Merry Xmas to all Gunners, Villa Thoughts

Merry Christmas to all gunners and then to the rest of the people.

I am off to do some Xmas shopping, the shops are packed, the banks are packed and I don't know if I'll actually manage to get what I want. Let's hope I can get some Arsenal Merchandise for myself, the wife and kids. The AfrogunnerMobile also needs a DVD player and an upgrade of the sound system... but let's wait and see now shall we...

So, we came back from Aston Villa with 3 very lucky points. Thomas Vermaelen had his moment of madness when he headed a poor ball back to the BFG Mertesacker. Villa equalised and from then on, it was a game of hanging onto the ropes really from Arsenal. But like a good boxer, we managed to land the sucker punch that floored our opponents. They may have won the battle on the day but we won the war... if that makes sense.

I must say I was very worried with our performance on the day. We were slow, couldnt pass the ball well, couldn't penetrate a well organised Villa and just generally didn't look like we could get anything from the game. But here we are, 3 points to the good and nomatter what the flaws on the day, 3 points is 3 points. How often are we told that good teams win even when they don't play well? On the evidence thus far, Arsenal is a good team.

The strike action planned for boxing day gives us an extra 24 hours to rest our tired legs. We face wolves on 27th December at the Emirates. Anything less than 3 points from that game will be a big disappointment. we simply can't drop any more points if we are to have any hope of catching Manchester City.

Robin Van Persie says we shouldn't be counted out of the race for the League yet. He says;

“It is still early - I think we have only played 17 games now - so we’re not even halfway [through the season],” he said.

“Anything can happen in this league. Results early on [show that]. Our result against Man United was a surprise, our result away at Chelsea was a big surprise, and Manchester City winning 6-1 away at United too. Anything is possible.

“The way we look at it is that we challenge for every single game. I don’t think Man City or Man United are thinking about [winning it now] because it is only 17 games played. You just have to look at it from game to game.”

 It might be true what he says, but realistically, we can't gain 12 points while City, United, Tottenham and Chelsea stand still now can we? Unless there is a magician or a miracle worker out there who can do that for us, then I would opine that we keep quiet about catching the leaders and just focus on the next game before us.

And thats your lot for now people.

Merry Christmas & happy Holidays to you all wherever you are. I'm off to Gaborone to pick up the Afrogunnermobile and look for that Arsenal Merchandise...

Onwards march the Arsenal!!!