Arsenal posse...

[Paul Marin]

...any predictions?

[Twan]

...any predictions?

1-0 to the Gunners, Giroud to score in the 23rd min !!

[Bricktop]

AVB is a bum...Lazie big coach

[Paul Marin]

1-0 to the Gunners, Giroud to score in the 23rd min !!

I wonder how much $100 would have brought you if you had bet?

[Assasin]

Nobody can't talk to Dunny right now. Now unnu see that 100-1 nuh mean nothing. The man let go some non contributors but he is not going just to buy for buy sake.

Big win Wenger.

[Twan]

Nobody can't talk to Dunny right now. Now unnu see that 100-1 nuh mean nothing. The man let go some non contributors but he is not going just to buy for buy sake.

Big win Wenger.

stop talk nonense...no way we can survive with the current squad !!

one win over spuds does not make a season !!

this late in the window we will buy for buying sake...

[Peter R]

Twan... nuff respect on that call, you are the real obeah man!

[Twan]

Twan... nuff respect on that call, you are the real obeah man!

DWL !!! Peter R...i actually posted that just has the game ended. Sorry, I am not the real obeah man here !!

[Dunny]

Yes, beat the traffic, back home now. It was a good day at the Emirates today. Mek dem go spend another 100 million. Arsenal was much too sharp and incisive fi dem. Giroud is a monster memba mi tell unuh. Nuff man aint gonna give him no ratings because him didn't cost 50 million pounds. Gunners mi seh! Time to raid Real Madrid now the Bale deal is completed.

[Lazie]

AVB is a bum...Lazie big coach

Wenger finished the game with 6 defenders. It's is Arsenal we talking bout. Other than tier lastmFA Cup win, when last Arsenal played so defensive? Give the coach some credit.

[Paul Marin]

DWL !!! Peter R...i actually posted that just has the game ended. Sorry, I am not the real obeah man here !!

Always trying to tief don't it? Wish you coulda name your fantasy league team after the game too don't it!? LOL!

[Peter R]

DWL !!! Peter R...i actually posted that just has the game ended. Sorry, I am not the real obeah man here !!

I was trying to figure out the timeline against the time stamp on the post... Guess I'll have to hand the title back to HL...

[Dunny]

Prudent Arsène Wenger leaves Tottenham big spenders out of pocket

Arsenal's team stability proved the decisive factor in the 1-0 derby defeat of Andre Villas-Boas's new faces

Arsène Wenger shows his delight after Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Emirates Stadium. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters


There was brilliant ridiculousness at the end of this tightly coiled derby when the Arsenal crowd, who have been pleading with their club to spend, spend, spend all summer long, spontaneously aimed a chorus of "What a waste of money" at their noisy neighbours.

Arsène Wenger had every right to be astonished to hear that particular soundtrack, considering how his has been a lone voice trying to make himself heard in the midst of a cacophony of transfer-window noise. But the Arsenal manager is not a told-you-so kind of guy.

A welcome derby win changed nothing in terms of his ideas and ideals. He remains convinced that he has a team of high promise on his hands, and came out with the same old line he has been plugging for aeons about adding a couple of players as long as they are of "super quality".

Wenger has always been keen on statistics and, in 2013, the English team who have garnered the most Premier League points is his. And thereby hangs the crux of the frustration around Arsenal's softly, softly transfer window – how to turn a first XI capable of going on important runs of form into a squad capable of challenging for honours? And if not, why on earth not?

The next day is a critical one. Anyone deemed expendable at Real Madrid is in Arsenal's sights, plus the young German prodigy Julian Draxler. They are also considering chancing their arm with an enhanced bid for Luis Suárez – with a little more than loose change added to any new valuation.

Quite what the response might be from Liverpool is anybody's guess. "I am not against spending money," said Wenger. "There are 24 hours left; maybe we can surprise you, maybe not."

The foundation is there, as Arsenal proved again in a match with hot intensity and high stakes. The last three north London derbies at the Emirates have had an added tension of Tottenham arriving buoyed by claims of new superiority. Arsenal were again able to react to a pressure situation.

This was billed as a contrast between thriftiness and largesse – but also stability against a new and unpredictable mix. In the end, the experience of the likes of Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky, such comfortable ball players also blessed with vision and appetite, gave Arsenal the platform to edge the game. The energy of Aaron Ramsey and the bite of the returning Mathieu Flamini set the tone. Further forward, the combination of Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, who have been playing together for a year, made the difference. All in all, Arsenal's Premier League know-how was vital.

Giroud's match-winner was a moment of startling refinement from a hulking centre-forward. In a way he embodies both the yin and yang of Wenger's approach. On one side, Giroud's improvement is beginning to make him a dependable focal point for the Arsenal attack. On the other, if he gets injured, the only alternative centre forward in a threadbare squad right now is the raw prospect Yaya Sanogo.

"I know my team-mates and they know me much better so we can find each other without opening our eyes," said Giroud breezily.

That kind of automatic connection with team-mates, of course, is exactly what Tottenham understandably lack.

André Villas-Boas's expensively assembled new team endured a few growing pains here. The White Hart Lane rebuild is inevitably a work in progress.

Only one player from the starting XI had played in Harry Redknapp's last game just over a season ago, the right-back Kyle Walker. That is quite some turnover.

It will take time for seven new players to begin to equal the value of one. The electricity that Gareth Bale brought to Tottenham last season was conspicuous by its absence, and Villas-Boas needs to find a better balance between the muscle and physical presence which so many of his new players bring, and the creativity and ingenuity to add dash, verve and more goalscoring threat.

He spoke afterwards of his intentions to use an authentic No10, with Christian Eriksen earmarked to add spark to the attack. The Dane was not signed in time to be eligible to play.

In an attempt to change the game, Villas-Boas sent on Jermain Defoe and the Argentinian Erik Lamela. Arsenal, however, had to resort to sending on full-backs for reinforcement in attacking midfield positions.

Wenger could interpret this game as a vindication of his methods, or a reminder that adding to the squad on the last day of the transfer window should be compulsory, not optional. The players who give their all for him deserve that back-up.

[Twan]

Always trying to tief don't it? Wish you coulda name your fantasy league team after the game too don't it!? LOL!

DWL !!! no Paul....I wont do what you did, when you won the league !!

[Twan]

I was trying to figure out the timeline against the time stamp on the post... Guess I'll have to hand the title back to HL...

much appreciated.....