Here at In The Stands we are proud to announce that the brilliant LadyArse will be contributing to our site on a weekly basis. As you may have guessed she is an an Arsenal fan, but we will make allowances, as her work is well worth the read. So without further ado, here is the first instalment…

Welcome. What do you think of my new digs? I’m getting flash, having more than one home, but what can you do? Demand and supply and all that.

After a year and a half of writing the (mostly) daily LadyArse blog, to write a weekly round-up leaves me wondering how best to approach it.

It has been a strange week, what with the entire United Kingdom grinding to a halt under a little bit of snow. Matches fell faster than Steven Gerrard in the penalty box, and while most teams did whatever they could to try and get theirs going, all but two of Saturday & Sunday’s Premier League games were postponed.

Arsenal pulled out all the stops, including the flamethrowers last seen as a training aid when the ex-25 was at the club in a last-ditch bid to make him run. Ice was melted, the religious said their prayers, and the game was on even though Arsenal played as if they had expected it not to be.

Let’s not take anything away from Everton, they were superb, and after the 6-1 drubbing they received at our hands in the opening match of the season, they very much had a point to prove. They did this well, although Arsenal can consider their defensive frailties central to both Everton’s goals.

Were we lucky to get a point? Without a doubt. Two deflected goals, one in injury time surely has to be the definition of luck, but isn’t it funny how the harder you work the luckier you seem to get? What this team did, which last year’s failed to do so often, was work for 90+ minutes even though they were not anywhere close to the top of their game.

Without Cesc, VP, Clichy, Bendtner, Theo, Song, Gibbs and a few others, Arsenal’s injury list actually sits at its shortest since the season began. Much has been said about the injuries suffered by Man United and Everton, but they have been nothing like the amount Arsenal have endured. Until the last few weeks, hardly a match went by where we didn’t lose a couple of players. Denilson was stretchered off yesterday, and while the nature of his injury has still to be revealed, it was a blow to a team already suffering from the loss of all their top form players.

Song’s absence yesterday was immense, and I would even venture to say he was more of a miss in this type of game than Cesc. Sure Cesc could carve open the Everton defence, but without Alex, who was in our team to stop them doing that to us? Their second goal, when we appeared to be playing 0-2-7 (all in the Everton half) highlighted this perfectly, Song would have spotted the danger and positioned himself right on the centre-spot, just where he would have been needed to flatten Pienaar before he even got into our half.

All Arsenal fans must surely be hoping that Cameroon have a stinker at the ACN and Song returns as soon as possible, If that could also be in one piece it would be appreciated.

So we now have a week before we play again and that’s no bad thing. With the injuries we’ve had, some players have been playing in every game and in a bid to avoid burn-out, a week without a game is a blessing. As for the rest, well, when they eventually get back from injury, they can have no such burn-out complaints, the one sliver-lining I suppose.

After Bolton it’s another week off (unless they decide to slot in the postponed match from midweek) and then straight in to the run-of-destiny with matches coming thick and fast. And they aren’t little tiny matches either, oh no. They are mega. Stoke away in the Cup, followed three days later by a trip to Villa, Man U four days later, then Chelsea topped off with a visit from Liverpool.

Transfer-rumour wise there is even less about now than there was when the window was shut. Any agent in the paper saying Arsenal are interested in signing their player for anything more than £15million should be laughed out of the game, and while we all hope we sign a player or three (goalkeeper please) as the month drags on it seems less and less likely.

We won’t be signing Carlton Cole, Victor Moses or Chamakh (at least not in this window) but we might take Sol Campbell back if we move on Senderos. There is a lot of bad blood between some Arsenal fans and Sol, but I’ll take him back if it’s a choice between him and no-one.

If we do sign someone, no doubt it will be for a couple of million and leave most people saying ‘who?’ but with Arsene’s track record in uncovering hidden sparklers, who would argue?

It’s a shame that my first blog for In The Stands has come at the end of the quietest week in the Premier League’s 18 year history, but what can you do? Hopefully by the time I sit down to write my second installment we’ll have picked up three points at Bolton, signed two or three players, got Cesc and Clichy back from injury, watched United and City kick each other to death having four players sent off each in their first leg Carling Cup semi-final game and seen Chelsea lose to Sunderland.

Well, we can but dream….

Related posts:

1. Resurrection…
2. WANTED – One decent keeper, 11 straight league wins, and a respite from injuries…
3. Bolt-on Three Points…
4. An Injury Too Far
5. Always look on the bright side of life…

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