Arsenal conclude transfer business with Gabriel, having let four strikers go

#WelcomeGabriel #WelcomeBielik #AFCvAVFC

At last we've signed a defender! Gabriel is a 24 year old Brazilian who cost £11.2million, from Villarreal. His arrival, along with that of Bielik, a young but physical midfielder, and the recent emergence of Coquelin, has gone some way to addressing the weaknesses in our squad in central defence and defensive midfield. Having also let four strikers (Podolski, Sanogo, Campbell and Afobe) leave, our squad is now looking a lot more balanced and less top-heavy. Hopefully one or more of the loaned out strikers can still return, more experienced, to make the break through at Arsenal.

Brighton 2 - 3 Arsenal: Arsenal capitalise on the weekend's games with hard-fought victory

 #BHAvAFC

Arsenal line-up (4-3-3): Szczesny; Chambers, Koscielny, Monreal, Gibbs; Rosicky, Flamini, Ramsey; Walcott, Giroud, Özil

This was a game where the result was much more important than the performance. The first half was comfortable, but Brighton really made us work for it in the second. The result, however, never really looked in doubt, and puts us in a great position to retain our trophy, with Chelsea, Man City, Spurs and Southampton all going out this weekend. It was great to see the return of Özil and Walcott to the team, as their creativity and pace (respectively) could potentially add a lot of options to our team for the remainder of the season.

Thoughts on Man City 0 - 2 Arsenal, and predicted line-up against Brighton

#MCFCvAFC #BHAvAFC

So, after a turbulent couple of months, things are beginning to look up again! How quickly expectations have risen as we demonstrate the discipline required to fell one of the giants.