Jesus Christ the rain here this morning is fierce.

Should I be worried that I saw an old man gathering two of each animal before heading for his self-built boat sitting atop a nearby mountain?

Is it a sign of the impending armageddon that Amaury Bischoff actually played a game of football? Something strange is going on in the cosmos, people. Torrents from on high and the Bisch is back. He played 56 minutes of the reserves 3-2 win over Stoke yesterday evening and did quite well by all accounts. The game also featured Mikael Silvestre for his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt and despite going behind we came back with goals from Francis Coq au vin, Jay Simpson and Rui Fonte. Report here.

With the players away the mischief starts a bit with quotes from Cesc appearing in the Spanish press. Speaking to Spanish radio he reportedly said:

I have decided to give my all to Arsenal and to give my maximum, I’d like to try and win more titles here, nevertheless we will see what happens next year.

Now, the other quotes about it being his dream to move back to Barcelona being a 'dream' are no surprise whatsoever. Home town club, one he supports, friends, family etc. We can all understand. The quotes about having a think about his future next year are mildly worrying though.

I have no doubt that Cesc wants to win things with Arsenal. No doubt at all. On the other hand though, if I was Cesc I might wonder how realistic that goal is with the current Arsenal squad. Anyway, there's one way of making sure that's not relevant and that's by winning something this year. And making him captain. And setting Gallas adrift on a tiny raft somewhere in the pacific attached to a boat in which lives a great big tiger. I honestly think that would make a big difference. And I'll even supply the tiger.

Manuel Almunia says that Theo Walcott adding an angry side to his game has added to his game. Apparently he exposed himself to gamma radiation and now, when he gets an angry, his clothes get too small and he turns all green. Almunia says:

Theo was too nice maybe in the last two years, but this season you can see that when he gets tackled he gets furious, and that shows you he has changed. I just spoke with him once, I told him he had to be a bit more aggressive and not so nice on the pitch because if people can kill you they will do so.

There's nothing like being in fear for your life to change your attitude. I used to be very nice but when I was told that people were trying to kill me I certainly became a different person altogether. Literally. I changed my name and everything.

There is nothing else to talk to you about this morning though. As far as the Arsenal goes that's it. So, if you'll excuse me I'll go get some breakfast, daydreaming of tigers and rafts and giant crashing waves and whales crossed with squids. I call them squales.

Till tomorrow. 

Once more into the Interlull we go, dear friends.

Our next game of football is on Saturday October 18th at 3pm. I ask you, in all seriousness, what the buggering fuck are we supposed to do until then? With only the late point against Sunderland to sustain us as well. That's like sending us on an expedition to the antarctic with just a half packet of Carr's water biscuits and a small piece of brie.

What are we going to talk about? Well, I've come up with some topics for discussion:

• Theo's sideburns, cool or hirsute extravagance?
• Who would win in a fight to the death between Eboue and a really cross Koala?
• How the birth of William Gallas brought about the latest global recession
• Guess how many beads are in Bacary Sagna's dreads
• Is thinking you're a much better player than you are a good thing or a bad thing? In footballing circles this is known as the Adebayor factor
• Denilson, is it really hair or does someone paint his head?
• Who will score a wonder goal against us next?
• Does Arsene need a new number 2? And should it be Macho Man Randy Savage?
• If Cesc Fabregas stuck his hand in the fire would you do it too?
• Carlos Vela, proof that refried beans are vital for a footballer's progression or simply a freak of nature?
• Who will play for Arsenal first? Diaby, Rosicky, a sickly baby currently in an incubator in Great Ormond Street hospital.
• Why the 'Wonder of you' anthem should be replaced by 'Smells like teen spirit'.
• Jack Wilshere has become the most pube free footballer to score for Arsenal. Is this good or bad?

So that should be plenty to get us through until about 11am this morning. After that I really don't know.

I suppose I could mention Sp*rs getting beaten by Hull yesterday but seeing as we got beaten by Hull last week it'd be a bit lame. Plus getting your kicks at the expense of others is all well and good when you're sitting pretty yourself but we're not really at the moment so I won't.

I see Adebayor has quit Togo so he can concentrate on Arsenal. I suppose that's a good thing although his complete lack of interest in celebrating our goal the other day was a bit weird. Check the pictures - what's up with him?

Anyway, that's about that for this morning. There's little or no news, as you might imagine, so buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life. Sorry, I mean settle down in your old armchair with only one TV channel to watch for the next 12 days or so. And that TV channel is showing repeats of Heartbeat over and over and over again.

Oh man, it's gonna be fun. Till tomorrow.

'The response continues at Sunderland' screamed the headline on the official site as they plugged an interview with Arsene Wenger.

