Predicted starting eleven against Chelsea

#AFCvCFC

There is a lot to not like about Chelsea, which makes tomorrow a really important game for us. Points-wise, this game is not an absolutely vital one but, should we win, we strengthen our grip on second place, and send a really strong message to our rivals. While we are not going to catch Chelsea to win the title this year, a win would make it 9 on the bounce in the league and show that we really are capable of beating anyone. If we could remain unbeaten for the rest of the season then it would put us in a really good place for the start of the next campaign.

Reading 1-2 Arsenal (AET): Through to face Villa in the final

#RFCvAFC

We made hard work of it but eventually saw off a brave and battling Reading, thanks to two goals from Alexis. They weren't great goals, but Alexis has the determination that we so desperately need in these kind of tight games, and the directness that we so often lacked last season. While Alexis' opportunism got the goals and drew the attention of the pundits, I was impressed by the performance of Özil. While Reading were determined to give us as little time on the ball as possible, Özil was great at finding space and seemed to have the awareness and speed of thought to make the right decisions under pressure. Both Alexis and Özil are really beginning to look at home in this team, whether against the top teams or when battling against teams lower down the league(s).

Let's not believe our own hype just yet

#BFCvAFC #Bellerin #Walcott

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons to be positive at the moment, but the media would have us believe we're right up there with Chelsea competing for the title, when the reality is that we're still 7 points behind having played one game more. The moment we start believing that the hard work is done and we've arrived, is the moment we go to Burnley thinking we've already won just by turning up. There are, however, no easy games in the Premier League and, as Wenger stated recently, we need to match Burnley's work rate if we are to win this game.

Walcott needs to improve on practice run before Monaco

#AFCvWHU #MONvAFC

Since the huge disappointment of our loss to Monaco, our performances in winning our next four games have been really encouraging. Professional performances against Everton and QPR enabled us to brush them aside without needing to play our best, and against Man United we deployed a very similar system to the one that we used so successfully when we travelled to Man City.

Which Arsenal will turn up today?

#AFCvEFC

So our frustrations continue...

Wenger often speaks of the importance of consistency, yet we've struggled to find much this season. Just when things were starting to look up, we lost to Spurs, and we've had to fight to win subsequent games against Leicester, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace. Then, having won three games, we seemed to expect to be able to brush Monaco aside with ease, giving them less respect than we gave Palace in the previous game.

Expectations shifting again, as we emerge from a turbulent November and December

We began the season with high expectations, having won the FA Cup and gained 79 points in the league last season. On top of this we made some excellent signings, including Alexis, who could provide the cutting edge and directness that we lacked, so it felt like we had the foundations on which to build a genuine title challenge.

And yet, only a few months on, having had our worst start to a season many years, it was becoming harder and harder to defend Wenger's decision not to strengthen the squad in defence and defensive midfield. We began the season with only 6 defenders in the squad: Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal and Gibbs. Suddenly, our expectations had shifted from potentially challenging for the League, to having to really raise our game to retain hope of finishing fourth again.

Arsenal 5 - 0 Aston Villa: Composed team performance with five different goalscorers

#AFCvAVFC

As is so often the case in football, a few good performances quickly silences the critics. The media's tune has quickly shifted from questioning Wenger's ability to take the club beyond aiming for fourth place, to suggesting that Coquelin is the player to complete our team, providing all that we were missing against the big teams, while the return of Özil and Walcott means that we have too much attacking talent for just one team.

Today was the perfect opportunity for us to slip up again; so often we feel we have improved, having dug deep in an important game, only to go and underestimate the team we face next and be brought back down to Earth with a bump. Instead, however, we performed with a confidence and composure to suggest that we are improving and can tentatively look forward to a positive end to the season.

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.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Burnley: Alexis the main man again in improved performance

#AFCvBFC

Arsenal line-up: Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs; Arteta, Flamini; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis, Cazorla; Welbeck

That's now three good results on the bounce, and it was nice to see a half-decent performance for a change. Our last two performances against Anderlecht and Sunderland have been very poor, but this demonstrates that it is getting the three points that is the most important thing. Despite poor performances, good results give the team confidence, which then leads to better performances, hopefully allowing us to build further upon this sequence.

Anderlecht 1-2 Arsenal: Alexis wasn't celebrating after that shambolic performance!

#ANDvAFC

Arsenal line-up: Martinez; Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs; Flamini; Alexis, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla; Welbeck

This game was in contrast to both of the last two games against Hull and Chelsea. This was the worst performance of the three, and yet the best outcome, putting us in a strong position to at least qualify for the next round of the Champions League. Wenger considers it important to win your home games, and then pick up one or two results away from home too. So far we are on track to do this, although at the moment it's impossible to see us getting a result against Dortmund, even at home.

Spurs (H), Gala (H) and now Chelsea (A). 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1? Predicted line-up.

