As the title suggest, there have been a few positives in the past weeks that we tend to overlook based on the overall context of our terrible results. We are in the middle of our worst start in the Premier League and we are being lambasted, rightfully so, from all around us. However, there are some things in each match that I have tried to latch on too in order to keep my hopes
Obviously first thing is first, I want those three points but I also would love to see our attacking game click because it hasn't so far and many Wenger teams are built on the momentum of our play, if that does not function then we stutter. Fluency is the key, quick combination passing takes time to get right, especially when you have to incorporate new players into the set up
What I find very intriguing is the development of this new team. It looks as if we are doing things the other way round now. Wenger's teams of the past have always clicked offensively. The continuous short passing work on the training ground has been replicated on the pitch but the stability defensively
Mikel Arteta would be likely to have more freedom to get closer to van Persie. Defensively this would be very strong but I would be concerned with the team's ability to keep the ball if pressed intensely, it could also be a team that would lack creativity if Arteta was stopped. If Arsene felt brave then he could drop Frimpong to the bench, bring in Yossi Benayoun and drop the midfielders back a slot with
Liverpool came and went, then the Udinese return. Yet still I was in the midst of this out-of-body experience. Even the Man Utd game, which should have left me feeling like I'd spent a night dressed as a sow in the woods of Deliverance, couldn't raise me. It was a waking slumber from which I could not awake, no matter how many street parties they had on the streets of Guildford
Arsene Wenger is right when he says, confidence goes quickly and is slow to build up. The team are refinding their feet and has to do so with new personnel as well as missing first team players. This Arsenal team are still stuck in first gear, there is plenty of internal scope to improve upon and that will come. The most important thing right now was to get points on the board and we got that, we also have a clean sheet to pin to the wall. Alex Song and Gervinho will add defensive and offensive quality
Mikel Arteta has had much more time as he was not called up for Spain and has trained on a few occasions since his £10m move on transfer deadline day. Arteta will be an almost guaranteed starter today but his role in the team is yet to be known to Gooners. I am interested to know if we will go
It seems almost guaranteed that JY Park will not be a surprise starter as our new forward is currently in Paris trying to obtain a work permit. He hasn't trained with the team yet and having to make the trek over from France and then start tomorrow after having played for his country may well be a stretch too far. At best he will find a place on the bench subject to his work permit
I watched the England vs Wales game yesterday and was very proud. Not for the country I was born in but for a Welsh captain that ran the midfield. A Welsh captain that has had a major setback on his career due to an oaf. He had looked a little like a kid before, holding onto the ball for too long or making the wrong decisions. At Old Trafford Aaron Ramsey was one of our better players then he scored for the Welsh last week and now he has put in a wonderful display away from home against
I get fed up with watching depleted squads have to make do because key players are missing. I really felt for Connor Henderson during pre season, the poor lad had been given a chance to show what he could do and injury struck, the same has to be said for Frimpong last pre season but without being heartless, these are players who do not impact our season