The weekend win over City was by far our most comfortable victory of the season, even though the difference was only two goals. The reason behind this was not only the poor opposition, but the noticeable difference in Arsenal’s general play. Confidence is at a season’s high and you still feel there is a lot more to come.

AV’s last ditch mugging by the Mancs has cemented our place in the top four, and victory at the JJB this coming Saturday will hopefully go a long way to putting fourth place to bed for another season. I still harbour hopes of a higher finish.

Now the real work starts. Villarreal will be a tough nut to crack. But our biggest opponent on Tuesday evening will be ourselves. In recent seasons, the BIG matches have proved a match too far for our young squad. Three trophyless seasons are a testament to this fact. We, despite all our shortfalls at times this season, stand on the threshold of an outstanding season, which could see us lift our fifth FA Cup under Wenger, but more importantly, our first European Cup.

RVP talks of the need for silverware, and the club needing to match his ambitions of lifting said silverware. Well, Rob, me old mate, it’s over to you. His goals will bring trophies. Cesc’s deft passes will provide the ammo. Ade’s persistence and power will cause no end of problems for the defences of Europe’s elite. Even ‘goal machine’ Eboue could chip in with a vital goal along the way. But, the point is, they have to perform. They have to go out and want it more than the rest. It’s the players who need to match the ambition of the club, and not vice versa as RVP states.

Arsenal FC have never been in a better position to take up the mantle of European Champions. Great stadium, massive fanbase, great team. The players now need to turn a great team into legends. Here’s hoping this isn’t a step too far.

We are capable of beating them all ‘on our day’. That will not be enough during this tough looking run-in. We need to beat them come what may. We have played pretty football for significant parts of the campaign, but we are now in the results part of the season. Playing teams off the park and losing may win you admirers for playing the game the right way, but you can’t fill the trophy cabinet will good intentions. We need silverware.

Time for the boys to become men.