WHAT matters most is that we won.

We banished a run of three consecutive defeats to the Hammers. And going back to the slightly tortured by-election analysis I made earlier in the season, this was one of last season’s shock defeats that we really needed to retake.

And retake it we did thanks to Robin Van Persie’s header from Alex Hleb’s cross. Those words alone tell you how far we have come. Van Persie heading a goal was unlikely but plausible. But the idea Hleb could actually stand the ball up (as opposed to do anything other than cut the ball back along the ground) would have seemed frankly farcical last year.

On balance, we deserved to win because we controlled the game. With the exception of a ten minute spell in the second half, West Ham were dismal. It was incredible how many very basic things they screwed up very often.

We had some nice moments - in particular down the left, where Diaby put in as useful a performance as we have seen all season. On the right we struggled a little after the withdrawal of Hleb. He was replaced by Eboue, who by my reckoning has a problem. The problem is that on no particular skill does he currently look better than Hleb.

On passing, tackling, tracking back, positioning and goalscoring, the Belorussian looks the better man at the moment. Truth be told, Eboue is far too passive, far too willing to pass responsibility on to others and far too passive when he does get the ball and some way off the kind of do or die attitude we really need.

We had our chances - RVP (who had his best game for a good few weeks) cracked a post, while Adebayor, Diaby and Clichy all had decent efforts. West Ham for their part enjoyed one good spell, which culminated in our old mate Freddie scoring an absolute trademark of a goal only to have it called offside.

I’ve no idea what the rule is, but things looked fairly simple to me. If the issue was whether or not the ball came off an Arsenal player, he was onside. If the issue was his positioning when the original ball was played, he was offside. Simple as that really.

In midfield, Cesc was enterprising and worked hard without being his spectacular best. Flamini was outstanding. We’ve seen all action displays from him in the past, but yesterday seemed to combine all of that commitment and tackling with a new found savvy on the ball. He didn’t just snap in and win it - his choice of who to then give the ball to verged on Fabregassian.

Clichy, Sagna, Toure and Almunia were as solid as you would expect. Which brings us to Senderos. Without wishing to overstate the importance of this or any other blog, I can certainly say that there are times on Goodplaya when I hold back from being as forthright about a player as I might be after four or five pints in the pub.

The point is that you never know who might be reading and ultimately, we all want Arsenal to do well. So unless a player is not putting in the required effort, I’m going to steer away from being unnecessarily harsh.

But the truth is it would be remiss for me not to say anything about Phillipe Senderos. Really, I can only pay tribute to him because he appears not just to be playing but to be thriving in a parallel universe where the defensive norms of attacking the ball and winning headers appear not to apply.

The guy truly is incredible. We have conceded four goals this season and nobody could possibly hold him culpable for any. And yet, and yet, and yet. The man is a walking catastrophe at the moment. Ashton looked absolutely poo yesterday - apart from every time he and Senderos were in any kind of challenge.

I say all of this with a heavy heart because I’m loathe to pick out a single player. But I’m just not sure how much longer we can sustain it before our luck runs out. And the worry is at the moment there appear few alternatives in the squad.

ON the morning he upped his stake in the club to 23 per cent, reports say Alisher Usmanov is fuming over derogatory comments by the board and internet claims.

Word is he is ready to go on the offensive ahead of the AGM on October 18.

Bring it on I say.

If the man is ready to come out from behind the cloak of corporate press releases and threats from legal giants, then that’s great. Why? Because, as things stand, those of us opposed to the takeover have nothing to fear from what he will say.

I will listen with an open mind about what went on back in his native Uzbekistan. I’m happy to hear how he became hooked on Arsenal eight years ago when Kanu got that goal in the Nou Camp or whatever it was that did the trick. If he puts his case well enough, I might even believe him.

But that changes nothing. Why? Because irrespective of who he is, what he is and what his intentions are, at the moment we don’t want anybody and we don’t need anybody.

We are happy how we are. Our finances are in good shape, our team currently in even better shape.

So once we have listened to you Mr Usmanov, will you listen to us? If a clear majority of Arsenal fans remain opposed to you, will you gracefully retire back to your box and allow the status quo to continue?

And will your new-found chum David Dein realise that scores in need of settling with the current board actually matter less than the stability of the club he professes to love? Will he realise that for everything he did for Arsenal, for now he is yesterday’s man?

Much as I’d like to think so, I fear not because ultimately Dein is a man who thinks he can have what he wants and you’re a man used to buying what you want.

As I said before: we don’t want you and we don’t need you.

ps: Sign the petition.

THIS footage shot from the North upper last night deserves wider viewing:

My experience of last night’s game was positively old-school: lying on a bed with the radio on in the background.

Which is why I’m not going to say anything more about it.

SEPTEMBER does not feel like the month for Soviet oligarchs.

Granted, it will take men with a) more time and b) more financial acumen than me to fully explain our financial results but I think we can safely say the club is hardly on the brink of collapse.

In fact, things are looking pretty damn good and I for one am not going to pass up the chance to look at recent events in north and west London as further evidence of why we should neither want nor need Usmanov.

