Hello fellow Gooners.. Its that time of the month again and its a pleasure to bring you this section at the end of what was a largely successul November.


The month started off with a goalless draw against OM at home, which many felt we could have won. The man in form, RvP started on the bench. His introduction later could still get us only one point against a resilient OM side.

The following weekend, we managed to put 3 past West Brom, with RvP, Vermaelen and Arteta getting on the scoresheet. A straight forward victory and 3 points saw us continue our climb up the table.

The next game against a stubborn and impressive Norwich side which saw Mertesacker draw a lot of slack for a fumble which put Norwich ahead. Things fell to the captain, who scored a brace to keep our run going.

The next match against BVB Dortmund was one which we wanted to win to seal qualification from the group stage in the CL. BVB were up for it and put on some wonderful football, despite the early withdrawal of Bender and Götze through injuries in the first half. We were 2-0 up, until BVB stole a goal in extra time through a lapse of concentration at the very end. No matter, sine we finished 2-1 and top of the group. The match away to Olympiacos is now merely a formality and a game for the reserves, though it would still be good for our confidence to win that game. Chamakh and Park would get another shot at improving their contributions, but I will reserve more on this till the preview next week.

The final PL game of the month saw us draw 1-1 with Fulham, both goals coming from Vermaelen. Little could be done about the draw, a match we all expected to win, despite the numerous attempts we had to grab 3 points. The silver lining was that we remained unbeaten since the defeat to yids.

The last game of the month saw us welcome a bunch of ex-Arsenal players and a few others from Manchester in the Carling Cup. Despite a great game, which saw play in a 4-4-2, and some stellar individual performances, we got caught on a counter to concede the only goal. With that, we crashed out of the one competition which I had some hope of winning. Spuds losing at home to POAK, Man Utd losing to Crystal Palace and Chelsea losing to a Bellamy-inspired Liverpool side offered some source of Schadenfreude but a loss is a loss is a loss. A word for Frimpong and Coquelin for their gritty performance. Frimpong stole the headlines with his antics and endeared himself even more with the supporters of this great club.


RvP continued his red hot form. Vermaelen showed exactly why our defense looks terrible when he isn't playing.

Theo has emerged from the shadows and is stringing together some excellent performances, even if he isn't on the scoresheet himself.

Arteta has softened the blow of Wilshere not being available with some commanding performances as a deep playmaker. Much of his contribution, like Mertesacker, unfortunately, hasn't been understood and appreciated by gooners in this forum, and others alike.

A word for Gervinho, who has drawn a lot of slack after missing a handful of one on one chances over the month. The argument in his favour is that he is still settling in, but I still see the missed chances and feel he needs to settle in sooner. However, he is a live wire down the left flank and will be sorely missed in January if we continue with Benayoun/Rosicky/Arshavin as his back ups.

We finish the month with one of our four full backs still fit. Injuries have a unfortunate trend of being concentrated in one area of the pitch and this season, it has been our full backs. Santos has gone from strength to strength through the month and his form is improving since that abysmal 1st half against Chelsea. The threat offered by him offensively is laudable, though he still seems suspect defensively. Samba blood, 'nuf said.

Another player whose contributions have been immense is Song. Him not going for Afcon is a blessing for us, even though Coquelin and Frimpong have shown themselves to be worthy understudies.

Other notable performers have been Szczesny, Koscielny and Djourou. Through the month, each has shown their vitality to this side, even when 2 of them have had to fill in at the full back positions.


The coming month sees us draw some tough fixtures with four games away to Wigan, Olympiakos, Manchester City and Aston Villa, with a home game against Everton squeezed in the middle. Later, we play Wolves at home on Boxing Day, and then entertain QPR on the last day of the year, before the winter mercato opens.

The targets for this season remain sealing CL qualification and finishing in the top 4. This remains a tough target despite our good run of form recently. Fears remain that we are an injury or two away from ending up a mid table team this season, but have faith in the team and in the manager. The winter transfer window will have a key role to play in ensuring the top 4 finish.

This club has come a long way in its 125 years of illustrious history, something which makes all of us proud. Even if we have hit a bit of a dry spell over the last few years, we have continued to remain a club to be reckoned with on the pitch, while making some great contributions to charity off it.

Happy birthday once again, Arsenal. The one true love for me, and for many of us here. Football is more than a bunch of 22 guys running behind a ball and this club is an shining example of that, in a time when money has such a big say. Ooh to be a gunner.


And finally, ofcourse, the goal(s) of the season. Make sure you vote!


The video of the goals is available at arsenal.com.

My vote goes to RvP scoring the first against BVB, merely for the AMAZING work from Song before the goal. Not for the finish, but for what is rightly described by the commentators as the 'assist of the season'. Kudos.

I really think RVP's vs Norwich was of Henry standards but the BVB one was really good too

RVP goal vs BVB made me jump out of my chair. Alex song

Excellent work Sri.

Overall it has been a good month for Arsenal - a contrast to previous Novembers.

I voted for RVP 2nd goal v Norwich.

The pass from Song and the chipped finish from the captain. Brilliant.

Fantastic work Sri. Extremely well done man

I voted for Arteta vs West Brom. That was one of the best team-goals we have scored this season.

Samuelj29060 wrote:Excellent work Sri.

Iceman wrote:Fantastic work Sri. Extremely well done man

Thanks fellas This keeps me motivated

fantastic, wonderful, out of this world and surely one to savour!!! (this shd be enough motivation to the end of the season at least! LOOL) 1st goal vs BVB but that chip was sweet too. u are a v.good writer Sri. keep it up

mizG4Lyf wrote:fantastic, wonderful, out of this world and surely one to savour!!! (this shd be enough motivation to the end of the season at least! LOOL) 1st goal vs BVB but that chip was sweet too. u are a v.good writer Sri. keep it up

Thanks mate!