I'll never forget the Leeds fans at Elland road last season. In the last week of the season a win over Arsenal would have secured them 4th place. A defeat would have meant...4th place. Big stakes indeed!

The real consequence of the match was a Leeds victory would give the title to Man Utd. If you ever listen to a Leeds fan - they will tell you how much they hate Man Utd. last May they proved that was total nonsense! They celebrated their 1-0 as though they had won a FA Cup semi-final. What they really celebrated was the start of the Mancs treble.

Not only that but there were reports of the Leeds players gloating. Make no mistake the leeds fixture this year meant a lot to us - no one treats us this shabbily and get away with it.

I'm not sure who were the guilty players at Elland Road, but wouldn't mind betting Alan Smith had some involvement. At Highbury Adams gave him a footballing lesson he won't forget and the mouthy git has Graham Poll's leniancy to thank for staying on the pitch. Every header was preceded by an elbow and every time he had to have a moan. Men against boys, Alan.

The only surprise was that Leeds only bettered us by one yellow card. This was purely down to a mad five minutes from Poll when he booked all our physical players - Overmars, Ljungberg and Kanu!!!!

Many media pundits expressed surprise at the calm of Vieira. Did they really expect to see Patrick get in trouble? In fact I believe that Patrick almost always plays with a calm authority - the trouble is when he does lose it he does so big time!

The 2-0 win over Leeds is encouraging for 2000. We now need consistency starting at Sheffield Wednesday - a bogey ground where we must win. The form of Henry, Adams and Vieira bodes well. Seaman is not my first choice and was crap at Coventry - but credit where it is due - he was needed only once against Leeds and did well in saving at close range. Credit also to Freddie for a fine performance.

There is a lot to do in the New Year, but perhaps Wenger has written off our chances too soon