Well, oooops is all I have to say. If that's what passes for a response these days then it's very worrying indeed. Only a late, late goal from Cesc saved us from slumping to our third defeat of the season and this stage of the campaign that would have been really a real kick in the bollocks.

As expected Alex Song came in to midfield and we played the same kind of formation as we used to in away Champions League games. Oddly though, Song and Denilson were the two holding midfielders, Robin van Persie was played out on the left and Cesc was given a floating role behind the lone striker, Adebayor.

This didn't work for a number of reasons. Firstly van Persie drifts infield too much. As a natural striker being out wide left doesn't suit him and I think it's madness to play him out there. Secondly, when you play this system your midfield is hugely important and when you take the best midfielder and play him where he's not going to get enough of the ball to influence the game you put yourself at a huge disadvantage.

In seasons past we've played this way with a midfield trio of Cesc - Flamini - Gilberto - with Hleb behind the striker. Now, to me there is a huge gulf in quality there. Hleb's natural position was that number 10 behind the striker and whatever you want to say about his lack of end product he was technically a very good footballer who had Cesc and Flamini/Gilberto pulling the strings behind him. When you ask Denilson and Alex Song to do that same work it just doesn't happen. They don't have the ability to dictate the game and feed the more creative players.

Then you have Cesc, the only midfielder at the club who can do that, in an unfamiliar role which doesn't suit him or the team. The manager was expecting Sunderland to be more attacking and bemoaned their defensive approach to the game. The question I'd be asking is if it was so obvious they were going to get men behind the ball why did we persist with a defensive formation ourselves? Make no mistake, that was Wenger at his most conservative - he knew we could not lose there so our approach was to first make sure we didn't lose. We didn't go there to win the game. 

With the greatest respect to Sunderland, who worked very hard, if we had had the belief to go for the win I think we would have taken three points yesterday. Bring Song in by all means if you want to add a more defensive player to the midfield but leave Denilson on the bench. Play Nasri and Walcott who would have caused Sunderland more problems. Nasri in particular has great movement which would have been crucial against a tight defence. For all the talk of his faith in the squad and young players it seems to be like yesterday he didn't trust his players enough to go for a win.

That said we did have a goal disallowed when Theo's cut back was put in by Robin van Persie but the linesman, wrongly, said the ball had crossed the line. I don't necessarily agree with the manager when he said that everything has gone against us in the last two league games (Adebayor's legitimate goal against Hull being marked off as well) but to be on the receiving end of two poor decisions like that isn't much fun.  

Nevertheless these happens in football, sort of like United's goal against Blackburn being allowed stand despite an obvious foul on the keeper, and you have to cope with them. We've had goals disallowed before but made those decisions irrelevant by scoring more. Bendtner came on for a very unhappy Walcott, Nasri came on for Denilson but despite bossing the second half I don't remember Craig Gordon having to work too hard. A couple of tame shots and one good save from van Persie after nice interplay between Adebayor and Bendtner. That was about it.

And there was an air of inevitability about their goal. A really fantastic strike from Grant Leadbitter but Alex Song was caught in possession just outside our box. Schoolboy stuff really. You can't legislate for a wonder goal like that but you can make sure you don't get caught with the ball in dangerous areas. Wenger threw on Vela for Song and it looked like another defeat against a team that, as so-called title contenders, you would expect us to beat. 

There was late drama though. We won a corner on our right, van Persie whipped it in and Cesc Fabregas came bombing in to bury a header in the top corner. A most unCesclike goal but one that may prove to be hugely important. It also says a lot about the young man, he had the desire and spirit to get us something from that game. He is our leader on the pitch. He didn't have a good game by his standards but his quality shone through at the end.

Afterwards the manager talked about us being 'a bit flat' and lacking sharpeness but I think that only serves to fudge the issue. In my opinion we didn't win because we do not have the players to play that 4-5-1 formation, we weren't brave enough to play our normal game against Sunderland and our midfield lacks quality.

Apart from Cesc we just don't have players good enough in the middle. Song and Denilson are promising young players but not ready just yet. We lack experience and that little bit of cleverness that a more senior player brings. We've seen Cesc struggle this season and some of it is surely down to his late start after Euro 2008 but as the games go on we might find that it's the lack of a suitable partner that's having the most impact. I think we miss Flamini in a big way and you're quite entitled to think what you want about Flamini as a person but I'm talking about Flamini the player. 

I think the manager really has to look very hard at the decisions he made this summer and while it's great to bring young players through it's not always the best way. Is throwing Denilson and Song in when they're clearly not ready the best thing for them or for the team? They struggle, the team struggles and it's a downward spiral from there.

