Reflecting on the start of the season, the culmination of the Summer supermarket, and more! 

As I hope you are all aware the season is now two weeks old, after fixtures at the home of football against Sunderland, and away at Stoke City, the season is therefore in full swing! This is great! The madness has commenced once again! Marvellous! Where will the season take The Arsenal? Only time will tell, however what we do know is how we have looked and shaped up in the first two instalments of our countries' fantastic league! With these games in mind and the summer’s ins and outs so far most people seem to know what Arsenal need to add in the next 24 hours or so, what do I think? Well, hold your horses, you're about to find out.........

But first let me talk about the first two games of Arsenal's Premier League Campaign 2012/2013. After the acquisitions of, in my opinion, some quality players (Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud) I was very much optimistic ahead of our first fixture against Sunderland, and most of what I thought actually came to fruition, however this was not reflected in the result one bit. Did we dominate the game? Yes. Did we have lots of possession? Yes. Was Cazorla the hub of the team's attacking threat? Yes. These were all things that I expected prior to kick off, which were evident post the full time whistle. The team played well, and we looked very good going forward, and arguably what was more surprisingly following the trials and tribulations of recent years was how, in both games, solid we were as a team defensively. This use of the phrase "solid we were as a team" I believe is key, because as many of you who either followed me on twitter or read my blogs throughout last season, or people that have ever sat next to me at matches for that matter, will know I always bang on about defending from the front and "pressing" the opposition. It is all very well saying that a team has to be solid at the back, but I believe that it is more important to defend as a team. You only have to look at Pep Guardiola's Barcelona (from the last 4 years or so) to realise how effective defending from the front to the back can be. Regardless, in the games against Sunderland and Stoke, especially Vs Stoke, this was something that we did very very well indeed. Particularly in the 1st half whenever Stoke won the ball, our midfield and wingers seemed so keen to swarm around the man on the ball and hustle him to win back the ball, and this at times was very effective.

This of course needs more work to become very effective indeed, but I found it very encouraging to see. What was also very pleasing, again especially when you consider past difficulties, was how well we defended against Stoke's usual tactics, the methods that have caused us a lot of bother in recent seasons. We are very smart when defending near our own goal line not to give away needless corners, which they can hurt you from, and we were also very effective at defending their "trademark" long throws and free kick routines. This was naturally very pleasing indeed because, as we all know, since Stoke City's introduction into the Premier League we have struggled to counter their physical threat and unusual tactics, in particular when playing away at the Britannia Stadium.

The fact that we have not scored a goal yet this season, in the two games that we've played, is of course disappointing, however I have been encouraged by the quality of our play going forward, albeit not actually finishing them off, and how solid we have been as a team. Overall I am not buying into all the "doom and gloom" and other nonsense that both the media and some of my fellow fans seem to be banging on about. The facts are these, we have a few new players coming in who have integrated well, but who need more time to fully integrate into the team and to our style of play. This will come, and in the case of Giroud and Podolski in particular, they WILL bang in the goals, I am very confident of that. I believe that quality shines through, and these players are of a high quality. Cazorla has integrated seamlessly really, and is already, as I said earlier, the "hub" of the team. He is so composed on the ball, can pass in all manner of ways and is a very intelligent player. I am confident that these 3 players, plus one or two more that I hope will arrive today or tomorrow, will proove to be great success stories at The Arsenal.

So what can we expect from the next day or so in terms of transfer dealings in football's supermarket? Well, as it is football, not a lot! It is always un-predictable; I think we all know that by now. However the question of what we actually need or require to do, is certainly a much more answerable one. Well, much has been made of our midfield options people saying that we need to get a new "defensive midfield" player, I am not so sure. I have actually quite liked the shape we have had with two "non - specialist" defensive midfield players, I feel that it gives quite a nice balance. So far one player has sat deep whilst the other goes forward, and this is very interchangeable which I believe fits our style of player like a glove. This allows us plenty of freedom. Besides, Mikel Arteta is a very capable player in this role as he has proved last season as he actually covered for Song in that role a lot last season, when Songo was rampaging forward. Furthermore Coquilin is super talented and will play, and of course Jack Wilshere is, well we all know, brilliant and will be coming back in due course. This is without even mentioning Ramsey, Diaby, Rosicky, Frimpong e.t.c. So I actually feel we don't need a "specialist" DM, however that does not mean that I would not like us to sign a central midfielder as I do feel that we need another experienced player in there of technical quality (maybe Cabaye), but this is not a priority! What however IS a priority is a CF. Of course Robin Van Traitor has left, whilst the talented Giroud and the experienced campaigner Podolski have arrived. Despite this two strikers is NOT enough, we MUST acquire another. Chamakh could go, Bendtner will go and is not good enough anyway, and we can ignore Park. So all in all, if someone gets injured out of Giroud and Pod, we are basically screwed; we MUST do something about this, no doubt!!! I hope we will sort this before tomorrow evening 11pm.

