What can one say about this week that has not been said a million times over? Let’s face it; the past days have been made better by victory in a scintillating football match that was a credit to both sides and to the game in football in general, in an era when the more tawdry aspects of it are the headline makers.

What is interesting is the psyche of the national newspapers who for so long have railed against the diminishing number of natives in the Arsenal team, now embrace the squad as record-breakers, proving everything that is good in the English game. Um, well Arsenal are sort of unique in the English game with only Manchester United on the same level of playing football as it should be played. Chelsea and Liverpool are solid teams who can do it in patches but it is not their overriding philosophy as it is at The Emirates and Old Trafford. Nothing like selling a few extra copies to put the flip-flopping of your average politician to shame, eh lads?

Much has been said about achievements. I am not sure I like the use of the word in the context of one game; to be the first English club to win against AC Milan in their ‘own backyard’ is an achievement of sorts but without being in a successful season, does it mean anything more than progression to the next round? That is not mean to sound as if the win is being diminished because it is not, more a contextual issue surrounding the victory. The hype has been rising to such an extent that it concerns me that some may start to think this squad is now a shoe-in for the Champions League when there are still some very good teams involved.

The plaudits for the victory have been spread around the team, mainly in the direction of Fabregas or Cesc as his team-mates refer to him as, but others are getting praise. Philippe Senderos gets a rare piece of praise from Tony Cascarino,

It was such a great team effort that you couldn’t pick anyone out, but Philippe Senderos was a man mountain. Kaká is tremendous but he wasn’t given any time or space to cause any damage. Of all Wenger’s players, Senderos has more captain and leadership qualities than any. He makes the odd error but as a leader you cannot fault him and that is why Wenger thinks a lot of him. He was the one dictating things at the back. It is easy to criticise those who make the odd poor decision, but he’s more of a captain than William Gallas.

For a player who gets more brickbats than most I hope that he has boosted his own confidence enough to last him through to the end of the season because as Kolo Toure returns to fitness, the opportunities for Senderos will diminish. It must be quite difficult for the lad to know that no matter how well he plays, he will drop out of the team to the bench as soon as the first choice returns to fitness. The progress he has made in 2008 in confidence though is promising for the future. I know that some, perhaps many, do not think he will make it but it is the age old problem at Arsenal now; age. Everyone develops at a different pace but because of Cesc’s early progress, there seems to be a tendency to judge everyone by that standard and if they, in someone’s opinion, have not cut the mustard by the age of majority, it is a case of shipping them out which ought not necessarily be so, when patience might lead to late development and a realisation of the potential that was seen in the first place.

Mathieu Flamini in between being interpreted as telling Juventus to take a running jump, puts the win into perspective,

Of course to come here and beat the Champions League holders [is a boost]. It was a great team performance. The spirit was fantastic especially in difficult moments. It made a difference. Everyone did a great job. We were all working for each other…Now we are just going to enjoy this victory

Whilst Arsene concurred,

It was a perfectly executed performance, a display we wanted. We played with organisation, never dropped off, closed them down and didn’t give them any time. We played with authority, maturity and talent. I’m very proud of the team. To come here and beat a side like Milan deserves a lot of credit

Having been on the receiving end of a masterclass, the Milanese gave the rest of the world an object lesson in graciousness in defeat with everyone from the vice president to their star player acknowledging that the better team over the tie won. It might not always be the case but when you suffer a constant stream of turgid abuse from opposing managers and players, such comments stand out in the memory.

But the last word on the night perhaps goes to Emmanuel Adebayor,

Beating this Milan team means we can beat every single team in the world

Well, shall we start with Wigan on Sunday then?

‘til Tomorrow.