Good evening to each and every one of you. It's been a long time since my last post, but I was completely cut off from the outside world, so I hope you'll excuse me this forced silence. Oh, and if you're planning for a winter holiday somewhere warm, whether next year or later during 2014, I strongly recommend you consider going to the Maldives. It's not for everyone, since it's a quiet place with no Internet and no guided tours of interest, but if you just want to get away from all the hustle for a while, this place is for you.
I missed on a fair bit of action during these two weeks, which included our cup win over Coventry and a surprising draw against Southampton. This result saw us drop to the second place, but courtesy of Chelsea we have regained what we've lost in less than a week.
I did, however, watch the Crystal Palace game. Our midfield options were quite limited for this one, but we've got the result in our usual fashion once again. Keep the ball in the first half, step up the passing during the second, score two goals, see the game out. It's extremely satisfying to watch Arsenal play this way.
Our best player on the day was Oxlade-Chamberlain, who started his second game (out of three) in central midfield and marked with a brace.
For his first, he made a great run into open space (Giroud played his part by drawing defenders to himself), Cazorla spotted the Ox and chipped the ball over the defence. Oxlade took a touch to get the ball under control before sending it into the net on the volley.
For his second, the Ox played a clever pass to Giroud and continued his run. The Frenchman held the play up and then returned the pass. Oxlade curled the ball home from the edge of the box to make it double.
We were occasionally troubled by Crystal Palace, but Scszesny dealt with everything well and got his 11th league clean sheet as a reward for his (sometimes heroic) efforts.
I forgot to mention that our midfield crisis basically forced the manager's hand to sign back-up. Kallstrom joined us on loan on the last day of the transfer window, but will only be available at the end of the month, due to his fitness not being up to scratch.
Ramsey is the guy the Swede was signed to replace, seeing as Aaron suffered a setback in training and can spend six weeks out of the game. It's sad, really, he was one of the reasons we started the campaign so strongly, so let's hope the Welshman returns sooner, rather than later.
In the meantime we have a matter of four games across three competitions to keep us entertained. We play Liverpool away tomorrow, before taking on United, Liverpool again (this time, in the cup) and Bayern Munich. Luckily, we play away only tomorrow during this month. Even Sunderland, who we face after Bayern, is a home fixture.
Another good thing is, of course, our record at the Emirates. We have only three losses there, the last one being in October. Furthermore, we have last conceded a goal at home against in early December, something that makes our run even better. Let's keep it going.
As for our Saturday encounter against Liverpool, we seem to be the only team who stopped both Suarez and Sturridge from scoring, when they started together, so here's another encouraging bit for you. It was also no coincidence that we did, because the way we deprived the Mugmashers of the ball and stopped the supply to their strikers was down to a good team performance.
The manager has emphasised the importance of keeping the ball under control, saying Liverpool can hurt us not only with Suarridge. This also means putting in a shift defensively, but I'm more more or less relaxed on that front.
In terms of team news, Vermaelen and Flamini remain out, the former with a knee injury, the latter through suspension, but Wilshere is back and Arteta, who hobbled a bit after receiving a nasty knock against Crystal Palace, is also available. Arsene will have a decision to make about our central midfield, but I suspect Jack will start if he's ready. The Ox had a great game, though, so I'm not ruling anything out.
I'm also curious as to who will play at left-back. Gibbs seem to be number one choice, but he was on the bench during our last game and may find himself there once more, in case he's still nursing an injury.
Apart from this, we have a pretty good squad, even with a couple of knocks and strains. Should we play the way we did at the Emirates and the way we did for the duration of the campaign, I see no reason not to pick up all the three points.
As usual, I'll be here on Monday with a full review. Until then