I’m back after 1957 days! What has changed? Two FA Cups and almost a whole squad, the only players left are Jack, Rambo, Walcott and Rosicky! It would seem that a state of things type post would be a good way to get back into the swing of things. Given the size of the squad, it will be broken down into manageable sections and the overview will be given now. Obviously a lot of readers will be new to the site. Please have a look at the About Me section. Please trust my reason for blogging is because of the enjoyment of football and not because I am some sort of hit-prostitute that will clog up NewsNow at every opportunity. There will be no Arsenal about to sign this World Class Central Defender - open page - Marc Bola signs professional contract….Tedious. Premier League It has been a pretty good start to the league season. The loss to West Ham was poor but we rallied well, having only lost to Chelsea (Mike Dean) and West Brom. Hammering (still) top of the table Leicester was a great result and the team have started to build some more coherence and consistency, 18 months ago the team wouldn’t have taken any points out of the draw to Spurs but it just shows that there is a bit more about the team. West Brom and Norwich seemed to be a bit of a blip but with injuries mounting can almost be excused. As things stand we are 2 points off the top of the table (with TWICE AS MANY POINTS AS CHELSEA) with joint best goal difference. I think it would be fair to say the majority of people would have accepted that at the beginning of the season. 9/10 Champions League I think the phrase that comes to mind is ‘all’s well that ends well’! A brace of shambles against the two makeweight sides called for the shorter tempered fans to call for Mr Wenger’s P45, but a good win against Bayern at least got us some points on the board and admittedly, they got their own back. We did what we had to against Zagreb and Olympiacos. It was certainly one of the more interesting qualifying group phases and In the words of Big Chris “It’s been emotional”. We were expected to come second and we did. It wouldn’t be Arsenal without it being entertaining! 5/10 Carling Cup Well, if you get drawn against Spurs, you have to beat them! Then the squad against Sheffield Wednesday just proved our ambitions in the Carling Cup - We drove down from Scotland to see it and despite the result the fans were amazing. Who cares/10? Squad Status It is difficult to say that the squad is in good condition because of Mr Wenger’s inability to trust the non-first team members. There seems to have been a 1st XI (Cech, Bellerín, Kos, Per, Monreal, Coq, Ramsey, Sanchez, Özil, Cazorla, Walcott/Giroud) and rotation hasn’t really occurred. It would be fairly easy to suggest that this could be the reason for the injury pile-up - except Sanchez, that was a very poorly conceived gamble. The concern Mr Wenger has about having to bring in better players than we have is a legitimate one but then you have to expect to pay a premium. Hopefully this will be addressed in January. 7/10 Weaknesses There seems to be some genuine progress in terms of not trying to pass the ball into the net every time but as was the case against Norwich and West Brom, the team can still get bogged down when a few of the key players aren’t fully functioning. Obviously the lack of depth is a bit of a problem but we will have to see what comes in January. I would say that we are not taking enough of our chances and the need for a lethal striker would really make Arsenal a threat. Predictions for the rest of the season Here we go, bookmark this page for the I told you so-athon… The Champions League is a total lottery, we could get a friendly draw and get to the semi-finals or we could get hammered by Barca. I’m anticipating us getting to the final since I am getting married 3 days before and Milan would be a great honeymoon! I doubt we will win the league, I think United will. They are winning games ugly (hideously) and if they click will be almost impossible to stop. I think we will finish second or third and I think Bellerìn will win Young Player of the year (fingers crossed at 33/1). I am sure there will be good wins and losses that seem to be world ending. However, Mr Wenger will still be keeping things steady. Stay tuned for the rest of the state of things. I will be going through the players and then on to what we need for January other than a long wait!