I genuinely thought our chances of winning the game at Upton Park were no more than 60-40. In the back of my mind there was this thought nagging away, almost reminding me of what happened at Fulham and against Hull where a mixture of complacency and a lack of intensity cost us dear more than anything else.
Indeed for an hour, the game looked like it was shaping up to be almost a carbon copy of those fiascos. Yes, we had chances but overall we were guilty of playing too much football in front of the Hammers and lacking tempo and urgency in our game.
Things improved when Adebayor when came on with about 25 minutes to go. We suddenly seemed to grow in terms of conviction and by the time the opening goal (courtesy of West Ham's Julian Faubert) came, few could really argue that it hadn't been coming.
Of course, it was Adebayor who sealed the win with an adroit finish after being sent clear (somewhat ironically some would say) by a superb pass by young Bendtner.
Overall, I felt it was a heartening win because this was the type of game we haven't often won over the last few years. The theory has always been that Arsenal have to play well in order to win matches. The game at Upton Park certainly went a fair way to challenging that theory.
Istanbul is a weird and wonderful place at the best of times but the events that unfolded in our match against Fenerbahce almost bordered on the surreal. For us, it was a case of clinical finishing mixed with some far from water tight defending.
Still, even now, I feel that it would be a little churlish to quibble to much over the standard of our defending given the endless nights of frustration we have all had to endure in Europe over the last decade or so and I think that it will be quite an achievement if we manage to secure qualification from this particular group with two games to spare.
Now, I guess it's as good a time as any to look forward to tonight's game against that lot from up the road.
I would have loved to got a penny for the thoughts of Jamie Redknapp this weekend, now that his dad has taken the hot seat (or is that the ejector seat?) at Shite Hart Lane. Only a week earlier, after the Spuds had been beaten at the Britannia by Stoke, he was banging on and on about the need for Ramos to remain charge and claiming that it wouldn't do the club any good to sack him and bring another manager in.
Redknapp Junior did go on to extol the virtues of British managers getting the top jobs. Now, I suppose it depends on whether you consider managing the Spuds as a top job or not but his particular rant would now be seen as manna from heaven amongst conspiracy theorists. Did he know more than he was actually letting on?
From the outside looking in, it's nigh on impossible not to giggle at the ongoing situation at Spurs. Redknapp Senior is the 6th "messiah" they have had in 7 years but as we all know that isn't even the half of it. For example, only Spurs could spend something like £140 million on players in 18 months and be considerably worse off for it! You really couldn't make it up.
In fact, I could probably spend the next week chronicling the succession embarrassing cock-ups Daniel Levy and his cronies have made in their vain pursuit of getting onto Arsenal's level both on and off the pitch but I really don't have the time (besides my sides are also starting to hurt just thinking about it).
Tempting as it is to keep on taunting the afflicted I think the most important thing for Arsenal tonight is to consider the fact that it IS a North London derby an incidental issue. Yes, we have a minor score to settle after what happened in the Carling Cup but we Arsenal fans should remember that it is just that - a minor score to settle.
What I want to really see tonight is whether we have the professionalism and the focus to get a job done in spite of all the spin, the media hype and any other circumstantial issues surrounding the game.
When I look at Arsenal these days, I feel that we need one of two things if we are going to be successful to any significant degree. Either the current squad have to collectively a stronger mental edge or players will have to be bought in January to give us that mental edge.
With a pretty formidable set of fixtures looming on the horizon in November, the existing squad need to keep building a momentum. They have their chance to do that tonight. I expect them to take it.