King of Emirates with the King of Highbury: Courtesy Arsenal Supporters India

Trailing by two goals at half time in the Emirates against a very positive Aston Villa, the team went into the dugout hearing boos from the crowd. Efforts were made in the first half and chances did come and were taken, but the end product did not come through. And as it is happening these days, against the run of play Villa scored, one from a header taken from a short corner and the other from a acute angle from Bent. Fabianski could not be blamed for both I guess.

The setback at half time required a suitable reply and what a response from the team. They came back stronger and determined to prove a point. Wenger must have had his choice of words at the dressing room. But whatever it was, it worked.

Ramsey was felled by Dunne who should have been sent off for the second offence (already on a yellow card) and the penalty was duly converted by Van the man. Second goal came two minutes later when Walcott of all the people did his dribbling along the right flank, closed in on the goal, shot at it. His effort was saved by Given,but the resultant clearance by the Villa defender reflected off Walcott’s shoulder and went in. Slice of luck! The next one came five minutes later when one of our best players this season Koscielny got into the Villa box and was felled by Bent this time. Van P did the honours this time and the comeback was complete.

It was an awesome match and how we wish this would be the turning point for the team and we go on to win more matches and go up the table as well as progress further in the Cup.

Social Media stats of the Premier League in 2011/12 - Courtesy: Freestyle Interactive

May Arsenal go on to win one trophy this year and qualify for Champions League next year. I think that’s all I would like to see happen in this season atleast.

I have been off this blog for sometime now, work and travel has been the primary reason. But I think I will be back with more commentary on what’s going on in the football world soon and more regularly.

How can leave you all without mentioning the most important player of this season so far, Robin Van Persie! He has been his best this season and has contributed in goals, in leading from the front and in inspiring the team from the early lows of the season. Lets hope he stays fit and continues on his goal-scoring trip for some years for Arsenal.

Who needs Batman when we have Robin!

Fabregas the new no 4 of Barca

The long drawn saga of will-he, won’t-he finally ended with Fabregas heading home to Barcelona. He expressed his gratitude to Arsenal where he came in as a boy and returned home as a man. The only creative midfielder left in the top drawer of EPL now heads to Spain.

If you are an Arsenal fan I am sure you are also seeing the huge void left behind by Cesc. Will Wenger sign a creative player to replace Fabregas or does he think we can manage with Ramsey and Wilshere. I hope he buys an established midfielder.

Apparently by afternoon, all the no. 4 jerseys in the official shop of FC Barcelona were sold out as per Sport.

Cesc Fabregas joins a long list of Arsenal players who have moved to Barcelona. Infact it represents about 41% of transfer income received by Arsenal, amounting to be about 128 million Euros!!! The list reads like this – (all in Euros)

Marc Overmars – 40 million

Emmanuel Petit – 15 million

Gio Van Bronckhorst – free

Thierry Henry – 24 million

Alexander Hleb – 15 million

Cesc Fabregas – 34-39 million

I am gonna miss this classy player in our team and I wonder if we would ever get a better passer of the ball than Cesc. All the best Cesc!

Forlan & Suarez - The world's best attacking combo

One should note that Uruguay has a population of just 3.5 million and are one of the best footballing nations in the world today. Great stuff!

This is how it looks:

1 Rooney – No questions asked as he has been in prime form and his club has been doing well, so probably sways a lot of Utd fans to have his shirt number

2 Torres – dropped to second after topping the first three seasons…talks about his dreadful form in the last season in Liverpool and his first season in Chelsea

3 Gerrard – talisman for his club and he will continue to be the topper at Merseyside

4 Chicharito (Javier Hernández) – surprised by this one though. I think this speaks of expectations…and I think he will be surpassed by others on this list next year

5 Van Persie – surprise surprise…he is the top number in Arsenal. I thought that was reserved for Fabregas ever since Henry left the club. But this is due to Persie’s comeback to form and the ever looming threat of Fabregas leaving for Barca

6 Lampard – Ever Blue player, not much to write about…but between him and Drogba they must be sharing honours on this one.

7 Drogba – must have run Lampard close on this one. Drogba continues to be the consistent striker he is for Chelsea. top player

8 Suárez – Wow! less than a season and already 8th. He has got into every Liverpool fans imagination. Good for him. I like this guy.

9 Arshavin – Well I am really surprised that he is the second one from Arsenal on this list. This speaks about our club. Underperformer that he is, I am glad he is topping somewhere. What about Nasri?

10 Giggs – Utd’s evergreen player. No surprises here

Just for everyone’s info – I have Cesc’s number on my Arsenal home jersey and I hope I will wear it for many more seasons!

Arsenal fans watching the match between Arsenal & Malaysia XI

Arsenal won 4-0 in the end

Neymar has been the individual who has shown some skills and looks promising…this is the first time I am seeing him play. Messi has been disappointing and their match with Colombia. Its the coach, his strategy and the formation and the lack of a good creative midfield and a strong defence is going to hurt the Argentinians.

Messi in action

With 13 goals in 10 games lets hope the tournament will pick up from the second week.

I liked him and I would miss him when they show the team sheet next time…he has been a regular for so long and was a good replacement for Cashley Cole…

Thanks a lot Clichy may you have a great career except when you play against us!!!

Thanks Clichy