I like to consider myself a man of my word, and a few days ago I declared that I was withholding judgment on this Arsenal side, and whether we had “turned a corner,” until I saw how the club performed against Stoke City. I am now happy to declare, on the back of a 3-1 win, that this club has indeed turned the corner.

The best news of all, for me, is that I was utterly convinced by the manner in which Arsenal did the task. The Gunners didn’t need a miracle goal, or the referee (who was decidedly NOT in our favor yesterday) to grind out the result.

They did need Robin van Persie, who is quickly staking his claim to being the best striker in England, if not the world at the moment. However, Arsene Wenger’s men looked to have Stoke in the bag the whole way, and this is the first result of the season where I have felt confident in our boys from the first minute to the last.

As for the decision to start Marouane Chamakh and give Robin van Persie a much needed break? Flawless, if you ask me. Not only was Arsenal creating chances from the beginning, they pulled into the lead and looked solid, all without their captain and talisman.

Chamakh is, unfortunately, still struggling, and on the balance, the Gunners should have had a few more. Marouane really needs to find some kind of clinical touch, or stop trying to be a striker. Either way.

Aaron Ramsey followed up his “Thrilla in Marsiella” (too much?) with a very solid performance, including a stunning chip to assist Gervinho on the opening goal. As for Mikel Arteta, I thought his play was inspirational in the midfield, unlucky not to have a few assists himself. His decision making was much improved, the passes were much quicker leaving his feet yesterday, and the attack did much better as a result.

If these two can continue to play like this, Jack Wilshere will have a challenge in front of him when he returns to fitness (as it should be).

Defensively, Laurent Koscielny continues to be the man in form. I thought he had a very solid game. I haven’t yet watched the replays of the goal to see where he was, but it seemed as though EVERYONE fell asleep on that set piece, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Gervinho, my man of the match. Watch Theo Walcott struggle on the wing, and then watch this Ivorian, and see how proper wing play should look. Gervinho was everywhere in this match, and when his final ball matches his workrate, he’s truly a forced to be reckoned with. Tremendous performance from the summer signing.

For Arsenal, this result will only mean good things. As I mentioned earlier, Arsene’s gamble with resting van Persie paid off in a huge way, as the Dutchman managed to fit 90 minutes of production into 30 minutes on the pitch. For all the questionable calls I’ve harassed Wenger over, I’m man enough to admit that this was a masterstroke (although I was in support of resting him yesterday).

Moving forward, I don’t think a loss against Chelsea will put a damper on us, because facing the Blues at the Bridge is always a tough fixture. One the other hand, a result would do immeasurably positive things for our momentum. Either way, we are climbing the table, and showing no signs of slowing down.

COYG!