Me and the machines

First of 2 trips to Wearside, starting with the league match tonight and the FA Cup the following week. Beginning of a very important 7 days for Arsenal Football Club according to Arsene Wenger. 3 matches that will decide our season. An European cup tie against AC Milan sandwiched in between 2 meetings with Martin O'Neill's Sunderland.

The latest development in football kits? Invisibility properties. We can make use of that here. Image: Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images Europe.

Did you spend the last 48 hours in your homemade duvet cave, eating nachos and taking in as much sport as possible between well deserved naps? We did.

I felt that recently we had quite good performances but did not get the results. Today we got the performance and the result, which is ideally what you want.

- Arsene Wenger, post-match wibbling session

Arsenal's January has been like the ice-skating learning curve from hell.

Manchester City moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a convincing 3-0 win at home over Fulham.

Heading into the Fulham match a lot of questions were being asked about a City side that had lost four of their eight matches in 2012, exiting the FA and League Cups and seeing Manchester United draw level with them on points at the top of the Premier League.

Manchester City moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a convincing 3-0 win at home over Fulham.

Heading into the Fulham match a lot of questions were being asked about a City side that had lost four of their eight matches in 2012, exiting the FA and League Cups and seeing Manchester United draw level with them on points at the top of the Premier League.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 7 (Seven)-1 Blackburn Rovers Premier League 4th February 2012

After a sustained period of dismal performances and almost no points, Arsenal needed to rediscover their mojo on Saturday if they were to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish.

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has publicly spoken of his side's recent struggles after the Gunners could only muster a 0-0 draw against Bolton earlier this week. Arsenal have been in a poor run of form of late, prompting many media outlets to question the future of Arsene Wenger.

"We had a lot of chances to win the game at Bolton, but once again we've not been good enough to take them," said Arsenal's Spanish midfielder.

"Not good enough."

Three words used often by football fans to describe aspects of the club they support. They're used in relation to certain players, performances, the manager, the board, the price of a pint and a pie, how their club handles various communications, pretty much anything they've got the hump with for one reason or another.

It may not have been a coincidence that the Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta was out injured while Arsenal had their run of three defeats since the New Year, but he was back for this weeks 0-0 draw with Bolton, and he is not very happy with the team's performances. "We had a lot of chances [...]

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.

Time for a rest?

Midweek Premier League match. Haven't had that in a while. Tonight, Arsenal travel to Bolton looking to capitalise on the yesterday's results. I say results when it's actually only a single result. That of Chelsea's draw away to Swansea. Effectively, they've gained a point over us, both by the result and the fact that we lost ours when we went to Liberty Stadium.

Arsene Wenger has openly spoken of his delight about Arsenal's thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win to progress to the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of Aston Villa but refuses to discuss the half-time conversation with his players.

The Gunners were 2-0 down heading into the interval following goals from Richard Dunne and Darren Bent but two second-half penalties from Robin van Persie and a deflected goal strike from Theo Walcott completed a memorable triumph.

The long substitution

It's finally confirmed, the news that we did not want to hear. That Jack Wilshere has had a setback and would not be available in the date that we initially had hoped he would be back for. AC Milan's games were touted as his return period but that will now have to be extended.

It is great news that both Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry are returning from injury this week, but although it is certain that these two will be starting against Aston Villa in the FA Cup this weekend, who else will Wenger be putting in the starting line-up. Wenger has made it clear that his ultimate [.

Morning all,

the dust has settled somewhat following Sunday's drama, and if anything illustrates how quiet things have gone from the club's point of view, it's that one of the main stories on the official website is the news that Luis Boa Morte is joining South African side Orlando Pirates of the Caribbean.

Arsene Wenger in his press conference asked about his somnolent transfer activity in the January window:

" You cannot buy a player every time you have an injury: where do you finish? England is bankrupt, the whole of Europe is bankrupt and everyone continues to spend like nothing happened.

The Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta was bought in the last minutes of the summer transfer window, along with Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Yossi Benayoun and Ju Young Park, in the days following the 8-2 defeat to Man Utd, and although Wenger denies that he was "panic-buying" Arteta believes this was the reason he was brought [.

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.

Morning all,

let's start with early team news ahead of Sunday's game against United and there's nothing good regarding Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard will miss the game, Arsene says he has 'no chance' of playing and the earliest we'll be seeing him is against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Clearly that's a big blow.

Arsene Wenger had nothing but bad news for Arsenal fans ahead of the crucial match against Man Utd this weekend, well unless it can be considered good news that Fabianski will replace Almunia on the bench. There were hopes that Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen could get fit in time for the game, but Wenger [.

Lots of websites are going 'black' today, Wikipedia for example, to protest against proposed new laws in the USA which will make everyone have to connect to the internet through AOL with all their family filters turned on.

I was considering going black to bemoan our transfer policy, general crapness, toilet queues at the stadium and 'The Wonder of You'.

That wasn't particularly good was it. The result was the least we wanted because of the results of those around us. It meant that we fall back by 1 point compared to before the start of the weekend's fixtures. But the bigger concern is with our performance or rather the lack of it.

