SO it’s Spurs again tonight and while I can usually be relied on for a healthy dose of pessimism, today I feel particularly fearful for our chances.

You look back at our utter domination of this fixture this century and you realise that at some point, Spurs are due to have their day. It’s similar to how Chelsea beat Spurs for so long and were finally felled in the Carling Cup semi-final. I also sense a parallel between our successive cup defeats to United and Chelsea in the unbeaten season and this latest couple of games against Bolton (yes, I know we drew) and Spurs. Finally, it’s not as if we have a fantastic record in these semis (at least four successive defeats by my count) and this genuinely is Spurs’ biggest one off game for years.

Of course, such rational analysis will probably vanish as kick-off approaches, but at the moment I feel as if I am going into tonight with an element of calm acceptance over what will go on. Right, enough of the polemic and onto the interesting stuff: the team. It looks like Almunia, Senderos, Hoyte, Toure, Traore, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby, Walcott, Aliadiere and one other. It could be Adebayor. It could be Flamini (with Walcott up front). Either way, the absence of the Beast is a very obvious blow and a front two of Aliadiere and young Theo looks a little toothless truth be told.

Right onto the video of the day and today it’s Theo Walcott. His form has undoubtedly dipped recently but I’m totally unconcerned as at the moment it looks like nothing more than exactly what you would expect to happen at some point to someone his age. Here is a reminder of what he can do:

SO it’s a Valentine’s Day love-in at the Reebok for us all to look forward to. Let’s just hope we get a better performance than the same date last year - our horror show at Liverpool.

From the reaction I’ve read so far, it seems many fans are prepared to cut the team a bit of slack for a below par performance in what has been a tough, but otherwise unblemished month. We really can’t complain with what we have seen in January and all we need to do is now is make sure we take the positive aspect of our fightback rather than the negative aspect of falling behind at home again in to Wednesday’s game with Spurs.

As I’ve already said, I expect it to be a real, real toughy. Experience tells me that terms such as “driving seat”, “upper hand” and “pole position” after a first-leg draw suggest an outcome far simpler than what actually happens. Either way, I’m looking forward to going to what will be the first big night occasion at the Grove.

Moving on and we have an incredible TEN new Goodplayas for you today. For the unitiated, they are occasions when Arsene has called someone or some people a good player/s. It’s the reason this site has it’s name and the Goodplayas are spun into a random selector that churns out a different one every time you visit the site.

So without further ado, taking us to an incredible total of 31. Here are the new ones:

Finally, it’s time for the video of the day. This one comes from the man who redesigned this site and before you ask, yes it does have some Arsenal involvement.

An underachiever and an achiever

I’M not sure if we were poor today because Bolton were the opponents or if it was just another of those infuriating 1-1 games. Either way, this was the kind of performance we last saw against Portsmouth. We never hit top form and for the first 50 minutes or so we were fairly listless. At the same time, credit to Bolton. They were playing well and deserved their lead. After their goal it was a different story and while we were never at full flow and certain players were having an off day, it was sheer determination that got us deservedly level.

Brace yourselves for this, but I admit: Kevin Nolan’s goal was good football and well taken. Saying that about Bolton may hardly roll off the tongue but in truth my gripe with them has always been far more about the deliberate fouling and cheating than the quality of their play and the below capacity attendances it results in.

After the goal, Almunia made a crucial block when a second looked likely. Then Theo was right to take a volley first time.. but he was wrong to pull it wide. I thought Hunt should have gone when he hauled back Rosicky. Not just because he would have had a goalscoring chance but because it was utterly deliberate and when it is utterly deliberate the defender should forfeit any right to the benefit of the doubt on whether it was a goalscoring chance. Not that I like seeing players sent off for stupidity, but how the already booked Faye stayed on the pitch when he whacked the ball away right in front of the referee when the whistle had long gone is beyond me.

A recovery that came from the back

Given that some of our players were clearly having one of those days, I thought we responded fairly well. There was some decent football at times but in the end it was just a constant build-up of pressure that eventually told. The leveller was another apt reminder that while brilliant football will sometimes produce brilliant results, there is a surprisingly high return to be had from doing the game’s scrappy, simple things. Performance wise, I thought this game was recovered from the defence (Toure and Clichy in particular) and the midfield quartet. Henry and Adebayor did ok, but both have played far better.

Conceding first in 10 out of 17 home games is almost relegation stuff. Yet to comeback on 10 consecutive occasions, shows extraordinary desire and character. I suppose the positive is that the stopping conceding first can probably be taught, whereas having the character to strike back is far harder to pick-up.

Results wise, the most important thing is that we are still in it, even if a trip to the Reebok will fill many fans with dread. However I thought one plus we could take from today is that a number of the players showed a real willingness to scrap for it and in the second half in particular, matched Bolton physically. If we can take that with us to the north-west, we would have at least removed one major obstacle to possible progression.

YOU normally expect Fergie to be the master of all things mind game related. But it’s hard to see how he has come out of his and Arsene’s latest spat with a great deal of credit. Responding to some fairly innocuous comments by that great shit-stirrer (not) Matthieu Flamini, the red faced one said:

I think the point is there was every bit of evidence to support it. They do flag a little late on, we have been incredibly strong at home late on and hey presto, we turned the game around and won 2-1 late on. In a game containing just three clear cut chances in the second half (one for them and two for us), to say we should have lost 1-0 is pathetic. And as I said earlier this week, the whole point about the goals was that they came from entirely normal passages of play. You couldn’t say they were freaky, you couldn’t say one outstanding player had changed the game with a piece of magic. No, these were normal goals scored by a side who evidently had a little more left in the tank than their opponents.

Perhaps Fergie is using it to inspire his lot. Who knows.

Moving on, it’s Bolton tomorrow and I reckon we can expect something like Almunia in goal (which I am sure they will be disapointed about), Hoyte for the injured Eboue, Toure, Senderos (Gallas and Djourou are still out), Clichy, Rosicky, Baptista (for Hleb), Flamini, Henry and Adebayor. Then there is the final midfield berth, which will be one of either Cesc, Denilson or Diaby. What do you reckon?

Here is the video of the day, which is not Bolton related because there is not a lot to show that is a) Bolton related b) positive. But it’s still good:

I WAS seconds away from publishing a lovingly created Friday blog when I managed to delete the whole thing. So here is the very abridged version:

1) At after work drinks last night I met a new guy equally Arsenal obsessed. We discussed mainly: Paul Robinson’s terrible keeping for the second goal on Wednesday, Lee Dixon’s own goal against Coventry in 91-92 and then again Paul Robinson’s terrible keeping for the second goal on Wednesday.

2) Upon returning home with that ‘empty stomach syndrome’ that so often accompanies post work drinks, rather than reaching for a kebab, takeaway or even the more humble bread and butter, I retrieved a broccoli from the fridge. And then I steamed it. Would this have happened had David Dein not invited Arsene to play charades that night?

3) Alex Hleb is out for a few weeks just as he and Rosicky were beginning to look good. With the exception of central midfield, it sums up our luck this season.

4) Tottenham’s attempt to get compensation for being given a bye into the next round of the UEFA Cup is utterly shameful.

5) Ray Parlour is back at the club for some training. Remember this?