Birmingham. Famous for Birmingham City Football Club. And Aston Villa. And...well not a whole lot else (as far as I‘m aware), so the boys from the blue half of the city were no doubt keen to make an impression on the Emirates crowd by ending Arsenal's 100% home record. In the end though, the visitors were outclassed, and their new owner, the Hong Kong Billionaire Carson Yeung, will have been given a pretty clear idea just how much work will have to go into this team before they can truly play with the big boys.

Two goals, two minutes apart, another one five minutes from the end (with one Bowyer strike in between, just to keep things interesting) were enough to secure all three points. Arsenal’s goals were all well taken: the game was only fifteen minutes old when Van Persie controlled Alex Song’s pass and, turning his man he angled a sharp drive low into the far corner. Shortly after Eboué managed to release Rosicky down the wing who then squared the ball across the edge of the six yard area, and there was little else Diaby could do other than to smash the ball into the roof of the net. Arsenal’s third showed just why Wenger paid £16,000,000 for Arshavin. Just when Birmingham seemed to be threatening an equaliser, Mannone claimed a cross and rolled the ball to Fabregas who was able to turn and run into acres of space. Striding purposefully down the pitch he played the ball into Arshavin’s feet, just outside the area. The little Russian took full advantage of the room afforded him by the defenders, and nonchalantly rolled curled the ball into the far corner. Job done.

Not since Henry has Wenger has such a clinical finisher of counter attacking moves. The threat Arsenal used to carry from defending set pieces box was phenomenal. One minute they would be camped in their own box as the ball was lumped in, the next they’d be down the other end of the pitch finishing off another lightning quick move. It was football Blitzkrieg. Whilst this capability hadn’t been eroded entirely by the departure of players like Overmars, Anelka, Pires or Henry, there was no one that could be relied upon to take these sort of chances when they were presented with them. Arshavin can and will stick most chances away, and Arsenal can once again view the counter attack as another weapon in their…er….armoury.

Arsenal have set two records thus far this season: they have scored 27 goals after only 8 games, more than any other team in the history of the premier league at this stage. However, they have also conceded 11, the most conceded by an Arsenal team after this number of games. The two facts are probably not unrelated. Song and Diaby were both excellent in disrupting Birmingham’s flow, and at no point when Arsenal had 11 men behind the ball was there a cause for concern, because it became clear that wouldn’t be long before a pass was intercepted or a tackle made. It was when Arsenal did not have numbers back that doubts started to creep in, as the disinclination for tracking back shared by some Arsenal players was plain for all to see. Rosicky can be forgiven for not running the length of the pitch every time the ball is lost, his return from a prolonged absence was probably hastened by the loss of Walcott and Nasri, and his fitness might still be an issue; but Arshavin has no such excuse. Granted he’s not a teenager anymore, but 28 is the new 25. And given that he was playing down the left in front of the inexperienced Gibbs there was really no excuse. To be fair to the lad he made more of an effort as the game progressed, but it could have been a case of too little too late if Birmingham has taken their chances. As soon as Wenger reminds some of these players that the game doesn’t stop when the ball is with the other team, defensively we might look a little more assured.

On a lighter note, the beach ball that sunk Liverpool on the weekend ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sur49i4QPo ) was part of the Liverpool FC beach set, and having been marked down from half price before the game it has probably been removed from the club shop all together to deter giddy Manchester United fans from littering the pitch with them at Anfield next weekend.

Edit: as predicted... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/20/liverpool-sunderland-premier-league