Ed’s note – This was sent to me in the middle of last week, but the points are all still valid, so I’m posting it, albeit a little later than intended.

There is a distinct advantage to being away at the start of the season: avoiding the deluded Spuds fans. 37 points was the gap between the two North London giants last season. Say it out loud. “Thirty seven points.” Why do the Totts do this to themselves? Only Newcastle fans rival this level of masochism (their number 18 looked good at Old Trafford, though. Make a note to follow his progress and remember where you heard it first). Yet, reading the first Gooner of the season, The Spy had Spurs, Villa, Citeh, Pompey and Everton as possible pretenders to Arsenal’s soon-to-be-relinquished Champions League spot. Four of them lost the first weekend - the maximum as two were playing each other. As accumulators go, you cannot get less successful than that.

From Match of the Day highlights, Spurs’ “defence” was terrible. They conceded two goals that were allowed and one that should have stood at 0-0. Well done the referee for at least admitting his error. But the worst incident - from the point of view of the inmates of N17’s asylum - was a 2 v 1 where either Boro player could and should have scored but neither did. Leaky defence is an understatement. And talking of Pompey, Harry was downbeat after their game - his face needs ironing, incidentally - suggesting two or three quick signings were needed. He was referring to his team’s lack of mobility rather than the urgency of adding to his squad. To mention them in the same sentence as Arsenal is plain madness.

Please read Wenger’s comments re. Nasri in the match day magazine (aka programme). “...He replaces Alex Hleb in the squad. He can score goals and be direct too”. AW is many things: academic, politician, football genius, linguist. And he’s used all of these attributes in these sentences. In short, he sees Nasri as better than Hleb, although I see today the comparison on the website is with Pires. Nasri looked good and was one of the highlights from a midfield weakened by injury. Only ten goals away from equalling Hleb’s 3-season goal tally, too. And we’ve Rosciky to come back - see the very interesting article about his unusual injury in the same programme, one that went undetected for months, it seems.

I often turn things around as I find such instructive. Let’s imagine the first weekend scores were Arsenal 1, Newcastle 1 and ManU 1, WBA 0. This would have been the reaction from Gooners (not just The Spy)... yet again we conceded the first goal and only drew at home to a team we should beat easily. ManU did little in their game, had some scares but ultimately won. That’s typical of champions and why they win and we draw. Already we’re two points behind. We need to splash the cash. Only the exact opposite happened!

The results from the season-end questionnaire was, as Phil Wall explained, revealing. We Gooners are inconsistent and now there’s empirical evidence to prove it. Only 3% want an attacker to bolster the squad yet the players most desired are both strikers; David Villa from outside the top four and Fernando Torres from within. Madness. No wonder Arsene ignores our rants. But one area where he is wrong is over Eboue. I just wish Arsene understood the depth and breadth of frustration and do something about it. I actually would have Eboue as a squad player, but only if he stopped the various antics of which we are all embarrassingly aware.

Finally a word about capping salaries (as I move through Issue 186). Now that exchange controls have been abolished (by my beloved Maggie in 1979) and we are in such a fast-moving world, this would be nearly impossible to police. Picture this in a Russian accent: “Well, Herr Ballack. We are only allowed to pay you a subsistence wage of £100,000 per week. Frightfully sorry. However, Frau Ballack may like to join one of our holding companies. Minimal duties but the salary of £30,000 per week is attractive. And when you retire from football, there will be similar positions available for you. Tempted?” Only a limited company such as Arsenal, who are accountable to shareholders, would find this hard or impossible to sidestep. We’d be playing even more into Roman’s hands. Yes, have laws - but they must be thought through first. This “solution” is up there with the government’s attempts to stem binge drinking by young men and women - who stock up on cheap booze at Morrisons - by increasing further the tax on real ale bought by us geriatrics who enjoy a couple of peaceful pints down the pub. You couldn’t make it up.

Gooner 186 is now available as a back issue to buy online here or at the stadium on matchdays from the memorabilia stall outside 170 Drayton Park. The current issue (187) will be on sale from sellers around the ground at the games v FC Twente and Newcastle.