Like the prodigal son he returns, a phoenix rising from the ashes; back again to save this club's season and mock those who doubted him. Yes, Francis Coquelin has rejoined Arsenal after his loan spell at Charlton. Also returning from a year long hiatus is me, your humble scribe and companion on our annual football pilgrimage. Just in time for Christmas too, so consider this an early present.

Nicklas is clearly delighted by the return of this blog

So what's happened since last we spoke? Well inevitably Arsenal's tilt at the title last season ended in disappointment, but the year ended on a high point when we came from behind to smash the mighty Hull City and win the FA Cup. A summer splurge saw the signing of significant stars such as Sanchez and er, others (Debuchy, Welbeck, Chambers & Ospina) while we bade farewell to stalwarts like Vermaelen, Sagna, Fabianski and thatch-headed wastrel Nicklas Bendtner (currently without a goal in the league for new club Wolfsburg; go get 'em, Nick).

Consequently the 2014/15 season started on an optimistic note. An attacking quartet featuring Olivier Giroud, Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez and anyone else you care to throw into the mix (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Walcott, Cazorla etc.) could strike fear into the heart of just about defence in Europe. Quick, intelligent movement, passes into feet or over the top, direct and powerful running; who or what could possibly slow down this new, dynamic strikeforce? Well, injuries for one - you remember them right? - which completely derailed the start of the campaign. Even before Giroud, Özil and Koscielny picked up knocks that would keep them out for several months the team had looked distressingly anaemic, drawing a string of games that on paper they should have won, and so with several key figures out missing, a season that promised much has fallen flat. Low points have included throwing away a 3-0 lead at home to a distinctly average Anderlecht side, shipping 3 first half goals to the thugs at Stoke and dropping points to two of the three teams currently in the relegation zone.

Predictably Wenger has come under fire for stubbornly refusing to bring in more defensive reinforcements (injuries and suspensions meant that Hector Bellerin, the third choice right-back, started against Newcastle on the weekend, while first choice for that position, Debuchy, was drafted into the middle), and it's true that we've struggled to keep clean sheets this season. The absence of Koscielny has been keenly felt, especially since his replacement was usually the left-back Nacho Monreal. Defensively the squad simply isn't deep enough, and a lack on continuity with regard to the personnel in the back four has had serious implications.

At the other end of the pitch there has at least been some cause for optimism. Alexis Sanchez (pictured on the right looking like someone who gives seminars on how to hypnotise women in bars) has somehow conspired to look like a steal at 35 million; the man simply does not stop running, and his 9 goals and 5 assists are the only reason that we're just two points off the Champions League places. Danny Welbeck (also right, dressed surprisingly tastefully) is having a decent enough season, while Oxlade-Chamberlain has been perhaps our second best player this year. The return to form of Santi Cazorla has proved a much needed tonic, while the return to fitness of Theo Walcott should do likewise. Moreover Özil is due back in the next few weeks (although Koscielny and Ramsey will miss the next month or so).

On the weekend we got a glimpse of what happens when the entire team turns up to play, if only for 90 minutes. A shower of goals, some (fairly) robust defending and a show of support for our beleaguered manager; it was heartening to see. Newcastle won't be the strongest outfit to visit the Emirates this season, but they've turned over some decent teams in the past couple of months and could have posed some difficult questions of a team and manager still reeling from the defeat at Stoke the weekend before. Two goals from Giroud and one from Cazorla effectively ended the contest twenty five minutes before the end, and though Newcastle depressingly pulled one back from a set piece towards the end, Cazorla restored the three goal cushion with an impudent Panenka penalty. For the first time in a long time, Arsenal were the better team from start to finish and the scoreline reflected that.

A tricky festive period sees us visit Anfield, Upton Park and St Mary's, and there's an increasingly small margin for error as mediocre sides such as West Ham and Manchester United continue to defy the odds and pick up points week after week. Arsenal need to string a run of wins together sooner rather than later, or they'll find themselves adrift of the Champions League places before January is over. A few reinforcements in the transfer window wouldn't go amiss either; latest news is that we're looking at Benedikt Howedes, the German centreback from Schalke. Another midfielder should probably be on the shopping list too, especially if Mikel Arteta is going to remain a perpertual injury concern.

