My post Wenger concerns are not how the new manager will work with the players he has it is how he will continue to build squads in future. My concerns are not about how a new manager will motivate his players in a home game to lower opposition it is whether or not he will buy Stewart Downing over Francis Coquelin, Ryo Miyaichi and Oxlade-Chamberlain. So many players want to leave their clubs

It is behind the sofa, nervous wreck, shaking like a leaf time. The biggest game of the season for the fans and at this stage of the campaign with so much at stake the game is simply a must not lose at the very least. The players have to reflect that on the pitch this afternoon.

This is not the type of fixture where going through the motions will be accepted, Gooners want to see a proud display from the players, a committed performance from start to finish and I have the feeling that we will see just that.

Our early season fight has dwindled in recent weeks but with a week to recover from tired legs, hopefully we will see more of a spirited performance. Our best defender, Laurent Koscielny will make it back for the game which is vitally important, there have been rumours that Kieran Gibbs may miss the game but I hope that is not the case. Gibbs at left back with Vermaelen and Koscielny gives us a much better balance than Djourou in the center with Vermaelen at left back.

The other selection poser will be for Arsene to decide between Chamberlain and Walcott but I imagine Arsene will go for the latter and rest the former. We shall see.

The Tottenham supporters are getting rather cocky these days, rather full of themselves. Believing the hype no doubt, check out the comments section in my pre match article earlier this week

That is another reason why I want that lot utterly stuffed and I think we will be superior today. There seems to be too many people thinking that this is a forgone conclusion and that Tottenham will show that they are the better team etc etc, we are the underdogs for a change and our backs are against the wall, we always used to respond to that and it is time for this group of players to continue that Arsenal tradition.

In other news the captains contract is the talk of the town once more. Caught Offside and the Metro (hahahaha) are talking about record breaking deals being put together (whatever that actually means) while Robin himself had this to say.

“There have been a lot of stories, generally contradictory ones, about my contract situation recently so I’d like to make it clear,” he said.

“If I look down the list, there’s not much time to sit down and think about anything else! For me, this is a time to play football and not speak about personal things. All of my energy needs to go on getting this team where we want it to be this season.”

Which actually all makes sense really. I don’t know whether I am pulling wool over my own eyes but I just cannot see someone like van Persie walking away from the club that stood by him. Anyway there is no need to go into any detail on this. These stories will reappear time and time again until a decision is made either way.

Players past and present have come to the defence of Arsene Wenger. Firstly Eduardo who left Arsenal due to not getting enough game time still holds the manager in the highest regard has doubted whether or not another manager could keep the club at the same level which is a thought that has gone through my head more than once.

“Sometimes people don’t have patience, and they think they must win everything all the time. Arsène Wenger made Arsenal, and Arsenal made Wenger. If he goes away, I doubt anyone else could keep Arsenal playing at the same level. I learned a lot from him, not just about football but about life. How to be a professional, how to deal with pressure and how to adapt to life in England”

Not sure about Arsene Wenger making Arsenal but I know where he is coming from. Arsene has taken this club a long way forward from one of the biggest clubs in England to one of the biggest in world football.

I think it is often too easy to look at someone’s short comings and judge them totally by those. I question why Arsene lets his players not do certain tasks, some question why we do not change our system at times etc but being a football manager is about so many tasks, so many factors.

It is not as easy as saying Wenger has x amount of weaknesses, so lets sack him and bring in y who has better strengths in Wenger’s weaknesses. That completely ignores Arsene’s strong points which is many. He has an unrivaled ability to develop competitive teams within the constraints of the club and we have all seen what those constraints are.

My post Wenger concerns are not how the new manager will work with the players he has it is how he will continue to build squads in future. My concerns are not about how a new manager will motivate his players in a home game to lower opposition it is whether or not he will buy Stewart Downing over Francis Coquelin, Ryo Miyaichi and Oxlade-Chamberlain. So many players want to leave their clubs and work with Arsene Wenger, are they desperate to work with manager y? even if Chelsea are willing to pay another £10k per week.

This is not to say that the club cannot progress without Arsene Wenger in charge, that is clearly not the case, As the saying goes, the club is bigger than any manager or player. The club will continue to have ups and downs from now until the end of its existence. I just don’t believe that Wenger’s short comings paint the whole picture.

For Arsenal to get back to becoming competitive I would rather give the current manager a larger canvas to work on. How the club go about doing that, I just don’t know the answers.

Talk of the Arsenal wage bill being super inflated seems to be the latest craze, some are jumping on the bandwagon and making up figures. The best explanation of our spending can be seen at The Beautiful Groan he also has another article about finishing fourth as opposed to third.

I have thought the same thing and believe it was the cause of us missing out on someone like Juan Mata. If it wasn’t for our disgraceful end of season slump then we may well be in a completely different position today but we will never know that for a fact. Well not until Arsene Wenger releases a book about his time at Arsenal. Now that would be some read.

Mikel Arteta says that the players need to share the responsibility and not just the manager and he is correct. We know that the players can play much better than they have of late and they just haven’t performed in recent weeks. I just hope a big passionate game is coming up soon so they can put that right.

Did you see Ryo look oh so silky for Bolton? He could be on his way to emulating Jack’s Bolton impact. Fingers crossed but he looks very exciting.

Right, time to try and make the time pass quicker so I can jump behind my sofa. This is a big one and I am bloody nervous but we can do it, we have to do it, Please, with sugar on top.

Back tomorrow.