Anyway, all in all, do not believe all the doom and gloom rubbish that is being bandied around all day every day in the media about us, Arsenal has always coped with players leaving, and will continue to do so for a long time yet! I am confident about the season ahead, not saying we will win the league, but we will win something, and for a club that hasn't won anything for seven years (and counting) that is the main thing for us this year, to end that ridiculous drought! We have to develop a culture of winning things at this club that will sort out the problems of players leaving all the bleedin time (but we won't go into that).

Where we have been weak defensively in recent years, big Steve Bouldy seems to have been working hard on, which already seems to be working, and with the new signings integrating I actually feel we have a lot to look forward to!! 

Hope you understand my thoughts and opinions!! Let's hope we remove the dust in our trophy cabinet and add something of worth to it!

UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!!!! 

A shift in transfer policy at Arsenal or just the coming together of long term plans? Reflections of the transfer window so far, and a look forward to the big "kick - off"! 

For a number of years now, "Gooners" have been un-happy with the transfer policy of the club and have claimed that we only ever signed young and un-proven players from abroad, who have a lot to give to the club in a medium to long - term perspective. This at times has not gone down well, but over the last year or so, this has began to change, and the club has actually brought in some established players in European football to really push the team on! This is great news for the club, as it gives us a good chance of actually challenging the likes of Untied and City, in the premier league, and perhaps the likes of the Spanish giants: Barcelona and Real, in the champions league, if we keep building! Our "policy" seemed to shift somewhat last summer when we brought the likes of Mikel Arteta, an established player in the peek of his career. I think many people were shocked by this, because the boss has in recent years, preferred to "develop" players as opposed to just buying established Premier League players. But what are the reasons for this change? Why did we not do this before?

Well, I believe there are a number of reasons for this, the first being financial restrictions. As we all know, the club has invested an astronomical amount of money in the last decade on facilities including the training ground, medical centre, property developments and of course the greatest stadium in the world, The Home of Football, has been constructed as well, all at great cost to the club! This has meant that the club has not been able to spend huge numbers of money on playing staff, because they have had to "service" the loans e.t.c that were taken in order to fund the fantastic infrastructure that we now have. These improvements in infrastructure, are absolutely imperative to the development of the club, especially in the long term as it gives as a platform to grow financially and on the pitch. In addition to this the club has always said that they want to live "within their means" and grow "organically" if you like, and therefore were not prepared to rack up big debts buy buying expensive top players, like the likes of Manchester City. These things have meant that we were not prepared to spend big money on players, which of course is extremely frustrating as a fan, however we HAVE to accept this, and realise that we will benefit massively from this very very soon! This is something which I believe, we should be very very excited about! However, in order to preserve the financial strength of the club we have not spent big on established stars, up till now!

So why have we now seen established players like Podolski and Cazorla come in? Well firstly I believe a key factor in this is the changing face of football, since the likes of Manchester City have to come to the forefront of things. What do I mean by this? Well it is clear that Arsenal can no longer afford to grow players otherwise we will just get left further and further and further behind City, this is why I say that City have changed the face of football, because teams have to change in order to acquire players and at least try to compete with them in the league. I believe that Arsene Wenger acknowledges this and absolutely knows that he has to bring in players of established quality, otherwise he is going to completely left behind and isolated, and eventually that could lead to him loosing his job! I therefore believe that he has been partly forced into buying more established players in their peak, to help bring success to the club NOW!! He is certainly under a GREAT deal of pressure from the outside to deliver success for the club, and to end our drought, but I do not believe that the drought has forced him to make these big signings, as of course he always wants to win trophies, but I believe that he acknowledges that the team needs top experienced, and prooven players at the club to actually take us to that next step, and let's hope together, that we can achieve that this season! The strength of young players means that with this sprinkling of quality from outside such as Podolksi, Giroud and Cazorla we can challenge for honours and I believe that the experience that these guys bring, coupled with the experience of the likes of Van Persie (if he stays) Arteta, Vermalean and Sagna can really help us to push on further!

