A guest post by Varun Shukla (@WengerArmy)

I am in possession of a very unique fragment of knowledge. It’s so unique that they put it under top of the line surveillance in a secret underground complex 6000 feet under Highbury Square. Electric fences, sabretooth tigers and a few TX-1000 Terminators are just a portion of the security apparatus surrounding the place. This complex is believed to be under the aegis of Pat Rice (who else?)

Obviously, Arsenal Football Club will deny any knowledge of such a place, or what it protects. When asked why electronic devices go bonkers near the old Clock End, a polite, apologetic smile is all that is offered and Per Mertesacker appears out of nowhere to escort you from the premises. I persisted, called up the guys from Inception, and a PHW dream later, here we are. Just in case you’re wondering, that dream did NOT involve Mr. Hill-Wood bonking Dim Payton over the head with a diamond encrusted cane. Not even close.

So what is this big secret?

*Obligatory drumroll*

The world shall soon know why Arsene Wenger is the terror of plastic water bottles all over the world

Before we get there though, there are a couple of interesting subplots I’d like to discuss.

The Playoff Final

On the 27^th of May, a Championship playoff final was held between Watford and Zaha  Crystal Palace. It was a crunch game, deciding who got to play in the Premier League the following season. It was also (by and large) a very dull game- all they did was lump the ball all over the place. The standout moment for me wasn’t even about the game. At the 74^th minute, the camera cut to show the two managers standing in their respective technical areas. The angle of the Sun was such that there was a line halfway from either manager. Ian Holloway fell in the shadow and Zola stood in the light. It was the sort of moment about which Wordsworth would write a poem. I am not Wordsworth. However, that moment did seem to suggest that the light of the English top flight (see what I did there?) would be shining on Watford while Palace were to be consigned to the darkness of the Championship again. It has become apparent to me now that I was horribly wrong. Palace won, their fans went through the roof, and probably still haven’t come back.

A Relegation Battle

In a completely different universe, I started my first season on FIFA Manager 13. Now, before you hang me from the rafters, hear me out. Admitted, game programming has a long, long way to go before it can come anywhere near to simulating the real thing, but this is the closest one can get. It is far more realistic as it encompasses almost all aspects of managerial life from team line ups to strategy, Club Staff, merchandising…almost the whole deal.

In my first season, Southampton offer me a 3 year contract with the aim of avoiding the drop in the 1^st season. Easy, I thought. Wrong on the 3nd count as well. It couldn’t have been more difficult. What with some player getting injured out of nowhere, some throwing tantrums for ‘preferred positions’, some losing interest in playing, it was a tough ride. And this is without mention of the agents buggering you, the board making constant demands (in some cases restricting finances) and the fans breathing down your neck. I was soon involved in a 4 way relegation battle with Stoke, Reading and West Brom. The top, or even the middle half of the table were mythical places to me. That 17^th spot became my Holy Grail. I actually felt a sense of loss when the relegation was confirmed, and all the emotions and pressure during the course of the ‘season’.

A couple of points to consider:
1. This was just a simulation- nowhere close to the real stuff
2. I am not a closet Saints fan

The question then is why did it matter to me so much?
Answer: Football is nothing without the emotion and memories attached to it. A few become so entrenched that it becomes a way of life. One example of this is- almost any manager. And since ‘we all follow the Arsenal’, it is Arsene Wenger. That might explain why the Palace fans and staff celebrated like they’d won the Champions League- it was a great moment for the Club. Similarly, Arsenal getting 4^th isn’t a small achievement, especially in the modern competitive environment. Credit to the manager that CL qualification is now considered the ‘bare minimum’ of our season objectives.

Another realization that hit me square on the noggin was this. No matter how tactically brilliant you are, how much money you have or how many ‘star’ players grace your roster, it’s all worth a donkey’s arse if the players don’t apply themselves on the field. And the worst part? You can only stare in horror as it all falls apart. No wonder Arsene is so jumpy during a game- flapping hands, doing 360’s, decimating bottle upon bottle of water. Overcoat zippers must tremble at the mention of his name. Arsenal waterboys would rather put on a Spurs shirt than face the wrath of Wenger. I wouldn’t want to be the 4^th official either.

