
Arsenal midfield. Per Mertesacker's absence was another surprise but instead of being dropped, he was ill with some type of sickness that appears to be doing the rounds at the club. Oliver Giroud is

Arsenal, if he was going to stay then he would have signed a new deal already. Theo Walcott already knows which club he wants to go to and how much they are willing to pay him. That is what his agent
Jack Wilshere played his first competitive game since pre season last year. I was at the game and watched him hobble off the pitch but I thought to myself that he doesn't look too discomforted so he should be ok. How wrong I was. A couple of operations and setbacks later, he has started his recovery and of course we should urge caution. We have seen what a long injury can do to a young player like Aaron Ramsey and god forbid Abou Diaby who was only 19 when the despicable Dan Smith decided it would be a clever thing to crash into his ankle for no reason. So we have to play the waiting game, look at what his
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Jack is back

Lukas Podolski had scored in three games in a row against Liverpool. Southampton and Montpelier. Since then he has had two quiet games against Manchester City and now Chelsea. Difficult games granted but I do get the sense that we are not getting the very best out of him. It almost feels as if we are playing two left backs on the left hand side. Podolski gives everything he has for the team

Arsenal team, It may seem a little early to judge but it looks as if we have a squad of experienced players who are good enough to stand toe to toe against the leagues best. London Colny feels a little like a tube journey from Oxford Circus to Finsbury park in the middle of rush hour such is the abundance of players we have actually on the pitch rather than being shared by our treatment facilities.

Arsenal but with Oliver Giroud pushing to start and grab his first goals for Arsenal, Theo's path may well be blocked once more. That needn't be the case if Arsene continues last season's league cup formula and switches to a 4-4-2. Last season Park partnered Chamakh in attack, a duo of Walcott

Arsenal right now, with Arteta, we have someone who does all of that, in one role, and does it very well. This facilitates our playing a 4-3-3, like Barcelona, with an extra midfielder to do both defensive and attacking roles (Diaby or Ramsey or, when fit, Wilshere) rather

Arsenal team moved the ball around as quickly and slickly as we did. Ramsey drifting in from wide gave us the advantage in midfield and Mancini's men were chasing us for long periods. If it was the first time I'd ever watched football without knowing any of the history then I would have assumed that