All in all I have been extremely encouraged by this summers' dealings to date, and I hope that this continues! The squad appears to be in great great shape going into the first game of the season, barring a few injuries e.g Bacary, and I believe that this season will be a successful one for us. The players that we brought in last summer: Arteta, Gervinho and Mertesacker especially I believe added something, but the players we have brought in this year are of the quality needed to push us to win things this season. I am excited to see how the team bonds together, and how the new boys settle in, but I am very confident that they will do so well. I do think that before August the 31st we could do with another defender, maybe a fall back, but I do believe that we are in great shape as it stands!

So BRING ON Sunderland in just over a weeks time.  I absolutely can't wait, I am delighted that we have at last brought in some top quality players from Europe, all of whom are experienced campaigners in different leagues, and in the cases of Podolski (100+ caps for Germany_ and Cazorla (double Euro winner and World Cup winning team member) especially with their national teams, and I believe that this season will be a successful one, but as we ALL know the Barclays Premier League is one in which NOTHING can be taken for granted, nothing can be banked upon and we MUST hit the ground running early and get some good points on the board in the first few weeks of the season! If we do this we will do great. There is so much competition in the premier league these days and it is bound to be tight, but if we just get on with our business, ignore the rubbish the media spout out, we can be up there fighting for the championship and if we challenge there to the wire and pick up a cup or 2 along the way it will be a great season for us! LET'S DO THIS GOONERS!!!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!! THIS CAN BE OUR YEAR!

UP THE ARSENAL

(twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - tweet me your thoughts)

Reflections of "PRE - Pre Season", what can we achieve? Unleashing the shackles of "safeness"! What will the new season provide us with?

Wow, the "Pre - Pre season" period (as I like to call it), the period we are now in, is always a very "interesting" one to say the least, especially for someone such as myself, and most of my "readers", who are a citizen in the "twittering world" (check me out @Mr_arsenal_blog if you’re a "twitterer"), as it seems that as I scroll through my "timeline" each day, it seems that we are signing ever player under the proverbial sun, people claiming that deals are "99% done" at times, "100% done" even and unfortunately it seems that we more often than not are jumping the gun, anticipating signings before they are done, and in some cases not even targeted by the people in the club itself, as it turns out!

But the facts are this is a very very important summer for The Arsenal in my opinion, we have to build on what we did last season, and have to make a few changes and a few additions to really push us on, to the next level which we MUST get to! First things first we have to hold on to our players, and keep them fit. I believe that the key for a successful team is simple COMPETITION FOR PLACES throughout the season! At times this season when we had players fit it brought the best out of them, that is because people have to fight to keep their place and fight to get into the match-day starting 11. This is really important, but for this to be the case more often we need to sign some quality. 

As many of you who follow my twitter account (@Mr_arsenal_blog) will know, I am always optimistic and I think it is important as a fan to be such, however I do like to put a realist spin on things at times, as we have to be honest and frank with our assessments of where the team and the club is, at any given time! The fact is, IF we add to the signing of Podolski (which, by the way, I am extremely happy about), with the rumored signings of Giroud to add extra goal threat, and M'Villa to add extra steel and strength as well as yet more technical Prowess to our midfield options, and definitely another CB option as well, I believe that we can really compete next season. IF we don't do this, then we will be stuck in and around where we were this season fighting it out for Champions League qualification for the next season, which quite frankly, (despite the fact that it WAS a great achievement to get there considering where we came from), is where none of us GOONERS want to be! We need to get OUT of the current trend of "competing" with the best; we need to actually BE THE BEST!! For the last few years we have not been as I would call it "ruthless" in the transfer market, and we need to be more like this. Again as I have mentioned before on here and on twitter, I don't want us to just go out and buy everyone because that is not the way to get success, we just need to get in the right players of quality and in the right places, and not be safe all the time, we do need to "push the boat out" - (apologies for the clichés'), to be the best, and this is something that over the coming weeks I hope the club does. 