How much of your patience would it take to put so much effort into preparing the team for a game, only to see them unable to deliver because of a few mistakes? A shot taken too early or too late, a failure to mark your man, a forward run where there should be tracking back etc. All you have is to rein it in, be patient to the media, keep your players happy and try to get them to deliver a performance next time. Now imagine the pride you’d feel on seeing everything come off perfectly, to know that the players having given their best, to know that each one of them is willing to give even more?

It is only then that that one gets an idea of how important the words ‘belief’ ‘character’ and ‘spirit’ are- the very words for which some choose to call our manager senile and weak. I’d bet anything that Wenger would be itching to play himself when a chance is missed or a goal conceded. He must be thinking “Curses, you blasted piece of plywood, I told you to go THAT WAY”  But he can’t play. All he can do is hope for the best.

And the best is what looks like happening this time. For the  first time in many seasons, we have with us a group of players who are willing to apply themselves on the pitch- to work as one towards winning stuff. Case in point- Vermaelen gets benched. He could have made noises wanting to leave, but he didn’t. He’s willing to fight for his place. Walcott could so easily have left us for more money and crap, but no, he stays.

There is, refreshingly, no protracted outgoing transfer saga that could negatively affect us, nor any inflated egos to endure. Ironically, Spurs and Liverpool are the victims this time, as Bale and Suarez seek a transfer.
Added to that the new commercial deals, and the way we finished the season, gives me enough reason to hope.

A post by Anthony Hawke, from our friends over at OTBAG

If I scourge through the English vocabulary, I find that the single syllable words are the ones which convey the most, and in the most effective manner as well. Allow me to explain my statement with a few examples. (The words I want you to focus on, I’ve typed in all capitals).

HATE: It is the single most, strongest negative word in the English vocabulary. We’ve all used this word in our lives, multiple times, to convey our discontent or dislike towards someone or something. What we need to understand is how much negativity is carried on with this small word. And because it carries with itself such a huge burden of negativity, we must use this word cautiously. We should understand the difference between hate and dislike or being discontent or whether we disagree with something or someone. But even within this word, there is positivity. (You’ll know what I mean, just read on. It’s at the end.)

LOVE: It is the exact opposite. It is the one word everyone wants to hear from someone they love too. It is everything that Hate is not. Exact opposites. There is so much positivity in this ONE word. It carries on itself the positivity that most other words, even the word “positivity” cannot. And hence, one should be wary about using this word too, rather than give false pretence or to avoid misinterpretations from taking place. Hence, there is a milder substitute – LIKE. We always HOPE that our feelings are reciprocated, don’t we? 🙂

Which brings me to my final word – HOPE.

HOPE: I am not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but it is by far the most motivational, inspirational word that the English language can ever come up with. It is the ONE thing that makes you want to go on and on and on, even longer than a Duracell battery can promise; because with hope you remain positive, you smile, you inspire, you don’t give in, you don’t give up, when everything is stacked up against you, you spit on defeat’s face and you get up, once more, time and again because you hope, because you believe, because you want to achieve what everyone thinks you cannot, what everyone wants you to resign to believe in, that you cannot; why everyone wants you to fail in your attempt because either they could not do it too or because they want to be the only ones who ever achieved it. You brush aside people’s ill wishes and ill prayers and when you are convinced in your goal, when you have complete FAITH in your goal, you can look into your conscience and say whole heartedly with a gentle smile on your face that “Yes, I’ve given it everything I’ve got.” Eventually, there is salvation. Eventually, there is reward. But with hope, an important factor is PATIENCE. You need to stay CALM.

And that is exactly what we experience with this team – HATE. LOVE. HOPE. PATIENCE. FAITH. CALM. This team, this club, is a perfect mixture of all of these qualities. We HATE to lose, We LOVE it when we win, We HOPE that we can continue, that our players can continue their golden streak and that we keep winning (we’ve done it once, we can surely do it again yeah?), we are taught PATIENCE for that one moment of brilliance and magic right up to the last minute of the game, we learn to keep FAITH that we will hold on to our slender leads towards the dying moments of the game, we learn CALM and COMPOSURE from our players when it matters the most (probably not always but more often than not surely, yeah?).

A post by Abhishek Iyer from among our friends over at OTBAG. You can follow him on Twitter here: @Nickspinkboots

There has been a ferociously tectonic shift in the erstwhile dormant plates of English football over the best part of last decade. Nouveau riche owners have blithely sprinkled manna and gold dust on their toy-clubs, irreversibly distorting the financials of the football market in the process. One continuing consequence of this crazy doping is the shortening of patience-spans in football players. While a relatively level playing ground before meant that players could, in theory, stay at clubs for ‘right’ reasons such as stability, loyalty, and stature, the current landscape is becoming disconcertingly about chase-the-dollar.

