First things first, I would like to draw your attention to this, which is a petition for the government and the FA to closely examine the joke that is the current 'fit and proper person' test for controlling members of football clubs.
I would urge you to consider putting your name to it, as the problem of shady individuals getting involved in the running of a football club, for reasons potentially far more sinister than enabling eleven men to be more successful, is growing, and not just at Arsenal.
It is a worry that stretches beyond Arsene Wenger's concern that English football is losing its soul, and is becoming more pertinent by the day as we receive news that Usmanov has raised his stake in the club to 23%.
Looking forward, however, and the weekend sees a return to Upton Park, where we lost poorly last season to a West Ham side who have since improved, and are seemingly playing more as a team this time around. Add to that the excellent Dean Ashton, who is coming back to fitness with a couple of goals, and a win would be a fantastic result.
But the way the team are playing at the moment, they'll be disappointed with anything else. A draw wouldn't surprise me, although at the back of my mind I am aware that a rested Van Persie is ready to win us matches again.
It is one year ago this weekend, that RVP scored that volley against Charlton. I know the date, because I happened to be getting married at the time, and caught the goal on a good friend's mobile phone shortly after the final whistle. If you've forgotten just how good it was, enjoy this:
A delayed report on the 2-0 Carling Cup victory over Newcastle this morning, due to the fact that I hadn't seen enough of the game to be able to comment up to now.
Calling the shadow side a 'youth outfit' compared to the first team is a bit like saying black is a really dark colour compared with extremely dark brown - shorn of Gilberto, Gallas and Lehmann on Saturday, the team that demolished Derby had an average age of 23, only two years older than the one that dispatched Newcastle on Tuesday night.
And the styles were very similar. There was Traore rampaging down the left, pinging in two beautiful crosses for Bendtner, one of which he missed and the other he powered in for the opener. The French full back's speed is so reminiscent of Clichy that we wouldn't miss Cashley Cole even if he was the same talented left back we used to have, and not the neutered attacking force he is at Chelsea.
In the centre, Denilson showed the passing range of a certain young Spaniard, and his finish was the second goal was outstanding - for someone whose long range shooting hasn't impressed up to now, it was a spectacular way to get off the mark for the club.
Strangely, at centre back Song looked more comfortable than Senderos, who is playing without any sort of confidence at the moment. His goal line clearance from Martins, which would've made it 1-1, however, was nothing short of outstanding.
Up front, Eduardo was scrapping while Bendtner was causing havoc in the Newcastle defence, but for me the real star of the display was Lassana Diarra, our inexplicably cheap 2m capture from Chelsea. They may come to regret that sale - he was busy and efficient, and gave the team a perfect platform from which to show their skills. With performances like that, it cannot be long until he pushes into the first team.
Which is bad news for Gilberto, who is targeting a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of next season. The way things are going, I'm not sure he'll be getting one. Flamini has been outstanding alongside Cesc in the middle, and with Diaby, Diarra and Denilson pushing hard for a central midfield role, the only option for the Brazilian seems to be at centre back.
I'm not sure why Gilberto has been frozen out the way he has. Perhaps Wenger doesn't consider him fully fit after the Copa America run in the summer. Perhaps his levels have dropped since his disappointment at missing out on the captaincy. But the big man has been a hugely professional asset to the club, always positive, always effective, and it would be a shame to let that go. But Wenger has shown his ruthless side before. Is it his turn?
It's West Ham away at the weekend, which provides a chance to right a few wrongs from last season. Quite incredibly, the Hammers got the double over both us and Man Utd with four 1-0 victories, a remarkable statistic given their otherwise appalling defensive record.
Let's hope we create as many chances as we did at the Emirates against them last season. Because the way the team are playing and finishing at the moment, that sort of performance will end in a rout.
Until then, bask in the glow of a grumpy Sam Allardyce, who having spent a week trying to wind up Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger, can now only whinge that his team didn't have enough time to prepare for the match. Which is the same excuse he used for losing to Derby last week.
Big clubs play lots of matches. Is this Sam's way of admitting that Newcastle aren't a big club?