Now on this theme of being "safe" I was chatting to a good friend of mine this week, who is not an Arsenal fan, but a man who does make some very good and true points on all football maters, and sees football in a non - biased viewpoint, which I have a lot of time for it has to be said. However he made the observation that everything at Arsenal in the last few years has been very safe, very cagey, basically lacking in ambition. Now this seems like a common theme, but he went deeper than the common perception, which I thought was interesting. He explained that he felt Arsenal were very safe off the pitch (in terms of players recruitment - uneasy to spend that extra few £million), as well as actually on the pitch - especially in the last season. Now, I can really see where he is coming from now, because as I said above at times we have not been "ruthless" in the transfer market, and a key example of this would be the Juan Mata scenario from this time last year. The club had the chance to sign him, to acquire his services, because Valencia CF said, offer x amount of money and he is yours' (effectively), however the powers at be reportedly kept going with what they saw to be his "value", and sure enough we lost him to the blue team (whose name escapes me)!! This is classic Arsenal case, as the fact is we are the 4th richest club in the world, and as I keep saying we therefore CAN afford to pay that bit extra on players just to get them through the door, this is what we need to do more often, and this summer for example if Rennes (M'Villa's owners) say we want x and we are offering a million or 2 less, just stump up the cash!!! That is how you are successful, as we cannot afford to keep letting other teams, other clubs leave us behind in the market, and it's the same with contracts for the players that we ALREADY own (RVP I’m thinking of you), if he wants 10 000 more than we are offering or an extra year, give it to him! You know, we have to push out a bit to get to where we need to be! 

That point went on longer than I thought it would, but on to the "on the pitch" issues. For years (in the Wenger days anyway) Arsenal has been seen the world over as a great purveyor of the "beautiful game", Arsene has always set his sides up to attack, which has received mixed responses as some believe we need to win ugly! However this season especially at times, we seemed to be content with the situations we got ourselves into, I’m thinking in particular Norwich and Wolves at home, where we got ourselves into the lead EARLY through great player, and then seem to step of the proverbial "gas pedal" and therefore allowed the opposition back on to us, and this is a point which I have made before, but one which my friend linked in with the whole "safe issue", we get the ball and unlike when we were in our prime we don't seem to want to kill off the opposition we seem to want to play it "safe", pass it round the middle not look to get players in behind, and when we don't have the ball to often (not always admittedly), we aren't ruthless to press and close the opposition down (which is something which I seemed to spent the whole time last season shouting from the stands), this needs to change if we are to be successful next year, we must unleash the shackles both on the pitch and off the pitch!!! We must look to kill off the opposition more, close them down be ruthless, and that is almost the same in the transfer market, we must hunt down the players we need, stump up the money and get them “through the door”, you see the two issues meet, we are too “safe” at the moment, this must change, and with the early signing of Podolski, it gives me hope that this is changing, we wanted him WE GOT HIM!! Hope this continues!!

COME ON THE ARSENAL – this is our year, we have got it, IF we do the right things now!!!!!!!!!!

UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Patrick James Rice, a true “Gunners” Legend. Player and coach, culminating to over 4 decades of fantastic service! Farwell Pat! Thanks for all the memories.

This weekend the Gunners will play West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, where the final chapter of an incredible season for my beloved team will be scripted and the story closed. It has been one hell of season, we haven’t had the success and the silverware that we all so desperately crave and wish for, but the trials and tribulations that we have been through, have been superb and the way the team has responded time and time again is equally so, and makes me very proud to be a Gooner! For us fans the season has been a painful one, not good for our health that’s for sure, but the curtain we hope will be closed in a very positive manner this Sunday, and this I look forward to with happiness and excitement.

As well as the season, another thing that will be coming to a close is the fantastic contribution of Mr Patrick Rice of Northern Ireland, to our equally fantastic club.  Having joined the Gunners in 1964 as an Apprentice he has been at the club (apart from 4 years as a player at Watford) ever since, and his service and tutelage of the club through this period, should not and will not go unnoticed, this will be remembered. He has served us with distinction is his role as a player, as a fantastic fall back as Youth Team Coach, as a caretaker manager for a time and of course more recently, for the last 16 years at least, as Mr Arsene Wenger’s right hand man, as his assistant coach! Bringing together 42 years of fantastic devoted service to our club.

