I never dislike going to the E******s but there was a certain air of trepidation this Tuesday as I attended the Wigan game with my mate Ryan (casual Arsenal fan). It was absolutely freezing, even the curry before did little to warm me up, while in and around the stadium it was hazardously icy to say the least. The greatest disappointment was AFC not delaying kick off as there were a number of fans, (most of whom have a rare chance to see Arsenal, take advantage of the Carling Cup ticketing policy and importantly bring their children along) who were held up by the poor weather.

The game itself was mostly uneventful. I am sure the snow hindered the usual free flowing style, RVP showed some nice touches, Denilson was awful, while Vela and Bendtner may be looking for pastures new next summer as they did little to impress despite the second goal link up. Walcott had a poor first half but came alive in the second when he moved centrally and spent some time on the left cutting in which he can do very effectively. My mate Ryan had a 3-0 bet on at half time, so imagine his horror when AFC continued to spurn chance after chance. The funniest for me was when Nasri was clear though at the end, Ryan could probably taste his winnings... and Nasri missed! Hilarious for me, not so for Ryan - it cost him £60!

It is certainly a tournament that we should go on and win. Ipswich over two legs should not pose too much of a threat, while I look forward to playing Birmingham in the final, should they beat West Ham. Wenger is quite right to suggest it is not of course the holy grail of the Gooners, but a trip to Wembley and some silverware will help us in our run-in to the end of the season and give the players that vital taste of winning again.

Speaking of Ipswich, Henri Lansbury had a great game for Norwich in the East Anglia derby on Sunday afternoon on his debut. He, along with Ramsey are ones for the future who will form a very British spine of the squad in coming years. Players such as Lansbury, JET, Ramsey, Wilshere, Eastmond, Walcott and Gibbs along with perhaps Frimpong, Afobe, Aneke and Cruise indicate that AFC's 10 year policy is finally coming to fruition.

Comparisons to Barcelona are obvious due to our playing style and youth policy. The two key differences are Barca work much better off the ball than us, while they also add real talent (such as Villa or Abidal) to their extremely gifted youngsters. In the past few seasons we can only point to perhaps Arshavin as a star before he came to Arsenal. Barca were simply mesmerizing on Monday, it was nice to see the so called Special One and his anti-football become so exposed...

Good win away at Villa, never an easy place to go, Arshavin was a different player when deployed more centrally while Nasri and Chamakh once again showed why they are so important this season. However Rosicky should take the plaudits, he has been under the radar this season but has quietly gone about his job and forced himself into the first 11.

Fulham this weekend at home. Fulham don't tend to travel too well, and perhaps a start for RVP just behind Chamakh as the editor pointed out, will give us more attacking nous and solve the poor home form dilemma. My prediction? 4-0, with RVP opening his account for the season.

Wednesday sees Partizan visit us, and quite frankly our home form has kept us in the Champions League. I foresee a nervy win, but we really need to improve our away form if we are to progress further.

Finally my fingers were crossed yesterday afternoon that FIFA officials would make the right vote and allow football to come home. Arsenal’s stadium is just one example of how England would have been best equipped to host the World Cup. Best league, best stadiums, best fans and infrastructure in place. Really it should have been a no brainer...