I suspect I’m like pretty much everyone else in that I expected this to be a really tough match–I thought a 1-1 draw was likely, and a 2-1 win would have been great for us. So I’m still a bit in shock at what happened. Simply put, we dominated from the first whistle to nearly the last whistle, when Saha scored a junk-time consolation goal. We scored 2 goals from set pieces, which has not been a strength of ours in the pass. We held possession and looked poised and composed in the final third, which was also a trouble spot. All in all, we just completely pwned a good team on their own pitch–how could you ask for a better start to the season?

However, let’s not crown this bunch the new Invincibles just yet. As impressive as it was, the bottom line is that this is just one game. We’ve got the same number of points as Chelsea, who needed an injury time wondergoal to take 3 points from Hull at home. Hopefully it’s a sign of the squad coming around, but right now we’ve just got to keep our heads down and try to keep the momentum going into the trip to Glasgow on Tuesday. And, I hate to say it because I don’t want to take the wind out of our sails and I really respect Everton as a club and Moyes as a manger, but the fact is this–Everton was really, really crap today.

As per request, here would be my player ratings:

Almunia 7. Didn’t do too much, but didn’t really have to. I don’t actually recall him making any saves of any real difficulty, but I thought he was good coming off his line to deal with Everton’s corner kicks.

Sagna 8.5. Good start from Sagna, I thought–he was getting forward into the attack and tracking back when he needed to, and several times managed to effectively deal with Fellaini on set pieces.

Clichy 7. Regular readers will know I’m pretty worried about Clichy in terms of his form since the end of the 2007-2008 season, but I thought he had a solid start. He ran around, made some good plays, but there were a couple of times when Vermaelen had to come over and cover for him.

Vermaelen 9. I spent a lot of time trying to watch the new guy, and I have to say I was very, very impressed. The goal was nice, of course, but other than that, he seemed like a solid defender with a great all-around game–he’s got enough pace to be good in recovery and play a high line effectively, but is pretty tough and decent in the air as well. If he continues to play like this, he’s a huge upgrade over Kolo.

Gallas 8.5. I don’t think Everton’s attack was requiring too much of him today, but he got back and made the plays he needed to, and got the goal on the setpiece. Solid start for our entire backline.

Denilson 8.5. I’ve defended him in the past, and I still stick by my prediction that he could come into his own this season and make Brazil’s World Cup team. The goal was on a wonderful shot, and he was running around making plays all day.

Song 8.5. I’m probably wrong about this, but I don’t think Song failed to compete a pass until the very end of the game. Solid and safe with the ball, and physical and tenacious without it, I think he was a thorn in the side of Everton’s midfield all day. As I’ve said before, I think we need another holding midfielder for cover, especially since Song will be at the ACN in January, but as far as I’m concerned, we’ve got our first-teamer in that role.

Cesc 9.5. Man of the match. 2 goals. Making passes. Pulling strings. Paying tribute to a fallen comrade. Te Amo, Cesc. Te Amo.

Bendtner 8. Didn’t light the world on fire, but was involved in the first couple of goals and looked more comfortable than I would have thought out on the right. He may prove me right about him yet.

van Persie 8. Solid performance, and great pass to nutmeg the defender and set up the fourth goal. Part of me still thinks he might be better suited to one of the forward wide roles–I think if he shifted to the left, Arshavin moved over to the right, and Bendtner moved to middle to provide a bit of an aerial threat, that might be a slightly more effective configuration. But I won’t be second guessing the gaffer after a 6-1 win.

Arshavin 7.5. Didn’t make many mistakes or bad plays, but wasn’t really the catalyst on the attack we’ve seen him be in the past, either. Hit the post on a shot to set up Eduardo’s goal.

I don’t really like rating late subs, but Ramsey looked decent, Eboue was pretty good, and it was wonderful to see Eduardo score his first league goal in some time. You can say it was an easy goal, and it was, but Eduardo is one of those guys who has the instinct to put himself in position to score a lot of “easy goals,” so it wasn’t pure luck. As he said in the video I posted this morning, “I’m back.”

Nothing more to say, really–we just started the season in the best possible fashion, hopefully we’ll be able to keep it up over the next 9 months. For now, we’ve got to prepare for a very tricky away match in Glasgow on Tuesday, which we’ll discuss in the coming days. For now, though, enjoy the victory and the rest of your weekend.

But enough of that. After a short summer offseason, it’s a return to the pitch against Everton. Starting lineups, if you haven’t seen them yet, straight from the BBC:

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Osman, Neville, Cahill, Pienaar, Fellaini, Jo. Subs: Nash, Saha, Vaughan, Gosling, Rodwell, Duffy, Baxter.

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Fabregas, Song Billong, Denilson, Bendtner, van Persie, Arshavin. Subs: Mannone, Eduardo, Ramsey, Silvestre, Eboue, Gibbs, Merida.

Quick notes: no Senderos, so perhaps he will actually get sold ot Everton, no Wilshere (bollocks), and thankfull no Silvestre at the back. Not a very menacing bench aside from Eduardo.

As usual, all thoughts before, during and the after the game go below—including streams. Enjoy this one.

Come on Arsenal.

Last Season: 5th, 17-12-9 (+ 18 goal differential)

Home Form (last season): 8-6-5

Last Meeting: Everton 1-Arsenal 1 (1/28/09)

The season is here. It’s finally here. While I’m sure we’ll still deal with transfer speculation, injuries, etc., we’ll have actual, real football to talk about from here on out. And between our tricky early season fixture list (Everton, Portsmouth, Manchester United, Manchester City, plus the Champions League playoff matches against Celtic), and our already lengthy injured list, we’re up against it right away.