The man is quite simply a legend! He goes, we are led to believe, as a result of chronic knee trouble which I am told causes him huge pain and he clearly feels that now is the time for him to “hang up his boots” or perhaps more apt “hang up his clipboard” for good. This chap certainly deserves it because of his undoubted contribution to Arsenal over the years, now is the time for him to move on and to pave way for the next generation of former Arsenal players come Arsenal Legends to take up his mantle as a coach for the team, alongside Arsene.

Pat served us with distinction as a player winning many titles and plaudits along the way, as a relatively young Gunners fan I never got to see him play for us, but I am told by my Father that he was fantastic and one of the top of his generation and what I have read about him since certainly points to such an acclaim, he will go down no doubt as an Arsenal Legend and I look forward to seeing his face at club events and occasions in the future, where he will considered as the aforementioned words of "Arsenal Legend"!

Thank You Pat for your service to our club and all the best!

All that leaves me to say now is that, if it is as we are led to expect, big Steve Bould will come in as his replacement, (another Arsenal defensive legend), we wish him also all the best in his role and look forward to him having all the success he deserves, furthermore we thank him for his fantastic work as youth team coach, helping to bring through cracking protégés such as Jack, Wojiech and the like!! Finally I watch on with interest as to which Arsenal Legend will take up his mantle as Youth Coach, as we are told by Arsene that he prefers to appoint men from inside the club, people who have been involved in the club for long period of time, jobs within the coaching team, at the club!

Do follow me on twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - i do reply to all your thoughts. What are your over-riding memories of Pat, and his Arsenal "legacy" if you like? 

Very frustrating afternoon, but what are the refs up to? Tale of a disgraceful show from the officials, why are they so poor? Supporting the team!  

Before I start my little rant, I would just like to say thanks everyone for your support since I started this blog a month or so ago, it has been very encouraging to hear your support and kind words. Right let's get down to it, today was a very frustrating day. As I set of to the game with my Uncle we were ready for what should be a routine day for Arsenal. Whilst we accepted that Norwich City are a very decent team, and one of the real surprises of this season this year, but still we were expecting an easy win. Then when Yossi curled in that brilliant one early on in the match, I thought right here we go this is going to be comfortable and convincing. But no, ooh to be a gooner hey! 

The team came out the blocks firing and I remember saying at the start that the team look fired up and ready to seal their place in the Champions League proper for next season. We were getting forward and were fighting for the ball, all was good. And then after the breakthrough we became very flaccid and limp, the passing was sloppy and slow, the movement was almost non existent and of course Norwich to their credit took advantage of that but we have to say the Arsenal players did not take advantage of their early lead and this is very concerning. 

I don't want to write a match review, as you can clearly get those elsewhere but the fact was overall we were not good enough and the Arsenal boys have really got to take a real hard harsh look at themselves after today, because their ability to kill of Norwich was not good enough, that has to improve. After taking the lead we should have pushed on, but no, we fell asleep everything became very limp and slow. And each goal we conceded quite frankly, despite how well the opposition played, were poor from our point of view! The 1st was a mistake from the goalie, the 2nd was a deflection and the 3rd, well, and we just let them in! It was very disappointing indeed!

But having said that the officials could have cost us big time today, yes we were not good enough but the referee and his assistants had a big effect! As I said I would like to stress that YES we were NOT at our best at all, we were poor but I will not accept people that say that the ref isn't at all to blame because the facts are these: the ref lost control of the game he allowed Norwich to keep kicking the ball away waste time, and did not give what was an absolute blatant penalty for us right at the end, which would have all but sealed our passage into the champions league next season, this decision is what hurts me and what I find absolutely impossible to understand at all! Yes you could argue that Koscielney gave Martin's shirt a bit of a tug in the first half, and that could have been a penalty, but it was not exactly as stonewall nor as obvious as the rugby tackle on RVP at the end in the box, just as he was about to put the ball into the back of the net. 