In case you forgot where Arsenal FC hailed from (Eng)

Good news also from the Champions League draw - after once again finishing second in the group, we were faced with potential ties against one of Real Madrid, Atletico, Bayern or Barca, any one of which would probably hammer our injury ravaged squad. Instead we visit Wenger's old stomping ground Monaco, who scored just four goals in six group stage matches (but somehow finished top of their group). A stay of execution then, at least until the quarter finals. Allez Les Rouges!

A couple of weeks ago Arsenal had the opportunity to effectively end Manchester United's title challenge while definitively proving that this season marked a turning point for their own fortunes. Overawed by the occasion however, and missing the increasingly influential German giant Per Mertesacker, the Gunners quietly capitulated at Old Trafford; instead of a possible 11 point gap being opened between the two clubs, it was closed to the significantly smaller figure of 5. Having seen off those young pretenders from Liverpool, as well as beating Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund in their own back yard, it was the old enemy that returned to haunt Wenger's nightmare - Robin Van Persie, who remains the ghost at Arsene's feast even now, scored the only goal of the game, breaking Arsenal's incredible sequence of results away from home.

The truth is that a loss for Man Utd would have had far more severe implications for Moyes et al. than defeat did for Arsenal. If the Gunners win anything this season it will be because they continue to put away the Crystal Palaces and the Fulhams of the league, not because they're picking up 3 points at places like Old Trafford. However it's difficult to ignore the fact that the fixture a fortnight ago was Arsenal's best chance to win there since they did so some 7 years ago now. United's great weakness, its midfield, has become our great strength, so seeing players like Ramsey and Özil give the ball away so meekly was troubling.

However time, tide and domestic football wait for no man (except when there are those tiresome international fixtures to play) so inevitably there was a chance for redemption almost immediately. The next opponents were everybody's new second favourite team Southampton, who had already cemented their apple cart upsetting credentials by beating Liverpool at Anfield, as well as leaving Old Trafford with one more point than Arsenal managed. A tricky fixture to navigate, then, against a team that conceded just 5 goals all season prior to Saturday's fixture.

Giroud suppresses his instinct to laugh at Boruc long enough to open the scoring

So it proved, at least in the early stages which saw the visitors enjoy a healthy amount of possession without really threatening the Arsenal goal. Southampton's aggressive, Dortmund style pressing in the final third is impressive up close, and just as in the Dortmund tie, the Gunners struggled to move the ball smoothly from defence to midfield. It took over a quarter of an hour for a meaningful attack to be mounted, although when it did come it was almost delightfully rounded off by a sublime Jack Wilshere chip which, if it had struck the post 2 or 3 inches to the right, would have opened the scoring. Likewise Aaron Ramsey's impudent flick which caught the outside of the same post a few minutes later. Just when it begun to seem like it was going to be one of those days, Arsenal were gifted the opener in the most unlikely fashion. It was the Saints goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who, a few weeks earlier, was deceived by a gust of wind (happens to the best of us) which took Asmir Begovic's long punt downfield clean over his head; this time there was no tricksy weather conditions to blame, just his own indecision, as he dallied on the ball long enough for Giroud to get a tackle in and poke the ball into an empty net.

Southampton, who would almost certainly settled for a point at kick off, were suddenly forced to come out in search of the goal that would restore parity. They almost got it too when a sliced clearance allowed Jay Rodriguez to attempt a half volley from the edge of the area, although Szczesney was equal to it.

The second half played out not unlike the first, with Arsenal struggling to maintain a real sense of rhythm; highlights were limited to the return of Theo Walcott, whose brief cameo saw him overhit a potential assist in the final third and put a shot about a foot wide from the edge of the area, as well as a deserved penalty given for a blatant shirt pull on Mertesacker by Jose Fonte. Giroud did the honours to give the scoreline a slightly unearned air of respectability. Southampton didn't deserve much from a game where they rarely tested the opposition goalkeeper, although 2-0 flattered an Arsenal team that struggled to find any cohesion for long stretches.

Either way, Szczesney earned another clean sheet while he and his back four continue to stake a pretty reasonable claim to be numbered among the best defensive units in the top flight this season. Walcott's return meanwhile should be met with cautious optimism. The big positive is that his pace stretches games and gives the team another outlet - as depressing as it may be, a long ball over the top to a fleet footed winger can be as effective as a hundred one touch passes around the box, and it's nice to have that in our locker. However I worry that Walcott, as one of the big names and highest paid players at the club will force his way into the starting line up in games for which his style is demonstrably ill-suited, simply by virtue of his status at the club. Will he accept the status of super-sub for long stretches of the season? Unlikely. Even so, his return gives our attack some much needed depth, so let's welcome him back with outstretched arms for the moment.