For anyone who hasn't seen Swansea this season, their performance justified all the praise that Brendan Rogers and his team are getting.

The challenge today is to see if I can go through a whole blog without mentioning Thierry Henry.

Oh, balls. Well, mentioning him again. I know we football fans live very much in the moment, and the moment is kinda all his, but I reckon I've had my fill of articles about how great he is in training.

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.

Part 3 of the review, coming right at you.

Aaron Ramsey
Stats: 22 appearances (3 sub appearances), 6.71 average rating, 2 goals, 6 assists, 2 yellow cards.

On his first full season since coming back from the Shawcross Special, Ramsey found himself as our main playmaker with Wilshere's injury and Cesc's and Nasri's exits.

Giant leap

Since it's the last day of 2011, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may your target and aspiration be achieved next year. While everyone gets into their own party mood, there's still a game to be played for Arsenal with Queens Park Rangers visiting the Grove. The players will have to keep their celebrations on hold as we look to go back to winning ways.

Giant leap

Since it's the last day of 2011, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may your target and aspiration be achieved next year. While everyone gets into their own party mood, there's still a game to be played for Arsenal with Queens Park Rangers visiting the Grove. The players will have to keep their celebrations on hold as we look to go back to winning ways.

Arsenal's summer signing Mikel Arteta has backed manager Arsene Wenger's belief that there was no lack of effort from the Gunners in their 1-1 draw at home to the Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.

The hosts, who led through an early goal from Gervinho, were punished when Steven Fletcher struck an equalizer right before the interval.

Aston Villa 1 – 2 Arsenal Match Report

1st half observations from a bad stream

The first 45 minutes were pretty different from what I expected. Aston Villa did not close us down frantically and allowed Arsenal plenty of space. Especially Gervinho and Theo saw plenty of the ball, as Villa sat deep in the beginning, allowing our wingers to attack them from the sides.

Could the Spaniard be given less defensive duty?

As is customary during this period of the season, games come thick and fast. Tonight sees us visiting Villa Park and this is the first of 4 games in 13 days. Yet, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. This is as big a test as the Manchester City game.

Let's get right to it:

Back at it in Candyland...

• Everton welcomes Norwich City to it's Really Goodison

The Premiership world was shocked when Everton announced that American Landon Donovan will come on loan to the Land of Toffee starting January 4th.

Okay, not shocked actually at all except for the fact that Everton actually got a quality player to help them in a battle with Father Relegation, even if only for two months.

Office holiday parties. Going to any, Kickettes?

Since we already go out drinking together two to three times a week at least it's safe to say we'll probably be throwing ourselves a bash of some kind soon. Even if it's just the half dozen of us drunkenly shouting for the corner kebab stand to open up at 2 a.

Ever since the departure of Fabregas and the long-term injury to Wilshire, I have been trying to figure out how the ‘New Arsenal' will play this season. For quite a while I was convinced Arsène wanted to continue with his 4-2-3-1 formation of the previous seasons, and as such, he was trying to get Ramsey to play in the Fabregas position/role, with Song in the more traditional DM role and Arteta in the box-to-box ‘Wilshere' role which is effectively a second DM (most of the times).

Ever since the departure of Fabregas and the long-term injury to Wilshire, I have been trying to figure out how the ‘New Arsenal' will play this season. For quite a while I was convinced Arsène wanted to continue with his 4-2-3-1 formation of the previous seasons, and as such, he was trying to get Ramsey to play in the Fabregas position/role, with Song in the more traditional DM role and Arteta in the box-to-box ‘Wilshere' role which is effectively a second DM (most of the times).

Would you believe it!!!

Sometimes in life, you realise there are things you only realise you can't live without once it's gone. For me today, the realisation is one to do with computer. My laptop died on me today and suddenly there's a huge void in my life. Luckily, I've managed to borrow one but I'm sure that's not what you want to read.

What a year 2011 was for Football! We have had fireworks, management fallouts, enthralling top-of-the-table encounters, relegation scraps and transfer embargos to drive any football fan round the twist. So without wetting your appetite any further, here is In The Stands' top ten football moments of 2011.

Written by FatGingerGooner

With so much grief given out to our esteemed manager during pre season, and with another transfer window just around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to see how Wenger's apparent 'panic buys' have compared to the big money signings of some of our closest league rivals.

Written by FatGingerGooner

With so much grief given out to our esteemed manager during pre season, and with another transfer window just around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to see how Wenger's apparent 'panic buys' have compared to the big money signings of some of our closest league rivals.

Morning all,

the Wigan win and performance at the weekend was just the tonic after a week in which we'd stumbled a little bit, and confidence will be high as we prepare for a trip to Greece to face Olympiacos. Not all the players who played on Saturday will be making the trip, obviously, as the manager has a chance to rest some legs and keep players fresh for the Premier League.

Even Gervinho can't miss this one

December is here but Arsenal continued where they left off. Four goals victory at the DW Stadium. Four different players added goals to their statistics for the season and we're now up to just one place behind fourth spot (until Liverpool's match against Fulham tonight at least).