Now, I know there's nothing we can do about this issue until January at least and I'm not really complaining. I just think that this issue exists and it'd be wrong to bury our heads in the sand and ignore it. Of course I hope we get our shit together and improve as a team over the coming weeks but I really think that come January the manager needs to spend some money because otherwise I think we're going to have these kinds of struggles all season.

Fulham, Hull and nearly Sunderland. For a team that wants to win the title that is massively disappointing and very worrying when you consider we have still to play the other top three clubs, plus the likes of Villa and Man City who look to be improving this season. It looks like these big games will be crucial if we want to stay in the race. We've made life difficult for ourselves and we're going to have to beat Chelsea and Liverpool and United if we want to the title.

There's an international break now and the manager won't see the players for a couple of weeks or so. Perhaps it will give him time to think about what we're lacking in terms of quality in various positions and in terms of leadership which was non-existent again yesterday. The one man who showed it is not captain because, according to Arsene, 'because he is a bit young and because we have a captain'. Hmmm.

The one positive I can take at the moment is that if there's a good time in the season to lose a couple of games and go through a bad spell it's now. You have time to recover, to claw back the points and league positions, whereas we all saw what losing at the business end of the season does to you. Bottom line though is that we can't afford to keep dropping points at this rate, otherwise the season will be over much, much sooner than we would like.

Have a good Sunday. 

Good morning, I'm sitting here trying to battle through my hangover and get today's blog started. And not only do I have a hangover, I have a cold. Bah, stupid life.

It's Sunderland today the early team news we had yesterday is as relevant today. Or there's no new team news. Something like that. I wouldn't expect too many changes to the side that played against Porto, to be honest, but a change like Song coming in for Nasri or Walcott wouldn't be a surprise.

Arsene says that the response to the Hull game will continue today and the lads are going to have to be fully focussed against a team managed by a man who demands nothing less from his players. He was like that as a player too. It was interesting, and nice, to read Keane talking about Arsenal with such respect. We had brilliant battles with him and his United team down the years and in a way you miss games like those.

Of course every big game has its excitement and gets you worked up but when the Arsenal - United rivalry was at its peak it was something a bit special. For a player never afraid to get stuck in his philosophy for the Sunderland team isn't a Bolton style physical one. He says:

We can’t expect to kick Arsenal off the park. I don’t think that’s the type of team I want to build at Sunderland. We have to play good football against them.

There's more from Keane in this article here in the Irish Examiner. His comments about the generation of young players we have coming through are interesting too.

The boss returns the compliments about Keane to a certain extent and goes on to talk about some of the former Arsenal players who might make it in management. He talks a bit about Steve Bould and I think he might well be one to watch. I always loved Bould as a player, technically I thought he was a better footballer than Tony Adams, and when the inevitable happens and Arsene decides it's time to retire then it would be great to have someone who learned from him to take over and an Arsenal man too. Anyway, that's all a long way in the future, I would think. 

Samir Nasri talks about facing his old mate Dribbly Sissy and how much he's enjoying playing on the left for Arsenal, saying:

This position suits me perfectly, I am a playmaker on the left wing. And I have Gael [Clichy] behind me who attacks a lot and helps me massively, he also allows me play in the middle.

A tough away game is something he hasn't faced yet due to this stop-start start so this will be a bit of a test for him. I think he's going to be really important for us because he gives us such great movement and an extra dimension in attack. Hopefully he can stay fit and really bed into the team from here on in.

Not much else to tell you really and my head is pounding. Here's to a good performance later on, it's on Setanta Ireland (I think) if you want to catch the game, and to three points. Fingers crossed. 

More tomorrow. 

Friday again, wooo hooo!

I think I shall be taking it rather easy this weekend. Compared to last weekend at least. Arsenal are on the telly here so that's something.

The early team news for the Sunderland game is that we have no new injuries but Alex Song, who was missing from the Champions League squad, may return. He might even start. An away game against a Sunderland team built in the image of their manager might require a bit more physicality in midfield and after the Hull debacle it wouldn't be a surprise if he was drafted in.

There's still no sign of Diaby whose thigh injury has kept him out since pre-season. Unless some kind of worm ate away most of his thigh it seems like an inordinately long time to be missing. Eduardo too is progressing while Wenger didn't sound as confident as you might like when talking about Rosicky, saying:

I monitor Rosicky's progress very closely but at the moment it is very difficult to put a date on his comeback. We are not pessimistic about the future of his career but we still need more patience.

It's the first time we've heard any kind of hint about his career so it is a worry. Even if he is saying they're not pessimistic they're not saying they're optimistic either. Fingers crossed he can get through it. We're really missing someone to score that 4th goal when we're 3-1 up!