I don't understand how in a league as big and successful as ours that refs can keep having such an effect on games, it is just getting to the point where it is ridiculous and results, league positions and ultimately clubs fortunes that are being sacrificed and limited directly through the referees incompetency! It is something that I really cannot understand, why are referees making so many important mistakes and ridiculous decisions. The decision not to award a penalty today was laughable! It really was incredible; I just do not fathom it at all. And to be honest last week we should have had a penalty away at Stoke, when Yossi was knocked over in the box, and that therefore (as I was discussing with my friend @igooner7 on twitter) is 4 points that the ref's have cost us, just in the last 2 weeks and that would have sealed as already in 3rd and all would be rosy, rather than gloomy and uncertain once again! And it wasn't just that RVP penalty claim as well, there was also the blatant one where the player’s arm was up, and his hand hit the ball in the 2nd half after the Ox crossed it! 

As I write this article I am watching the game again on my IPad and it has to be said Norwich played extremely well, credit to them, and we were not at all at our best that is an absolute certainty. Wojiech was very poor today, our midfield lacked control and composure and our attackers passed up so many chances to score and render our performance irrelevant, as we should have won, that is a fact! But what frustrates me about this all is the fact that, YES we didn't play well and YES Norwich were fantastic and to be fair deserved something, but the fact is the ref missed an absolute stone-waller and could have cost us Champions League football next year. Despite all that I have said about our own performance the ref cost us the game at the end of the day, and therefore when people say that you can't blame the ref for the result, I have to say if he had given that blatant penalty we would have (at least) had the chance to win the game from 12 yards! It just frustrates me! 

But despite this the way once again some fans have reacted really angers me, calling for the boss to be sacked and players never to play for us again and bitching at each other accusing fans of being this and that, it really is stupid, I just wish that fans could unite and support the team till the end and not knock their confidence! For example Aaron Ramsey has been the but of fans' critics recently and that has clearly got to him and therefore put him in a viscous cycle, because he gets stick, he looses confidence as a result, therefore his performances are affected, he gets more stick and he looses confidence again. It has to stop, I really believe in Victoria Concordia Crescit and we have to stick to this, us fans have to get behind the team and hope that we do enough next week against WBA, that's the situation and we have to believe that we could do it! 

But how we did not get that penalty, Anthony Taylor the referee was an absolute disgrace today!!! Sky Sports agreed on the commentary that it was a disgraceful decision! But we still had many many chances to win it, and didn't so that's that I suppose! For the neutral I suppose it was a great game and a great advert for the Premier League, there was chance after chance followed by chance, but not good for us at all! That is very much for sure, we should have won and we didn't!! 

Anyway we cannot change that, we HAVE to go to WBA next week and get the win and hope that other teams help us and do the rest! 

UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Please follow me on twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - send me your thoughts I do reply to them all! What do you think to the performances of the team and the officials, can we still finish 3rd? Will Spurs and Newcastle drop points!

From frustration in the treatment room, to PFA Player of the Year winner. The rise of RVP!

Over the last few season injuries have often been something that Arsenal fans have referred to, as a reason as to why we haven't finished of the season with trophies. In the last few years, we have been in great positions in the early months, and then have fallen away dramatically (ala Spurs) in the subsequent months, towards the end of the season, leaving us with nothing! One player that was more often than not pinpointed as a key player missing for a long time, thus decreasing our ability to win things, was Mr Robin Van Persie.

I will take 2009/2010 season as an example. At the start of the season we were absolutely flying, scoring goals for fun, the season ahead looked like it could be an exceptional one. On the first day of the season we won 6 - 1 at Goodison against Everton, followed by a 4 - 0 demolition of Portsmouth at the Home of Football, I could go on but I won't for fear of borring the socks of you! The point is we were absolutely flying and I remember RVP was the premier league's leading scorer in the early weeks of this season, and he was relishing his new role as the CF in our new (at the time) 4-3-3/ 4-2-3-1 formation, one which was designed to get the best out of Cesc and the man himself (RVP). It was a tactical move that RVP himself, has since admitted to being sceptical about, as he did not see himself as being able to be a successful CF as he saw himself as more of a second striker (where he had been playing off Adebayor a player who was not replaced after his departure to $ity)

Besides to say RVP was a key factor in our great start to the season, he was on top form. However as had a been a regular theme in the seasons and years leading up to this point, he then got injured in an international friendly against Italy in October 2009, and it was revealed that he had a broken ankle which would leave him out for around 4 - 5 months. This was a big blow! I remember thinking at this point that the man is super super talented, but a liability injury wise, and I have to admit was beginning to think that maybe we should let him go because of his injury record! He was a player who would put in some great performances, score some great goals for a period of time and then get injured and be out again, for a long period of time which was really costing the team goals, as we then had to rely on the likes of Bendtner and Eduardo neither of whom had much confidence for differing reasons. Eduardo was just coming off that hideous injury and Bendtner was always the butt of fans' criticism! Therefore when RVP got injured we were often left suffering in front of goal, it was becoming a too regular occurrence.