This financial distortion hit Arsenal very hard in a period of already forced austerity as we waved Highbury a tearful goodbye and lugged all wares to the Groves of Ashburton. His wallet crippled, Wenger opted to rely on the fluctuating but exciting potential of youth. Arsene’s band of silky-toed ragamuffins started well, dancing to the ebb and flow of passing patterns, staying married to their footballing philosophy, growing up together to hopefully win together. But patience, as previously mentioned, soon grew thin (far too soon). Players who might have, under different circumstances, opted to stick with the club where they grew up in order to help the club grow in return, now migrated in droves as they got swayed by roubles and riches, swagger and silver. Arsenal were slowly starved by the twin disparities of money and quality, one often resulting in another. I don’t mean to disparage the players’ motives, which were far-ranging: some were bewitched by the sights and sounds of their hometown, some preferred a bit-part role in a title-winning squad, and some genuinely left for clubs higher up on the global popularity scale. But the regrettable undercurrent in this collective abandoning of ship is a lack of patience and desire to give back, as blinkered and idealistic as that sounds. And this is where I feel Tomas Rosicky bucks the trend.

First off, let’s get the elephant out of the room before it decides to ask for copies of the house key and order customized settees. Rosicy’s clusterfuck of injuries and the greying around his temples meant that he was never going to sell fresh and hot at the transfer bakery, but he has steadfastly denied whatever offers have come his way, choosing to remain with the club that saw him through 18 months on the treatment table. When he signed a long-term contract in 2010 (before the latest one in 2012), this is what he had to say:

“I am so pleased to have signed a new contract with Arsenal. The last two seasons haven’t been easy for me because of injuries but I feel it speaks volumes about the Club’s belief in me for this to be signed, and I truly believe I have a lot left to offer the Club, my team-mates and all the supporters.”

I know there’ll be a snort or two from readers who have learned to grow wary of all bromides that escape players’ lips nowadays, but these particular words have been backed by explosive action as Rosicky continues to enjoy his Indian Summer at Arsenal. He has proved a vital cog in Arsenal’s race to the finish two seasons running now; the dampening fact that he spent the initial parts of both seasons in the infirmary is overshadowed by his hectoring runs from midfield, turns-on-a-dime, and general willingness to run himself to the ground for the team. Romantic as the notion may seem in today’s corporately cocooned world of football, it’s almost like the unfailing trust shown by Arsenal has manifested itself in Rosicky as a springier step, a faster burst, a desire to give back.

The 5-2 victory against Tottenham (the first one) was perhaps his watershed moment; as the first Spurs goal went in, Rosicky seemed to shed his earlier aging self and emerge as Rosicky 2.0, with laser-precision matte finish instead of chipping dried paint. For two successive seasons, he has been the face of bloody-minded Arsenal comebacks: first against AC Milan and then against Bayern Munich, he marshalled the midfield in a kamikaze kitchen-sink dash that saw them almost overcome impossible deficits. An exhausted and distraught Rosicky sitting on his haunches and staring vacantly into space became the image of defiant Arsenal defeat.

As we trundle through the summer of 2013, and other Arsenal players temporarily drop the veneer of patience to sound clarion calls for potential suitors, Rosicky has quietly pledged his immediate future to Arsenal in spite of knowing that he may not be first choice. I know Arsenal fans now consciously try to not be emotionally attached to any one particular player (and rightly  so, after the ceaseless finger burning of the past few years), but I can’t help having a soft spot for our floppy-haired guitarist. Whether he eventually re-joins Sparta Prague or rides off into the sunset an Arsenal man, Tomas Rosicky will have stood true on some oft-forgotten but important principles. He’s not one of the names that will grace daily headlines, but I’m going to take pleasure in acknowledging this small flower of constancy and gratitude in the ferociously shifting tectonic plates of football.

I am not entirely sure what this table proves,if anything.What it does show,is that according to what some hack has worked out on the back of his fag packet  Arsenal’s squad  is worth over £100 million more than we paid for it.According to this fellow from The Daily Mail then, of the major players in the BPL ,that is more than any other club.

