Fast forward to Anfield against midtable Liverpool, we certainly got the rub of the green thanks to the woodwork being on our side for a pleasant change but I distinctly remember two wonderful blocks and last ditch challenges from both Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs. We won that game at the death. With Vermaelen at left back and Johan Djourou at right back we would have lost that game, even with the woodwork saving us on the day, Liverpool would have found another way past us

How wonderful,

The weather in Stanmore reflects the general feeling about the Arsenal at present. The fog and mist has been swished away and now the sun is shining brightly. Well something mushy like that anyway.

Arsene Wenger was talking about the period in the season where we had a blip and how it coincided with the loss of every available first team full back at the club.

During that period we had played against.

Fulham (a) Lost 2-1

Swansea (a) Lost 3-2

Manchester United (h) Lost 2-1

We had taken the lead in both away matches and had started very well but we could not maintain our football and allowed the opposition to get back into the game to then dominate. Defensively we were not good enough to stop them from scoring the goals to give them the points.

Against Manchester United we were awful in the first half but had turned it around in the second half. van Persie equalised and then we had the momentum. Valencia exploited us down the flanks which produced a winning goal for Manchester United when either side could have won the match.

All those games were lost by a single goal, in each of those games we had spells where we were the better team but eventually lost.

Fast forward to Anfield against midtable Liverpool, we certainly got the rub of the green thanks to the woodwork being on our side for a pleasant change but I distinctly remember two wonderful blocks and last ditch challenges from both Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs. We won that game at the death. With Vermaelen at left back and Johan Djourou at right back we would have lost that game, even with the woodwork saving us on the day, Liverpool would have found another way past us before van Persie’s spectacular late finish.

Now we will never know what those results would have been with both Sagna and Gibbs/Santos in the team at the time, we could have lost by more goals for all we know, nothing is guaranteed in football but for arguments sake, let us imagine that we had somehow managed to win those three games we would now stand three points away from Manchester United and Manchester City in the league with *67 points.

This is not even to factor in our disastrous start to the season with leaving our new signings so late, having them to bed into the squad and dealing with the mental crushing of the Old Trafford mess.

Yes this is all hypothetical and having fit full backs all season may have taken this squad in a different direction altogether but for me, it reinforces the view that we are and in fact have always been a very good football team. Circumstances have not always helped us prove that, whether that be because of our own doing or just sheer bad luck.

I was taken to task a few months ago for writing a fantasy article (The Nightmare That Was The Arsenal 2003/2004 Season) about the invincible season suffering the injuries we had at points this season. I also mentioned in that piece how Tottenham were flying because of a consistently fit squad. I then as I do now, believe that we have the superior first team and squad for that matter but I was understandably laughed at given ‘the gap’ of points between the two clubs.

Fast forward a few weeks and switch the boots around a little, Tottenham lose a few key players to injury and their confidence dwindles with it, Arsenal get first team players back along with self belief and we win 7 on the spin.

With this football lark, people tend to look at the here and now, in pure 1960s black and white (which is quite relevant to those lot down the lane) and not open up the piece of folded paper as far as it can go.

This article is not to say that having full backs for the whole season would or should have won us the league, it is mearly to show how fine the margins are. How small things can change the course of a season.

We are still looked at rather sceptacally by many and the quality of this squad whether that be technical or mental is still very much doubted, especially from those outside the club but for me, we have all we need already at the club and I expect the squad to be boosted further in the summer. Consistentcy and confidence are the two factors that we have to hope remains for the rest of this season and then to spill onto the next.

Confidence is a funny thing, a few weeks ago you look at the fixture list and every game looks daunting, you fear the very worst.

‘Oh! Villa at home is tricky. They have done well against us recently. McLeish will park the bus and if Robin is out of the game then how are we going to score’

That could have been a sentence uttered by many a fan after we lost in the FA cup to Sunderland, today we all want the next game to hurry up and come round such is the good feeling that the boys in red and white are giving us.

This said, while we as fans can be happy with what we have done in recent weeks, we have to hope that the players can continue to produce the same guts, attitude and technical football in every single game from now until the end of the season. If we do then Champions League football will be ours and possibly the more difficult task of staying 3rd.

Tottenham make me a little concerned because they have a much easier fixture run in from here on in and I don’t expect them to continue to lose games against the teams they have to face. We have an extra defeat cushion to play with but we have some very difficult fixtures to play so let us wait and see what unfolds.

Kieran Gibbs has praised Theo Walcott as a man and a footballer.

Gibbs said:

“For me, yes [he is the best winger in the country],” said the left back. “Put it this way, I wouldn’t like to be coming up against him. I looked up to him quite a lot when he first came to the club, it is a pleasure and a joy to play with him. He is an outstanding player.

“He is one of my best friends and a top boy. He is a model pro, takes his work really seriously and is a really nice guy.”

High praise indeed. Theo’s step up has been fantastic and I must say, I was getting frustrated with his performances only a short few weeks ago but now I suspect he is responsible for many people indulging in plenty of pie.

I said it in the Villa post match thoughts but I am thoroughly enjoying the tidiness of his game. His one-two’s, his first touch and his off the ball runs have been quality. I hope he can score a few more like he managed against Villa in the remaining games.

Finally, the Lukas Podolski deal looks like it is coming to a head (again) Arsene has been a lot more open about it which kind of tells me that is should be close. He spoke of wanting to sign world class attackers to complement a man who can score when he wants. I hope Lukas can do a Sagna, no not plait his hair but hit the ground running.

But hey, let me slam on those breaks and get back to today before we think about tomorrow.

Oh, the sequel to finally. You may or may not have noticed the new little ‘Giftastic Gooners’ on the left column. I shall be finding and adding to the collection over time so if you have any good ones then please Send em over to me via the form. That would be great.

Right, I could waffle on all day but the sun is not going to wait for me so I am off.

Back tomorrow.

* What slipped passed me is the fact that Manchester United would have not had an extra three points had we have beaten them and I may as well throw this one in also. When we lost 1-0 at Manchester City, even though RVP had a wrongly disallowed goal, we also had 0 full backs on the pitch.