That season he did come back towards the end of the campaign, by which time our season was basically as good as over, once again we were ruing what might of been had RVP been fit for the season. The 2010/2011 started in similar vein no RVP after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, however at this point we had a striker on great form in the shape of Maroune Chamakh-attack a recent signing on a free transfer from Bordeaux that summer, which made the loss less problematic than it had been in recent years (especially in the previous season). However since his league comeback against Chealsea in December of that year (2010) he has been spectacular and has been improving all the time. I remember thinking when the team was announced that night at the Emirates and hearing RVPs name read out, that he must be sharp because otherwise Arsene wouldn't have dropped a man in form in the form of Chamakh for such a big game. Sharp he was, as they say form is temporary class is permanent, and class this chap RVP most certainly has! From that game onwards he has been brilliant, has broken record after record: "most away games scored in a row", "most goals by an Arsenal player scored in a calendar year", "first player in premier league to 10 and 20 goals" (2011-12 season), numerous Barclays Premier League and Arsenal.com player of the month awards, and of course the one recently "PFA Players Player of the Year Award" 2011-2012. He has been phenomenal from January last season (2011) till now. He has been fit for a long period of time (every one touch wood please!), for what is really the first time in his career at Arsenal, and we have reaped the benefits of that, there is no doubt!

As I said this is a man that didn't believe he could play as a lone striker as a CF, and believed that he would be better used in the "Cesc role" or as the 2nd Striker. However the last year or so has proved that boy this lad can do such a job, and do it fantastically well!! This is a lad that many (including myself and many of my friends and family) were getting frustrated with from an injury perspective, because every time he got into great form and started driving the team forward he then got another injury, he was becoming a liability. But praise the Lord, thank God the boss stuck with him, as he has with many other players in the past 16 years, because we are now seeing what a fully fit and firing Robin Van Persie can do over a long period of time when injury form, and we are seeing that he can "Score when he wants"!! He is world class, and lets all raise a glass or can/ bottle (whatever) to RVP and the contract talks that are going to start in due-course, and heres hoping he signs on the ".............."!

UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Find me on twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - tweet me your thoughts I do reply to them all!

Also check out @Grantafc and @Marrcarr85 for links to their Arsenal Vlog and blogs respecitively, both of which are excellent!

Looking forward to next Season, is it going to be "the one"? What can we expect?

I am sure those of you that follow me on twitter on my account @Mr_arsenal_blog will be aware of the fact that I have been going on for a while about how I believe that next season we can really challenge so long as we make the right moves in this summers edition of the transfer window. I am forever an optimist when it comes to The Arsenal, some would say that maybe my heart rules my head sometimes, but I strongly believe that this summer with the right decisions we can once again be at the top of the English Premier League. In this article I aim to explain WHY I believe this and HOW the club could go about actually achieving it.

This season it is fair to say, has been quite a turbulent one to say the least! We had an absolutely appalling start and picked up I believe only 4 points by early September after a stalemate at St James' Park and a very unconvincing win over newly promoted Swansea at The Home of Football. Many fans were totally disillusioned with what was going on, many players had left and hadn't (at this point) been replaced and once again we had been cursed by injuries and suspensions. I think it is fair to say that we went to Old Trafford on that fateful day in August crippled, I remember landing back at Heathrow on that day checking twitter and seeing the starting X1 that Arsene had announced, and thinking "oh dear God". That wasn't a feeling I had ever had as an Arsenal fan, to be honest it was the first time as a fan of the Gunners that I was properly dreading a game. The thing that struck me and worried me the most was the bench, most of which I knew very little about. I was worried, and it turned out that my fears were justified. However after that fateful day our transfer window seemed to be kicked into life and we made what I think were some very good signings. The likes of Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos came in permanently and Yossi Benayoun came in on loan, all of these players carrying lots of experience. When the transfer window slammed shut that day, I remember many Arsenal fans were saying that these players were not good enough, however I believed that the boss had pulled of some good buys, and so it has proved.