If Arsenal beat Marseille on Tuesday and Dortmund fail to beat Napoli then we move on to the Champions League knockout stages - not shabby given the fact that Arsenal would be progressing from this year's 'group of death'. This is followed by a trip to Cardiff, who just did everyone a favour by earning a last minute point against our nemeses from Manchester today. Tougher challenges await but if we can go into the tricky Christmas fixture list four points clear of the chasing pack (or maybe even more) then we're sitting pretty.

Since 2005 Arsenal have been treading water. Alternating between third and fourth for the past seven seasons, they were stuck in a rut, taking two steps forward and three back, in neutral - whatever tortured metaphor you'd prefer. When smaller trends develop within the context of a greater trend, e.g. the club losing or winning a small run of fixtures, it becomes tempting to read too much into it, since it's more interesting to imagine the team doing something, anything, that isn't finishing either third or fourth again. Arsenal are a shoe in for the title! or Arsenal to drop out of the Champions League at last!

I make this point since the desire to label this year as Arsenal's year is almost too great to bear. The stadium is almost paid off; the money is there to spend and Ebenezer Wenger has just bought us a 40 million pound turkey for christmas; the squad is brimming with attacking talent, our potential title rivals are consistent only in their inconsistency and in the 2013 calendar year, Arsenal have taken 6 more points that any other team in the top flight (see this table for proof).

And yet we've experienced false dawns before, occasions where a good run of results has been derailed by one poor performance, precipitating a series of draws and losses. Likewise sequences of pisspoor results have been turned on their head by just one surprising win. In many respects it's the fortunes of this Arsenal team that are more difficult to predict than anyone else's in this league, thanks, in large part, to their ability to surprise you with either a sublime or ridiculous performance when you least expect it.

And yet the sublime is becoming less surprising this season, which can be at least partially traced back to the arrival of the man above, whom you may know as Mesut Özil. It's often said that one exceptional footballer can elevate the level at which an entire club plays; we saw it with Dennis Bergkamp, whose skill and eye for a pass were contagious and in whose shadow players like Marc Overmars could, paradoxically, flourish. Greatness begets greatness (well, up to a point; just ask the current Man Utd squad), and in Özil we have a player, like Bergkamp, who can take us to the next level.

This was illustrated perfectly in the first 15 minutes of the Champions League tie against Napoli which was, and I don't say this lightly, the best quarter of an hour of football that I've seen this team play since the second half of the 2-1 win over Barcelona. Napoli, a team that's taken 16 points from a possible 18 domestically, as well as beating last season's CL finalists Borussia Dortmund in their first group game, were made to look wildly out of their depth as they chased shadows and ghosts during much of the first half. Arsenal pressed high up the pitch, they forced mistakes, they moved the ball quickly and incisively, and most importantly, they gave themselves a two goal cushion to defend.

The first goal was exquisite as each player executed their roles perfectly - Giroud showed strength and deftness of touch as he held the ball up before flicking it down the line for Ramsey who charged into space and had the vision to pick out the unmarked Özil on the edge of the box; the German's sidefooted volley was simply the exclamation point at the end of an elegantly simple move. The subsequent look of unbridled joy on Wenger's face was worth the ticket price alone.

Özil played a vital role in the second goal too, receiving the ball from Giroud in the final third before breaking to the byline to cut the ball back to the Frenchman on a plate for a tap in. Commentators like to trot out phrases like '2-0 is the most dangerous scoreline in football', the rationale presumably being that you start to feel too comfortable with a two goal cushion, and by the time you've conceded the goal that makes it 2-1, the momentum is entirely with your opponents. Annoyingly that used to be true of this Arsenal team, but the re-introduction of Mathieu Flamini in midfield means that even at 10-0, someone will still be barking orders at the back four, telling midfielders where to stand at set pieces etc.

Incisiveness up front and mental fortitude at the back; if you'd asked any Arsenal fan 6 months ago what this team was most in need of, they'd have probably said those two things. Or they'd have told you we needed to get rid of Wenger, but then they'd be looking mighty foolish right now. A quick note on the gaffer, who recently celebrated his 17th anniversary at the club - in those eight years that Arsenal were spinning their wheels in third and fourth place, it was Wenger that kept the club's head above water financially. Without him we wouldn't be where we are today. Among the other names allegedly on the shortlist prior to his appointment in 96 was Terry Venables. Pause for a moment, if you will, and imagine where the club might be today if Terry had been appointed ahead of Arsene. Still at Highbury, for one.

