van Persie, Fabregas and Arshavin > Henry, Pires and Bergkamp?

After Arsenal’s 4-1 Champions League cakewalk against the Eredivisie champions last night, Arsene Wenger was moved to compare his young team to the unbeaten Gunners squad of 03/04:

We’ve never had as many options on the creative side. We still have Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott who are offensive players who are not available.

Denilson, Eduardo, Tomas Rosicky did not start - that is why I was amazed when people said, ‘Buy, buy, buy’. And Carlos Vela as well… I forgot him!

Fair assessment, or another one of Le Prof’s attempts to tack an extra psychological boost onto an impressive performance? Ljungberg, Henry, Pires and Bergkamp had racked up 16 goals and 10 assists in all competitions by this time in 03/04 season; while van Persie, Arshavin, Bendtner and Fabregas are already on 24 goals and 23 assists.

In terms of depth, Wenger has a point - as backups go, Eduardo, Rosicky and Nasri are a more desirable trio of reinforcements than Reyes, Wiltord and Kanu were. But does the overall attacking quality of the squad match up?

Its not just Manchester United who score late, by Danny Harris

Republic of Ireland were robbed of a credible draw at the weekend, after scoring late only to see their opponents Italy equalise with stunning impertinence.

After the jump, we choose our six favourite similarly chaotic upside-down closing stages:

Remember when the Dutch legend used to do this at Highbury?

He may be forty years old, but Dennis Bergkamp’s breathtaking technique showed no signs of fading in a recent match for former Ajax players.

[101GG]

Is Arsene Wenger really about to spend £20 million?

Tottenham have been linked with Andrei Arshavin ever since Euro 2008 but Zenit St Petersburg have confirmed to Sky Sports News that they are holding transfer talks with Arsenal regarding the Russian playmaker.

A quick glance at the reaction of Spurs fans online shows that some are pretending they never wanted him in the first place and gleefully predicting he will flop in England while others are fearful that he could make as big an impact as Dennis Bergkamp did upon his arrival in 1995.

Will Arsenal really pay almost £20 million for one player and if so, who will he replace in the starting line-up? Let us know what you think with a comment.