Arsenal’s brains and brawn silence the doubters

THE conventional wisdom was that Arsenal, with Thierry Henry ensconced in his new Catalan home, would be gobbled up like tapas by their bigger, better, bolshier rivals this season.

There were even whispered doubts they would qualify for the Champions League.

Only Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, was laughing up his sleeve back in the summer, doubled up in fits of giggles at the way his latest invention at the Emirates Stadium was being dismissed through a total lack of knowledge and understanding of their capabilities.