturday March 30. The Gunners didn't really break a sweat while disposing of an uninterested Reading side 4-1 at home while Rafael Benitez led his men to another loss, this one a 2-1 defeat down on the south coast at Southampton. Spurs managed to beat Swansea 2-1 to sneak past Chelsea into third spot by two points point and Benitez's men slipped into the all-important fourth position in the table.
David Moyes is set to make his first mark on Manchester United by implementing a gruelling pre-season boot camp. Everton players will testify to Moyes' tough fitness regime, including his infamous 'Horseshoe Runs'. The intensive sprint sessions often leave players retching and barely able to stand by the time they've finished.
Michael Carrick of Manchester United (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Michael Carrick is often described as the ‘Mr. Reliable' of the Manchester United team.
Rightly so, the England international has evolved into one of the most consistent central-midfielders in the Premier League this season and has finally won over the Old Trafford faithful with to his industrious inputs.
Well, we got there in the end but we didn't half make hard work it. Three points and up into third is as good an outcome as we could have had, yet it looked touch and go for a while.
Some of that was down to the fact we didn't play particularly well, some of it was down to Norwich who, understandably, set out to frustrate us.
I was chatting briefly with the Mugsmasher (my Liverpool supporting brother, for recent readers) about this game last night and the conclusion we came to was that anything could happen.
He reckons one team is going to spank the other, he just doesn't know who'll be doing the spanking. Of course it could be 3-3 just as easily as 3-0 or 0-3; both teams concede too many but are capable of scoring too.
Only one place to start this morning and that's the report that Jack Wilshere will miss tomorrow night's game against Bayern with an ankle injury.
Apparently he picked up the problem against Sp*rs last Sunday and has been in Dubai recuperating. There are some suggestions it might be quite a bad injury, meaning he could miss a lot more than tomorrow night, so that raises the question: is he in Dubai because it's not serious or because it is so serious that there's little they can do other than send him off to get his head right?
I'm feeling vaguely human again after Saturday's pre and post Stoke high jinks left me feeling somewhat delicate yesterday. And we go into a week in which the players will go away with their international teams for a round of friendlies which nobody needs and are more stupid than Tony Pulis when he talks about football.
So, last week, Arseblog, in the hip shape of Andrew Allen, got to meet Mikel Arteta, ask him some questions and deliver unto him his brand new Puma boots which he'll wear for the first time tomorrow against Aston Villa.
We asked you to provide the questions, Andrew asked, the answers from the lego-haired hunk are below.
So, Liverpool's defeat last night means they've made life very difficult for themselves, and after a season in which it was very tight in and around the top four, it looks as if there's a gap beginning to grow.
With all teams having played 26 games we're 2 points clear of Everton who are in 6th, 7 clear of Swansea and West Brom, and 8 ahead of the Mugsmashers.
So, next Tuesday we're going to meet Mikel Arteta to give him his brand new PUMA King boots and have a little sit down the man himself.
We get an interview, which you'll be able to see exclusively here on Arseblog, and you also get a chance to win a pair of said boots which have a retail price of £155.
This is the end, beautiful friends, this is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end of everything that stands, the end. Hmmm, Jim Morrison wasn't really the eloquent poet he's been made out to be was he? After 9 months of fretting, sweating and swearing, it all comes down to Sunday.
