Morning folks and happy Monday with a lovely ol’ start to the week. Lovely because yesterday we were treated to some hilarity in the shape of Chelsea fluffing their lines at Elland Road and have their arse handed to them by Jessie March’s  Leeds.

Now, I realise that we are yet to play Leeds, they could very well do the same to us when we travel up there later in the season, but as every good football fan knows, you have to make hay whilst the sun shines and right now us Arsenal fans are having a scorcher, so we need to release all the schadenfreude we possibly can. I did watch that game yesterday but I did switch it on to see the final few minutes and the result and it ticked one of the boxes for me to have a happy football weekend. I always think to myself that as long as Arsenal can win, that’s the first boxed ticked, which we did on Saturday. Then, as long as at least one of our rivals drop points over the course of the weekend, that’s the second box ticked. Chelsea are most certainly seen as a rival and having suffered at the hands of Antony Taylor last weekend to drop points, then seeing them get served in Yorkshire yesterday, they were the ones who were the source of amusement yesterday, where United were it the week before.

We sit happily top of the table and the only team with a 100% winning record in the Premier League and that is a good feeling. It is a polar opposite to the feeling that we had last season sitting bottom of the league after the first three. But as any Arsenal fan will tell anybody who listens, we know that it will not last forever and we certainly know that things can change around very quickly indeed, so I doubt there are many of us who are expecting it to be this rosy for the whole season. We know it won’t be but right now let’s just enjoy what we’ve got.

And what we’ve got at the moment is fun. It is a team with purpose, drive, a balance about it that feels significant. Today is 22nd August and we have ten days before the transfer window shuts and I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like I’ve felt about the squad going towards the end of the transfer window closing. I’m sure you are like me; I’d like another signing or two, for sure, but if we don’t make that signing I’m pretty happy with how our  squad is looking and I have faith in some of those players to deliver a better season than last season.

Last season when Tomi went down with an injury we chewed our nails as Cedric came in. Now Tomi and Ben White have shown that they can both play that position.

That’s an upgrade.

Last season when Tierney picked up an injury that ruled him out for the season we chewed our nails because Nuno was still too raw and it kind of showed. This season he’s struggling to get in because of the form  of Zinchenko.

That’s an upgrade.

Last season when Lacazette was blowing out of his arse and couldn’t hit a barn door in front of goal, we had to rely and hope on an Nketiah whose contract was running down. Thankfully he stepped up, has signed a new deal and is part of the managers plans, but jhje’s playing second fiddle to the sensational Gabriel Jesus who once again showed just how transformative a player he can be for this Arsenal team with his performance against Bournemouth.

That’s an upgrade.

We have upgrades all over the pitch and even those players who were good last season and played a lot last season, all seem to be stepping up. We have Gabriel at the back who was great again on Saturday evening. Martinelli goes from strength-to-strength, Xhaka looks reborn in this new position and Partey, whilst quiet, is still delivering the business in the base of our midfield.  We have options everywhere, Mikel can change it around  if he needs, plus we haven’t  even properly seen the likes of Sambi, Smith Rowe or Vieira yet. Our squad looks more competitive than I’ve seen in years and to be we look like a side hungry to prove the doubters wrong. I just hope we can this season.

So when I see teams scrabbling around this week for potential new signings, or when I see teams linked with players from left field because they haven’t done their business earlier in the summer, I crack a wry smile. We’ve been there. We’ve seen that. The t-shirt has been worn so many times by us that it’s started to get a little frayed at the edges and the imagery on the front has faded. We will land on 1st September with most Arsenal fans saying “yep, broadly happy with that”  regardless of whether we have signed another player or not. There is talk about Pepe going on loan to Nice and that will probably activate our search for a wide forward, but if that doesn’t happen then I’m sure Arteta will reintegrate the Ivorian and he’ll get League Cup and Europa League minutes to keep him ticking over. He hasn’t worked out for us, he can be frustrating as a player, but he’s still got end product and can add something to our team. It’s not like he is as useless as Mkhitaryan or Arshavin were towards the end of their time at the club. They were practically unusable by the time we shipped them out, but I don’t feel that way about Pepe. Sure, we need to move on and sure, it’s probably best for all parties, but I’m not stressing too much over the desperate need to bring in a new player because “we’re just one or two short”. We have a good set of players, a likeable set of players, a squad which I hope will go places this season.

Long may this feeling remain.

Catch you all tomorrow.