Playing Everton at Goodison is a very tricky start to the season, make no mistake. No manager in the league gets more out of his squad than David Moyes, and Everton is a purist’s dream–they’re not flashy and they’re devoid of superstars, but they’re a solid squad 1-11, they play tough and are difficult to score on, and are capable of beating anyone. They very nearly won the FA Cup last season, and were successful despite playing a sizeable portion of the season without a single fit striker.

We beat them 3-1 at home last October, with Nasri, Rvp, and Theo getting on the scoresheet, but needed an RvP equalizer in injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park in January. We haven’t lost to the Toffees since March 2007. This is obviously a big game for both sides–everyone wants to get off on the right foot, of course, but the Gunners could also definitely use some momentum going into a very tricky away match in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Everton’s a tough side. It all starts at the back with them–Tim Howard is a world-class keeper, Jolean Lescott and Phil Jagielka make up one of the better center-back tandems in the league (although Jagielka is out injured for the match), right-back Phil Neville brings leadership and experience, and left-back Leighton Baines is one of those guys who goes about his job and doesn’t make mistakes. They’re also very solid up the middle of the field–Marouane “Screech’s Evil Twin” Fellaini was a great signing as a hard man who can score the occasional goal, and Tim Cahill is one of the most underrated players in the Premiership. Mikel Arteta is a great playmaker, but I he’s out of the match due to injury, which makes Arsenal’s task tomorrow a bit easier. Yakubu’s injured, but Louis Saha and Jo would be a decent strike pair tomorrow if Jo’s healthy enough to play.

As mentioned yesterday, with the Gunners’ injury list, we’re forced to use a patchwork lineup already. It will be interesting to see who starts beside Gallas at center back–Wenger said Vermaelen would be available, but may not want to risk him for a full game, which would mean Silvestre gets the nod. The other tough lineup decision Wenger will have to make is that with Theo out, our options up top become a bit more limited. My best guess at a lineup:

Almunia

Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Clichy

Denilson-Song

Eboue-Fabregas-Arshavin

van Persie

As I said, though, we could see Silvestre instead of Vermaelen, and we could see Eduardo or Bendtner start instead of Denilson and/or Eboue, but with Vela jetlagged from flying back from Mexico, that really wouldn’t leave us much in the way of substitute attacking options. It’s a tough start, and it should tell us quite a bit about this team. Here’s hoping they pass the test.

I’ve been waiting for months to say this again…

Come on Arsenal.

Check back today to comment, for streams, and anything that is going on with today’s game. Fingers crossed for three points, forget a good performance. Keep the winning streak alive.

Things started out as bad as they could on Saturday, with Everton going in front after some shocking defending. I thought Silvestre was out of position, not getting back to mark Osman, who was in a good position to tap home past Almunia. Far from being hopeful, I was expecting another loss at home – and was scared to death as a Joleon Lescott header was cleared off the line by (my) Man of the Match Gael Clichy.

The end of the first half couldn’t come sooner, and unsurprisingly enough, Theo was brought on. Placing the hopes and dreams of a season in top flight on a 19-year old isn’t the best, but it almost seems like that’s where Arsenal is. The second half, according to Walcott, was the best he’s seen, and it is pretty close to the truth. The equalizer came from Nasri, who if he can stay fit, seems like a more than adequate replacement for Hleb. It was a poor clearance that Silvestre left for Nasri to slot home from outside the box, with help from a defender’s boot deflecting it with the slightest of touches. The sense of relief increased when Van Persie got his head on a rebound of a Fabregas shot, expertly guiding it home into the corner.

Walcott sealed the victory, megging Tim Howard off a nice one-two from Abou Diaby, who made it through the game unscathed. Amazing, really. Diaby looked good, and it would be a real boost for him to remain healthy. What wasn’t good was the loss of Nasri, who picked up a thigh knock.

Saturday was really a tale of two halves, and it accurately describes the season so far – look brilliant during some stretches, quite lethargic during other times. There might have been a Hull City repeat if not for the brilliant second half, so there is something to take away along those lines. Going forward, the season looks bleak – at least in the belief of a serious title challenge. Examining the comprehensive depth of Chelsea, the strong finishing of Man Utd, or the deft comeback ability of Liverpool, it’s hard to see this team, as it stands, coming out the best of those four. It’s definitely a dour outlook, and I’d like to think otherwise, but can anyone argue differently? I’d love to hear other opinions on this one, so please, share your thoughts below.

I won’t be able to get anything up for tomorrow’s CL match due to a long day of travel. Istanbul will be a tough test no doubt, and I’ll have something up on Wednesday.

These things are common with international games – players always seem to come pack injured. You just have to grin and bear it and hope that Arsenal will pull through. Gallas’ injury will probably mean that Mikael Silvestre will feature this weekend. I can’t help but think that Philippe Senderos would be of use as well, if nothing more than having another central defender on the bench. I know that Song has seen time there, but it’s worrying how thin this team appears to be. Good news is that Abou Diaby is fit, although that will last for no more than one or two games with his track record.

It’s difficult to be optimistic and it’ll depend on who is fit and who isn’t. Aaron Ramsey played well for the Wales U-21 squad against England and would be a decent replacement for Cesc, but when Fabregas is your most senior central midfielder, that isn’t good. Plain and simple. These next few weeks will be a huge test to this team and to the youngsters that Arsene Wenger seems to have so much faith in.