New solidity continues as Celtic's challenge fades

Celtic were outclassed in both games, whatever the ins and outs of both games, whatever the excuses, whatever the pundits say, they were simply not good enough to threaten our passage to the Champions League group stages. Part of this was down to Celtic's lack of quality, but a decent chunk of it was because of several improvements Arsene has made to the side and setup since last year.

The whole team are playing for each other, we are pressing higher up the field and defending from the front, this means we are hard to break down, we are fighting for every ball again, we are no push over. Gallas and Vermaelen just works, Gallas is at home on the right and looks dominant again, while Vermaelen compliments him superbly, biting into challenge after challenge, eager to fight for every little loose crumb. Song is a rock, Denilson looks a year wiser, Diaby played with strength and discipline, and tonight Eboue was superb. Bendtner is a rough diamond who will continue to improve, Eduardo has the natural instinct of a hunter.

As you can tell I'm not getting carried away. The next couple of games in Manchester will be more of a test of our metal, however there's no doubt that the signs are very encouraging. The penalty was never a penalty, I felt very little sympathy for the chav that Celtic employed between the sticks though, Eduardo was felled by the slightest of clips and the referee was feeling generous. The later goals just seemed inevitable, Eboue's majestic second was sweet for a man who never deserved the abuse that he received from some brain dead morons last year, while Arshavin didn't take long to neatly slot home after cunning turn in the box.

The formation 4-3-3 appears to be working, but I think the key thing is that the team is playing as a team and working very hard, the spirit seems better and the drive is there, whatever formation we play if you lose that determination and desire then you will be in trouble. Some of the negative vibes from certain sections of the Gooner community are beyond stupidity, some people just want to see Arsene fail, they seem to relish criticising the current setup and will not be happy until millions of pounds are frittered away just for the sake of it, some even seem to just enjoy pretending to be Professors of football when they really are rank ignorami. I would love to see these doubters proven wrong, come on you Gunners, let's keep that fight going, let's keep working hard for each other and let's keep biting into those fifty fifty challenges as if there were no tomorrow.