There's Only One Dennis Bergkamp

"I play a different kind of game"

The caption above is from a chapter entitled "A Short Interview About Killing" in David Winners Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer."  The quote is the conclusion of a conversation between Dennis Bergkamp himself and the author, the by-product of a chance encounter after an interview with someone else. Winner pressed the Dutchman about the imbalance of his relatively low goals return with respect to his outstanding ability as a striker.

The Rise of Corporal Jenkinson

Joleon Lescott, off screen to your right, will be using some of his massive City wages to get himself a new epidermis, having just been skinned by the Corporal.

No one could have predicted how quickly Carl Jenkinson would be folded into the Arsenal first XI, especially after the most inauspicious of starts to his career as a Gunner. Cast your mind back to last season, as a squad decimated by departures, injury, and suspension, saw us field a League Cup side for our Premier League visit to Old Trafford. Having completed his dream move from Charlton only months earlier, the young right back was thrust right into the thick of things against the champions on their own patch. Theo Walcott memorably [and harshly in my eyes] tore strips off of him that day after one mistake.

A Tale of Two Free Kicks

from the Factory Floor

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Ground: Ashburton Grove

Referee:  Martin Atkinson

Arsenal             1-2              Chelsea                 29 September 2012

Gervinho [42]                      Torres[20]

                                                  Mata [53]

For the first time in very long time I woke up for this one not knowing it was a match day immediately when I opened my eyes. Maybe that’s down to the crap sleep I've been getting lately, but I thought it had something to do with the supreme confidence with which I approached the visit of Chelsea to our emerald shores, erm, pitch. I really thought we’d tonk them.

I arrived earliest at the Factory, got a Guinness from Jack Keane and was shortly thereafter joined by the Kaiser, sporting a new Vermaelen home kit.  We were soon met by tEd, Tin Lid, the Captain, and Barry.  There was a fair smattering of chavs around the place, but not nearly as many as for a normal kick-off. One of the things I noted right away was the absence of the NY Blues flag in front of the bar. Ours hung in all its glory though. It didn't turn out to be any kind of portent of good fortune to come, but I enjoyed that we got that privileged position on the day.

Point Taken

from the Factory Floor

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

Ground: Middle Eastlands

Referee:  Mike Dean

Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal                            23 September 2012

Lescott [40]                Koscielny [82] 

I'm a fan of the kind of odd symmetry football can produce at times. When the Arsenal last met Manchester City, it was a magnificent strike from Mikel Arteta that settled the contest, capping off a commanding all action display. On this instance, given Vermaelen's flu induced absence, the Spaniard stepped forward to marshal the side and did so with the same level of performance. He was as immovable as his follicles in the heart of our midfield.

Also due to the Verminator-shaped hole in our defense, up popped Laurent Koscielny from Steve Bould's Center-Back Pez Dispenser and into the core of our burgeoning rearguard. He would enjoy his own brand of symmetry, but we'll get to that in a moment. Whisper it quietly but such is the depth growing in our squad that the last minute absence of our captain before visiting the champions had zero impact on my expectation that we would get something from this game. So it was with great anticipation that I greeted tEd and Aubrey at the Factory to take this one in.

Goldi Poldi Halelujah

es gibt einen Fußballgott!

So, Lukas Podolski smashed his duck at the mugsmashers. For all of us this goal had a sense of being overdue, not necessarily for the German, but because it was the first Arsenal goal full-stop this term. The "seven years no trophies" jibe was about to be reincarnated as the "x hours no goals" klaxon. He clearly enjoyed the goal as his own first strike but also as the release valve on the pressure cooker that was building in the absence of last season's talisman after two scoreless draws.