Thomas Vermaelen has played down his goal scoring abilities and has prioritised clean sheets, which is the correct order, I agree but there is nothing wrong with a goal or two. Thomas will always be a threat from set pieces

Have you got all fingers and toes crossed for the coming few days? I certainly have. My two only hopes over this international period are that A) all Arsenal players come back with all their parts working at least as good as when they left. B) Those players perform very well and gain confidence from those performances. I shall throw in another for good measure. C) our rival clubs have to open a new physio room to cope with the alarming rate of their players falling like flies to injury.

I am interested to see how Theo Walcott does tonight, to see if his form is successfully carried over to not just the international scene but more to the point, around his England colleagues. This is only guess work but judging by Steven Gerrard’s comments in his autobiography and Wayne Rooney’s body language towards him, I am guessing that our Theo is not as appreciated in the England squad as he is at Arsenal.

I wonder if that appreciation will change the better he gets. It will be interesting to see how all the ego’s cope with Walcott’s attention. He clearly is the form player of the squad, at least in the attacking sense. I suppose it is too early to be focusing on form, consistency over a longer period of time will be the key.

After the surprise bit of good news with Nasri another dose of good injury news has turned up. Nicklas Bendtner is close to returning to the squad after nagging groin problems. Perhaps the turning point came when Koscielny looked to be chopped in half at Anfield yet bounced back after the break. It certainly is about time that our luck changed. Maybe we could sneeze in the direction of Chelsea or Manchester United and pass on our old germs.

Perhaps I should be talking more about this after the international break, but it is too late. I have already spoken, no amount of deleting and re-writing will change what fate has in store.

Thomas Vermaelen has played down his goal scoring abilities and has prioritised clean sheets, which is the correct order, I agree but there is nothing wrong with a goal or two. Thomas will always be a threat from set pieces, his jumping ability and the power in his shooting will always get him goals if given the chances but as he pointed out keeping cleans sheets has to be the number one priority. I have been enjoying the Verm, Kos combo thus far and wonder what we have in store for the Squiller. Needless to say I hope they are really working together to create a working unit and it is certainly a case of so far so good.

Interesting quotes attributed to Andrey Arshavin, but I approach with caution, I read it via the Daily Fail and it has seems to have been translated from an interview given to a Russian paper I think. I cannot find the original interview but what he says is pretty true.

Arshavin said:

The year and a half in England has significantly changed me, I became calmer, more professional and spend more time with my family.’

‘As for football I can say that my style has also altered – it is more effective but less sparkling. I don’t remember when was the last time I score a really beautiful goal.

‘It’s frustrating. I tried to analyse this, but can find no answers. It is likely that my injuries last year had an affect, because on three occasions I was out for a month, but it is feeble to talk about injuries.’

Firstly Andrey, don’t call me feeble. Andrey is a funny player, technically one of the top players in world football, a game changer. A player who can win a match in 60 seconds with a quick thinking assist or a rasping drive from distance. The problem is the rest of his contribution to the game. His graft for the team is inconsistent and he can disappear from the game for long periods.

Hopefully he can get back to somewhere near his best as the season progresses. Even if he has a quiet game, it is always good to know that he is capable of pulling something out of the bag as he did at Anfield last season.

Almost the polar opposite is the new boy Marouane Chamakh. He is not going to pull the ball down at the half way line beat four players and then bend the ball into the top corner but he is going to force himself into the game, going to chase down the defender who has just ran past him and put his body on the line.

Chamakh has said that he has plenty more to give once he adapts to the Premier league.

Chamakh said:

“I am settling in well and the coach [Arsene Wenger] is doing his best to make me feel welcome at the club.

“I know that once I get settled, my game will improve a lot. The players have welcomed me also and I feel part of the family and the morale in the squad is good.

“We want to win the Premier League this season and we are all focused on that.”

He seems to have slotted into the team seamlessly just as Sagna, Nasri and Vermaelen had before him. With Robin back on the sidelines again Chamakh has some more time to settle in and show everyone what he can do.

D.d.d.d.d.d dats all folks,

Back tomorrow