The manager has also spoken out against abuse from the terraces. In the light of the slagging former Arsenal man Sol Campbell got from Sp*rs fans, he said:

Sometimes stupidity is contagious as well and sometimes in the crowd there is a competition to see who can be more stupid. That is why you should not let these people be together. My reaction is that abuse cannot be tolerated from anybody towards anybody in the world.

Now, it's a very noble thought but like it or not it's part of the game. A former player is going to get booed, a life long enemy (a Sheringham, for example), will always get stick from the crowd, and we cannot bemoan the atmosphere at football matches yet try to stop this kind of thing. However, there is a very definite line which sees regular banter and singing become something more sinister.

Arsene has obviously had first hand experience of this as idiots have sung that song about him. Everyone is ripe for a slagging, everyone, but to sing a song accusing somebody of being a paedophile is beyond the pale. Yet, the FA have done nothing about it over the years, even though it could quite easily have taken a stand against the clubs whose fans gleefully chant that in front of their chidren. And with Sol Campbell, not somebody I have a great deal of time for to be honest, it seems the Sp*rs fans not so much crossed the line as stomped over it, pissed on and beat a defenceless old granny around the head with it.

Anyway, it seems to me that it'd be easy enough to stop it. Threaten clubs with points deductions and the fans might realise they have to stay (somewhat) within the bounds of decency.

Stuart Pearce wants Theo Walcott for the England U21s. Arsene thinks that's a bad idea. I suspect particularly because it might extend Theo's season as the U21 European Championships take place next summer.

Arsene Wenger and Joe Kinnear, unlikely buddies.

Not much else happening just yet so let's get on with the Arsecast. On this week's show I revisit the Hull trip and try and address those who think our defeat was all my fault for just being there. There's some talk of Porto and Sunderland, as well as a player history from the Man in the Bar, a tale of the unexpected and Silvester.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, the direct feed URL is here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (14mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Ok then, have a good Friday. More, and a fuller Sunderland preview, tomorrow.

Good morning. It's starting to get a bit cold first thing, isn't it? After the hot, balmy summer it looks like winter is well and truly on the way. Bah.

Not a lot going on really. Emmanuel Adebayor (OleOle link) has been talking up his partnership with Robin van Persie (OleOle link), saying:

There is a good relationship between him and me. We are just enjoying playing together up front. He's a very good player. I'm using him and he's using me as well. We’re trying for a telepathic understanding and against Porto we’ve shown we can do something.

I wonder do they stay after training practising their telepathy with those test cards with pictures on them.

Ade: "Ok, Robin. Concentrate now. I'm looking at a card. I'm trying to send the image to you. What is it?"

Robin: "Is it a Barcelona shirt with a big bag of money beside it?"

Ade: "Oh man, you're good. Your turn! Your turn!"

Robin: "I'm looking at the card. What's on it?"

Ade: "Is it a footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette?"

Robin: "No".

Ade: "Well that's the image I'm getting, man. A footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette ... hitting a free kick into the upper tier"

Robin: "No, that's not it".

Ade: "What is it then?"

Robin: "It's a miniature version of Escher's 'Relativity'! You know, the one with the staircases"

Ade: "How the fuck am I meant to get that? I mean, what kind of person puts that on their psychic test cards? You make me sick. So sick I'd rather play with Bendtner".

Of course there's always the 'if' factor around van Persie, something Adebayor doesn't shy away from:

He's just back and we've only had five or six games together. Robin is a good player and if he is fit for the whole season we have a chance to do something special, that's for sure.

It was around this time last season that van Persie got injured so there's that little hurdle to get over yet. I suspect Arsene will be lighting votive candles during the upcoming international break. So we've yet to really see if they can be the kind of partnership we'd all like them to be and I do wonder if Adebayor's bigging up of the partnership is somewhat inspired by seeing how well Bendtner and Vela seem to work together. Obviously if the two of them forge a great twosome then it'd be great for the team but let's give it some time.

What's also interesting is the revelation from Adebayor that it's Cesc Fabregas who brings players together off the pitch. He says:

Robin is in contact with Fabregas and sometimes he makes everybody sit together. We are not the best friends ever but sometimes it does happen that we go to a restaurant.

I know that under the captaincy of Vieira the team socialising together was an important part of life at the club. Whether it was dinners or whatever those social events do help foster good team spirit and it's no surprise that Cesc is at the centre of it. Can I say Cesc for captain again? Of course I can. This is my blog, I can say what I like.

Cesc. For. Captain.

Former captain Patrick Vieira has backed Arsene in the wake of the comments by curly-haired cuntbutler Michelle Platini. And rightly so.

