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Arsene's was asked whether he was interested in bringing any new players during the window and his response was very interesting. He said that he had a full squad and wouldn't be adding to the squad unless players left. That statement is fine in itself as was explained in the blog yesterday, due to squad restrictions we can only do something if some are moved on but what caught my attention was the fact that he was speaking about players who have no real chance to play. That sounds as if he is admitting publicly that playing time will not

Now should the argument be about having Thierry Henry or player x then that is a different story altogether. Having Thierry Henry for two months and only Henry means that once the two months is over we could be back to having a striker who hasn't played a minute of Premier League football and a striker who has been out of form for a while now. Ideally we would have player x who can play wide and central, score goals, adapt from the off and who is young enough to improve without costing £50m. That along with Henry means that we

van Persie snatched at a Gervinho pass and struck his shot wide when he had time to steady himself. As has been the case in the last few weeks, Robin van Persie was not at his best, his touch looks off, his quality in the final third has diminished. In the second half he had some great chances to pull down chipped passes that would have left him with the keeper to beat but he could not kill the ball in his

As I was saying in a recent blog I would love to see Rosicky and Benayoun linking up together with Robin van Persie, three players who could potentially be on the same wavelength and could play some nice football together. Whichever team take the field this afternoon only a victory will be satisfactory, anything less will be a big disappointment and waste of a very good situation.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and if you do not celebrate Crimbo then just have a splendid day. I feel like a zombie today after a stupidly late night mixed in with kids who thought it was a good idea to try and wake up at 4am. If anyone found a Thierry Henry, van Persie new contract, Eden Hazard or Mario Gotze in their stockings then please let me know. Would love to break the story first. If not

However there is an argument for needing a longer term solution on top of the loan signing of Thierry Henry but I cannot help but think that a choice like that would be linked to the players we already have in our squad. It hasn't really been the Arsenal way to replace players before players in the same position have departed. Much of that could well be down to the new squad rules but equally it could

Continuing with the subject of change, the transfer window is not very far away and we already expect a temporary fix to the left back spot but according to RMC radio in France, Arsenal and Lyon have made contact about bringing Yoann Gourcuff to Arsenal. Arsene n the meantime we are short of left backs, Gibbs now has to have an operation and continues to be dominated by terrible luck while Santos is no closer to a return so Arsene has hinted that he may have to bring in someone on loan. The media's football knowledge isn't

Mikel Arteta seems to be stamping his authority on games much more these days. He is following the ball and making himself available for every player in a ten yard radius. He reminded me a little of Xavi at points yesterday, swiveling and turning in half circles away from challenging opponents and

The home team have the pacy Gabriel Agbonlahor returning from suspension so we have to make sure we do not leave too much grass for him to run into when Villa win the ball back. I also expect Agbonlahor to pull to the right and attempt to isolate Miquel. It is a big night for the youngster but he