Securing the return of St Totteringham’s Day milestone was just the start. Now we enter the crucial part of the season in which when we look back over the summer we either go ‘this was the beginning of New Arsenal’ or ‘meh’. 

Progress has been made – the players all know that and have spoken about it – but the one thing you don’t get in this league is the footballing equivalent of a boxing points decision for being the best for most of the fight. It’s the game we all love because you can’t lose form at all, especially at the end of the season, in which even now after a superb run of form we still need three wins out of our last four to get close to finishing second.

But like I said, the players know this and we’ve heard from both Jack and Per talking up the importance of improving on last season and going at least one better than having to go through the Champions League qualifying stages. I think it’s more of a psychological thing more than anything else; we have won all of our qualifying matches when asked and I think even if we’d have qualified for the Group stages outright in previous seasons, we’d have probably have still left our business late, so I don’t think that had a major impact. But it’s a tater nonetheless and with four games to go it’s nice to have something to still be aiming for.

Mesut too has been speaking to the official site, talking up that first half and the team performance, specifically that of Alexis. As the two become more and more in sync throughout each game, the prospect of Özil feeding Alexis’ fire in the same way he did for Ronaldo is mouthwatering. The difference would obviously be that Alexis isn’t an attention-demanding, tanned, greasy haired w*nker, which I think we can all be grateful for.

We don’t have one single superstar in the team and to be quite frank, I couldn’t be happier about that and I do wonder if Özil feels the same at Arsenal, because he’s one of an all-star cast rather than best supporting actor in what must feel like a one-man play at Madrid some times. I watched parts of the Juve-Real game yesterday and the way Ronaldo swanned around the pitch demanding the ball at every opportunity, only made me want an Italian team to win more, AN ITALIAN TEAM!! Crazy stuff. 

One person on that field who did impress me though, was Isco, who’s drive and willingness to run at players with the ball was a real plus point. Ben won’t thank me for the comparison, but he reminded me of what Jack Wilshere could be, if he could find the right place in his team. Jack has a similar running style to the Spaniard, but his ability to travel with the ball at his feet was also impressive and I do believe that if he can string together a season of consistent performances – like the game against City at home – we’d see him evolve into a player whose name is up there on the teamsheet first with Mesut, Alexis and Le Coq.

But he has to get there and right now, it’s hard to see how, because Arsène won’t change a winning team and whilst all of the current players are playing as well as they are, why should he? So Jack will just have to bide his time and like Theo and Gibbs, get to the summer and work their arses off in pre season to win back their places.  

Just a quick one on the Premier League winners. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve tried hard to subconsciously – and consciously – avoid the news, but I love the fact that not a lot has been made (where I have been reading, anyway) of the fact Chelski have won the league. It’s like even the Mourinho loving media aren’t particularly that fussed about the borefest that is that club. Long may it continue and hopefully by the time the FA Cup comes around, nobody will give a monkeys – or even remember – who won the league in 2014/15.

Anyway, I should probably call it a day, because I don’t really have much else to say and if you think I’m giving my thoughts on the royal potato lookalike, you can think again.

Ciao.