There is no doubting that Arsenal have got off to an absolute flyer this season, but how much does that tend to indicate the overall success of a season? Let's look at some history:
2006/7
Arsenal's first six games : Villa(h) 1-1, Man City(a) 0-1, Boro(h) 1-1, Man Utd(a) 1-0, Sheff Utd(h) 3-0, Charlton(a) 2-1, 11 points, final position 4th
Man Utd's first six games: Fulham(h) 5-1, Charlton(a) 3-0, Watford(a) 2-1, Spurs(h) 1-0, Arsenal(h) 0-1, Reading(a) 1-1, 13 points, final position 1st
Even on a three game winning streak, Arsenal were behind Man Utd from day one, and never got closer than this. Ten goals in three games from the eventual champions set them off and running.
2005/6
Arsenal: Newcastle(h) 2-0, Chelsea(a) 0-1, Fulham(h) 4-1, Boro(a) 1-2, Everton(h) 2-0, West Ham(a) 0-0, 10 points, final position 4th
Chelsea: Wigan(a) 1-0, Arsenal(h) 1-0, WBA(h) 4-0, Spurs(a) 2-0, Sunderland(h) 2-0, Charlton(a) 2-0, 18 points, final position 1st
There's a good start, and then there's Chelsea's start from two years ago. It put massive pressure on everyone, and in the end no-one got close to them.
2004/5
Arsenal: Everton(a) 4-1, Boro(h) 5-3, Blackburn(h) 3-0, Norwich(a) 4-1, Fulham(a) 3-0, Bolton(h) 2-2, 16 points, final position 2nd
Chelsea: Man Utd(h) 1-0, Birmingham(a) 1-0, Palace(a) 2-0, Southampton(h) 2-1, Villa(a) 0-0, Spurs(h) 0-0, 14 points, final position 1st
The exception. Arsenal got off a flyer with a special performance against Everton and an amazing comeback from 3-1 down against Boro, but Chelsea kept up and then sped past when the form dipped. I still maintain that winning the Premiership this season was Chelsea's finest hour - they were absolutely relentless.
2003/4
Arsenal: Everton(h) 2-1, Boro(a) 4-0, Villa(h) 2-0, Man City(a) 2-1, Portsmouth(h) 1-1, Man Utd(a) 0-0, 14 points, final position 1st
Chelsea: Liverpool(a) 2-1, Leicester(h) 2-1, Birmingham(a) 0-0, Blackburn(h) 2-2, Spurs(h) 4-2, Wolves(a) 5-0, 14 points, final position 2nd
The top two after six games were also the top two at the end of the season, but of course Arsenal maintained this form throughout the entire campaign, remaining unbeaten, while Chelsea lost seven games and finished well back.
So a good start is imperative if you want to be challenging for the title, Man Utd's 13 points from six games being the weakest start by eventual champions for some time. A word of caution is that we started in similar fashion three years ago, but finished miles behind Chelsea when all was said and done.
I tend to find a truer reflection is found in comparing the results you've had against the previous season, to see just how much you've gained. After all, we all know the fixtures have been kind so far, so just how good a start have we had?
Arsene Wenger is right to ensure that everyone keeps their feet on the ground, as we're actually only two points better off than in the corresponding fixtures from last season, replacing Derby with Watford, as the two teams that will come bottom. It was not these fixtures that cost us so badly last term.
Forthcoming fixtures:
West Ham(a), Sunderland(h), Bolton(h), Liverpool(a)
Last season:
West Ham(a) 0-1, Bolton(h) 2-1, Liverpool(a) 1-4
But now we have a chance to right a few wrongs. West Ham did the double over us last season, and the performance at Anfield was an absolute shocker. The next four games, including another home game against Sunderland, give a huge opportunity to put a big gap between Arsenal of 2006-7 and the Arsenal of today.
Let the good times continue.
In other news, financial results have been revealed to counter everything Dein has been saying recently about Arsenal requiring massive investment. We are officially the richest club in Britain, with Wenger having an enormous transfer fund, should he need it. To read more on this, I suggest you take a look at both Arseblog and Gunnerblog for excellent analysis of the story.
Every week I seem to be saying 'Well that was an excellent week for Arsenal'. I'm sure it'll stop at some point, but right now all those pundits who predicted doom and gloom at the Emirates are looking mighty stupid. Let's take a look around the country before we examine the absolute thumping dished out to Derby yesterday.
