Arsene's been talking

Make no mistake, I owe an awful lot to Arsene Wenger. We all do.

He's pretty excited about the way his lads stood up to be accounted with the win against United on Saturday. He's recently claimed it was a turning point. Full article here in The Guardian.

I'd just like to stress the importance of the next game. It's all well and good that we were able to assert ourselves, play our beautiful game with class and hang on against a full assault in the closing minutes (again, six minutes of extra time was laughable). 

So while we've Wigan in the Carling Cup today (I love me some Carling Cup), the biggest match of the season is always the one right in front of you. And this one actually happens to be quite big for a couple of reasons. 

1. It's next.
2. It's coming on the heels of an assertive win over a massive rival and the defending champion.
3. It's against a team that fancies themselves and is actually quite good.

Aston Villa at the weekend. It'll likely be much of the same from the squad. Likely five across the middle again, likely Bendtner alone up front again, likely Theo and Nasri on the wings. Villa is one of the most likely from the rest of the field to crack into the so-called Big Four.

Time to brush them aside.