Even the great Johan Cruyff, who was the bookies' top candidate 17 years ago might have struggled to keep a team competitive during a sustained period of sustantial hardship with no external financial backing from a foreign investor. But that's exactly what Wenger has done, and now we're reaping the rewards without having sold the club's soul, allowing our fans to continue smugly dismissing the credentials of the Manchester Citys and Chelseas of this world. Thank you Arsene, you deserved better than what you got, but hopefully redemption is closer than ever.

So here's looking forward to less of this:



And more of this:



Happy anniversary Arsene.

Arsenal are top of the league. Just let that sentence sink in for a few moments. It's one we haven't heard from a while, and you'd be forgiven for worrying that we won't be hearing it for long. 4 wins from 5 domestically and 3 from 3 in Europe mean that the Gunners are sitting pretty after a turbulent start against Aston Villa, and reports of Wenger's managerial demise have, it would seem, been greatly exaggerated.

So what's happened in the last two weeks? Well quite a lot as it goes. The anti-fascist cause received a shot in the arm when first Arsenal and then West Brom tonked Sunderland, helping to expedite the sacking of that duce loving asshole Di Canio. Manchester United were also on the end of a spanking at Eastlands (O Robin, where art thou?). Oh, and the Gunners have won another three on the bounce. 

First came the aforementioned tie in the North East, the main point interest of which was of course the debut of the 40 million pound man, the Teutonic titan himself and our new resident übermensch Mesut Özil (whose arrival at Arsenal has forced journalists everywhere to familarise themselves with umlauts and their keyboard shortcuts; alt 153 if you're wondering). Arsenal's most expensive player did not disappoint, creating a goal within a quarter of an hour after first bringing down a ball over the top before squaring for the marauding Giroud to stroke it home. Pleasingly he also seemed to develop an understanding with the rest of his teammates fairly quickly, and was involved in the build up for the third goal. Özil will undergo a period of adjustment due to more physical nature of football in this country, but his sheer raw talent and ability should ensure that it doesn't last too long.

The trip to the North East was followed by a dreary 2-1 win in Marseille. The game wasn't a must win, but with the two home fixtures against Napoli and Dortmund up next, the opening match was one Arsenal couldn't really afford to lose. Thankfully a tie which nearly got away from them at several points remained goalless, until a tidy volley from Walcott put his team up 1-0. A deflected shot from the edge of the area gave this season's surprise package Aaron Ramsey his 6th goal of the campaign, and despite a late penalty concession, Arsenal held on to go top of the group after matchday 1 (in the group's other fixture, Napoli ran out 2-1 winners, and if you haven't seen Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp's frankly bonkers reaction to seeing his goalkeeper sent off, check it out immediately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MJ7gxuDGxI).

Finally we were visited by those awkward and ungainly chaps from Stoke, a team which looks and plays like they were put together by a villainous comic book scientist trying to create the evil antithetical version of Wenger's Arsenal side. The team is under new leadership, but if your manager coaches like Tony Pulis and quacks like Tony Pulis, then it's still Tony Pulis managing your club in all but name. That new gaffer is of course Mark Hughes, better known as Pulis lite, whose teams are best known for kicking whatever is in front of them as hard as they can, be it a football or opposition player. 

Previous trips to the capital have not ended well for Stoke City, and it often seemed as though Pulis' sole concern was that his team not lose by a cricket score; it was a rare sight when two or more of his players ventured to leave their own half. Hughes at least allowed his team to attack on occasion, and they were rewarded in kind when their first chance of the game led to a goal which cancelled out Ramsey's opener (the Welshman, incidentally, now has 7 in 8 to start the season). A bit of Pulis style defensive organisation might have ensured that parity was maintained for longer than a few minutes, however; Mertersacker was the man to restore Arsenal's lead after his looping header somehow dropped into the far corner of the goal.

2-1 was the score at the interval, and though Stoke had a few bright spells in the second half, the game was put to bed when Sagna jumped highest at another set piece twenty minutes from the end and his header flew over Begovic and into the net. So what did we learn from Sunday's game? Well firstly that Stoke, for all their 6 foot plus behemoths, look peculiarly vulnerable at set pieces. You allowed Arsenal to put two headers past you; that's how many we score in a season. It was like seeing Thelonious Monk out-blow Miles Davis on trumpet. Football fans don't like change and heading the ball is your raison d'etre. Get. It. Together.