Down the road, Spurs were supposed to pip us into fourth. Well, so far they've won precisely one match, against Derby, been outplayed at the Lane by Arsenal, and today once again threw away a lead to draw with a poor Bolton side. Both teams sit in the relegation zone. Not only that, but Martin Jol has had his job offered to both Juande Ramos, and now Jose Mourinho.
Speaking of Spurs, Man City, our nearest rivals before the weekend began, managed to impersonate them beautifully, conceding three at Fulham to drop two more points.
Meanwhile, among the higher profile title rivals, nowhere is there more of a crisis than at Chelsea. Waking up to stories of how John Terry helped engineer the downfall of Mourinho wasn't the best start to the day of a big match. Losing Mikel to a red card in the first half wasn't a particularly good start to the match either. Eventually losing 2-0, without ever threatening the United goal, they already find themselves five points of the pace, having played a game more. To add to their woes, it has been confirmed by the FA that Avram Grant has 90 days to get his managerial license, otherwise he's out of the job. Classic.
Over at Liverpool, their performance against Birmingham yesterday had all the penetration of a knife made out of jelly. A second successive league 0-0 draw sees them slip down to fourth, as Benitez insists on saving his best players for the Champions League.
At United things are looking more rosy. They beat Chelsea today off the back of some friendly refereeing - even Alex Ferguson conceded Chelsea were hard done by - but they are stringing together clean sheets and are now second.
But back at home, there is no-one playing better football in the country than Arsenal right now. And while that has been said for a few seasons, the difference is the end product. Three things stood out yesterday that would not have happened last year.
1) Diaby's opener was an absolute piledriver from distance. Previously allergic to shooting from outside the box, this Arsenal team are reaping the rewards of some fine build up play and speculative efforts. No longer can a team take up camp on the edge of the box - they'll see the ball fly past them.
2) Adebayor's hattrick. All three goals - one round the keeper, one penalty, and the icing on the cake towards the end - were sidefoot finishes. Calm and collected. Ade has been much criticised for his finishing ability, but right now he doesn't just recognise that he's got a good chance, he knows he's going to take it. His hattrick yesterday was ample reward for some superb play at the business end of the field. Many, myself included, said that this would be the season for Van Persie. We may have underestimated the big Togolese.
3) Fabregas scoring another scorcher from distance. That's now, count them, six games in a row that he's scored, seven in all this season. He scored in precisely three games all of last season, the double against Zagreb meaning his total for the campaign was four. He has seven, and it is still only September. And he has even more assists to his name than that - setting up both Diaby and Adebayor took his total to eight.
If this article has seemed somewhat gleeful so far, that's because it reflects my mood as I write it. I should temper that somewhat by pointing out that Derby are potentially the worse side ever to play in the Premiership, but you can only beat what is in front of you and it has been exactly these fixtures that've been our downfall in recent seasons.
There is so much to be positive about right now. Nine games, eight wins, one draw, and stackfuls of goals. Spurs are close to managerless and utterly hopeless, Chelsea have an half empty stadium, no manager, and an owner who wants to bankroll a team playing sexy football. He should come watch us play.
I couldn't really let today go by without mentioning Jose Mourinho's dramatic departure from Stamford Bridge, and what it might mean to the club and the Premiership moving forward.
There is a certain sense of irony that at the beginning of the season, the press were having a field day claiming that Arsene Wenger would leave Arsenal, and his assembled team would break down, leaving the club in oblivion. Of course it was all absolutely ridiculous, but that won't stop them using the same sensationalist tactics down the road in West London.
There is no doubting that Mourinho leaving will shake Chelsea to the core, and will unsettle a number of players. However, I don't think for one moment there will be the mass walkout that some papers are already predicting, with Lampard, Drogba and Carvalho all being tipped to swiftly follow the manager out. Much like when Wenger leaves, there will be some changes as a new manager puts his stamp on the club, and over the first year a couple of players may decide to draw their Chelsea careers to a close and move on. And they will be replaced.
Of course, that scenario isn't interesting enough for the media, who just want to print 'Crisis!' and 'Turmoil!' whenever they can.