Apart from that there isn't a great deal going on. Chelsea's away draw in the Champions League last night was made even more hilarious by an injury to Didier Drogba and there's a great picture in the Sun this morning. I know I shouldn't take pleasure in the pain of others but come on, it's Drogba. How many times have we seen him writhe around in fake agony? Some real agony is nice to see. The Drog who cried wolf, haha.

Ok, that will have to do. More tomorrow with an Arsecast. Until then.

Well we wanted a response to the disappointment of last Saturday and we got one with a 4-0 thumping of FC Porto at the Grove last night.

After all his talk of making changes the manager's axe turned out to be not so much an axe as a teeny-tiny meat cleaver taken from an Action Man Kitchen Adventure set. The only change was Nasri in for Eboue and that's one you would always expect when Nasri is fit anyway.

And there were a few moments of real danger before we opened the scoring. You need a bit of luck on your side and we had that when Rodriguez's header bounced up and just about over the bar. Then I remember Almunia making a very good save and from the resulting corner Gael Clichy clearing off the line. Had any of those gone in then things might have been a bit worrying but as I said, you need the run of the green sometimes and once the first goal went in there was no looking back.

The first came after a wonderful piece of control from Cesc who played the ball into Adebayor. He held it and fed it to Robin van Persie whose run to the near post was perfectly timed and he poked it home convincingly. The roles were reversed for the second when Adebayor headed home van Persie's corner.

The third came early in the second half when van Persie showed good strength to brush past Bruno Alves and his improvised finish went in at the far post. After that we had a whole host of chances. Walcott put one just wide from about 6 yards, then he turned provider for Nasri who put one wide from what seemed like even closer. The manager made some changes, Bendtner and Eboue coming on for van Persie and Nasri and the big Dane won a penalty which Adebayor converted to make it 4-0.

Carlos Vela came on for Theo Walcott and showed some quick feet and good skill while Adebayor should have had a hat-trick after being set up very well by Bendtner. So 4-0 it finished and I'm glad that the players who might well have been dropped have repaid the faith the manager showed in them. For the two strikers, so heavily criticised after Hull, to score 2 each is fantastic and I'm sure I even saw Gallas compete for and win a header [insert ironic smiley].

What was most pleasing was that this was probably Cesc's best game of the season. There are lots of theories about why he hasn't really performed this season. From tiredness after the Euros to lacking the kind of player like Flamini who allowed him to thrive last season to just lack of form everyone's got an opinion, but he showed last night just how important he is to the team. We can play well without him but when he clicks into gear we're a different beast altogether.

Afterwards the manager explained his decision not to ring the changes like he had threatened, saying:

I was tempted to make more than one change but I did not because I did not want to give the feeling that you punish one more than another. I believe sometimes you give the team the chance to respond quickly.

And fair play to them, they did. And it's good to see. The main thing though is that the lesson stays learned, that complacent performances against teams like Hull do not happen again. It's a cliché but there are no easy games in the Premier League and with Sunderland away on Saturday you can be quite sure we're in for another battle for the three points.

And Theo Walcott said of the win:

We owed that to the fans. It was very disappointing at the weekend but we've got that out of our heads and showed tonight how good we are.

While Robin van Persie was keen to let the supporters know his thoughts, saying:

Everybody was really disappointed after losing against Hull. We knew we had to make it up to the fans and make it right. We played well and it was a deserved win.

With the manager also talking about owing the fans it seems everybody was singing from the same hymn sheet. It was interesting to see the amount of empty seats last night though. Not all the fans appear convinced by this team. No doubt when we get a few wins under our belt again those seats will fill up, which is another debate altogether.

So top of our Champions League we go but that should go out of our minds for the next few of weeks. With the next game not until October 21st against Fenerbache we've got to get ourselves focussed back on the league with two tricky games. Sunderland away, as I've mentioned, and Everton at home coming after the international break.

It was a good response last night but let's wait and see how things go before we decide the corner is well and truly turned.

More tomorrow.

Update: Having real problems with the mailing list software so nothing has been sent out today. Sorry about that. I am trying to fix it, it appears to be a well-known issue but nothing has worked just yet. 

They say when you fall off a horse the best thing to do is to get straight back up on the horse again. Tell that to Christopher Reeve.

Still, Arsenal have a chance to get back on the footballing horse tonight after a display on Saturday that was complete pony. The manager will have had a good nag at his players and the mane thing is that we get ourselves back on track and ... oh, fuck that. I don't have the energy for horse jokes. Not even if you fed me a load of shergar lumps.

