don't get too excited, arsene

today was a good day, building off of a good midweek victory over sparta prague, and arsenal are momentarily in third place, but we'll probably be in fifth or sixth come monday. still, this is a significant advancement over our mid-table opening part of the season.

things look to be going our way again, and everyone is talkng about henry today. they're talking about how much we need him, how great he is, how arsenal are not the same without him, but i think people are taking the wrong things from today's victory against sunderland. don't get me wrong, even with my earlier tirades, i love henry and want him to stay when we move to ashburton grove, but i think today proved that we don't need him and sometimes he hurts us. why? how can i say that?

van persie is a good answer for starters. that boy can score. and did anyone notice that henry was nowhere to be seen on that goal today? it was all van persie and campbell. we took the lead of a long pass, a great first touch and a clinical strike.

the next answer is henry himself. his presents hurts the team as much as it helps it. how many shots today would pires or reyes have taken but for the presence of henry? many. and they might have scored. but when henry is on the pitch we get the ball to him. moreover, with henry on the pitch we are far more likely to fall asleep and let teams back into the game. that crap corner kick goal, sunderland's only chance of the game is a perfect example. without henry i think it unlikely we would have even let sunderland back in the game.

henry's greatness makes arsenal lazy. and sometimes it makes arsenal look foolish.

still, i'll take the result and be happy with it. arsenal played well today and we should all be pleased with their return to form.

but the real test will be wigan athletic. they are not pushovers like sunderland. they are a serious threat and we better be prepared. if we win that game it will be cause for cheer, but we damn well need to win it. i just hope freddie's back cause i think he is the key.

arsenal qualify, baby!

henry scored one in the first half, then robin van persie came on to seal the deal in the last eight minutes with a fine brace. apparently sparta prague put up a good fight in the first half, but it just wasn't enough. and now we're in the group of 16. what a beautiful thing. only the arse and lyon have moved on. so we can relax until january, taking heart in the fact that we've still got hleb, ljungberg and cole to bring back to the fold, bringing us back to full strength.

and then there's man utd. losing one nil to lille is not good; in fact it stinks. but, then, it's not nearly as bad as chelsea losing one nil to betis. bwahahahahaha!

oh yeah, did i mention that arsenal have already qualified?