I don't know whether it's because I'm so used to these videos being useless, but this time round I had a pleasant surprise. For a start, as we all know we played some captivating football last season and much of it shows up on the video. Secondly, this time round I don't want to hear what I have always claimed lacked on these videos - in-depth analysis and a narrative to the season, because those 15 minutes at Bolton still stick in my throat. And I don't want to face up to the fact that we choked. And I don't want to hear anyone's opinion as to why. The nice thing about a lack of narrative is that you can just watch the goals and the games, you can almost forget those cruel last matches!
And thirdly, the rolling interview with Thierry Henry shows an articulate, intelligent man, who has the Arsenal cannon tattooed on his heart, and who quite simply lit up the season from the first second to the last. Arsenal fans can only feel blessed to have him on our side - not selling out to Real now he's made his name, but signing his contract prolongation before the season came to a close.
There's still a basic lack of "Arsenalness" to the tape (a lot of Northern accents; I bet they don't make the Man U tape with the voices of scousers, cockneys and yorkshiremen), and it still smacks of being thrown together to be sold as quickly as possible. But the sheer beauty of our play makes the tape a worthwhile investment. Just fast-forward from the Villa game through to the Soton home game!