The manager has been talking a lot and it's hard to get my head around everything he says. From saying he doesn't quite know what to do about the fact our defence is a bit small (play taller players and don't let tall players leave on loan) to suggesting the current crop are potentially invincible (rather stretching credibility after the Hull game) he's had lots to say.

I know Wenger is never critical of his players in public. If one of them was to kick the referee up the hole to crown a performance so abject that it made Tom Huddlestone look like Pele he'd still keep his counsel in public. So him talking them up is par for the course. I've got no real problem with it because that's what he always does. He has admitted though that we have a problem. Not physically, not in terms of talent, but in terms of attitude and approach, saying:

At the moment, I'm not sure we can focus all the time in every single game, especially when we think the game will be easy. When you are young, you think things are going to be easy. When you have a bang on the head like this, you have to understand the need to be consistent. It was a big bang and shows we're not completely there on the mental side.

In the past, we have been beaten physically, we have been intimidated. We know we can deal with that now, but we're sometimes a bit too confident in the home games when we need to put some effort in.

It really is a quite extraordinary revelation, although there's worse to come. The general feeling around the ground on Saturday was that the team thought they just had to turn up and go through the motions to win the game. Some might say that's down to inexperience but that's why we have an experienced and professional staff. Had none of them watched Hull this season? Did they look like a Derby to them? Even at the most basic level of football you're warned that if you go into a match with that attitude then you run the risk of being turned over and so it was. For players at this level to be that arrogant, and that's the only word I can use, is amazing.

Why can't we focus all the time in every single game? It's not like anyone's asking them to play well every game. Nobody's asking them to score six goals in every game, but it strikes me that expecting players to focus for 90 minutes each week is the very least we should expect from well paid professional footballers.

What's even more incredible is Kolo Toure's admission that he was 'scared' about playing Hull. He said:

Against Man United everybody thinks it's going to be a tight game but when you play against Hull it's harder because you are expected to win and score in the first minute. But it doesn't happen like that. I was scared against Hull because there are no easy games.

What? Scared? By all means treat Hull with respect because they deserved it with the way they've started the season. But being scared of them? Be scared of dragons, or terrorists, or cancer or giant spiders singing the entire works of Phil Collins, but don't be scared of Hull or any team. We were top of the league, playing at home and you're scared? We are the Arsenal. We don't get scared of anyone. It's mad.

The manager has said that he will rotate tonight. He says it's not punishment, merely a way of keeping the team fresh and it's normal throughout the season. It should be punishment. It should be more than just bringing in fresh legs. It should be a message to some of the players who thought Hull would be easy.

'Think it's easy, do you? Here's a few weeks on the bench. How easy is that? Now, if you want to get back in the team you've got to work hard. Oh, harder than that. Hah, much harder than that'.

So tonight is a chance to hammer that point home both from the manager's point of view and from the players who might come in. We've got Nasri back, which is good. He adds a bit of guile and creativity to our midfield. I think we'll see one of the strikers dropped and Bendtner come in, it would surprise me to see both of them miss out but Bendtner and Vela have done well together so maybe. One of Kolo or Gallas will make way for Djourou, I'm sure. Again it's hard to see the manager drop both his first choice defenders but if he does Silvestre may start.

Maybe we might see Ramsey in midfield. Denilson has done well but Ramsey must be chomping at the bit to get a start. It would be quite radical for Wenger to make that many changes but if the Hull game almost made him sick maybe he's in the mood for something a bit different. If he talks about how we don't have reserves, only good players, then it's time for him to let those good players have a go.

We responded well to the defeat against Fulham, it's time to show we've got the ability to do it again. We know we have the talent in the team to win games but will the great big chunk of Tiger flavoured humble pie sort some of these players out? We'll see later on tonight.

I think we can win but if we approach this game with anything less than 100% commitment and focus then we'll find ourselves on the wrong end of the result. Porto are a decent side, technically good and big on gamesmanship. Tonight's referee is the guy who sent off Vieira and Lauren against PSV a few seasons back. The same guy who allowed van Bommell to kick and maim any Arsenal player he wanted without so much as a card, so we have to be aware of that too.

I hope this is a night when Cesc clicks back into gear again, if he does (and I think the return of Nasri will provide us with the kind of movement and energy in midfield that Cesc enjoys) then our chances are more than good. Of course it's not all down to him, there are 10 others that need to play well too.

I'm waffling now and I'm a bit nervous about tonight. Fingers crossed for a much better performance and, of course, a better result.

Update: Meant to put this in today's post but forget. The OleOle graphics team have been working on some groovy new Arsenal wallpapers for your desktop. We'll be adding to these but for the moment you can find the first three here, featuring Jack Wilshere, Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott. 

Enjoy. 

