Like all Gooners I am delighted by our start. All of the pro and con inputs regarding the team and players are great to read.
I have an observation regarding the Gunners schedule. I think we should be thankful that for most of the season the Home versus Away schedule favors us. If I have done the Math correctly it is 3-1,7-4,9-6,11-8,13-10,15-12,17-14, and then the crunch hits with a 2-5 run in.

If we had started out in reverse and suffered a start like last season, I am not sure that we would have recovered.

I feel our ACHILLES HEALS are Central Defense (what if K Toure gets a season ending injury) and Goalkeeper ( a great save is nullified by a complete screw up and Mad Jens and Mad Almunia have done both).

I am a South African Arsenal (14 years ) fan currently visiting the USA.  I’ve been here for 3 months and the only soccer I get to see of our team is online… after games!

I’m missing the excitement of the live games, especially since we’re ROCKING this season.  It would be nice to share the fun with fellow Arsenal fans.  Please let me know if any games are shown live in bars, clubs, etc., in and around North New Jersey.

HHHHeeeeeeeelllllpppppp   lol

[ed note: The following mailbag submission is solely the opinion of its' author, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Arsenal America board, or those of our membership as a whole. On a personal level, I think Dein can go to hell, but I digress.*]

I am a huge supporter of David Dein. Let’s not forget that it was Dein’s vision and not the custodians that brought Arsenal into the future. If it was left up to the so-called “custodians,” Arsenal would still be playing at Highbury and trying to find another Scottish manager. The truth of the matter is that the current custodians are benefiting from Dein’s work. Dein also did capitalize: he sold his shares over a hundred times from their original purchase price. He increased the valuation of Arsenal. Dein’s business acumen was spot on!

It was Dein’s vision to bring in Wenger, it was Dein’s vision as a general manager to support Wenger and isolate the Board from Wenger in order for Wenger to do his job without Board interference. Dein was a perfect buffer between the Board and Wenger. Look at what has happened at Chelsea when you examine the relationship between Kenyon, Mourinho and Abramovich. Daniel Levy has not done better when it comes to supporting Jol. Is this what we want? It was Dein who set up the new financing structure in order to make Emirates possible. It was Dein who saw the future and reached out to grab it.

We can praise Wenger for his on the pitch and development of the Arsenal football team. However, if you took Dein out of Arsenal in 1996, we might be in the same boat as Spurs.

I sympathize with Dein wanting to be chairman, off the pitch he is solely responsible for transforming and developing the Arsenal Club from a finance/business perspective. Football is a business. You have to remember, the current board without Dein would have run Arsenal like Daniel Levy has run Sp*rs…into the ground.

*The last sentence of the editor’s note was my personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect those held by the rest of the board and membership. – Mike K