I really enjoy my weekends these days. You see, during the week I sometimes work late and that means I get home late and may not be able to see my son much during the evening before we start the bedtime routine and put him down for bed. I love weekends because I get to enjoy him all day. Saturdays and Sundays are great for spending time together and nothing beats fresh coffee, cinnamon rolls, my son happily playing and the TV displaying the demolition of our rivals. This weekend was a bit sweeter than most.

After the display against Cardiff, I expected a brutal fight with Tater Totts. They have very talented players, some decent depth and have been playing well since firing AVB. Arsenal came in with their winning ways but thin as ever and I feared we would play it safe so as to secure/focus on the title run instead of a early tournament derby. With so many players on the mend (trainer’s table), Theo took the starting striker role and boy did we come out swinging. Truthfully, this game felt completely different than the Cardiff game. Not sure if it was the opponents, the home field advantage or the chip on the shoulder of some players but from the get-go we played far and away above the level of our last match. I worried that Theo in the central striker role would see us pushed around more but instead it created space. It also didn’t huge to have the never ending engines of Gnabry and Rosicky that added that extra bit of kick we needed. Jack played like the player everyone puts him on the pedestal to be and Santi finally put one in the net (hopefully the confidence booster he maybe needed at this point?).

The only real downside to this game was Theo coming off late and the squad having to play 10 men for the last 10 minutes. Although, it still looked as if we were more threatening than our rivals during that period so it was quite a nail-biting finish. With as much talent as Totts have, this really was quite the shellacking/embarrassment. Our beat up, thin and tired squad made Taters look like a championship level club. Suck on that Ada-buy-a-is like a new signing (someone been listening to Wenger the last few seasons?). The attacking prowess from which we scored, the touch passing, the creative runs… the staunch defense… pure joy in football. To me, Gnabry and Rosicky have to share the man of the match. The combination of Gnabry and Theo up top, coupled with Rosicky’s tireless runs and effort on defense really kept everything going. It allowed Jack to settle down/control the tempo and Santi to play with more space than we have seen the last few matches. If you can’t tell, I was really impressed with Gnabry today. He looked the part of a solid future first teamer and could be the next “AOC” in terms of youngsters playing above their age this year. I hope he continues to patiently develop because I really like what I am seeing (some beautiful touches/runs today).

Of course, this couldn’t be an Arsenal match without another injury as Theo was carted off with some sort of knee or ankle injury (I hear it could be a knee sprain and possibly a month of missed time-hopefully that isn’t true). Arsenal defended ably after his absence and it was great to see Theo in good spirits while being taken off the pitch (this was a derby game after all so why not flash the scoreline on your way out?).

Word on the street is that Wenger was always looking to add a little something during this transfer window (as in, Guardian propaganda). Next it was going to be dependent on how long we would miss Bendtner. With Theo possibly out a month, I think Wenger absolutely has to buy now. Not a bad thing either. Wenger tends to do well with these sort of pressure signings that give us someone decent from out of nowhere. Monreal was brought in to help shore up the defense (and he really is proving a great asset when Gibbs needs a rest or is injured). So I am hopeful that even if we are without some striking depth (seriously, who starts now?) Wenger will now be forced TO SPEND SOME MORE FUCKING MONEY THAT WE HAVE IN OUR PROFIT POCKETS and get the quality striker that we should have signed back in the summer. Hell, churches have a saying: whatever gets them through the door. Same applies here my parishioners.

All in all, fantastic day. Fantastic result. Suck it Totts.