Secondly, apparently all we needed to start banging them in from set pieces was assist machine Mesut Özil to be the man delivering the crosses. The German now has 3 assists by my reckoning in two league games, which is not a bad start. In terms of the other areas of his game, our new number 11 seems to be settling in ok. For all the exuberance  after his move to North London, the one caveat suggested by a few pundits was that he has a tendency to drift in and out of games, something that his critics might argue happened in Marseilles. If that does happen it's far from the end of the world though, given his already apparent ability to change games completely. Moreover once Cazorla returns, if either one loses focus the other should be able to pick up the slack. Plus I think Özil should be allowed a grace period of a few months before we start pointing out flaws in his game. For the first time since Arshavin's half season after he arrived in the January window, we've got a player who makes you sit up and take notice every time he's on the ball, simply because he has the ability to make something out of nothing; it's difficult to overstate the importance and impact of players like that on a club like Arsenal.

So what's next? First an away trip to West Brom in the league cup this midweek, about which it's proving fairly hard to muster any interest. Following that will be a trip to Swansea this weekend. After winning the league cup last season the Swans seemed more concerned with their summer holiday than they were with seeing out the league; after their surprising 3-0 demolition of Valencia at the Mestalla earlier this month, they seem to have got back to the business of passing teams to death again however, and Liverpool were probably lucky to escape the Liberty stadium with a point. Expect a stern test.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. The source of this quote is indeterminate (and was not made, as John Fitzgerald Kennedy once suggested, by Edmund Burke), although we can be certain that it was not made within the context of anything so frivolous as football.

Nonetheless, it resonates now more than ever about the state of the play in British football's top league. For too long the combined evil of those despicable spendthrifts at Chelsea, Manchester United and now Manchester City has been allowed to grow unchecked; for too long have they been given free reign to wreak their despicable brand of havoc on an unsuspecting league, and for too long have they been the dominant power in English football. Fortunately the arrival of one man will usher in a new age of peace and prosperity. That man is Mesut Özil.

You'll have to excuse the grandiose language but I'm afraid it's difficult to resist the urge to think of the German as anything other than a complete game-changer. Since his arrival at Real Madrid, only Lionel Messi has matched Özil's assist tally in any of Europe's top 5 leagues, both notching a highly respectable 47. Moreover the 24 year old made more key passes than anyone last season, completing them at an average of one every 22 minutes. In short, his addition to the squad has captured fans' imagination in a way that no other signing has in recent memory.

Although the position of playmaker was not demonstrably one in desperate need of an upgrade, it would have been an error to let Özil slip through our fingers (as I'm sure Man Utd will discover soon enough). His presence eases the pressure on Cazorla, who can operate with greater freedom since he's no longer the attacking fulcrum through which all attacks must flow; he scores goals too, grabbing 9 in 23 starts last season; he's also just an exciting player in a way that's incredibly difficult to put into words. Signing him makes me feel like the kid who's been given socks for Christmas for as long as he can remember, only to be surprised one December 25th with a Ferrari in the driveway.

For once fans and journos were as one - everyone expects him to light this league up, and no one can believe that Madrid would let their second best player go, none more so than the fans who chanted at the unveiling of that Welshman whose name escapes me, asking Madrid chairman  Florentino Pérez to keep the German midfielder. Pérez is consistent in his capriciousness however, and evidently Özil had to go. Their loss is our gain and in Özil we have a player around whom we can begin to build a league winning team.

Özil was joined on deadline day by goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano on a season long loan from Palermo. The Italian is expected to challenge our man Szczesny, who for too long has been assured a starting place simply by virtue of the fact that the number two and three goalkeepers at the club couldn't catch a cold. I must, as much as it pains me, question the Professor's logic on this one - Szczesny has never shown the consistency between the sticks that would one expect from a Champions League calibre goalkeeper, and an upgrade at that position surely couldn't have been prohibitively expensive? Would it not have made more sense to sign someone more experienced and reliable who could mentor the young Pole, as opposed to borrowing one not much older from another club? Maybe this is what happens when you leave all your business to deadline day - rationality is the day's biggest loser, or so it often seems.

