It has been the merriest of Christmases at the Emirates Stadium. Barring that slight blip at Turf Moor, the Gunners have got their season back on track this December, dropping only 2 points in that draw against Burnley.

They now stand a real chance to challenge for the title in May if they keep this form up. (Keep in mind that this is without the services of striking talisman Robin Van Persie, and without Captain Fantastic for a couple of games) After their thumping 4-1 victory over Pompey at Fratton Park, the Arsenal end 2009 in third place with 41 points, trailing second placed United only by 2 points and league leaders Chelsea by 4 points WITH a game in hand (which they play against Bolton on 6th January) Not bad at all for a team that was written off at the start of the season with apparent danger of losing the their top-4 spot to the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa and Manchester City. (Sarcasm fully intended!) Add to that the 51 goals scored in 19 matches (highest goal tally), with 21 conceeded and a goal difference of 30 (highest so far) with that game in hand, and I think it is not at all a bad way to end the year.

However, now is when the Gunners go into their most crucial phase if they want a shot at silverware.  Especially the month starting from 27th of January when they travel to Villa Park, till the 27th of February when they host Stoke City at home. This is the period when their title credentials will be sorely and ruthlessly tested. Over these 30 days they will be playing TWO matches every week, including EPL, Champions League and FA Cup. And the fixture list for the first 2 weeks of that period reads:  27th February, Villa Park, Aston Villa. 1st February, Emirates Stadium, Manchester United. 4th February, Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. And 8th February, Emirates Stadium, Liverpool. A daunting proposition for any team. More so for one that needs to prove that it is good enough to beat the best and win trophies.  If they tide over these four matches with as many points as they can get, then I think we have a real chance to win our first trophy in five years. Till then I will stand by my policy to take one match at a time.

January will mean the loss of the services of a player, who has turned into one of the team's key players this season, as he travels to represent Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations. It will also mean being without the services of Fabregas, albeit only for the first 10 days. It will hopefully mean the addition of 1-2 players to our squad (Le Prof, are you listening?) and the return of Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner and the rest of the crocked crew (with no more added to this list, fingers crossed!)  And it will hopefully mean the Gunners standing together stronger than ever to prove to the rest that this young, extremely talented, full of potential team has come of age.

But by no means am I suggesting that Arsenal's problems have completely disappeared by this showing in December. We have been scoring freely again but the team's still in need of a strong, tall striker who is a good, even opportunistic finisher. Especially for the days when we cannot seem to score inspite of creating a million chances, or on the days when we are playing the big teams and cannot find the penetration in the final third. (The Croatian seems to be slowly getting back to a fragment of his former touch, but I still think he needs time and playing/scoring confidence before he can single-handedly affect a game) And perhaps someone in midfield as a backup considering the injuries to Denilson and Fabregas, and the loss of Song for a month?

Vermaelen and Gallas have got a good strong partnership going on (inspite of some defensive lapses here and there), which is bound to get better with more games. Sagna and Traore seem to be doing their jobs well for the most part, especially Traore who has never played at this level for this sustained amount of time and games. Alexander Song, as previously mentioned has improved tremendously this season and has become a very important part of the first-team. And so has Diaby.

Abou Diaby, if he can remain uninjured for a lengthy spell of time, is exactly the kind of height and muscle we are sometimes lacking in midfield. He is a very good physical presence, fights to keep the ball, has good control and movement for the Gunners' passing game and can also score goals from a variety of positions and distances. It was lovely to see how well he linked up with Fabregas the other day against Villa, and he was one of the team's best players on that day (even without the delightful finish for his goal).

Nasri seems to be slowly getting back to the lovely form and touch he showed last season when he was playing regularly for the first team, and his link-up with Denilson, Song and Arshavin is a heartening sight. (It will be even better now that Rosicky is back from injury, hopefully for a long time, fingers crossed!)

Aaron Ramsey warrants a certain mention. His wonderfully calm and cool finish against Pompey highlighted just how much he has improved and grown as a player. And you only need to look at the influence he can have in midfield in terms of passing and controlling the ball, to predict that there much much more to come from this Welsh wunderteen.

I am not even going to talk about our resident Russian Arshavin or Captain Cesc. Both are tremendous quality players, amazingly influential with the ability to single-handedly change games with even just a second of magic. (The Liverpool game and the Villa game come to mind as recent examples, respectively) And we will definitely need them, even more in these coming months.

All in all, we have not done badly, in spite of some of the major heartbreak and doubts. There is work to be done and points to be improved upon but I think that with 1-2 new faces in the team come January, Arsenal will be up for the challenge that awaits them. As a loyal fan, I am tremendously proud of the way they have dug themselves out of a potential hole after the lows, and are back in the thick of the title race. (Of course also with help from United and Chelsea who conveniently dropped points)

The New Year 2010 seems to be full of promise, potential and exciting prospects for the Gunners. Though it remains to be seen what will actually occur in these coming months. But for now, it's been a great holiday season at Ashburton Grove, and overall a good first half of the season with all its ups and downs, its goals and ecstasies and disappointments.
This is a very happy Gooner Girl signing off on her last entry of 2009. Happy New Year everyone!