More than any other club, it seems that Arsenal suffer the most with the calibre of their squad members. We had a ridiculous number of players at this summers World Cup, meaning that in terms of starting the season, we’ve been at a big disadvantage.

The new season is only 12 days old but we’ve already played Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Besiktas twice and Everton, and despite the obvious physical limitations as well as the quality of our opponents, we haven’t lost a single game yet.

We’ve failed to get out of first gear and our performances are nowhere near the standard we can achieve. When we’re in full flow, our football is outstanding but at the moment, we’re relying on sheer grit and determination to get us through.

Fitness, sharpness and the performances will come as the season progresses, but the fact we’ve managed to be where we are now is testament to Arsene Wenger and the players.

Arsene has had to manage players coming back at different times over the summer, organise new signings and rotate the squad more than he would like at this stage – and we’ve had big players missing due to injuries and suspensions, such as Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Kieran Gibbs.

At Crystal Palace, we struggled but the desire got us a narrow 2-1 victory. At Besiktas, we fought well to get an away draw and at Everton, when we were 2-0 down no-one gave us a chance. But sheer will and determination secured a dramatic 2-2 draw.

And to last night.

With a team obviously lacking in match sharpness, Arsene Wenger must have been extremely proud of what he saw. To a man, every single player gave 110% effort. Whereas at Everton you could accuse a couple of players of strolling through the game, every player on the pitch against Besiktas was unbelievable. The performance might not have been as slick as it can be (that will come with time) but the fight, desire and determination shown at The Emirates was phenomenal. Players such as Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere ran and ran and ran, showing how much playing for Arsenal means. We might have rode our luck with a couple of decisions, but there’s no doubt that these players play for Arsene Wenger.

And if you look around the Premier League table, how many managers can say the same?

The effort and fight shown by the players so far this season shows the belief that something special can be achieved this season.

And when we do click into gear once everyone is fully fit, then we will be right up there competing at the very top.

After last night’s dramatic victory over Besiktas, the draw for the Champions League proper was made this afternoon at the groups have been officially drawn. Arsenal’s group consists of the following teams:

Arsenal FC (England)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Anderlecht (Belgium)

And we’re in Group D.

My initial reaction is that it could be a worse group. Chelsea (like Manchester United) always get an easy group and did so again this season, Manchester City have Bayern, CSKA and Roma while Liverpool are in a group with Real Madrid, Basel and Ludogorets.

You would think that along with Borussia Dortmund, we should be favourites to progress into the knockout stages and when you compare it to last years group of death, we should be okay.

We know the quality that Borussia Dortmund possess, and along with them is Galatasaray, who will give us problems. No-one likes travelling to Turkey and players you will have heard of include one-time Arsenal target Felipe Melo. They also have Hamit Altintop who used to play for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Wesley Sneijder and the man, the myth and the legend that is Emmanuel Eboue.

Eboue made over 130 appearances for Arsenal and although he was with us during our “barren” spell he’s won trophies in Turkey, winning the Turkish league twice and the Turkish cup twice (as well as their version of the league cup).

So what do you think of the Champions League draw? Could have been better? Could have been worse? Leave your comments in the section below!

With the unfortunate news about Olivier Giroud, and the fact he had surgery yesterday on his ankle problem, needs must and the fact is we have our main striker out until the new year.

When interviewed, Arsene was cagey about going into the transfer market, mentioning that Sanchez, Walcott, Campbell, Sanogo and Podolski can all play as a striker. While not sounding completely convincing, it shows that if the right opportunity doesn’t present itself before Monday then Arsene is happy enough to promote from within.

So who do you think should be Giroud’s replacement? I’ve listed the options within Arsenal along with all the names we’ve been linked with recently by the media.

Vote below and choose the player you think should be playing in Giroud’s position, and don’t forget to leave your comments in the section below!

When Lukas Podolski arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2012, he was seen as the replacement for the departing Robin van Persie – he had a hammer of a left foot and was an outstanding finisher. But with the arrival of Olivier Giroud that same summer, he found himself more as a winger, although he did manage to score 16 goals in 42 games which isn’t a bad return for his first season in England.

Last season however he was less of an impact, scoring 12 goals in only 27 games. A better return percentage-wise, but the season saw him play 15 less games than the campaign before.

Arsene Wenger obviously favours a striker who can hold the ball up, and that role is covered by Olivier Giroud. Even when Van Persie was at Arsenal, he had the ability to hold the ball and bring others into play – something that unfortunately Podolski isn’t really renowned for. We also play with one main striker so a supporting role as a second striker isn’t really an option, meaning Podolski has been limited to appearances on the wing.

But that’s an area we seem to be well covered as well, and a position where Arsene seems to prefer others. Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Tomas Rosicky, Serge Gnabry and Santi Cazorla can all play the “wider” midfield roles and give more in terms to team play. And with the signing of Mesut Özil last summer, we have another attacking midfield role taken up.

We’ve signed Alexis Sanchez who you would think would be one of the main attackers this season, placing Lukas even further down the pecking order.

I’ve heard from a number of sources that staff at Arsenal think Podolski is one of the best finishers they’ve seen at the club for a long time, which is quite the compliment.

The problem is though, that to me anyway, it seems that Lukas Podolski was either a “stop-gap” buy from Arsene to help fill the void of Van Persie’s departure, or (and this is probably more likely) that he has simply not shown enough to the boss that he’s good enough for Arsenal’s starting eleven.

So where do you think Lukas Podolski’s future lies? As a first team regular, a useful squad player or is he looking to leave The Emirates?