After such an abject display at Craven Cottage last Saturday an improvement was the least we expected against Newcastle. When Van Persie was denied what looked to be a clear penalty and Gallas skied the ball over from 2 yards out , it seemed like it might be one of those days.

Gallas misses an early chance

Fortunately it wasn’t, some good work from Adebayor won us a penalty minutes after Kolo Toure had a will hit shot saved by Given. Van Persie stepped up to score the first of his season and we were off and running. I had previously written that v. Persie must find his shooting boots and he undoubtedly has. Robin,  who looked sharp and fit, scored a second from good play by Eboue who had his best game for Arsenal for a long time.

The entire team had was much improved, they seemed to have learnt lessons from the Fulham defeat. There was a determination and hunger that was clearly missing last week. Denilson who was the target of much scorn from the previous week redeemed himself yesterday. The was still the odd misplaced pass but his performance was at least a 7/10 and a goal will surely boost his confidence.

Another player who sought redemption yesterday was Eboue, like I said he can be good sometimes and yesterday was one of those times. It leads you to wonder why can’t play like that more often. Like the manager said

I believe that the improvement comes from a completely different attitude. We have shown that against FC Twente and we have shown again here. Fulham was the start of the season with tough games before it. After the players went away it was some players’ fourth game in 10 days and we were not ready mentally at Craven Cottage.

There is no doubt that the talent and technical ability is there, it’s just a question of going out there and playing like you know you can. It’s all in the head.

well played boys, well played

Nasri again proved that his transfer fee was good value by putting in another excellent display, we can safely say that we have improved on Hleb. His little clip on Barton reminded me of Sagna on Huddlestone last season, and totally blanking Keegan after the match was classic. He is rapidly becoming one of my favourite players on the team.

Adebayor didn’t score but was involved in all 3 goals, he displayed a selflessness to his game that we haven’t seen since the Henry days, maybe even a slight bit too much.

The sight of v.Persie going off injured was the only worry we had, hopefully it’s not a long-term injury. Knowing his history we can only hope.

Performances like yesterdays’ is what led to the name of this blog, what we’ve now come to expect from Arsenal FC, what can simply be described in one word. . .Wengerball. Let’s not get too carried away by a win over a poor Newcastle team, just enjoy the quality of entertainment served up by the team and look forward to more quality football.