A confident Theo Walcott scored the opening goal in a measured win over Blackburn

Did Arsène mind games work?

All talk before the match was all about the “rugby” tactics employed by some clubs against more cultured teams. Wenger was accused of either making pre-emptive excuses or influencing the referee.

The “mind games” employed by Wenger seemed to have not only worked on the referee but also, maybe more so, on Blackburn. Determined to prove their detractors wrong, Blackburn played a clean game of football. They used their strengths, but at no time did they go overboard in using their physicality.

Rovers tactic of pumping long balls into the opposition’s area was used and abused, and to an extent it did trouble the Arsenal’s defence. The few times the long ball did present danger it was well dealt with by our defence. Blackburn´s best opportunity came from a corner which Samba failed to convert.

A quick glance at the guardian chalkboards shows the amount of those long balls that the defence had to repell. I know everyone feels that’s the best way to beat us, but last season’s stats showed that more teams scored against us by passing it through our defence rather than over. It’s telling that Blackburn´s goal came through decent passing play rather than their preferred tactic.

Ratings?

Almunia — Dealt with aerial balls quite well, clearly Diouf´s challenge last season was not forgotten. I wouldn’t mind seeing that kind of fire from the Spaniard more often. Other than that he only had one shot to save.

Clichy — His positioning was questioned for the goal, but not at fault. He was left with to much area to cover, any decent striker would have taken advantage.

Vermaelen — Prone to being caught to far up field or let down by cover when venturing up field? Made one mistake that could have been disastrous, otherwise did his job.

Koscienly — Another encouraging display, taught a harsh lesson by Diouf. Blackburn provided a good test of his physical ability. He did enough to pass that test but it’s obvious that he needs to increase his physical strength.

Sagna — Improved crossing, but was nowhere to be seen for the goal. Needs to be more tactically aware, still a great defender.

Song — WTF? Someone said Eboue swapped his shampoo for Sagna’s. Still the hair didn’t prevent him from putting in a typically strong display in the middle of the park.

Diaby — I just cannot believe the bias of some fans. Still getting stick in some parts for poor passing, keeping the ball too long, not winning tackles. That’s all just emotional judgements, the facts show that he was easily our best midfielder.

Cesc — Had a poor game. Previously when Cesc was poor we had to endure it as we couldn’t replace him properly, now we have the luxury of sending in a fit again Rosický.

Arshavin — Better from the little Russian, still largely anonymous but less so than previous games. Scored the winner and once up to peak condition I’m sure he tear up the league.

van Persie — A classy as ever, as brittle as ever. Thankfully his injury is just enough to keep him away from Dick van Toorn —why would you want to be treated by a man named van Torn is beyond me— and back in time for the next game.

Walcott — MoM? Certainly he is full of confidence, as long as he comes back injury free from the accursed national team I’ll be happy. Nothing better to see a maligned player fit a ready to prove his detractors wrong.

More good news

An Arsenal win is always made sweeter when those up the road falls flat on their face. Full of exuberance from the demolition of the poor young boys of Bern, the self appointed champions league winners elect could get past Wigan. We were told that they are so strong at shite hart lane that their UCL opponents will be brushed aside with a plumb.

Wigan —a team that has let in 18 goals in their last 3 games— obviously did not read the srcipt, and brought a nice smile to the Gooner Nation.

All in all a nice weekend for us. Thanks for stopping by, please add your thoughts in the comments section, and follow @wengerball for more Arsenal stuff.

Theo puts the disappointment of the summer behind him with a fine hat-trick

We should by no means get carried away with the result, the good thing is that we did what we had to do and it augurs well for the rest of the season. Away from the scoreline and the hat-trick, there are a number of positives to be taken away from the game. Even considering the opposition it was no doubt that we played the game in the right way.

The passing was crisper than we’ve seen recently, Rosický must be mentioned here. The Czech , when is fully fit, increases the tempo of our game. You could see the difference in the Liverpool game. Rosický moves the ball along much quicker than either Nasri or Fábregas, which makes a difference especially on counter attacks. There have been numerous occasions where we’ve lost the impetus on a counter because the ball moves too slow.

Having a speedster like Walcott means the need to have someone feed him quicker and again of the three, Tomáš is the best in that respect. What impressed me most about Theo was not his hat-trick but the intelligent runs he makes off the ball. And those intelligent runs would be for nought if it is not used, be it getting the ball or using the position. Theo showed an intelligence in his overall play, making intelligent decision with and without the ball.

Yes, I’ve overused the word “intelligence” in the last paragraph. At this point I want to point out the absurdity of current punditry. A very funny Hansen tried to press home the point that Theo has no footballing brain. His premise was based on the fact that when Walcott does things instinctively he’s good, but when given the time to think he makes poor decisions. Alas Hansen chose the wrong game to illustrate his point, yesterday Theo had more time and space to think about his decisions, and highlighting two wrong choices out of twenty situations does not fool us Mr. Hansen.

My daughter has this thing where she does and says the opposite, just for fun, I think Hansen was trying to be funny but it went over our simple heads.

Finally I know I’m not supposed to but I need to express some sympathy for Harry and Spurs. No it’s not for having signed that miserable Billy G. Rather the disgusting, dirty, tactic employed by Stoke City on corners of crowding and pushing the goalkeeper.

Whilst all the focus was on whether or not that ball crossed the line, the real issue is why the referees in the premier league allow the attacking team to foul the goalkeeper with impunity? This is not just unlawfully impeding the keeper, It has escalated to actually pushing the goalkeeper back into his goal.