But that isn't to say that this is not bad news for Chelsea. It is. Mourinho may have been one of the most dislikable managers ever to walk these shores, but as a tactician and man manager he was up there with the very best. Some may say that he bought the title, but as many Real Madrid managers will testify, collecting players and then moulding them into a cohesive team is an extremely difficult job. Every player at the club now believes he is a superstar, and superstars don't often like change.
Mourinho made Chelsea incredibly difficult to beat, and he infused a siege mentality in the team which led to so many fightbacks - they just didn't know how to lose. Witness the comeback against us at the Emirates at the end of the last season - a goal and a man down in the second half, they battered us.
Many are already writing his apparent successor, Avram Grant, off. Clearly the media don't learn that just because they know little about a man, doesn't mean they have no talent. Our own manager was proof of that, and Grant comes with a decent reputation from his time in Israel especially.
But this is a wholly different animal. He is friends with Abramovich, so he is likely to bend to his wishes more often that Jose did. Shevchenko can expect more playing time. But at the same time, there may be some resentment around the club, and the fans are ready to lash out if things don't go to plan. For me, the job is now a poisoned chalice - it is a practically impossible task to achieve the same level of results as Mourinho while appeasing Abramovich with attractive football. The players have to learn a whole new style - can they do it? Do they even want to?
The timing is also extremely odd. With a crunch game at Old Trafford on Sunday, they will go one of two ways. Either they will act unsettled and get rolled over, or Mourinho's siege mentality will live on and they'll shock United. I suspect the latter, especially after their awful performance on Tuesday - they have a point to prove.
It has been a bright 24 hours for Arsenal. It has been a disheartening 24 hours to be a Chelsea fan. This season gets more interesting by the day.
Well, that'll teach me not to be confident about our chances. Thinking that a draw in last night's opener with Seville would not be an awful result, I predicted a 2-2 scoreline. How wrong I was.
The first half hour was fairly cagey, the only notable action being that Fulop, the Seville keeper, seemed particularly dodgy with his handling. Encouraged by this, Van Persie, Flamini and Adebayor all had pops from distance, and when Cesc tried his luck, Escude gave the errant shot a huge deflection, putting Arsenal one up. It was a goal straight out of the Frank Lampard locker.
The goal seemed to settle the team, and Toure should've doubled the advantage from a corner but seemed to run beyond the ball, almost having his back to goal as he twisted in a futile attempt to make a decent connection.
The second half didn't start well, Rosicky going off with another hamstring injury. Although Wenger said he'd be ruled out for at least two weeks, with his history I'd be surprised to see him back in twice that time.
But soon after that setback, the lead was doubled, a Fabregas freekick delicately flicked on by Sagna for Van Persie to smash home from close range. In truth, the goal owed a lot to some pretty slack defending, but credit where it is due - we are beginning to look threatening from set pieces again, something you could rarely say last season.
After that everyone relaxed a little, and despite Seville having a couple of chances, mainly to Kanoute, they were never a serious threat, and the players eased into passing the ball around and through their Spanish counterparts, until in injury time a beautifully slick move saw substitute Eduardo slide in a third. He gets into some excellent positions and is rewarded by accurate passing. If he keeps that going he will continue to score plenty for this club.
Although the first goal came about via a huge slice of luck, and the second killer goal was poorly defended, it was an excellent performance, if not quite the spectacular one some papers would have you believe this morning. Flamini and Sagna especially were everywhere, bustling into the opposition and flying around the field, while Fabregas roamed around efficiently in the centre, playing intelligent passes whenever he got the ball. Up front, Adebayor put in all the hard work, he deserved the generous applause when he came off, while Van Persie also looked more of a menacing threat.
Almunia didn't have a lot to do at the back, but coped fine with the couple of shots that came his way. His handling was a touch suspect, twice letting balls squirm away from him that on another day could be costly, but for me he's doing fine right now.
There is a huge amount of excitement around the club right now, and rightly so, but we have to check and say that things are going our way at the moment. While the performances are excellent, we had some luck last night and on Saturday, so we need to remember that when the luck turns, as it undoubtedly will at some point. What is important to see is the fire in this team, the drive to win, and the fight that lasts for ninety minutes, as shown by the continual stream of late goals. Scoring at the death is a happy habit to get into.
The Chelsea situation needs to be covered by another article, but for now, enjoy the present, because it's rare to see any football team clicking like ours is at the moment.