Coming out of the ground on Saturday I heard one disgruntled Arsenal fan behind me say "You know, if it were up to me I'd drop the whole fucking lot of them and play the kids on Tuesday".

Knee-jerk reactions to defeats like Saturday's are normal but it was easy to see where he was coming from. By all accounts the Carling Cup team played with energy, enthusiasm and commitment, three things sadly lacking from the 'first' team's performance against Hull. Worryingly it's the second time that's happened this season and just as we thought the lessons of the Fulham game had been learned too.

I think Tom's blog yesterday summed it up perfectly so I don't want to go over old ground too much but it was painful viewing at times. The manager's post game interview with the BBC makes for interesting viewing, mostly because it's clear Arsene is quite bewildered. I don't think I've ever seen him look quite so down in the dumps after a defeat, and I include losses in finals and really important games in that (not that the Hull game wasn't important, but you know what I mean).

If we thought the performance of the kids would keep the more senior players on their toes we were wrong. Adebayor and van Persie responded to the threat of Bendtner and Vela by looking as if they couldn't really be bothered at times. It strikes me there's a bit of complacency among some of the players who feel their places in the team are assured no matter what. I think that's perfectly illustrated by William Gallas whose form this season has been very poor and whose leadership skills are non-existent. Yes, it was a great header by Cousin but Gallas was at fault against Fulham too and against Bolton.

When your team needs leadership and authority he goes missing and while I appreciate the fact he has a knack of getting late goals to salvage something from games I'd rather he was better at doing his job at the other end. It's time for the manager to make a point to some of the senior players, to show them that they're not undroppable. Gallas should be dropped. Get Djourou in to provide to height and physical presence to the back four. Adebayor and van Persie can count themselves lucky if they start against Porto. The manager is promising changes, you wonder how much of that is his 'knee-jerk' reaction to what happened against Hull.

There's a great quote from John Toshack from when he was manager of Real Madrid. After a defeat he said (and I'm paraphrasing here) 'On Monday you're going to drop all 11, then by Thursday it's 5 or 6, then on Saturday you play the same 11 cunts as last week'. I can understand the manager's desire to drop players but realistically he can't do too much. The game on Saturday was crying out for a midfielder to come on and change the game but we didn't have that player on the bench. Alex Song is not going to come on and do that job and the closest we have is 16 year old Jack Wilshere.

Had we the depth you'd be asking serious questions about Toure too who I believe struggles alongside Gallas yet thrives when playing with a more traditional stopper, someone like Sol Campbell or even Philippe Senderos. Cesc has not got going yet this season either, he looks leggy and not up to speed yet. Of course his pre-season was disrupted by Spain's Euro success and we have to keep playing him. We just don't have anyone else and hopefully with more games under his belt he can recapture some form.

I suppose the most worrying thing though was the way the team on Saturday was outfought by Hull. I know they're new to the league and full of vim and vigour but it was apparent in the first half we needed to step it up. That we didn't, or couldn't, in the second is concerning. Without wishing to harp on about it too much the team lacks leadership. During games like this you look to your captain for inspiration, you look to your 'star' players for a spark but nothing happened. In isolation you can write it off as a bad day but twice in the first six games of the season is not isolated.

Gallas says it's hard to accept losing to Hull and has warned against being complacent. I think Tom's suggestion of Clichy punching him in the snout was most sound indeed and I think the wake-up call he needs is to warm the bench for a few games. I truly, truly, truly, really and utterly think the manager needs to the rethink the captaincy too. It might be a hard thing to do but the longer it goes unaddressed then the more we're going to suffer for it. Three times this season the captain has either not tried or not tried hard enough and three times we've conceded.

I'm not saying all our defensive woes are down to him either but when it looks like the captain of your team can't be arsed then it must have an effect on the rest of the players, no matter how professional they are. When that same player is then lecturing you before a game it must be maddening. Perhaps individually Kolo and Gallas are the two best central-defenders at the club (and that's very debatable) but how much more time will Arsene give the partnership when it clearly does not work?

I suppose the main issue is one we've all spoken about at length over the last couple of seasons and that's consistency. We're capable of incredible performances and good results, but equally capable of serving up phlegm covered gruel like on Saturday. There was an air of expectation before the Hull game, fans were buzzing after the midweek 6-0 and the good response since the Fulham defeat, and some of the reaction since has been somewhat over the top. There's a tendency to get carried away when we win and when we lose.

You get scolded for not being positive enough when we win but I think defeats like Saturday's show that there are still some issues in the team. Yes, we should be positive when we win but the danger of getting too carried away is that when things go wrong then it becomes all too painful. The manager said that the test now is to see how we respond. We seemed to have learned from the Fulham game but the same kind of attitude against Hull cost us. How many times do we need to touch the electrified food before we stop going back for a nibble?

