As far as starts to difficult weeks go, that turned out to be half-decent, yeah? After eons of bumbling around in the wilderness every time our rivals slipped up, Arsenal finally took advantage of dropped points around them yesterday by squeezing past Sunderland with very little toothpaste in the tube to spare.

Yesterday there were reports in Spain that Arsenal's Flying Dutchman had a controversial interview with Marca. He apparently said: "I am grateful to hear about the interest of a club as important as Real Madrid." For the Gunners it is definitely disturbing that their captain, Van Persie is so openly talking about the opportunity to [.

Yesterday there were reports in Spain that Arsenal's Flying Dutchman had a controversial interview with Marca. He apparently said: "I am grateful to hear about the interest of a club as important as Real Madrid." For the Gunners it is definitely disturbing that their captain, Van Persie is so openly talking about the opportunity to [.

Arsenal traveled north to face a Sunderland club that has seen a resurgence since installing Martin O'Neil as their manager and it took a two late goal by impact substitutes to come away with the three points. Keep reading for all the glorious heart-stopping action.

Arsene Wenger chose to start the same squad that demolished Blackburn last week with the exception of Francis Coquelin as Bacary Sagna was drafted in for his 2nd start since his broken leg.

The Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has today hinted at a summer move to Real Madrid after admitting that he would be excited about the prospect of playing for the La Liga side. Speaking to the Spanish daily Marca, the Dutch striker had this to say: "I like knowing the interest of Real Madrid and [.

Truth? Hype? The players representative pulling strings? Or just all Bullshit? The beauty behind Football & Spanish Sports paper "Marca" is that all four possibilities can exist &/or co-exist? That REAL MADRID & FC Barcelona (also mentioned) are following, plus the latter thinking in signing next season the Dutch forward is not at all new.

Truth? Hype? The players representative pulling strings? Or just all Bullshit? The beauty behind Football & Spanish Sports paper "Marca" is that all four possibilities can exist &/or co-exist? That REAL MADRID & FC Barcelona (also mentioned) are following, plus the latter thinking in signing next season the Dutch forward is not at all new.

Truth? Hype? The players representative pulling strings? Or just all Bullshit? The beauty behind Football & Spanish Sports paper "Marca" is that all four possibilities can exist &/or co-exist? That REAL MADRID & FC Barcelona (also mentioned) are following, plus the latter thinking in signing next season the Dutch forward is not at all new.

Truth? Hype? The players representative pulling strings? Or just all Bullshit? The beauty behind Football & Spanish Sports paper "Marca" is that all four possibilities can exist &/or co-exist? That REAL MADRID & FC Barcelona (also mentioned) are following, plus the latter thinking in signing next season the Dutch forward is not at all new.

After that emphatic drubbing of Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal face a tricky trip to the Stadium of Light to face a rejuvenated Sunderland side who are currently eighth in the table, just seven points behind Arsenal. Sunderland have been in great form since the arrival of new boss Martin O'Neil and one could assume that the [.

The newest Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has burst onto the scene since the New Year and is already being tipped as a certainty to go to the Euro 2012 tournament with England this summer. But the youngster himself is keeping his feet on the ground and is more than happy to just listen and learn [.

It is being reported this morning that the Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge has been pinpointed by Arsenal as the perfect replacement for Robin Van Persie if he is sold to Barcelona this summer. There have been rumblings for some time that Sturridge is not happy being left out on the wing at Stamford Bridge, despite [.

Robin Van Persie may be the man in form at Arsenal right now, and Theo Walcott has been considered to be 'the one that hasn't fulfilled his promise', but the Dutch hitman believes that the criticism of his strike partner is totally unfounded and Theo is growing into a top-class striker. In 31 games this [.

Robin Van Persie scored a hat-trick and gave three other assists in the 7-1 win over Blackburn this weekend, but the teamwork amongst him, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a joy to watch as they terrorized the Rovers defence. The Ox was starting his fourth game in a row for Arsenal and Van Persie [.

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers

It may sound a tad melodramatic, but I've not enjoyed watching Arsenal as much this season as I should have done. All the peripheral stuff has been as fun as ever the Saturday morning anticipation, hopping on the tube, having a pint before the game and chinwagging with the usual motley crew.

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers

It may sound a tad melodramatic, but I've not enjoyed watching Arsenal as much this season as I should have done. All the peripheral stuff has been as fun as ever the Saturday morning anticipation, hopping on the tube, having a pint before the game and chinwagging with the usual motley crew.

Well, we kind of had an idea that Arsenal were playing well but not getting the results. It was a matter of details according to Arteta, Wenger, and others. It all came good in this one as Blackburn were the hapless victims of a rampant Arsenal side.

Chance conversion was another issue which was put to bed, at least temporarily, with 7 out of 8 shot on target registering on the scoreboard.

Newcastle vs Aston Villa 2012 Highlights 2-1 Goals Video Demba Ba Robbie Keane Papiss Cisse is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Newcastle vs Aston Villa 2012 Highlights 2-1 Goals Video Demba Ba Robbie Keane Papiss Cisse is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Newcastle vs Aston Villa 2012 ( Newcastle United Aston Villa Video below) Final score and result:- Newcastle vs Aston Villa 2-1 ( Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse/ Robbie Keane) Sports [.

The Spanish giants Barcelona have been continually linked with a move for the Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie, and the player himself has often stated that the only other club that he would like to play for is Cesc Fabregas' team. So if the Flying Dutchman decides that he wants to move on this summer [.

A first win of 2012, seven goals, a striker in the form of his life, and one of the most exciting young talents in the country. Finally a day really worth cheering about.

The emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in particular, is great news for the club. In recent times Arsene Wenger seemed to have lost his touch with bringing in exceptional young talents, with the likes of Diaby, Denilson and Walcott not fulfilling their potential, and the most exciting player, Wilshere, coming up through the club's academy.

A first win of 2012, seven goals, a striker in the form of his life, and one of the most exciting young talents in the country. Finally a day really worth cheering about.

The emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in particular, is great news for the club. In recent times Arsene Wenger seemed to have lost his touch with bringing in exceptional young talents, with the likes of Diaby, Denilson and Walcott not fulfilling their potential, and the most exciting player, Wilshere, coming up through the club's academy.

Ever have one of those days where you wish you hadn't gotten out of bed? Steve Kean is having one of those seasons. Arsenal, came into the game without a win in 2012. Blackburn came in sucking. It was bound to get ugly and it did. Quickly.Oh, where to begin... Van Persie with a goal in the 2nd minute to start out his hat-trick.

In our best performance this year we humiliated a struggling Blackburn Rovers with our superior attacking display.

The beginning of this article was written before our win over Blackburn Rovers yesterday.

Here we are, now our fourth game without another win in the Premier league, and the best we could do was a nil-nil draw.

In our best performance this year we humiliated a struggling Blackburn Rovers with our superior attacking display.

The beginning of this article was written before our win over Blackburn Rovers yesterday.

Here we are, now our fourth game without another win in the Premier league, and the best we could do was a nil-nil draw.

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.

Well, you know the traditional start of these articles by now. "Every couple of seasons a new striker emerges on the horizon, blablabla...". We had Geels, Cruyff, Koolhof, Kist, Kieft, van Basten, Bosman, Gilhaus, Van Loen, Mols, Houtman, Van Nistel, Kluivert, Haisselbaink, Makaay, Huntelaar, Van Persie, Luuk de Jong, [read more]

Robin van Persie's on an English Premier League record-setting pace this season as his hat trick against a woeful Blackburn team on Feb. 4 upped his league total to 22 goals in 24 games. He's already eclipsed last year's Golden Boot scoring record of 20 which was shared by Manchester City's Carlos Tevez and Dmitar Berbatov of Manchester United and his own mark of 18 EPL goals.

04.02.2012 - Con goles de Robin Van Persie (´2, ´38 y ´62), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (´40 y ´54), Mikel Arteta (´51) y Thierry Henry (´90), Arsenal venció (7-1) al Blackburn Rovers (Pedersen ´31) en el Emirates Stadium por la 24º jornada de la Premier League.

Video- Thierry Henry goal vs Blackburn 2012 February 4 Arsenal is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Video- Thierry Henry goal vs Blackburn 2012 February 4 Arsenal is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter This Thierry Henry's goal vs Blackburn ( Video below) was his first for Arsenal in the 11/12 season since his goal against Leeds in the FA Cup.

Arsenal vs Blackburn 7-1 Highlights Goals 2012 Video Van Persie Pedersen Chamberlain Arteta Henry Givet red card is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Arsenal vs Blackburn 7-1 Highlights Goals 2012 Video Van Persie Pedersen Chamberlain Arteta Henry Givet red card is a post from Soccer Blogger.

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.

So it seems that the rumours that Arsene Wenger was thinking about resting Robin Van Persie against Blackburn were true as the Arsenal boss revealed in his pre-match conference that he is intending to do a little tinkering. It could be that Arsenal's newest star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may also be given a break as Wenger [.

There are rumours that Arsene Wenger is considering giving Robin Van Persie a break this weekend against Blackburn to try and freshen him up for the three upcoming away games against Sunderland, AC Milan and (probably) Sunderland again. Van Persie has scored 21 goals in 23 games this season, but his shooting hasn't been quite [.

It's difficult to know where to start this week's column. On the face of it, a compelling comeback from two goals down to keep our FA Cup hopes alive, followed by a point and a clean sheet away from home should constitute a reasonably good week. Yet it doesn't feel like that at all. For a start, we've put ourselves in a position now where, effectively, any draw represents two points dropped.

Bolton 0 Arsenal 0
(Premiership)

Last night's clash at the Reebok was a classic example of a football match not being an isolated occasion, and not judged as such, but rather an act in a bigger play, with interpretations not purely taken from the ninety minutes of action, but from the wider context of both clubs.

Given that Sam Allardyce supposedly had the hex over us while he was in charge at Bolton, it was interesting to find out that we've actually won 9 out of our last ten games against Bolton in the league. Until today, our last failure to beat Bolton was the rather galling 2-1 defeat last year, when Nasri choked, and we failed to defend our set-pieces.

Perhaps that should be, 2012 HAS to be different. More than some recent poor results, last night's 0-0 with Bolton felt like it signalled the death knell for our season.

I say this because for once we can't hide behind conceding fluke goals or wonder goals. I say this because despite keeping a clean sheet for the first time in what feels like eternity, we could not score at a ground where the likes of United and Chelsea scored five.

Perhaps that should be, 2012 HAS to be different. More than some recent poor results, last night's 0-0 with Bolton felt like it signalled the death knell for our season.

I say this because for once we can't hide behind conceding fluke goals or wonder goals. I say this because despite keeping a clean sheet for the first time in what feels like eternity, we could not score at a ground where the likes of United and Chelsea scored five.

Perhaps that should be, 2012 HAS to be different. More than some recent poor results, last night's 0-0 with Bolton felt like it signalled the death knell for our season.

I say this because for once we can't hide behind conceding fluke goals or wonder goals. I say this because despite keeping a clean sheet for the first time in what feels like eternity, we could not score at a ground where the likes of United and Chelsea scored five.