#CFCvAFC #COYG

Chelsea away is arguably the toughest Premier League game we will face this season, and follows a draw and a win in our last two games against Spurs and Galatasaray. This is a massive opportunity to show that we've improved compared to last season, particularly away from home against the big teams, and put to bed the demons still lingering from the equivalent fixture last season. It is also, however, a chance to go 9 points behing the leaders after just 7 games, effectively waving goodbye to our title aspirations already. There is a lot at stake here, to say the least.

From despair to renewed hope and back, but what would constitute success for Arsenal in 2014-15?

Before sinking into the despair brought by being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Southampton, let's pause to remember just how good the weekend just gone was. Things suddenly started looking very bright again, with Özil looking like the player we hoped we'd signed, a spectacular (Arsenal-style?!) collapse of Man U, Lampard scoring against Chelsea to cost them two points, Liverpool losing, Spuds losing, Everton losing and Man City dropping points. This demonstrates just how quickly things change in football, with it difficult to see any positives for the season ahead after our defeat to Dortmund last Tuesday night.

Finances looking good ahead of Villa game - predicted line-up

#AVFCvAFC

We've just announced profits of £4.7m for the year ending 31 May 2014, with turnover increasing to over £300m. I'm intrigued that, while profits are just £4.7m, our cash reserves have increased from £119.6m to £173.3m. In delving deeper, this seems to be because we received payments for transfers that had previously been agreed, so this increase in cash didn't count as profit. Also, we have credit arrangements on some player purchases, meaning that some of this cash is already spent, and therefore misleading.

Arsenal 2 - 2 Man City: Thoughts on Özil, defenders and 4-1-4-1

#AFCvMCFC

So the six first team defenders we had, to cover the back four positions, has now become five, following a nasty looking sprained ankle for Debuchy. We don't yet know how long he'll be out, but Chambers is an able deputy for Debuchy, which actually makes us better prepared for an injury at right back this season than we were last. However, a further injury at right back, or any injury at centre back, will force us to call upon the 19 year-old Bellerin to play at right back. Having recently broken Walcott's club record for sprinting 40m, Bellerin certainly doesn't lack pace, and is effective going forward, but he has next to no Premier League experience.

Predicted starting eleven against Man City

#AFCvMCFC #COYG

I can't wait for this game! After an international break it always feels like it's been way too long since the last Arsenal game, and what a game to come back to. We've had tests and chances to show that we've improved this season, but this is the biggest yet. Beating Man City 3-0 in the Community Shield was really satisfying, and yet there still remained some doubts. Yes, we played well, but the impression I was left with was that Man City either weren't quite ready yet, or didn't really take the game very seriously. That will not be the case this time.

Transfer Review: Ins > outs in best transfer window for a while

#WelcomeWelbeck

It's times like these that I become so much more aware of how my Arsenal bias, and hatred for anything to do with Man Utd, affects my views and opinions. I've spent the last few years trying to justify the viewpoint that Welbeck isn't any good, and then he goes and signs for us, forcing me to rethink my opinions in a more objective (or pro-Arsenal) way! While Danny isn't the high-profile striker of the calibre of Cavani or, dare I say it, Falcao, he does have some qualities that will add to our striking options and will provide genuine competition and cover for Giroud.

Post-Leicester thoughts on formation and transfer jealousy

#LCFCvAFC

 So, after a disappointing result away to Leicester, it's transfer deadline day, and calls for Wenger to sign a striker have reached fever-pitch.

Firstly, some thoughts on yesterday's game:

Starting line-up: Szczesny; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamini; Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla, Özil; Sanogo

So it seems that 4-1-4-1 is here to stay, and Özil remained on the left side, despite revealing in a recent interview with the Telegraph that he feels strongly that his best position is the 'number 10' playmaker role, through the middle. He also mentions that he prefers the right, where he has played for Real Madrid, to the left, where he was positioned for Germany in the World Cup. This makes Wenger's insistence on Özil playing on the left all the more strange. Some possible explanations are that Özil is just positioned there while he is regaining full match fitness, that Wenger wants to make space for both Wilshere and Ramsey to play in the two central midfield positions, or that Özil is positioned on the left as this allows Arsenal to break more quickly when we regain possession of the ball in our own half.

Predicted starting eleven against Besiktas, with thoughts on Sanogo and Alexis

#AFCvBES #COYG

 So, right on cue for our most important game of the season so far, Giroud breaks his foot and won't play again until the New Year. Alexis started as the central striker in our last game against Everton but was replaced at half-time by Giroud, with the latter proving to be much more effective in the role. It has been clear for well over a year now that we need backup for Giroud in the squad, but it's still unclear what Wenger's plans are. In such a high stakes game, we will see what Wenger considers to be his strongest available eleven, and therefore gain insight into what his plans have been for this eventuality.