So Porto should be interesting on Tuesday. Not just because it's a European night and they're always good but to see how the manager reacts to what he saw on Saturday and how the players react to the way they played. Apparently Arsene kept them in the dressing room for an hour afterwards and I have no doubt some harsh words were spoken. Let's see what happens on Tuesday but let's remember that Tuesday will only be one small step, there's the whole rest of the season to get on with too.

Leaving football aside for a moment the rest of the weekend in London was great fun though. Thanks to Tom for keeping the blogging going and it was, as always, a pleasure to meet up with so many of you. I never fail to be touched by the generosity and decency of Arsebloggers and even though what happened for the 90 minutes was about as much fun as a swimming pool party with Michael Barrymore the rest of the weekend was brilliant, thank you all for that. My liver does not thank you but my liver can go kiss my hairy Mick arse.

Right, there was plenty to say yesterday. No doubt today will be the same. More tomorrow.

Well, that was a bit fucking shit, wasn't it? Not exactly the 83 nil we were hoping for, and perhaps it's reward for exactly that kind of attitude. Not that I'm saying it's my fault. Oh no, we all know who's fault it is.

First things first, all credit to Hull. They did completely the opposite of what many teams do when they play us at home; instead of smothering the midfield and putting 10 men behind the ball, they came to play football, and that they certainly did.

We huffed and puffed, and had a lot of possession (as did Hull; one of the stats during the first half gave them 85% possession in five minutes), but we couldn't break them down. The most frustrating aspect of it wasn't the same old story that we just couldn't unpick their defence. It was that we didn't look like we really cared about unpicking their defence. Like we couldn't really be arsed.

Arsene Wenger said it was a shocking result and he was disappointed by the commitment shown by the team. So was I. It was fucking shit. The whole attitude was shit. Having seen the Carling Cup performance in midweek, I think most people would've thought that we'd get all 3 points against a newly promoted team. It seemed that mentality leaked through to the players who seemed to think all they had to do was turn up.

Eventually we did take the lead through a scruffy goal - which was good, because if you can get scruffy goals when you're playing shit, it's good - that was either put in by Fabregas, or was an own goal by some ginger cunt. We had been turning the screw and on the balance of play up until that point, it was probably what we deserved. Just.

Then Hull scored their first, a wonderful 30 yarder that Almunia could do nothing about. Fair dues, it was a great goal and one worthy of winning any game. Instead of react by going and piling on the pressure though, we conceeded yet another goal from a set piece.

Hull got a corner, and our captain, our leader, our supposedly best central defender, watched Daniel Cousins as he jumped for the corner and headed it across goal where Fabregas' jump at the post couldn't stop it going in. 2-1 to Hull and we looked shell shocked.

A word here for Gallas. That word is cunt. I know he hit the bar late on (which might've salvaged a draw - woohoo), but his defending for their second was criminal. He just watched and made no attempt to attack the ball early. Remember his tantrum at Birmingham last season when Clichy gave away a penalty (which wasn't actually a penalty as it turned out)? When he sat on the ground having a tantrum? After seeing his defending for that goal, I think Clichy should've gone up and punched him, square in the snout.

It was fucking appalling - and not the first time this season. I think that's the third or fourth game now where he's just been a spectator at a set piece. It's not good enough for a central defender, never mind a central defender who came from Chelsea because he thought central defence was his best position and is the captain of the club. The attitude of the other players on the pitch can only be influenced by his, and when they see him not really bothering "because it's only Hull", that attitude infects the other players.

It's not acceptable for him (or any of the other players) to only turn up in "big games". All the games for Arsenal are important and someone needs to teach him that. Teach him it with a hammer. To the temples. Teach him well.

I don't think any of the players came out with much credit yesterday, perhaps Clichy, Sagna and Almunia apart. Theo showed just how quick he is again, and he looks so much better a player than he did, but his decision making still needs a bit to do. Kolo was okay - let down big time by Gallas. Gallas was a cunt. Midfield wasn't awful either. Cesc is still finding form, and Denilson has been worse than he was yesterday. Up front we just didn't look like finding a way through. Neither Robin or Adebayor looked particularly dangerous. But it was the collective attitude that was most disappointing.

So, we drop to fourth in the league, and it's hardly ideal preparation for Porto in the Champions' League. I'm sorry Arseblogger's first game of the season wasn't exactly ideal, but at least he did get to see a great goal. Unfortunately it was scored by some cunt from another team.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow, when I'm sure Arseblogger will have his own opinion on Gallas.

Until next time.