You only need to see how in the space of just a couple of days we have leap frogged Chelsea (and Liverpool for that matter) as the bookies second favourites for the title. It’s a reminder that money, while relevant, is not the be all and end all some people would have you believe.

I’m out of London til Thursday so won’t be at the AGM today or at the Emirates for Newcastle tomorrow night.

That’s how it usually works. Correction - Monday was just the results. The AGM is on 18 October.

Tomorrow night should be more fun, because football is fun and finances are less so.

We should really wait til later before second guessing the team, but sod that frankly.
I’d say definite starters (barring injuries) are Fabianski, Hoyte, Traore, Havard Nordtveit, Diarra, Denilson, Song, Walcott and Bendtner. If Gilberto is fit then he could slot in next to Nordveit. Or if he plays in midfield we could finally see that much fabled ideal - ALEX SONG at centre-back. Oh yes.

I’ve a hunch RVP could be involved too. Arsene often likes to have the odd senior player in there to add a bit of guile. The bench will likely be made up by the likes of Gibbs, Simpson, Lanbury, Merida etc etc.

Anyway, it should be a decent night in front of a sell-out crowd. United are almost full for the visit of Coventry, though it should be said that as I understand it their season-ticket holders had no choice over whether they wanted to go to the game or not. As soon as the teams came out of the hat the extra money was just debited from their bank accounts, which seems a little harsh frankly.

Anyway, more at some later point.

PLAYA RATINGS

ALMUNIA
Nothing to do. No mistakes.7

SAGNA
Very solid. Bombed forward at will..7

TOURE
So in control he got bored, bombed forward and desperately went looking for a goal. Nearly got one with his header.7.5

SENDEROS
Still managed to look ponderous at times.6.5

CLICHY
Looked sharp, sped forward - all the usual things.7

CESC
Doesn’t need acres of space to operate in but will gladly take it if it’s on offer. Outstanding throughout.9

WALCOTT
Yet to blow away the cobwebs in his brain that see him take the wrong option more often than not. But in fairness did do some really neat stuff up until it came time to release that ball.6.5

FLAMINI
Very comfortable and his positioning is improving too.7

DIABY
Truly outstanding goal. Derby’s standoffish style suited him and was influential throughout. Now needs to do it against the other teams.7.5

EDUARDO
Unlucky with his header, he caused problems all day. Blatantly tugged down for the penalty.7

ADEBAYOR
Took the first delightfully, managed to at least keep the penalty low if not in the corner and controlled superbly for the third, even if the defender did inexplicably show him onto his right foot. Is such a handful for defenders.
8.5

SUB: DENILSON
Slotted in well. Lovely ball for final goal.7

SUB: DIARRA
No complaints at all. Not really the game to judge him on.7

SUB: SONG
Entered the field shambolically - delayed as he handed over a necklace and with his shirt half tucked in and half not, within a minute he had to hand Gary Lewin what looked like another chain or something. But actually played reasonably well and did nothing stupid.
7

Arsenal 5 Derby County 0
From Goodplaya at the Emirates

IT’S hard really to get too analytical about victory over a side so bad that even Spurs stuck four past them.

But that notwithstanding, what more can you ask for from an afternoon’s entertainment?

A beautiful late summer day, a full house, a cracking atmosphere down by the singing section, a thrashing, superb football to boot, the first senior hat-trick at the Emirates, and top of the league by four points after Liverpool’s draw.

Given that you can only beat what’s put in front of you, we were almost immaculate.

Derby have taken some stick for letting Diaby get on his right foot for the opener but those of us who have seen him at his best know that once into his stride he is pretty unstoppable. Unstoppable at least until he puts his foot through the ball and has a punt. Not this time though. It was an outstanding strike and sometimes you need something like that early on to make sure you have an afternoon like we enjoyed rather than the one Liverpool suffered.

Adebayor was hardly tightly marked for the second. But the ball over from Fabregas was nearly as good as Bould for Adams against Everton in 1998. And like big Tone our man took it down well and made the rest look easy.

The penalty was unbelievably blatant and I guess if you’re not going to get it in the corner the next best thing is to at least keep it low. The keeping for Cesc’s was a little off - but what was astonishing was the speed with which he picked up the ball and in an instant hit it. Very impressive and the usual goofy smile was spottable from a good 50 yards away.

The fifth was lovely control from Adebayor, some silly defending that appeared to show him onto his right foot and a low finish that Bywater really couldn’t do anything about.

It was all good really. Adebayor was obviously excellent but it was Cesc who seemed to be involved in absolutely everything. Really magical play at times from the young Spaniard. The only downsides were Senderos still looking ponderous and Theo yet to blast away the cob-webs in his head that prevent him from really going into overdrive when he has the chance.

We even saw Alex Song long enough for me not to be able to get away with the NA player rating that I readily plump for when he comes on with a couple of minutes to go. As I say in the playa ratings, his entrance was fairly chaotic. But in fairness, he did everything else well.

I should also mention the proliferation of central midfielders. We had six appear at various times today and that was without Gilberto.

All in all this was very good and going to watch the Arsenal is a joy at the moment. I’ll never tire of singing “we are the top of the league” and even a brief “we shall not be moved” was welcome - if a little premature.