I didn’t get to see this one and had to settle for the highlights, as I’m away with family. The highlights were brief, I can tell you that. I’m guessing the match was not what some might call a cracker. But the through ball I witnessed was typical Cesc, and good to see on his first outing as the new Capi Captain. Niklas Bendtner took it and finished well to get us the points not long from full time.

So, we’re through to the knock out round and have Chelsea up next at The Bridge. Our boys will be up for it, with everyone talking negative about us, but it will be a monumental achievement to take all three points. You just never know with our team though. We might be forced to put enough of our young Guns in there and you just never know who they’re capable of upsetting. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

It’s going to be difficult to write anything that hasn’t already been blogged to death on this match and our current situation. Forgive me if I don’t try very hard.

There’s no question about it at this point: the team are in crisis. Between the injury epidemic and the lockerroom unrest, we appear to be at an all time low with this current side. The worst part about it is that there really is a lot of talent in this squad. It just needs to be properly cared for… and properly led. And that’s more of a comment on Arséne Wenger than it is William Gallas. Gallas’ failures are Wengers’. I truly believe in Arséne as a manager and believe that if anyone can turn this situation around, it is him. And, he has taken the first step in the right direction by naming Cesc Fabregas as the new Arsenal captain. I’m thrilled about this, although a bit apprehensive. It’s going to be a bit of a baptism by fire for Cesc being thrown in during such a troubled time, but I do truly believe that he will do wonderfully. It may take some time to undo the current situation, but we will get there.

Our Premiership title hopes for this season are done. There’s no way we can hope to lift the cup with five defeats already from fourteen. It’s not mathematically over, but let’s be honest. It would take massive failure on the part of all four teams currently above us along with an undefeated run from us, and I can’t realistically imagine that happening. But, we still have the Champions League to fight for, we have cup action ahead and twenty-two more Premiership matches in which to watch this new era of Arsenal football take shape. And that’s enough for me. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Quick write up as I’m headed off for a trip to the south first thing on the morrow.

Let’s see… what else could go wrong for us this year? A few more injuries, I suppose. Theo Walcott will probably… oh, wait… he’s already gone and done his shoulder. See you next year, Theo. Sagna… out… most of the rest of the fucking side… out, for one reason or another. I suppose sometime during warm up a stiff wind will come along and fell three of our four starting midfielders with hamstring injuries while simultaneously giving Mikael Silvestre a wicked case of les sniffles. So, the Scurvy Prognostication of The Match is:

Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal

That really hurt to do. I haven’t predicted anything other than a win for the Arsenal all season. I almost dread another loss for this one. I think Citeh might be due. And, they’re now one of those teams that we’re supposed to beat handily, yet always seem to eke out points against us. The start of the year seemed so promising… it’s a good thing there’s lots of football yet to be played. We’ll make up for it eventually. It’s the run up to Boxing Day that will be a slog. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

I really don’t have a lot to say about this match. I watched with enthusiasm, and I watched with hope, and I watched… until the life was sucked right out of me. Again.

I just don’t know what’s up with this team lately. I’m sure Arséne’s wondering the same thing lately. I wish there were one thing we could all point at and say “Fix it FFS!” and that’d be it. But it’s far more complicated than that I think. And, I think it’s going to take a bit longer to fix. The inconsistency rankles in my gut. It’s like being on a roller coaster where the peaks are the height of awesome and the troughs are the depths of suck. All credit to the Villains, who did play a decent match, though. I like Martin O’Neill, and he’s obviously onto something there at Villa Park. Can’t wait to see them there in a few weeks. Should be fun.

On a positive note: nice fuckin’ save, Manuel.

Simpson 43, 68, Vela 71 – Divers: De Ridder

I tried coming up with some witty line to open this post using the word Kids, but I guess I’m just not that kind of hack. I’ll leave it to the rest of the Arseblogosphere to treat you to such gems as “The Kids are alright” or “The Young Guns blah blah yadda…“  I just don’t have it in me. Besides, the Gunners I watched in this match played like seasoned veterans… perhaps not the the most technically astute, but certainly all heart, and even more so… all Arsenal. Kids seems almost an insult in retrospect.

Apart from the omission of Emile Heskey (injured), Steve Bruce put out his best side. It wasn’t enough. To be sure, there were more than a few moments when the Latics appeared to be boss of the pitch, but the Arsenal side seemed like that bullied kid we all knew in school who, no matter how bad the nose bleed, always came back with his chin up. That was our side for the first third or so. They seemed to be getting pushed, pressured and all the while Wigan prodded for an opening. But as the match progressed, Arsenal seemed to learn their foe, and the comfort level grew. The pushing around subsided, and then the pushing back began.

Apart from Alex Song and possibly Johann Djourou, no one… and I mean no one from the first team was in the line up. And, I have to tell you… seeing the line up before the match had me grinning ear to ear. You could just feel that this was going to be one to remember. WuTang Fabianski captained the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Gavin Hoyte, Fran Merida, Mark Randall, Aaron Ramsey, Jay Simpson, Carlos Vela and the excellent Jack Wilshere. Amaury Bischoff, Rui Fonte and Henri Lansbury made it off the bench in the waning minutes to contribute. This troupe, with an average age of 19, began the push back… and pushed, and pushed, until Jay Simpson found the net shortly before the break. Things still seemed tentative at that point and Wigan kept on the press in a 4-3-3, but then at 68′ on a perfectly executed counter attack, Carlos Vela found his way nearly into the net before crossing back into the on rush of Jay Simpson to complete his brace. Vela tasted blood, and 3 minutes later, chased down a long ball that he had no right to get to first, and chipped the Wigan keeper from 10 yards wide in what will have to be a strong candidate for Goal of the Year. Arsene Wenger, when asked if he thought Vela’s goal was special, replied by saying he was surprised that Vela hadn’t scored on a similar opportunity in the first half because he makes those all the time. More of Carlos in the first team, please. Thank you.

Were it not for the excellent stopping of Chris Kirkland, we could have made this a 7-0 rout, mostly in the second half. Although appearing to be playing with an injury, Kirkland made some absolutely stunning saves. Although, near the final whistle, Luasz Fabianski made a double save that simply dropped my jaw. His awareness and agility to get back on his feet after a save are simply awesome. When I saw that save live, I yelled “Oh, come on!” and the first thing I thought was that the ball had no business being anywhere but in the net. But it wasn’t… Lukasz had got a hand on it for the second time in 400 milliseconds to keep it out of his goal, with a bit of help from the crossbar. Brilliant keeping – world class.

Arsenal dropped prices to get capacity crowds at The Grove for this one… and it worked. Just shy of 60,000 people got to see the match. I’m all for price drops, but I would have gladly paid full price to see a match like that. If these young fellows are the future of Arsenal, then I can sleep soundly at night knowing we are indeed in excellent hands. Beautiful showing tonight, Gunners. Beautiful.