A more pressing concern than the keeper conundrum is the striker situation however. At the moment our only recognised, healthy centre forward is Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman has excelled in his first few games this season and appears to be adapting well to English football - nonetheless, our lack of options should he pick up an injury is worrying. Podolski looks set to miss about three months of the season through a hamstring tear, while Walcott, who has always harboured aspirations of playing through the middle, has never show the consistency or versatility to lead anyone to believe that this is his natural position.

Wenger knew this better than anyone, which helps explain his decision to enquire as to the availability of Chelsea striker Demba Ba - a loan fee of 3 million was proposed by the Blues, while Arsenal, it was rumoured, weren't looking to exceed 1.5. These two figures are not so far apart that a deal could not have been struck however; the stumbling block, it seems, was that Chelsea, alarmed by the marquee signing of Özil, suddenly viewed Arsenal as genuine rivals once more. On the one hand it's upsetting that we missed out on a backup striker because Chelsea pulled out of a deal at the last minute, leaving the club no time to look for alternatives, but on the other, isn't it nice that we're on their radar again?

Elsewhere there was disappointment that we didn't go after any defensive upgrades. Frankly I think Arsenal's defensive problems are frequently and grossly overstated. The Gunners had the second best defensive record in the league last season, conceding nine fewer than the often lauded Spurs defence. The pairing of Koscielny and Mertersacker appears solid, with the former displaying the dynamism and ubiquity that make him such an important part of this team, while the latter, admittedly possessing the turning circle of a large family sized car, has the positional sense and experience to compensate for immobility (most of the time). The Arsenal defence is often joked about as though every game is like watching the Keystone Cops, but that's incredibly unfair (although André Santos wasn't doing them any favours last season; we wish you all the best André but I hope you'll forgive our relief at your departure). The league's second best back four should continue to gel, while the return of the versatile ankle-biter Mathieu Flamini should only serve to improve things.

As it happens the Arsenal defence picked up its third clean sheet of the season on the weekend against the combined might of 100 million pounds worth of summer transfer spending. Spurs dropped in for a friendly kickarbout on Sunday afternoon and they brought their expensive new toys over, fat lot of good it did them. The new Tottenham midfield must surely rank as one of the most physically imposing in the league - Capoue, Paulinho and Dembele are all built like brick shithouses, but it didn't do them much good when they were chasing shadows for most of the afternoon. 1-0 probably flattered Spurs, who were kept in the game by the excellent Lloris (why didn't we get him when we had the chance?) and the visitors only showed any spirit after Arsenal were forced to retreat back into their own half as the only fit players to bring off the bench were defenders (while the excellent Giroud stayed on despite carrying a knock, leaving him unable to hold the ball up anymore).

Tottenham have yet to score a goal from open play, and whilst they look defensively capable, it's hard at the moment to see where the creative spark is going to come from. They've 35 games yet to find it so let's not count them out just yet, but against Arsenal they were lacklustre to say the least. Meanwhile reports are emerging from Spain that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy tried to block Özil's transfer (www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2410909/Tottenham-chief-Daniel-Levy-tried-block-Mesut-Ozils-Arsenal.html). Pretty crass if true.

All in all a fairly satisfying transfer deadline day that's left me grinning like a Cheshire cat. Boring boring international break this weekend means we don't get to see Özil's debut for another week. I don't know about you but I'll be counting the minutes until then.

If there's one thing I've learned this summer, it's that without life without football is no life at all. But not to worry because the sport of kings (angry, red-faced hooligan kings) is back again! Moreover it's been streamlined; no longer do we have to wait until the final day of the season to be sure of the standings - the first game of the season tells us everything we need to know about the year to come, at least if the press are to be believed. The title, if you can imagine, is going to Chelsea, after they dispatched Hull City with the ruthless efficiency that we've come to expect from a Mourinho team, while Newcastle are certain for the drop after they were hammered 4-0 by a rampant Manchester City side. Arsenal, meanwhile, will be lucky to place in the top half of the table, let alone challenge for the Champions League spots again.

This was the narrative being forced on fans after match day one when the Gunners went down 3-1 to a resurgent Aston Villa team at the Emirates. Arsenal, they said, were in crisis. An opening day defeat at the hands of a team that barely avoided the drop last season spelled doom for the club, and the sword of Damocles swung ominously above the head of manager Arsene Wenger. Never mind that this is a man who has kept Arsenal competitive for years on a shoestring - disregard the fact that he's the club's longest serving manager, and ignore his many achievements; his team had lost the first game of the season, and he had to go.