After last night's disappointing results for the British clubs, Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign tonight against the UEFA Cup holders, Seville.
Wenger puts the Spanish side in the top five teams in Europe at the moment, and it is an assessment I wouldn't disagree with. Retaining the UEFA Cup is no mean feat, even with the standard it has slipped to in recent years, but they have six points out of six in the Spanish league, and more impressively, have scored at least four goals in half their matches this season.
They possess a huge amount of attacking threat, score plenty of goals, and play football in a bright and creative way. They also have a somewhat leaky defence. Remind you of anybody?
The is undoubtedly the tie of the first round of matches. Two teams on form, ready to play expansive football, with both attacks considerably better than their respective defences - it should be an absolute belter for the neutral.
As far as a result goes, it isn't an exaggeration to say that whoever wins tonight has one foot in the knockout stages, even with only one match played. Steaua and Slavia await elsewhere, and at least three points should be taken from each opponent even if you allow for an appalling away performance. When you consider than Slavia lost out in the Czech league to Sparta, who Arsenal comfortably dispatched in the qualifying round, there shouldn't be too many problems there.
So a side starting with three points tonight would be in a wonderful position, although both sides would probably take a draw if the other match ended the same way. And that's how I think it will end - a high-scoring draw, perhaps 2-2.
And I expect it to be entertaining. Hold on to your hats folks, this one should be fun.
It couldn't last. Amongst all the delight around Arsenal's stunning start to the season, there have been more rumblings going on in the background.
And so, as revealed earlier by ANR and investigated by Gunnerblog, it became apparent that Alisher Usmanov and his Red and White holdings company had purchased enough shares to take them to around 21% ownership of Arsenal Football Club. Now only Danny Fiszman owns a greater slice.
That news is concerning in itself, given the shady background of the company and the apparent single-minded ambition of David Dein. Working in Arsenal's best interests becomes a lot more difficult to believe when the timing of such actions brings such a swift end to euphoria. At best, it's a dent in what has been a glorious week. At worst, it is deliberate destabilisation.
But even more concerning was the price of the purchase, placed anywhere between 8.5k and 10k a share, way above the trading price. Usmanov really wanted those shares.
So the question is, why? No doubt we will shortly be fed the same rhetoric about the company raising their stake, but not preparing for a hostile takeover, so should we believe it? Absolutely not.
Purchasing shares from a business perspective is one thing. Usmanov may have believed that the share price would rise, and he could make a quick buck. But he is purchasing the shares for a price well over the odds. Either he thinks the shares are about to boom, in which case he would struggle to find a seller, or he has entirely different plans.
And I think it's fairly clear that it is the latter. With his stake in the club rising, eyes will now turn to Stan Kroenke, who has decisions to make. He purchased his shares for around 7k each, so with Usmanov paying such inflated prices, the American could walk away tomorrow with a healthy profit in his back pocket. The question is - what does he want?
Suddenly the option of getting Kroenke on side with the board is a wise one, which makes Peter Hill-Wood's dismissive remarks about him a few months back seems a touch premature. Were he to sell to Red and White, they would become the major shareholder and a very serious threat.
I find myself hoping that Stan Kroenke can work with the board to find a way to reject this new attack. Two months ago, I couldn't imagine myself saying that.
This one is going to run and run. And it's going to get ugly.
Each player must start the game with a shot, a short and a pint.
Each player must nominate their club(s) of choice, and drink as per the instructions whenever that club manager utters one of the keywords or cliches. Special forfeits are listed for particular turns of phrase.
Today, we shall begin, with Arsene Wenger and Martin Jol.
Arsene Wenger
Any mention of the performance showing mental strength - two fingers of the pint
"We dropped physically in the second half" - two fingers of the pint
"We could've had X goals" - one finger of the pint for every goal above the amount actually scored
"Resilient" - one finger of the short
"Focus" - one finger of the short
"Togetherness" - two fingers of the pint
Key phrase:
"I feel this team has a lot of potential" - stand up, shout 'I did not see the incident!', and down the shot
Martin Jol
"We deserved better" - two fingers of the pint
"We need time" - two fingers of the pint
"We are creating chances" - one finger of the pint for every goal conceded, as apparently Jol doesn't care about that end
Mentions a defensive injury - one finger of the short
Denies rift or potential sale of any player - two fingers of the short - this always means the player is a goner
Any of his repeated references to Arsenal 'riches' - stand up, put on your best Christian Gross impression, saying 'Ve vill vork harder', and down your shot
Coming soon - Benitez's conspiracies and a drink for every one of Jose's pouts.....
