Tough As Nails?

News at Emirates
Following the Chelsea match, Arsene Wenger says that tie away at the Bridge shows how tough Arsenal is compared to last year. Well, maybe. The result stands on its own. They were within inches (Essien's just inside the post shot) and minutes from doing something noone else done in a few years - beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. And I do think they are more resilient than they've been in previous years when a physical team like Bolton could bully them off their game. Yet, at the same time, Chelsea easily could've won this, with 3 strikes at the post in the final minutes and a 20-minute assault on Arsenal at the game's close that was ferocious in the least. Let's call it a mixture of toughness and luck.

And besides, the problem hasn't been beating the top dogs in the EPL, the Gunners have struggled with the Fulhams of the world. If they'd have won the games they ewere supposed to have won, they'd be a lot closer to Chelsea and Man U than just hand-waving distance.

What About Henry
Now news comes that Henry has recovered from one injury - the neck - and has picked up a hamstring problem that'll keep him out until first of the new year. Arsenal have played well without him this season, but you can't keep a top-class striker out of your line-up for long and not suffer. Henry's absence really underscores the need for the Gunners to pony up sufficient pounds to buy a world-class strike partner.

Ashley Cole, Man's Man
I've given Cole a bit of stick in the past for being a general git and gold-digger for his move to Chelsea (though he is still an excellent, excellent left-back), but I have to eat some crow. Apparently, after the Arsenal game, Cole followed Spanish He-man Cesc Fabregas into the tunnel to confront him for not shaking hands after the match (Cole's no lout; manners are important). The exchange became so heated that Robin Van Persie and others had to intervene. Hats off to Cole for confronting the unmannered Fabregas, even though Cole knew he potentially risked having a slice thrown in his face or worse, from the hulking midfielder. Well done, Ash.