Well thankfully the Arsenal board, mildly incompetent though they may be, weren't tempted by the prospect of Newcastle style fan appeasing knee-jerk decision. Wenger's still at the club, and after consecutive victories fans are remembering why his presence  is still vital. Granted, the Arsenal's summer transfer window activities were mismanaged (more on that in a bit) but now Champions League football seems more or less guaranteed for the remainder of the year, this season looks a little more rosy than it did last week.

The loss to Villa was disappointing but unsurprising. A squad stretched thin by departures and injuries was beaten by a team playing good counter attacking football, or in other words, Arsenal kryptonite. The Birmingham side are better than their league position last season suggests, and a lot of neutrals are excited about what this season holds for Paul Lambert's young team. Granted, the visitors had a few strokes of luck, their second goal coming via a dubious penalty decision, and Koscielny didn't help the cause after he picked up his second booking while Arsenal were chasing the game. Nonetheless, fans felt highly aggrieved, as is their wont, and most of their anger was directed at the club's upper management.

Arsenal have shown a surprising amount of resilience in recent seasons, playing some of their best football after tough losses, but few were expecting them to go to their first leg Champions League qualifier in Turkey and come back with 3 vital away goals and a clean sheet. Nonetheless that's how it went down, with the goals coming from Gibbs, Ramsey and Giroud. The second leg tomorrow night should be a formality, and barring a major disaster, Arsenal will be appearing in their 16 consecutive Champions League group stage.

If the victory in Turkey was a pleasant surprise, then the subsequent fixture at Fulham was an absolute delight. The win was wrapped up with over twenty minutes to go after Giroud opened the scoring and Podolski grabbed a brace, and though Darren Bent grabbed a late consolation strike for the home side, Arsenal deserved the points.

Particularly impressive through those two games were Ramsey, Rosicky and Giroud. The two midfielders seem to have developed an excellent understanding, and with the former adeptly stepping into the role of anchor man, the always underrated Rosicky has been given license to roam further up-field where he can wreak the most damage. Ramsey is surprisingly efficient in his new defensive role - Arsenal's ten match unbeaten run at the tail end of last season in which they conceded just 5 goals had much to do with the Welshman's excellent sense of positioning and timing, and the youngster has done a great deal to mitigate his side's need for a more conventional defensive midfielder.

Meanwhile Giroud has started the season strongly by grabbing three in three, and is finally showing the kind of form that attracted the attention of his current club in the first place. The Frenchman is a gifted goalscorer and should kick on from a solid first season in England.

The fact remains that the Arsenal squad is still frustratingly thin however. The club cleared out a lot of deadwood over the summer, but have so far failed to find replacements. The statement at the start of the summer that a substantial transfer budget had been made available to Wenger was supposed to be a declaration of intent; how they didn't anticipate this leading to clubs asking for more money for their players is completely beyond me however. Surely that's bartering 101 - don't say how much you've got to spend, otherwise you tip your hand and end up spending more. It really is that simple.

Consequently the club, which is still refusing to pay silly money for players, has ended up with no one. It almost seems like Wenger and the board were more confused than anything else about what to do with all that money - being the rich kids at the buffet was must have been strange and disconcerting. Instead of begging for scraps they found themselves eyeing up the gourmet treats, but after a series of faux pas they find themselves with nothing. Suarez, unsurprisingly, is staying in Liverpool this season (barring a late bid from Madrid). Should Bale head to the Spanish capital (which looks extremely likely) then winger Angel Di Maria might be allowed to join the Gunners for as little as 26 million, but his teammate Karim Benzema is staying put (at least according to his agent). Newcastle midfielder Yohann Cabaye is allegedly on strike following a 10 million bid from Arsenal, but the Geordies are looking for something closer to 20. In short, it seems like no one is even close to signing a deal with us yet.

Anyway the upshot is that there's exactly one week left in the transfer window, and that's also still the same number of players that the club has signed so far. We still need a defender, a midfielder, a striker and ideally a winger in order to challenge for anything this season, and a last minute splurge is never advisable as it leads to an influx of overpriced mediocrity (see Gervinho, Park Chu Young etc.). Nonetheless, Wenger has steered this ship wisely over the past 16 years, so if nothing else he's earned some faith. Godspeed, Arsene - go spend some money old friend.