If nothing else this disproves another popular myth that has grow”Arsene has lost his eye for a bargain”

That’s it for today I don’t intend to speculate on transfer nonsense,its all driving me around the twist.

Graham Taylor (possibly following his 2006 meeting with Mel)

On the Friday afternoon before the CL final last month, I happened to be at Stanstead airport and whilst waiting for the wife and kids to buy bottles of lukewarm water at treble the normal price and comics/magazines they wouldn’t be reading I noticed the waves of happy excited German fans swarming the airport having arrived for the game.

It briefly took me back to Paris 06, I remember how excited I felt at London City airport and arriving in Paris for what was to be the biggest game in our European history and ultimately our bravest defeat.

I had travelled with 3 other fellas, none of us had tickets(me being a silver member didn’t entitle me to one) but if we were gonna win ‘old big-ears’ I had to at least be in the vicinity.The 1000 euros I had put by for a ticket proved not to be enough for whatever touts I could find on the day of the game.Even a surreal drunken conversation just before kick-off with ex-England manager Graham Taylor (I liked him- he wasn’t sure about me though) was not enough to get me in.

Watching the people-carriers full of UEFA suits and hangers-on roll into the stadium made my heart sink .Some things are not to be ,although I often wonder if I’d have made it in that night whether one more screaming Gooner would have got the boys over the line?…… sorry about that! Anyway back to the airport,those lovely Germans and in particular those lovely Dortmund fans,how good are they?

I,like most of you wanted them to win,Iin many ways they remind me of Arsenal.

A club operating within its means, trying to achieve success and not buy it, having to sell players to buy players(not any more hopefully!)

Klopp has a touch of a young Arsene about him,no? They, like us are fighting the good fight, the difference is they (the fans,club,players & manager) appear to be sticking together.

The following evening I was sat in a Spanish bar ignoring another Neil Diamond tribute act watching the game, my IPhone switched onto twitter which was full of its usual experts,’lets get Klopp’ ‘let’s get this Player’ ‘lets get that player’, the game itself was great and as we know the bad guys won.

Once again my lasting memory is of those Dortmund fans after the game-just fantastic. I’d seen them at our place and they were amazing but they’d grown even better, an example to all of us.

I suspect there isn’t a media whore amongst them who piggy-backs their club for their own agenda or a blogger who dedicates his site to slagging of the manager and players or bitter ex-players that get work from gullible media outlets by abusing their former employers or worst of all impostors that want the team to fail so there is a change of manager. To quote my good friend Graham Taylor “Do I not like that“.

For the record in Paris on our CL final night I watched the game in a bar close to the stadium and our fans both inside(Iwas close enough to hear them)and outside the stadium were fantastic.Since then things have changed. Personally if I could I wouldn’t ‘get Klopp’ or ‘that Dortmund player’ I’d take their fans.

The moaning,bitching,snideness,booing and stupid banners hasn’t worked has it?

I honestly think if we took a leaf out of Dortmund’s book and started sticking together we’d be unstoppable, as our amazing away support and the good folks on Positively Arsenal have proved,its possible, it really is

My thoughts are all over the place this morning.I am beginning to think I am bipolar.

I read the full transcript of Ivan’s Q & A yesterday ,and was feeling ecstatic.He said everything I wanted to hear.

He confirmed everything I believe to be true and filled me with hope for the future of this great club.

It looks like Arsene is to be offered a new deal and he will finally have some actual money to spend.

Then I made the mistake of reading some tweets and blogs.

What possesses these people to think they understand better how to run the club than the professionals at the very top of their field who have proven time and again that they excel ?

In the last six months or so the team,commercial team and coaching staff have proven their worth.Yet these morons, that feel they know better ,cling to their entrenched positions and try to suck every bit of pleasure from us.

Look at the  site Untold Arsenal.Over there they rejoice in everything about the club.They rightly laud our manager and rejoyce in our every small victory.They look forward in hope.They applaud us winning the Fair Play League and savour the way we have progressed as a club.And what do they get ? Ridicule,that’s what. When what they deserve is our appreciation.

But other sites ,run by people full of their.own self importance ,deride just about everything the club does .They  though ,are held up as some sort of saviours.People doing checks and balances on our behalf.Well they are nothing more than pompous pricks leading the stupid to a place where they can all be miserable together.

I am heartily sick of reading some jumped up no mark telling us what formation we should be playing or who should or should not be playing .It would not be so bad if it was just that,but no,you are told that this is how it should be.Its done in a way that leads the reader to believe that the author is right and the manager is incompetent.

