Our injured midfielder's reputation has grown during the opening months of the season as our well publicised struggles have seen an unfamiliar tendency to relinquish possession become a worryingly common feature. Despite not being scheduled to return to the side until February, young Jack is still an optimistic soul and has stated that a top four finish is not already out of reach.

Our form at the moment will barely keep us out of the relegation zone and irritatingly there are those fans out there who are ready to abandon the team when they need us most. Wilshere is right though as Tottenham and Liverpool have hardly shown consistency in recent years and are certainly not out of reach. Wilshere is an Arsenal player but he is also a fan and his faith in the team is something we could all learn from.

We made simple mistakes on Sunday but there was plenty of commitment from the side and there were reasons to be optimistic for the future. We have always been a unique club, we never have decades of domination but we have class and have always bounced back to the top of English football. 

A string of injuries enabled Francis Coquelin to make another impressive contribution to the midfield in the derby and Wenger has certainly not lost his knack for picking quality young players. If we are within ten points of fourth place at Christmas then we still have a good chance of Champions League football and with Sagna and Wilshere returning in the new year we have an opportunity to finish a season on a high rather than on the crushing disappointments that we have suffered in recent years. 

The negativity surrounding the club at the moment is overpowering but for a timely reminder of why we all love the Arsenal, see the fantastic Arseblog.

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