Those of you who are a regular of my post match thoughts know how much I’ve criticised Arsene Wenger this season, for questionable line-ups, stubborness, pride, well you name it. But yesterday, as he stepped onto the pitch and put his hands in his pockets as he almost always does before the kick-off, I just realised how important the man is for the club.

I’d like Arsene to stay for as long as he has the motivation to do the job

That’s what Ivan Gazidis told The People today. Make no mistake, it’s not that suddenly I’m happy with fighting for 4th place or dropping so many points which had we collected we would be fighting for the title, but want to believe that he is really building something for the future, near future that is. There are still one or two minor issues to be fixed in the side and a lot will depend on who will stay and who will go next season but things are finally starting to look good.

The Diaby Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Many believe Newcastle didn’t punish us enough in the first half and in a way, I agree. Not long ago, one of our readers pinpointed our situation in midfield, which, when under heavy pressure crumbles like a sand castle. And I’m afraid many teams know that, they know that Diaby and Denilson are simply not good enough to provide the strength and support the back four need during such situations and what is really sad is that during the heavy pressure periods of the game, Abou also fails to make an impact in the few occassions where he has the ball and space to use.

The story is completely different when tired legs give the Frenchman space to orchestrate in. The timing of his runs is excellent and is one of the few who almost never fails in one-on-one with keepers. But unfortunately, that’s not enough. Villareal, to mention a team we’ll be facing soon, will be like starving lions in midfield so I hope Abou starts to be more willing in his holding duties as if he doesn’t, considering the form he’s enjoying, Song may rob him of the regular place pretty soon.

Consistency is the key

This month has been one of the few – if not the only – month in which many of our players enjoyed back-to-back convincing performances. Samir Nasri is one of them, it was as if he vanished after the United brace but he came back to life lately and he will be one of the key players in our silverware mission. The same can be said of Bendtner who is growing in confidence and determination. Fair enough, he’s a striker, so maybe only the goal justifies his presence on the pitch, but as Arshavin has shown against Hull, you can also excel by picking the right pass and help a team-mate score and Nick can provide that.

Looking forward

Liverpool routed Villa at Anfield to give us a 3-point cushion with no more than 10 matches to go. Manchester City will pay us a visit at the Emirates and even if Villareal will be waiting days later, I want Saturday’s win badly to cancel the pathetic display at the City of Manchester Stadium. Surely, when you considering we’ll have to face Chelsea at the Emirates, we can still fight for the third place in the Premiership, so let’s go for it!