Long live the King...o, and we have a match too

Welcome to the first blog written on my shiny new laptop. Well, to be fair, I've had it for about three weeks, but have been so terrified of getting it dirty due to it's phenomenal price tag, that it has sat in a corner for about three weeks. It is, without doubt, the most expensive thing I have ever owned, and when you think that it was also a gift, it's no wonder I've been scared of it. It's a monster. My other one comes in with a 12.1" screen....this beast...a massisve 18.4" HD. I feel like I could rule the world with it. Something I might investigate at a later date. But, as this isn't a tech review type blog, I'll crack on with the only stuff you're actually interested in. The Arsenal. You may have to just ignore random characters that make their way into this blog as I get used to the new uber-keyboard.

This week sees the boss become Arsenal's longest ever serving manager and I can't think of another to whom that honour should go. Obviously I didn't know Herbert Champman (not that I know Wenger either but you know what I mean) but Le Boss has blown allsorts of records out of the water and long, long, long may it continue. When you think back to where we were when he first arrived, any disappointment you have felt over the last few seasons should be slapped firmly back into perspective. To think that the club gave Bruce Rioch the nod over Wenger the year before Le Proffessor officially arrived beggars belief. In fact, to think that the club gave the job to Rioch over ANY other person bends my brain in a way it is not prepared to go. Thankfully, that arrangement lasted a very short time (though too long in the views of many) and the French master took his place at the helm and transformed the face of Arsenal and football world-wide.

While Wenger gets plenty of plaudits, I don't think he gets the amount he should. Sure, he might not have won as many trophies as some pundits think he should have, but as he says, he will go down in history as the manager who stated he wanted to go through an entire season unbeaten, was ridiculed for such saying such a stupid thing, and then promptly shoved those ridicules up the arses of those who dared doubt him.

He is, quite simply, a living legend and when he finally goes, we will look back on his time at Arsenal, the players he brought to the club, and the football he played and we will weep at the thought that it will very probably never ever be repeated.

But hopefully that's a long, long way off so let's get back to the business of today, football, and the Champions League.

While stating that Walcott is fit, but not match fit, we will not be seeing him tonight although there are murmours of a behind-closed-doors match being specifically arranged against Olympiakos/Olimipacos/Olypihoweverthehellit'spelt reserves. We can expect to see him against Blackburn, along with Bendtner who is nursing bruises from a car-crash.

Eduardo is back, Rosicky is progressing better than I think any of us ever dared to expect, and it leaves me drooling at the very real prospect of finally seeing Cesc playing alongside Rosicky, Arshavin, Van Persie and Eduardo. We should also see Vela at some point which is always a good thing.

The line up I'd like to see is this:

Don Vito

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Cesc Rosicky

Arshavin Eduardo VP

I think Eduardo should play through the middle, but we are more likely to see Wenger stick with his instence that VP is a centre-forward and play him there instead. 

However, as much as I would love that to be the starting line up, I think we are more likely to see Diaby start ahead of Rosicky and the rest of the team being as above. Cesc and Arshavin will hopefully be better than they were against Fulham. As much as I love them both, I am starting to think that Arshavin likes to perform more in the big matches and Cesc thrives when he has a creative player alongside him, not the eternal twirler who was simply abyssmal against Fulham.

As has been stated on other blogs, the Greeks don't travel well, but I don't think we can afford to take anything for granted. Our season so far has been a very mixed bag, great performances and results in the first two league games, fantastic performances but no results in Manchester, and awful performances but maximum points in against Liege and Fulham. What we'll get tonight I have no idea, but the eternal optimist in me always believes we will get style, substance, and a bag full full of goals. Then there is the other part that firmly believes we won't ever keep a clean sheet, but that's OK...as long as we score more than we let in (which I said at the start of the season would be how our season would likely turn out).

Jamrock predicts a 3-0 win but the 'can't keep a clean sheet' part of me is leaning towards 3-1. Whatever, I expect us to get three points.

So that's that for today, I'm off to see if I can come up with some new Arsenalised DVD covers. Should you not be able to watch the match tonight for whatever reason, I shall be on Twitter (@ladyarse) and fully expect to be kicked out of it before the 90 minutes are up so will continue with the account @justiceforedu. There seems to be some sort of problem with Twitter and certain accounts as you are supposed to get 1000 updates per hour and I get locked out for over-tweeting long before I get anywhere near that number. As I'm not the only one experiencing that problem I must find a way to rectify it. No doubt many of my Twitter followers think I have an irritating habit of passing out before the end of the match.

As if!