Ahh yes that lovely feeling of Saturday football involving my favourite team to look forward to! As I grow older (I turned 30 last Saturday... and partied till 4am... but took 3 days to recover... a true sign of age...!) I begin to care less about Internationals and whether England can win a major trophy. Watching them put in a dour performance on Tuesday reminds me of how much I love the Gooners: at least when we lose we look good!

Staying on the topic of internationals, yet another concern occurred to me this week: England U21s qualified for the European Championships next summer. This week Liam Brady proudly spoke of the talent emerging in the youth ranks - many of this English, as Arsenal fans we should be proud that we are finally producing domestic talent. However a problem will occur next summer, Wenger will become understandably tetchy when Stuart Pearce calls up a number of Arsenal stars to be to the England U21 squad. I sympathise with Wenger on this one, young players need a summer of rest and a solid pre-season which would be disrupted by playing too much football - remember Walcott in 2009?

Now imagine the likes of Gibbs, Lansbury, Emmanuel Thomas, Thomas Cruise, Afobe, Aneke and maybe even Frimpong being called up. England and Pearce don't have the best reputations when it comes to Arsenal players, quite frankly I see a storm brewing. Furthermore I haven't even mentioned the elephant in the room in Jack Wilshere, the heir to the Fabregas throne. Would Wenger really want a key player going into a major coming of age season (2011-2012) potentially exhausted and burnt out?

I attended the Birmingham game last season at Arsenal. It was tight and tense, Birmingham played to their strengths and are exactly the type of side that could cause us problems if we lose concentration and make silly errors, just like the WBA game. They defend well, however I predict a 3-0 win, the return of Cesc is more than welcome. He provides that final ball when others are less direct and happy to pass around the edge of the penalty box in that infuriating Arsenal way. I will reserve judgment on our prospects at Man City until after the Birmingham match. Would love a clean sheet though, something we simply don't have enough of anymore.

Good to see so many players returning, along with Cesc we have Bendtner, Walcott and even RVP is nearly there. Add in the prospect of Rambo now running and kicking a ball, and suddenly our options for a crucial period are improved! However this is Arsenal and the news that Sagna is out for 3 weeks (in Arsenal time this is probably 9 weeks) along with the mystery of Vermaelen's achilles puts a slight dampener on things. However Sagna's injury gives Eboue a chance to usurp him at right back, one he fully deserves in my opinion. Now if only Gibbs can keep fit for a sustained period.

If Almunia is fit this weekend who will Wenger pick in goal? My belief is that he sticks with Fabianski until form or injury force him to do otherwise. One thing that improved against Chelsea was his catching.

Interesting to hear Wenger talk about returning to Paris St Germain in an advisory capacity one day. I recall in the days of David Dein there was talk of him joining the board when he decided to step down from day to day activities. While this is a long way off, it does make one think that Wenger will not be around forever. The Gooner podcasts often talk about a Wenger replacement - in 4 - 6 years who would you choose? My choice would include a bit of Arsenal history - Steve Bould and Pep Guardiola. Would love it to be Bergkamp, but how would he fly to away matches??

Finally many thanks to fellow Gooner and neighbour Darren who bought me a 1988-89 season Arsenal strip for my birthday. As the song goes "Everybody needs good neighbours..."

(Ed’s note – the new issue of The Gooner is on sale at the Birmingham game from sellers on your approach to the ground. £2. Bargain! Plug over)