Ex British prime minister Harold Wilson once remarked that "A week is a long time in politics." Well a week is a lot longer is the summer transfer window, a period in which the rumour mill goes into overdrive and just about every prominent footballer in Europe is linked with every Champions League club. This summer has seen more than its fair share of outlandish gossip relating to player moves: Rooney to Arsenal, Rooney to Chelsea, Ronaldo to United, Cazorla to Atletico, me to New York Red Bulls. The list goes on and on. 

Moreover transfers which seemed nailed on have suddenly collapsed. The Higuain move, for example, which seemed a done deal last time I wrote, suddenly hit the buffers. By all accounts a verbal contract was struck with Madrid to the effect that if Arsenal could meet the striker's personal terms then he could come to North London for somewhere in the region of 23 million. Word has it that after Arsenal successfully met Higuain's requirements for salary, bonuses etc. Madrid jacked the price up to 35 mil. Suddenly the Argentine was talking about how Mourinho wanted him at Chelsea, while Napoli were rumoured to be interested. 

Meanwhile today's gossip column suggests that Higauin would prefer London over Naples. What are we to make of all this? Well the obvious conclusion is that there are no certainties in the Summer Transfer Window. Stories are being constantly 'leaked' or merely invented by hacks, desperate to fill column inches. The Higuain deal seems exceptional though, insofar as his family and agent had both suggested separately that a deal with Arsenal was inevitable. Having asserted with such authority that the 25 year old was on his way to North London last time, I'm inclined to speak a little more equivocally now and suggest that while the deal is not dead, its outcome now rather depends on Arsenal's pursuit of another high-profile South American striker. 

That man is of course that unholy mess of a person, the Mike Tyson of the football pitch and pantomime villain, Luis Suarez. A rumour to which I would lend no credence last week has picked up a head of steam, and in actual fact Arsenal are believed to have put in a bid somewhere in the region of £30 million. Liverpool, it is suggested, rejected the bid, so Arsenal upped the ante and offered 35. Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers has claimed that Suarez will be at Anfield next season, while reports that the player has joined his teammates in Australia for a pre-season tour suggests that perhaps he's right. 

What's more likely is that the club are holding out for closer to 40 million. The three most salient questions that one must ask oneself are therefore: 1) is Suarez worth 40 million pounds? 2) will Arsenal bid 40 million pounds? and 3) would fans feel uncomfortable welcoming a racist cannibal with a victim complex to the emirates? Short answer, yes, no and maybe. 

Suarez scored 23 league goals last season in a fairly mediocre Liverpool side. His shot to goal ratio is disappointing, but with better service, e.g. from players like Cazorla and Wilshere, that could be improved. He is, without a doubt, worth 40 million. Truth be told I don't see Arsenal meeting that valuation however. On top of the transfer fee would be Suarez' wage demands which would doubtless exceed 100,000 a week, so the club would be looking at a serious outlay on a player with a great deal of baggage. 

Would fans welcome his signing? I can only speak for myself and other fans I've spoken to, but the mood seems to be an ambivalent one. Suarez attracts trouble. He is a provocateur par-excellence. Celebrating a goal scored by a player of the Uruguayan's ilk would leave a sour taste in the mouth, as would having to defend him through gritted teeth after another public relations disaster. 

Ultimately you need to ask yourself what is more painful: enduring a trophy drought or watching a team of successful yet morally questionable players. If it's the former then we should welcome Suarez with open arms; if it's the latter then he can sling his hook. For now we can only wait to see who makes the next move.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the world of transfers Manchester United continue in their efforts to pry Cesc Fabregas away from Barcelona. The Catalans are allegedly uncomfortably deep in the red after shelling out many millions on Neymar and need to recoup some of their losses, so rumour has it that a sufficiently high offer would be enough to secure Fabregas's signature. David Moyes is said to willing to test their resolve with an offer of 30 million, although sources inside the club say that he is not for sale.

Particularly interesting about this transfer is that Arsenal have a buy-back clause, meaning that the Gunners have first refusal should the midfielder leave the club; and yet there have been no noises from anyone at the Emirates to suggest that this is being considered. This means one of two things: either Wenger knows that Fabregas will not be leaving Barcelona this summer, or he's happy just to take the money from the hefty sell on clause that was written into the midfielder's initial transfer away from Arsenal. As with the Suarez deal, there's a lot of chatter but very little substance to it, so best to keep an eye on this one as it develops.

I'm  stateside for the next month but I'll update if and when I can.