These players have proved vital for us this season, as they came in freshened up the place, brought experience and most importantly helped us to start getting results. Apart from the game at Ewood Park, where despite playing some quite good football we lost, since they arrived we started to pick up some momentum and went on a very good run. With wins at Stamford Bridge and a very successful Champions League pool stage campaign our season was coming to life! Robin Van Persie was banging in the goals, Mikel Arteta, Alex Song and Rambo were taking control of the midfield and with Per Mertesacker and Koscielney at the back and the fast improving Woijech Sczesney behind them, we started to look more solid, and picked up results. Despite another blip in January since the Ewood Park game we have picked up a lot of points and have gone on some very good runs, culminating in the 7 games won in a row up to the beginning of April. The team was showing fantastic character, they were coming from behind to win at tough places such as Anfield and the Stadium of Light (where the grounds man seemed to want to recreate the fields of The Somme), the team was in a very good moment, and full of confidence. The game against Spurs at the Emirates in late February was an extraordinary one and a massive turning point I believe. At 2 - 0 down I was probably the most un-controllably angry I have ever been as an Arsenal fan, but by full time I was the happiest I had been after a game in a long long time, it was an epic win and one that I believe has shaped our season and could shape our next few seasons.

The confidence the team took from that game was evident, it showed that they could outplay and outscore anybody and come back so spectacularly from a loosing position. It is performances such as this, which makes me believe that with a few new faces and a more consistent level of performance from August to May plus a slightly less populous treatment room, we can challenge for the title next year. We have the basis of a very good team, and in games such as Chealsea away, Spurs at home, City at home we have highlighted this! Players such as Mikel Arteta, Luarent Koscielny, Theo Walcott, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song and of course the skipper Robin Van Persie were all played fantastically well and really galvanised the team in these games. And these players plus the likes of the returning Jack Wilshere and the brilliant Thomas Vermalean we can base our success around, and go on and have a fantastic season in 2012/2013!

But in order to do such, this summer is absolutely critical! Firstly we have to sign RVP the MVP down to a new contract, this is imperative. We have to show the rest of the Premiership and the rest of Europe that we mean business and that we are NOT a selling club. Once this is achieved (and I remain forever optimistic that it will be), we need to go out and bring in 3 top players to push the team on to that level and to add depth to the squad. Now as my twitter gooner colleague @MattCarr85 mentioned on his excellent Arsenal blog http://gunningfromsussex.blogspot.co.uk we should already have the likes of Podolski and Vertoghen in the bag and both players will add depth and quality to the squad. Podolski is a fantastic goal scorer who has been capped around 90 times for Germany by the age of 26 and Vertoghen is an extremely versatile and talented Belgian defender come defensive midfield player, who it is believed dreams of playing for The Arsenal, and with the inevitable departure of Squillaci he will provide quality depth to our defensive resources. Therefore we only need one more player, and I would like to see this be a midfielder. Because despite the fact that Jack Wilshere is coming back, and despite the fact that Mikel Arteta has been superb this season and Rosicky has been rejuvenated, I do feel that when those two players I mentioned first have both been missing this season we have lacked that little bit of composure and bite on the ball, and that is what I would love to see us add to our rooster in the summer. There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of signing Yann M'Villa and he is exactly the sort of player that we need, technically gifted, strong and versatile! I hope those deals come to fruition. Another player we should look at is Junior Hoillet from Blackburn who is a free agent this summer, he is very talented, however Arsene may feel that we have a lot of wingers already especially considering Ryo will return this summer from Bolton.

Therefore to conclude I feel that we have the basis of a very good side and squad, and despite the trials and tribulations we have endured this season we have shown great promise. Therefore with the addition of a few quality players we WILL be up there this season. I am an optimist (perhaps mad) but I believe in this group highly, and hope that my fellow Gooners do too!

 UP THE ARSENAL!!!

Do follow me on Twitter @Mr_arsenal_blog - and tweet me your thoughts I will reply to them all!

Also check out @Grantafc 's twitter and his Arsenal YouTube channel where he reviews every Arsenal match to great aplomb!! http://www.youtube.com/allaboutarsenal