Hope you enjoyed your nice run-in form

My fellow Gooners, I have a confession to make... I cannot go on withholding an important truth from you all. I am a Stateside Gooner. I write these articles for you from Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Please do not discount me so quickly, I can already feel you giving me less mind-share. I promise you I am just as obsessed as you. Arsenal is my life. Let me say it again, Arsenal is life. Nothing else really matters.

Arsenal, for me, is like a long distance relationship. Imagine being in love with a smoking hot girl that is 3,000 miles away. Sure, love letters, naughty picture texts messages, and late night phone calls are nice, but there is nothing like seeing her in the flesh... Touching her.

It is for this reason, every year I make my pilgrimage to the Mecca, N5. I do it because there is no other place I would rather go in the world. Last year's trip, I was at Villa away on Boxing Day (a 2-2 draw, Zat Knight equalised at the death. You got to be kidding me!), and I also made it to Portsmouth at The Groove on December 30th (this match was a real sleeper, but thankfully Billy G headed in the winner in the last 5 minutes).

For this year, I already have my tickets for Manchester City's visit in April. Hate is a strong word, but my dislike for Adebayor this summer turned to sincere hatred after his stamp on RVP's face and his goal celebration. If anybody wants to meet me for a pint at Che's before we take our revenge on City and Greedybayor, send me an email. I would love the opportunity to meet some of the people that eat, breath, and sleep Arsenal, like me.

Since I live in the States, there are not that many Arsenal supporters to engage in my obsessive behavior with. There are a few at the local pub I watch the matches at, but for the most part I am lucky just to find fellow footy fans. So when I have football discussions it is not just a talk amongst other Gooners, those involved represent the usual suspects: Chelsea, United, Liverpool, and I can't forget Matt the poor West Ham supporter.

We were all sitting around watching the latest round of Champions League games, and the topic of Premier League title came up. There I sat, trying my best to make a case for Arsenal finishing top of the table. My argument was that Arsenal had, by far, the easiest run in of the three teams that still have a shot. I puffed out my chest and explained that Tottenham away and Manchester City were the only two fixtures remaining that were challenging. My friend Jon, a Liverpool supporter, conceded that his club have no shot at the title this year, but dropped a little line, "What about Stoke away this weekend? Have you seen their recent form?"

My immediate response was, "It's Stoke. They are bottom feeders. We are the Arsenal. We have world class players. They have nothing more than some big goons, and a chap with several dedicated towel boys tending to his long throw."

Jon said, "Those bottom feeders are THE in-form team in the country right now." I guess when your team is no longer in the title hunt and knocked out of the Champions League you pay more attention to the other teams' results.

So I got my anoraking on, and Jon was right. Stoke have not lost in 2010. Their last defeat was to Birmingham on December 28th of last year. 10 games on the trot without a loss. 6 wins and 4 draws. One of those wins was against Arsenal in the FA Cup. On that day Le Prof put out a weaker side. The latest injury update: Gallas, Diaby, and Arshavin all will miss this weekends game.

I think Campbell can cope with Stoke's physical threat, at the same time, Diaby will be missed in midfield and Arshavin's threat of scoring at any moment will also be missed. With Nicky B playing in the middle I am really looking forward to seeing the little Russian back out on the left side of the 4-3-3.

There are no surprises with Stoke. What you see is what you get. They will be happy to let Arsenal have all the possession, clamping down as we approach their box. In attack, Stoke will only be dangerous on set pieces and Delap's long throws. Stoke will kick and hack our best players, and Fabregas's shins will be the most popular target.

A couple players got starts last weekend against Sunderland and performed admirably. I think Ramsey, Eboue, and Theo should all get another run out. Walcott maybe having the most frustrating campaign of anyone on the squad, but the performance against Sunderland last weekend was by far his best of the season and his pace may be exactly what we need to get an early lead and build on. If anybody at Arsenal is due for a goal it is Walcott.

Wenger has been quiet the last couple weeks. His tail has been between his legs since the the defeats to United, Chelsea, and Porto. Arsenal.com has been filled with reserve team news and irrelevant news on the Brazil v Ireland friendly. I like to think it's because Wenger is focusing on the two enormous tasks at hand. First, his team are right in the thick of things for the league title and we are almost in March.

I know some camps are harsh on Wenger, but before the season started if you would have told me we would be this close to the leaders with 11 games left I would have taken it. Second, Wenger's team will be knocked out of Europe if they do not defeat Porto at home. Let's take it one game at a time.

The most important game for AFC is this weekends game against Stoke. Arsène said it well this week, "We are in a fantastic position and it is now about how we turn it our way. In the position we are in, we do not need to calculate - the best way is to win one game, and then win the next one." Forget the rest of the run in, and forget Europe for now.

A 10-game unbeaten streak does not change my expectations for a League game at the Britannica at all. I can see us getting 2 or 3 and Stoke maybe getting 1. That will be enough for three points, and that is all that really matters right now. Stoke, I hope you enjoyed your nice little run of form, because it's about to end. C'mon you Gunners!

Postscript

I am serious about meeting up before the Man City game. For the most part, I am on my own as an Arsenal supporter here in Philadelphia. It would be nice just to talk Arsenal with some local Gooners.

As I mentioned, I cross the pond every year to attend matches but I always attend them by myself. Email me if you want to meet up. We just got over a foot of snow here. Off to the mountains for the weekend. Skiing on fresh powder and an Arsenal victory... This is setting up to be a very nice weekend.

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