5 Things About Arsenal This season

1) Arteta is a great replacement for Song
Who needs Song are the chants now,who needs a proper defensive midfielder are the noises now.All because of Arteta.He has grown on to become one of Arsenal's most important players.His new position playing as a deep lying midfielder and curbing his attacking instincts for the good of the team are paying dividends.He seems to thrive on under this added responsibility,using his clever "footballing brain" to break up attacks and as always being neat and tidy when in possession of the ball.His reading of the game is at a very high level and his positional sense is exceptional.Even though Song was termed as proper defensive midfielder,he never actually was one.His technical flaws as well as lack of positional sense was there for all to see.In Arteta, Wenger has a responsible,mature and a experienced player who does his job really well and has all the technical abilities Wenger loves in a player.There is no necessity for a completely defensive midfielder in the team and Arsenal's new tactics seem to be working well.

2) Gervinho looks the part as a center Forward
Arsenal deployed Gervinho as a center forward instead of Giroud or Podolski,the former who was left out to ease some of the the increasing pressure on his shoulders.Gervinho was so impressive against the Southampton defense in that position that many are calling on Wenger to make Gervinho's place permanent there.Even Wenger after the match admitted that after deploying Gervinho in the same position against City in a pre-season game he liked what he saw of Gervinho in that match and thus decided to deploy him again in that position.Gervinho's movement,speed and trickery was too much for the poor Southampton defense to handle and particularly his movement around the area and dropping deep allowed Podolski and Chamberlain to interchange throughout.Wenger has had a habit of turning Wingers into strikers just like he did with Henry and Persie and looks like Gervinho will add in to that elite list of wingers turned in to strikers by Wenger.On the other hand Giroud is likely to get more chances and also there is one thing to remember that this was Southampton and much will be known about Gervinho in his new position against top class opposition.But Wenger may have found a solution after all.

3) Gunners look the complete package
Although it was against a poor Southampton team,but the way Arsenal played through-out the match was there for all to see.Some of the passing and movement at times was breath taking and the scoreline could have been a cricket score if Arsenal would have converted more of their chances.Cazorla was sublime throughout and he and Podolski seems to have found out a great understanding between them-selves on the pitch.The midfield along with the defense looks settled and balanced and the goals are starting to flow in too.Arsenal's pressing was excellent through out against a team who had scored two goals against City and United previously.The Gunners looked the real deal through-out and are looking like serious contenders for the title this year and if they continue their current form and with players to return it promises to be a good season ahead.However the match against City this week and against Chelsea next week will give us a much clearer picture where they stand.

4) A solid defense despite conceding their first goal of the season
Arsenal's signing of the season without a doubt has been Steve Bould,The former Gunners legend, a great defender of his time has worked his magic on Arsenal's usually susceptible defense,which many argue is the main reason for Arsenal not winning a title in recent years.The defense looked solid through-out and Southampton were only restricted to three or four shots of real notice through-out.The goal also came as a result of Szczesny's error,otherwise the Gunners did not looked like conceding throughout.Gibbs was outstanding defensively as well as attacking wise as well as Jenkinson who seems a man re-born from last year.Vermaelen like always was amazing and so was Mertesacker.However tougher tests await and more will be found out about Arsenal's new found defensive discipline.

5) Theo Walcott still has a future at Arsenal
Although he just played for a few minutes at the end and took his goal well,he looked like a man who wanted to prove a point.He seemed focus with what he wanted to do on the pitch and his brief cameo had promise.He offers something different to Arsenal and it looks as if he will start to get involved more in the future.However he has a fight on his hands to get in to the team currently with so much competition on the wings and is not yet ready for a center forward role which might be his position in the future.Also the soon he resolves his contract issue the better for everyone involved.
However next two weeks will be defining for Arsenal in terms of assessing whether they have what it takes to be serious title contenders.The Gunners take on City next week and Chelsea the following week as Arsenal build up to their defining games this early in the season.