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Anyway Arsène's impact was instant I mean, winning the double in your first full season is taking the piss, especially when you consider that the club had not won the title since 1990/91. To be honest it must have been a piece of cake to a new man who came into a league where post match pints was the norm. Also the technical level of the league was poor considering the limited amount of foreign imports in the country at that time. It must have been like walking into a race where all your competitors were off their faces after an all night bender and you are one of the few sober runners. This isn't to down play Arsène's early success but he was a man way ahead of the opposition. The only club Arsène had to deal with was Alex Ferguson's Manchester United who were ahead of the opposition themselves not down to foreign methods but down to

In the North London derby, ludicrous, fantastical notions of ‘playing the Tottenham way’ or ‘Wengerball’ essentially go out the window as simply securing a victory is all that matters. Nothing reinforced that fact more than the latest tête-à-tête between Arsenal and Spurs. Arsenal took an earlier lead but failed to capitalise, spent much of the game on the back foot and ultimately, looked second best. However, for all their possession and positive approach, our rivals could not find a way through and still found themselves on the receiving end of defeat. While there may be a worry or two over the way the team played and struggled to get a proper foothold on the game, the end result was the only thing that mattered. It may well have been one of the least enjoyable matches to watch

I love Olivier Giroud, I think his contribution to the team is often overlooked by those who favour pointing out he isn't as ostentatious as previous incumbents of his position. However, when isolated up front whilst the rest of the team defends, he can often be maddeningly ineffectual. Today he looked a touch lethargic and his control, which is usually very good, let him down on numerous occasions. Also, The Ox was jarringly profligate in front of goal, and I'm still yet to decide what he was trying to do when put clean through. A crafty dink? A pass? It was bloody awful. I know that much.

That penalty of course came courtesy of a challenge by Laurent Koscielny on the talented but devious Robben. The Bayern winger had spent much of the evening trying to get up close and personal with the Alianz turf following a series (!) of tumbles that most people would correctly call cheating. Of course, he needed little invitation to go down like a new-born foal under Kos’ challenge but once again, our French centre back made the decision easy for the referee. Every replay you care to watch shows that Kosclieny’s tackle attempt definitely made ‘contact’ with the flailing Dutchman so, while harsh, it could easily be argued that it was indeed a spot-kick.