Cajones: Arsenal 1 Watford 0

When Deeney made his now-infamous remark about Arsenal's soft-underbelly and lack of ahem, testicular fortitude a few seasons ago, he was only saying what everyone already knew. Let's face it, during Wenger's days way back in his rivalry with Ferguson, it had started as the only way at times for a great United team to overcome our technical superiority. The game that ended the Invincibles run was nothing more than a referee-sanctioned hatchet job. If memory serves me correctly, Ferdinand should have seen red for hauling down Freddie; Neville kicked Reyes into submission, and Rooney won a penalty by diving. Still, it didn't work for most teams as we could still blow them away despite the intimidation and besides, those teams didn't have the influence on refs that Fergie did. Oh and we could dish it out as well as anyone. The number of red cards Arsenal got in those years weren't always undeserved.

Over the years, Wenger forgot this important feature, lost his way and fashioned teams that aimed to use technical excellence to overcome physical bullying. Not replacing the likes of Vieira, Petit, Grimandi, Keown, Campbell and the ultimate warrior artist Bergkamp, weakened the club. What was once a blueprint that only worked for United, became a blueprint for any team when they noticed that referees did nothing about it.

Wenger is a genuinely decent and likeable man but he is not without his flaws. He is stubborn (read: man of conviction) and wants to play according to the right principles. He was a breath of fresh air after Graham (and Rioch!) and when he won after being able to do things the right way, the way Arsenal had always tried to run their club (although some part of this is definitely due to good PR, right from the days when we managed to get a Tube station named after the club), he strengthened his bargaining position. I am not suggesting that he set out to entrench himself - I have no doubt he loves the club as much as any of us, but it is an all-too common tale of someone who have lost their sense of perspective over time.

Success with this new formula continued to elude him. The closest he came was with that midfield quartet of Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb and Rosicky but he never had a spine strong enough to cope with adversity over a season. Instead of wondering if he ought to change things, he doubled down. We continued to try and recruit technical players but never battle-hardened players that could stand up for themselves in the EPL. My abiding impression, albeit not necessarily a fair one, of Wenger's final seasons was one of whining about how his teams were not allowed to play their game, of big decisions going against us etc. And I think his influence at the club was so strong that it carried over into the Emery era, along with the problem of the archetypal Wenger player, Ozil that Emery inherited.

Speaking of ghosts, it appears Watford didn't quite leave Deeney's comments behind and played the same way as they have done over the years. They set out to play hard close to the edge, often over-stepping it and true to form, the referee did nothing about it. But this new Arsenal team, best epitomised by Gabriel M (I won't try to spell his name), does not shy away from a physical battle and just gets on with it. It would be hypocritical to say we should play the same way as Watford, or other like-minded teams (Burnley 'cough, cough') but there is a better balance and I think we have found it. We are still likely to get more bookings than we deserve but it is work in progress.

Maybe one day the standard of refereeing will catch up but until then, I like the way we are going about it.