Abou Diaby wants to get forward, he wants to play the way he did against Hull City because naturally that is his game but for the benefit of the team he has a role to play therefore he cannot constantly dribble past players and get in the box for every attack

What a rather lovely weekend once again, I could kinda get used to this couldn’t you? Manchester United getting crushed at Fulham whilst the powerful, unbeatable Chelsea dropping two more points at West Ham. Phil Brown’s team getting slapped about by our lovely collection of super stars and to top it all off Mark Hughes getting the boot out of Money City. So we peg back some more points on the two above us which is fantastic news.

Next up Aston Villa which will be a tough game, they are feeling very good about themselves right now and they will fancy coming to us and stopping us playing. One thing is for sure, we will have to up the gears from the first whistle. We have started slowly at Anfield then again against Hull City, we do not want to regret starting anxiously.

Back to the Hull City game, Manuel Almunia had some very funny things to say about our opposition.

Almunia said:

“Two or three of their players tried to disturb our game. That is OK. If they don’t know how to play football, it is not our problem.

“They were not all too aggressive. But it is only a few who were very nasty. People react. I did it a couple of times with Hunt. I have nothing against him but it is not nice to play these type of players.”

‘If they don’t know how to play football, it is not our problem’ Ha ha classic stuff. There is now talk of Nasri being punished for stepping on the foot of some Hull player. If he does get banned for that then I will have lost all hope. It would be ludicrous. Players are allowed to go flying through opposition players all day long but a silly step can get our player in hot water.

Lets hope nothing come of it because we need Nasri who was fantastic against Hull.

Wenger has told us about how different Abou Diaby is to Patrick Vieira, to be honest I am pretty fed up about hearing the comparison every other day.

Wenger said:

“He is more of an offensive player,” said the manager. “He is not a defensive-minded player and he’s not a holding player. He’s a player who crosses the field at ease, goes from box to box like it’s no distance and has good power as well.

“I believe Vieira was more of a passer of the ball. Diaby is more of a dribbler, more offensive and makes more penetrating runs. Vieira was more of a constructor. They have a similar elegance and type of play but are not completely comparable.”

I think the difference between the two is pretty obvious and has always been. Physically they are very similar but they play totally different games.

Much is being made of Abou Diaby’s heroic performance at the weekend, I have read pundits and supposed ‘football experts’ claim that the midfielder should be doing what he did more often. Well I would love to explain it to them. Abou Diaby has been doing what has been asked of him. When Cesc Fabregas is playing, his role changes, it is not a case of going onto the pitch and doing what the hell he likes to do. Before Diaby’s injury he was in the team to add physical power and to win the ball the middle of the pitch. If you look at his statistics, it tells you that he made more tackles than his team mates in the same number of games.

Abou Diaby wants to get forward, he wants to play the way he did against Hull City because naturally that is his game but for the benefit of the team he has a role to play therefore he cannot constantly dribble past players and get in the box for every attack.

It annoys me how so many ‘experts’ are footballistically unintelligent, in fact it makes me frothing mad. Denilson is another player who is in the team for a reason, he has a job to complete. He is not in the team to spray 40 yard passes or dribble past the opposition. He is in the side to plug holes, to double up with Song when the opposition counter, he slots into the left back position when Clichy/Gibbs/Traore or Silvestre have been caught up field. But no, he hasn’t broken someone’s leg or scored a 30 yard free kick (oh but wait!) or flicked the ball over the head of two opposition midfielder’s then back healed the ball through the goal keepers legs.

I wish some folk would open their eyes a little wider to the beautiful game. Speaking of which, did any of you guys watch the game on ESPN? My word, talk about not attempting to hide their hatred for Arsenal. I think it was John Champion who was commentating on the game, the amount of spiteful comments that kept flowing through his mouth was unbelievable. I actually felt sorry for Joe Royle who was alongside him who continuously had to correct Champion time and time again.

One marvelous example was Champion’s xenophobia bursting to get out when stating that Wenger has to respect the duties of the English game by shaking the oppositions hand, referring to the non shaking of Mark Hughes’s sweaty under pressure hand in the Carling Cup but Royle correctly brushed it off explaining that Wenger is not being hypocritical and can do what he wants. That shut him right up.

I know some think I am paranoid but I just see hatred from all around when it comes to Arsenal, at least from the pundits and the media.

Ray Parlour doesn’t hate us though, I am sure it is something to do with the fact that he played for us, although it doesn’t’ stop some I can think of. Ray also believes that we can mount a title challenge.Ray was talking about how important the Christmas period is and he is right, it is a difficult time, especially when you have many bodies on the treatment table.

I hope Manchester United suffer the most with their decimated back line. The likes of Cesc, Traore, Rosicky and Clichy are all on their way back so that could well be vital during a very busy period.

Before I go, some of the players who helped us beat Hull City would like to show you a celebratory dance.

Back tomorrow.