• Is this the best Arsenal side ever? The cynical may suspect that the media are building up Arsenal so they can knock them hard if they fail to win a historic treble. But, unlike last season, Arsene Wenger's guarded comments have given no hostages to fortune, while the players have shown massive resolve. As Patrick Vieira says: 'Teams are judged on what they win and we've won nothing yet'.


 • Did that 5-1 rout of a poor Portsmouth side merit the superlatives that were trotted out? Over the top, maybe. Even so, Arsenal played some breathtaking football. It's one of Wenger's greatest triumphs to have changed the Gunners' image so radically. 'Boring Arsenal' are but a distant memory.

 • So, how does this team compare with Arsenal's other title-winning squads since 1970? The current defence must be the most vulnerable of all. The 1971 'double' side was built around an ironclad rearguard, protected by mid?eld anchor Peter Storey. The title teams of 1989, 1991 and 1998 were founded on the legendary Dixon-Bould-Adams-Winterburn back four. Adams, Martin Keown and Sol Campbell were at the heart of the 2002 side. Campbell is probably the only current Gunners defender who would have got into Graham's famous unit. David Seaman of 1991 (only 18 league goals conceded) was undoubtedly the best keeper, though Bob Wilson had the season of his life in 1970-1. The jury is still out on Jens Lehmann.

 • It's in attack that Wenger's Gunners score. Graham, George Armstrong and Charlie George were the creative forces of the 1971 'double' squad, yet the team's approach was limited, with the long ball to John Radford and Ray Kennedy a favourite option.

 • Graham was pilloried for the sterile football that characterised his later years at Highbury. But he built a vibrant attacking side to win the 1989 title. The 1991 team had flair in abundance - Rocky, Merson, Paul Davis - and Anders Limpar in his pomp. Alan Smith was the target man in 1989 and 1991, for a team geared to a high tempo and a stream of crosses. Wenger doesn't play that way. His strategy is based on quick passing and explosive movement. Eight of his outfield players - including full backs Lauren and Ashley Cole - are effectively attackers.

 • As for individuals... in 1998, Dennis Bergkamp was majestic and Marc Overmars lethal. Bergkamp enjoyed his crucial moments in 2002, and again, more recently, Patrick Vieira has given the Gunners a vital spark in midfield, unmatched by the 1971 side or Graham's teams. Arsenal's successful sides since Herbert Chapman have usually featured wide players who cut in to score. Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires carry on the tradition. Ljungberg is almost back to his 2002 form. Pires is more subtle if less direct than Overmars; and harder to mark because of the way he drifts infield.

 • Thierry Henry has added the extra dimension. Nicolas Anelka offered lightning pace. Henry offers pace and so much more - wonderful technique, the ability to conjure goals from nothing and he creates so many chances for colleagues. Henry was outstanding in 2002. This season he has ratcheted his game even a notch higher. Forceful skipper Frank McLintock embodied the spirit of '71. Tony Adams epitomized the defiance of Graham's sides. Henry is the face of the new Arsenal. Whatever the Gunners win this season, that shows the difference that Wenger has made at Highbury.

stokey front gardens By Luisa Ferrari

The size of the average front garden in Stoke Newington is rarely large, but in the cluster of roads running off Church Street they would easily qualify as some of the smallest in the country. Sometimes there is hardly any space between the window and the low front wall (and, generally, the recent placing by the council of large, brown plastic bins for 'green refuse' has not helped in this sense).

However small, the front garden remains an important - albeit a token - symbol of the individual identity of each house and establishes the boundary between public and private responsibility. Far from being subject to established codes of conduct, as is often the case in other European countries, here freedom of expression is the preferred option and every household treats this space differently.

For some, it is a storage area or rubbish tip, more often it is just ignored but sometimes it is a miniature garden, allowing passers-by to enjoy many different combinations of plants and potted arrangements. The type and look of containers varies enormously and the planting can go from the halfhearted effort with struggling or forgotten specimens to the very ingenious and lovingly tended.

The main practical problem with looking after plants in the front is obviously the absence of a tap and, therefore, the carrying of watering cans from the kitchen sink. Given the fact that most plants need more water than we like to think, this single factor does seriously hamper ambitions of exploiting the potential of front gardens, especially in hot summers, when containers require watering every day and new plants in the ground a once or twice weekly soak. Very often, holidays tend to spell the end of many previously well-cared for arrangements.

Also, the weather patterns have changed, and rain generally tends to congregate in the same season - winter or spring - and become more sparing when needed most.
This calls for plants that can take the wet patches but are also tolerant of dry conditions and don't deteriorate too much in summer. Given the fact that the local microclimate allows for the cultivation of plants of dubious hardiness in the protected pockets of our front gardens, it seems to make sense to pick among the many Mediterranean species that feel at home here. For very sunny positions in the ground, rosemary, myrtle (Myrtus communis), Senecio 'Sunshine' with silver grey foliage and lavender are a good choice and associate well, although to look really good lavender must be regularly pruned and needs replacing often. In part shade the yellow form of the Mexican orange blossom (Choysia ternata 'Sundance') is more contained then the species and will cheerfully lighten up the area, especially in winter, while in the sun you can use the elegant green version C. t. 'Aztec Pearl'. They can be planted about 45/60cm apart to create a billowing informal hedge with pretty white flowers similar to orange blossom that can be pruned yearly after flowering is over (roughly mid-spring). 

It is important to dig over the ground properly, adding some organic fertiliser, and plant the chosen specimens during a mild spell in late winter-early spring to exploit seasonal rains and give the plants a good start, rather than later in the season. Another valuable rule of thumb is that all plants chosen should be small-to medium-sized and able to tolerate pruning. In no circumstances choose plants with a final size that will become a danger to the house or its foundations.