My most protracted attempt to blog ever

I have been trying to post on the blog for the last three days, being stuck in the middle of nowhere with the most rustic of wi-fi connections has been the main problem, the connection I have at the moment is so dodgy this may not even make it to your screens! The most frustrating thing is that I have written a full update (yesterday) and then lost it when the connection went down. Anyway here goes from a rather remote location over 13,000 miles from home.



I was lucky enough to catch most of the game in delayed fashion on ESPN, I also managed to catch up on the highlights of the other Premier League games, what a weekend to be a Gooner! Another solid win, Everton are never easy opponents but we made it look relatively comfortable for the most part. We controlled the game, had the better chances and other than a late flurry of chances Everton were largely a peripheral force. Having said that it did need Lucasz Fabianski to be sharp when called upon later on.



Fabianski did well again, other than his error against Newcastle he has been on fine firm, I still have concerns on his ability to deal with high balls but only time will tell in this regard. The back four were solid, there was some better no nonsense defending from Clichy and Sagna, Djourou was probably the pick of the back four, again dominant and decisive, Squillaci was his typicaly steady self. Song hoovered up particularly well as the game wore on, Denilson made a difference as Wilshere´s replacement, young Jack on the recieving end of some rather nasty stuff from the thuggish Heitinga which hastened his departure.



The goals were both excellent finishes, Sagna´s rocket was unstoppable, like a bullet into the top corner, Cesc´s finish was perfectly placed after some excellent assistance from Chamakh. Everton´s late goal came after I thought Saha had climbed all over Song in winning the high ball, Cahill then slotted home from close range. We held on without too much discomfort.



Our away form has been dramatically better than last year, strangely it is the dropped points at home that have been much more of a hindrance to our accumulation of points. Part of the reason for this has been the fact that we do look a fair bit better defensively, Fabianski has been key, as has the emergence of our new centre back pairings, the partnership of Squillaci and Djourou looking particularly promising. To have done this in the absence of arguably our best defender, Vermaelen, has been some achievement, his niggling Achilles injury is still a real concern, it threatens to be one of those innocent sounding problems that could potentially end a career.



Chelsea were absolutely battered by Sunderland, whose pace and attacking fluency was just too much for them to take, Ferreira at centre back was not their best look one must admit. Manu again dropped points, arguably very lucky not to drop all three against Villa. Overall a great weekend of results, it now gives us a great platform going into the North London derby versus the spuds. The spuds are eminently beatable at the moment, although they can score goals, they are also very good at conceding lots of them, their defense seems all over the shop at the moment, the fact that William Gallas is part of that defence is no coincidence to me.



I wathed Boca vs River last night, it did put a bit of the domestic talk of dangerous tackling in context, the game was littered with various bits of filth. However there was a difference between the Argentinian dirt and the English, the former seemed far more controlled than the latter. The bad tackles were generally cynical but not potentially as harmful. Still, it was a rather ferocious encounter that made for some rather complusive viewing, River coming out as deserving victors in the end. Anyway I think the computer I am on is a little short of power and may be about to die, so over and out. Robert Pires to Villa? Do the aged 37 year old legs have what it takes for the pace of the Premier League, I doubt it, but still, what a legend the man is. All focus now shifts to Saturday, come on you Gunners!