What a fantastic match. While commentators at Goodison Park were remarking that the game they were watching, which United pinched 1-0 late on, was evidence that lunchtime games should be scrapped, an epic was unfolding at White Hart Lane, which, had the finishing been of the same quality as some of the build up play, could've ended in a similar result to Martin Jol's first derby in charge - a 5-4 classic still talked about today.
Ironically, yesterday's is likely to be the last derby Jol takes charge of, an indication of how little time has changed, despite the continued optimism of Spurs fans everywhere. The truth is that their side, assembled for nearly twice the price of the Arsenal team, plus a wider gap on the bench, ended the game demoralised and outclassed.
For a long time, however, this was a game that could've gone either way. Once Bale had curled in a first half free kick, Robinson backed him up by making a few decent saves, albeit all ones you would expect a 'top class' keeper to make. At half time, a goal behind again, many Gooners would've taken a draw. But Arsenal are made of sterner stuff these days, and despite a host of missed chances, including Diaby smashing a sitter against the bar and Adebayor ballooning Sagna's pull back over from eight yards, you always got the feeling that the opposition would crack sooner or later.
And so they did. But not before Berbatov should've doubled the lead, rounding Almunia and attempting to do the same to Toure before the Ivorian made a magnificent saving tackle. He paid for it with 25 minutes left, Fabregas whipped in a curling free kick from the left, and Adebayor powered home a determined header. It probably would've gone in even had the goal been properly defended by Robinson, but the man with the gloves had committed himself to the cross and gotten nowhere near it. Ade ran behind the goal, past the furious Spurs fans, to the delighted away fans in the corner. Game on.
As the match approached the last ten minutes, the critical phase began. First Berbatov cracked a volley straight into the chest of Clichy, then appealed for a handball in desperation. Minutes later, Arsenal were in front. Rosicky found Fabregas in space thirty yards from goal. Not one defender moved towards him, so he closed in on goal and cracked a fantastic shot past Robinson's despairing right hand. His celebration said it all, as the Spurs players sank to their knees and their fans put their heads in their hands.
Cesc's fifth goal of the season, and perhaps most important so far, eclipsed his entire tally for last term. Given that his lack of goals was the only criticism levelled at him, is he, still only 20, now the complete midfielder?
But still it wasn't over. Bent came on as a substitute, and as he ran on to a chipped ball over the top, had a wonderful chance to secure the same late 2-2 draw Spurs pinched in last season's corresponding fixture. But Bent proved that he really was overpriced by horribly scuffing his shot wide. Minutes later, he was shown the true art of finishing, by a man often derided for exactly that. After Denilson's weak shot was easily saved, Fabregas found Adebayor, who, with his back to goal flicked the ball up with his first touch, and then in one movement span and fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner. It was a thing of beauty, and once again emphasised the difference in class between the sides.
Some will criticise the defensive fragility of the display, despite a jetlagged Gilberto having to fill in at centre back with Senderos suspended and Gallas injured. Some will say that Spurs could've got a result with better finishing. But the truth is that chances went begging at both ends, and the home defence was cut apart by the majestic Fabregas almost at will. Last season, away deficits were so rarely recovered, but there is something different about the team this time around. Late goals are often the mark of champions, which suggests that Man United, who slipped into the top bracket almost unnoticed this weekend, and Arsenal, who now sit top with a game in hand, will be right up there at the end.
As for Spurs, their problems couldn't be plainer. Robinson was at fault for the first goal, yet again, while no defender competed with Adebayor for the header. For Cesc's winning goal, the same defence sat off a man in goalscoring form, a mistake even a schoolboy would feel wrath for. At the other end, much of their finishing was woeful, and by the end even Berbatov looked like he just didn't want to be there anymore.
For all those with Spurs fans in the office, dig out their quotes from around a month ago, and enjoy your Monday morning. I know I will.