Then you get ” Its just an opinion,I am not saying I know better” When in fact they are doing just that.If you tell someone they are not doing something correctly ,and to do it a different way,its because you think you know better.Why else would you do it?

Ivan confirmed that we have been working within financial restraints.This should have been obvious to all but the retarded.Instead of accepting it those who have been insisting we have been awash with money for years ask why the has he previously said we had money ? Well I look at it this way,you can have no money ,but if your roof blows off you will find the money to get it repaired.Had Arsene insisted that we desperately needed to spend(perhaps to maintain our CL position,as we did with Arshavin)the money could have been found.

How many times will people have to be proven wrong before they are willing to accept that our club is run in an exemplary fashion by people of the very highest calibre ?

What a final few months of the season!
What a group of players!
What a manager!
Ok, I will stop saying what now.
What a club! …. Stop it SA!

We showed remarkable fight in the 2011-2012 season to finish 3rd. However, the end of the season did not have the special feeling that I have right now. I would even confidently correct that to, “we have right now”. Certainly, the lack of uncertainty is a progress over the last two summers. Digressing, I would even say that it was an achievement to stay at the level we were and not go down considering the quality of the players we lost. In order to prevent any doomers from picking up on that, I would like to stress that it is neither my or the Club’s ultimate ambition. Credit should however be given to the club and manager for staying afloat. Now to swim.

We have what appears to be a close group and a functioning team with steely resolve. More importantly, the team has shown consistency in a pressure cooker situation. They are going to face this in every match next season if they are going to win the title, but I am confident they can handle it. I also hope they are able to enjoy themselves. Arsenal are a sight to behold and quite lethal when they do that. I am sure Wenger will make that happen. That man thinks it is an obligation to entertain us!

Regarding summer buys, like others on Positively Arsenal, I am not sending a wish list to Wenger. He is not Santa. If Santa was real, I would wish that Wenger was my father-in-law. I would have such intelligent conversations with him all the time. Mind you, Santa might say that granting me wishes is not his department and pass me onto south pole. Bloody bureaucracy! Back from my second digression, Wenger will be the best judge of the players who could potentially improve the team further. Whoever he buys though, will bring excitement, his skills will be analysed and he will be a part of personal teams of commentors here. Looking forward to that.

Looking back at the season, it took a costly turn in the middle. For some reason, the players did not believe in themselves. I think it started with the visit to Manchester United (For those of you who do not know what Manchester United is, I am talking about manure) where we played with fear. In many of the matches after that, we were apprehensive, maybe too afraid to lose. We tried valiantly in the second half, but it was too late. Sadly, when the team needed the support of the supporters most, Arsenal fans let them down. It was a sickening sight watching moaners reveling when fence sitters joined them. However, sometimes out of something bad, something good comes up. Thus was born the beacon of light amongst Arsenal supporters, Positively Arsenal. Thank you guys.

The team identified problems and with the collective desire to man up and win at Bavaria and each of the 10 cup finals, we improved drastically. A few hours before the start of the Bayern match, I had posted a comment here addressed to the team asking them to fight and play so well that Bayern will be scared to face us next time around. The team did just that. I hope we get to play Bayern in next season’s Champions League. P.S. I am in no way claiming my comment spurred the team.

This season, we narrowly missed out on seeing my dream midfield of Arteta, Diaby & Rosicky in action over a stretch of games. Add Arshavin to the front left and…. *wipe drool off the chin*. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see that next season, minus Arshavin (Goodbye little genius).

Cazorla and Rosicky have quickly developed a good understanding. During one of the 10 cup finals, Rosicky poked the ball a little ahead and peeled away. I only saw an opposing player on the screen and was scratching my head when Cazorla nipped into the screen and played a one touch pass (I think back to a forward running Rosicky).

In my opinion, great footballers should think creatively of solutions and use physics consciously too. Gervinho has showed glimpses of that. In one of the matches last season, when Arsenal counter attacked, the ball was passed to Gervinho at pace and it also bounced. At one particular instant, the trajectory of the ball was such that it would be air borne when it passed the defender in a few fractions of a second. So the defender lifted his leg up anticipating this. Gervinho kicked down on the ball and it bounced under the defenders feet. A second later, the ball was at Gervinho’s feet, a yard ahead of the defender. Gervinho is in the hands of the best man who can improve him. It is upto him to ignore the “supporters” and step up.

