Consistency and other matters!

After Liverpool's latest capitulation at the hands of West Brom brought an end to another weekend of Premiership action, attention has rightly turned towards the return of the Champions League.
Now, I'm no fan of the new staggered match day format. It's a money making exercise for UEFA and inexplicably means there will be a three week gap between the two legs which is far too long. However, in light of our current injury situation it has definitely worked in our favour as we've now got an extra week to get the squad fit for the Bayern game.
Of course, there's the small matter of Blackburn in the FA Cup to negotiate before that, and you cannot take anyone for granted as the Bradford game illustrated, but you'd like to think that we'll be able to rest the likes of Wilshere, Cazorla and Koscielny and still get through.

Time for consistency

Arguably, Blackburn is the bigger game as the FA Cup is a competition we are far more likely to win than the Champions League and winning is vital to keep momentum going as we enter the business end of the season.
Both Wenger and Arteta have alluded to this in the last couple of days and I really hope that the squad take heed of their words and push on as fourth, third and even second are all still possible.
We showed signs of a greater determination and concentration in our performance against a typically combative Sunderland. What pleased me the most was our refusal to be bullied out of our passing game despite Sunderland's repeated attempts to kick us off the park.
Sagna produced his best performance of the season and Szczesny was absolutely outstanding. The players rolled up their sleeves and showed the kind of character that has too often been missing this season. Arteta played a pivotal role in this and I do think he would have made a big difference against City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Defenders on the mend

With Santos now out on loan (arguably the smartest move Wenger has made this season), Vermaelen is in line to play at left-back against Bayern and the boss must be confident that all our defenders will be fit in time for Tuesday. That is fantastic news and Gooners everywhere will be blowing a collective sigh of relief as the prospect of the likes of Santos, Jenkinson and Squillachi lining up against Ribery, Robben and co would be enough to give anyone a heart attack!
Longer term, it also suggests that Gibbs is progressing well. This is great news as he has come on leaps and bounds this season and been one of our most consistent performers. Nacho has settled well, too, though, and it will be very interesting to see who gets the nod when Gibbs is back to full fitness.

FA need to get a grip of football thuggery

As a neutral (of sorts), I'm looking forward to the United game in Madrid tomorrow. Personally, I think United will get taught a bit of a lesson by Madrid. They haven't been tested this year in the league and the twelve point advantage they've got is more a reflection of how bad the rest of the league have been rather than how good they've been.
Sky and the pundits, of course, would argue to the contrary but excitement is not the same as quality. Technically, the league as a whole is miles behind and whilst we continue to condone (and on occasion laud) the likes of Stoke City and Sunderland for their physical approach to the game we'll never be on a par.

It results in players spending less time on technique during training and sees some players get kicked off the park.
The FA need to clamp down on dangerous tackles by players like Whelan (who again has avoided sanction for a potential leg breaker on Saturday) and Shawcross at Stoke or Cattermole at Sunderland and managers and pundits alike need to take a leaf out of our book and look to play more football. Otherwise, the result against Brazil was fantastic but if we want that to be the norm rather than the exception.

By @mrhappyontherun check me out on Twitter