Losing the big games to our nearest rivals hasn’t been pleasant, the chance to gloat to any Manc or Chav friends has been delayed once again but luckily for us we do have 34 other fixtures during the course of a league season

An early morning post for a change, this is because I will not have a spare second to write anything later on, so I shall grab this opportunity to say a few words on what is going on in the world of Arsenal.

Manuel Almunia is the latest Gooner not to rule us out of the runnings for silverware. Cesc Fabregas was the first to swipe away yet more talk of Arsenal’s title run crashing to a halt. Believing that we are not good enough is one thing but ruling us out of the race doesn’t actually make much sense to me. We are not in week 5 of the Premier League. We have played 24 league matches and we are currently six points off the leaders Chelsea. That tells me that with an apparent weak team/squad we have managed to be thrusted into the title race with 14 games left and judging by the first half of the season there is no reason why we cannot win a large share of those games.

Losing the big games to our nearest rivals hasn’t been pleasant, the chance to gloat to any Manc or Chav friends has been delayed once again but luckily for us we do have 34 other fixtures during the course of a league season. Liverpool had the bragging rights when they trounced Manchester United 4-1 at Old Trafford last season but United had the last laugh when bringing home the bacon so to speak.

Almunia said:

We are on schedule to do good things this season, we have only a little step to get back to the top of the league, When you think about where we were after the Chelsea game [in November], that is a great achievement.

“Sometimes it is better to come back from third or fourth to challenge than to be at the top all the time.”

Well I am not sure about that, I would rather have the points on the board and being able to build on what we have instead of chasing the above teams. I think Manchester United are more of a threat than Chelsea, the wind will be in their sails and Rooney is in the form of his life right now.

I am hoping that the old guys from West London can have themselves a nice little wobble. Draw to Hull and back to back defeats to Arsenal at home then an in form Everton at Goodison Park is my prediction and my hope.

I have a good feeling about the Chelsea game, funnily enough before the United defeat, the thought of going to Stamford Bridge filled me with fear, but now I feel somewhat different about it. Perhaps the defeat can be a blessing in disguise (some disguise I know) but if we drew 0-0 with Manchester United then nothing much would have changed apart from a few points.

The team will have no other choice but to look at themselves hard and fix the defensive problems that may have been ignored. Only time will tell but I can see us pulling out the fighting performance that will allow us to leave West London with three points. Is it from the head or from the heart? It doesn’t blinking matter, as long as we win.

Nicklas Bendtner has stated that he will make a major impact when he gets to full fitness. Cesc Fabregas has been our outstanding performer in recent weeks and the side will need someone else to take the bull by the horns.

Bendtner said:

“We didn’t get going against Manchester United but now we get another chance on Sunday which we must take 100 per cent, We’ve still got a chance if we win that match. If not? Well, then it’s hard to say how it will develop.

“I’ve played two games because there haven’t been other strikers available, so we took a bit of a chance with my fitness. But when I get back to full strength, I’ll be able to make a major impact. We have different types of striker who can do different things, and I think the team has missed a type like me.”

I’ll tell you what, if Bendtner’s talent can develop anywhere near his confidence then he will be the best in the world at no time. His belief is often seen as a negative but as a forward you need to be sure in what you are trying to achieve. It is most certainly a positive trait to have.

If someone like Bergkamp wasn’t confident in his ability then he wouldn’t have tried that outrageous flick around Nikos Dabizas against Newcastle. He would have layed it off to a team mate. Henry wouldn’t have flicked the ball up and volleyed over Fabian Bartez.

The youngsters beat Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 in a behind closed doors friendly yesterday, new boy Wellington Silva scored twice and I can only assume that trialist Stefan Savic took part in the game also. I have zero proof of that, I am only guessing so don’t pass it on and blame me if he didn’t feature.

I am not quite sure if Wenger is keeping the lad on or will pass up the chance, only time will tell. Back to Wellington, I thought he was supposed to be joining us in 2011, so I am not quite sure what is happening with that. If anyone can educate me then I would appreciate it.

He is only a kid and we cannot get carried away because plenty can happen/change from 17 to 22 years old or so when they should be showing what they can do at the highest level but Wellington Silva does look like a kid with plenty of raw talent. With the likes of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey in roughly the same age bracket it can only bode well for the future of the club.

I wouldn’t mind finding the Doc and getting him to drive me to Saturday 7th Feb 2015 and watch us spank Spurs who have failed to get into the top four for the last five years.

Apologies if I have missed the stream of morning news that usually turns up but I will not have the time to go into it this morning.

Back again tomorrow.