Ramsey was a revelation to some, wasnt he? To us, he just got back to what he is capable of. Kudos to those who recognised why he was played on the wing. Even Ramsey (atleast publicly) doesnt seem to realise why he was played there. Maybe he will when he gets to Arteta’s age and maturity. When Ramsey started playing in midfield, I noticed him on the right wing a few times in every match either supplementing attack or covering Sagna.

Regarding other players, Fabianski and Szczesny have created a healthy competition for the goal keeping spot. I hope Fabiannksi stays over for next season. When Koscielny goes for the ball, Koscielny gets the ball, no matter where the ball is. Opposing team strikers better learn to accept this fact. Mertesacker showed that you can look like you are going to fall over when you run, have a big smile on your face and still be calm and steal the ball from the likes of Augero. Deadly should be the word used to describe Waclott this season. Podolski showed why he plays for Germany and Giroud has the graceful movement of a striker in his prime.

The prospect of this team improved in understanding and cohesion next season is mouth watering. I would have preferred FA Fergurson to have stayed. They are already saying that the changes at other clubs gives us an opportunity. As though we can only strike when the others are weak! Bullshit!!

The rivals are going to blow us out of the water in terms of spending and try to win the title before the first whistle is blown. Does not matter. I am looking forward to seeing a silky and determined Arsenal next season

By Sensational Arsenal

Before the season started, our beloved Cesc proved that he was still a boy. Na$ri left? Meh. However, there was one thing that gave me a bad feeling. Judas was muttering that he would wait until his aunty’s cold became better and after his car started giving good mileage, etc., before he would even think the contract, but he “loved” Arsenal. Obviously, he was toying with the club and making us wait. All of this combined with the glee at Arsenal’s fall (oh false it was) both outside and inside the club put us in turmoil. This is when I saw Wenger’s true strength. The man was down and kicked, but never beaten. He has said that Frimpong is the kind of guy you want to go to war with. For me, Wenger is the kind of guy I would go to war with.

The 8-2 defeat was one of the two Arsenal matches I have stopped watching mid-way. It felt like luck was smirking as she twisted her knife in us. Everything they tried went in. After the match, we had to pick ourselves up either quickly or suffer for a long time.  Credit to the team for doing the former.

In the 2011-2012 season, we showed glimpses of our potential. We even had unforgettable moments. My personal favourite was how Rosicky & Co. spanked the team who were apparently “better than every Arsenal player except Judas”. The second one would be the game against Newcastle, when Vermaelen charged down the length of the pitch in injury time and won us the game. I am glad Rosicky and Vermalen are still with us. Last,  but not least was the return of the king. I am unfortunate to have missed his and the golden team’s reign but I got to see Henry playing in an Arsenal shirt. The words “Henry! Chance! GOAL!!!” will forever send shivers down my spine. Those words were followed by, “He maybe cast in bronze, but he is still capable of producing truly golden moments”. That shows you what good commentary can do. My brother’s reaction was “meh, it is not a great goal”. My reaction was incredulity at his comment. Now I realise, that moment is extra special because only gunners like us can feel that emotion. I feel privileged to be a part of this club and for this club to be a part of my life.

Then Judas had to try and overshadow it all in the summer. Make it all about him! The club has no ambition?! You have no ambition mate! You have no stomach for Arsenal’s fight! Thank god you are gone! We are better for it and now have a group who have shown class and steel in equal measure. This group is on the cusp of something great and I am truly glad you are not any part of it.

Needless to say, the exit and the manner of it brought us all down. However, I was glad to see the wise Arsenal supporters online say, “Fuck him! We are Arsenal!”. P.S. To all the doomers and moaners out there, this is where you say we are Arsenal! Not as a desperate attempt to justify your moaning.

With the talent Wenger brought in, the players already here and the return of Diaby, preseason 2012-2013 brought anticipation and excitement. The group looked to be solid and of sterner stuff. To me, Vermaelen looked affected right from pre-season. This is entirely my speculation, but I think he was affected by what Judas did. Maybe he took his side of the friendship seriously.

Every season of watching Arsenal is rewarded with glorious moments and feelings. Many times it is sub plots that the world doesnt know or doesnt care about that bring us a lot of cherished joy. Only gunners like us get the premium Arsenal ride. Enjoy it!

By Sensational Arsenal