We’ve been on the receiving end of this tactic and yesterday goes to show that it is not just targeting Fabiański or any particular goalkeeper deemed to be a weakling. It is a deliberate tactic allowed to be perpetrated by weak referees and an outdated media attitude that praises brutality over elegance.

Let me spell out the rule concerning this.

Law 12 —Fouls and misconduct

Offences committed against goalkeepers

It is an offence to restrict the movement of the goalkeeper by unfairly
impeding him, e.g. at the taking of a corner kick

Passing it off as the goalkeeper not taking command of his area is bullshit, MOTD surmised it as Gomez having one of those days. I can’t begin to imagine what they and some of us (gooners) would have to say if it was Fabiański.

You would get away with that in any other country. This attitude has cost England crucial games in international competition. Instead of getting rid of it in the English game, keepers get the blame for not being able to stand their ground. When goals are taken away from England for that same offence instead of teaching our players that it is unacceptable, we threaten the lives of the referee for following the law.

As much as I despise Harry and his lot, I have to support him in this case. Enjoy the week, and let’s look forward to a great season.

Arsenal starting 11 against liverpool saw wilshere making his 1st Premier league start for Arsenal.

I predicted that Liverpool would not pose an attacking threat and it proved that way. We controlled much of the possession and for the first half Liverpool was content to sit back and try to hit Ngog with a long ball. unfortunately for them Arsenal’s defence looked well organised and easily dealt with Liverpool’s tactics.

Conversely, for all the possession we enjoyed Liverpool’s well drilled defence proved difficult to break down, and scoring chances were at a premium.

Joe Cole’s red card did not mean it was easier

I suspect a big part of our disappointment was down to the fact that we had a man advantage for 45 minutes, and we failed to make that advantage pay off. Instead taking the game to Liverpool after the break, we were the ones under the cosh. 2 minutes after the break a series of errors from Wilshere to Almunia gave Liverpool the lead. Ngog took his shot well, yet there is that feeling that Almunia could have done better.

Once they took the lead Liverpool sought to hold on to their advantage. It is natural to think that 11 v 10 is an immediate advantage for the full strength team, but it’s not cut and dried as the numbers suggest. The player sent off had little to no impact on the game before his sending off. Had it been a defender that was sent off then we might have seen a difference. Losing an attacking player in a team that is set up to defend and play on the break means that team overall strategy doesn’t change.

Two banks of 4 with Cole to link up Ngog, becomes 2 banks of 4 with Ngog alone up front. That they scored a goal is reason to be vexed, but being down a man did not weaken their defence.

Finally another lacklustre display by Arshavin, this guy doesn’t seem to understand that it’s a team game. He was so anonymous that it could be argued that the sending off simply made it 10 v 10.

Koscielny looks to be a good buy

There is no doubt that the lanky defender needs to beef up for battle in this league, there will come a time when he’ll find it hard against some of the brutes playing in the league. What I liked about his play yesterday was his excellent reading of the game and his nose for danger, he does a very good job at anticipating and negates the attack. The other defenders can take a cue from his propensity to clear the ball from danger areas instead of faffing about in the box.

Honest Stevie G tried to cast aspersions on Koscielny’s character questioning how easy it was for him to come back on the pitch for the second half. When are these people going to understand that a red card is not for actual injury caused, nor is it for intent to cause injury, it is for acting in a way that is dangerous to the opponent.

I’d like to know if the red card can be appealed on the basis of inconsistency. Earlier in the game the referee chose not to book Ngog for an even more blatant handball. Unlike Kos, Ngog’s hand ball was a deliberate effort to gain an advantage, yet the lesser offence got the more severe punishment.

Rosický and Walcott should have started

Rosický more penetrative than Nasri

I can understand why Wenger started with Eboue. When he is on the pitch it gives us a defensive shield on that side whilst possessing an attacking threat. Jovanovic was one of the better players for them, but I will maintain that the pace and unpredictability of Walcott forces teams tactics to accommodate for the winger. Yes he’s not the greatest winger in the world but once he’s on the pitch, the opposing defender is forced a little wider and a little deeper, freeing up space for our attack to operate.

That space was more effectively used by Rosický—I must admit that I think the world of the Cech captain, and will be a teeny bit biased—. Compared to Nasri, Rosický is a lot more direct, and he releases the ball quicker, creating more danger for the opposition. Rosický created more in his thirty minutes on the pitch than Nasri did for the entire game. Whilst Nasri ability to retain the ball is exemplary his ability to created chances is not quite up there with the likes of Cesc and Rosický.

Overall anyone who says that they would not have accepted a point away to Liverpool, in this regard it is not 2 points dropped but 1 point gained. Yet it would be remiss not to say that it is a disappointing point when the spectre of 3 point loomed large at 45 minutes.

The general feeling on Ramsey in the media is that he is young and will be back, how the hell to they know that? We all wish Ramsey well, but there is the possibility that he’s career is over. So to say he’s young and he’ll be back is irresponsible.

Just as irresponsible as ignoring the culture of “getting stuck in” against Arsenal because “they don’t like it”. Yesterday I posted this in twitter “Should motorists who cause accidents due to careless or dangerous driving be let off because they didn’t mean it?”. If you go around driving carelessly one day you will have an accident, even if “you didn’t mean it”.

They just don’t get it. The point is this, if you repeatedly go into tackles with excessive force in a bid to intimidate your opponent, sooner or later something like this will happen. And for those of you who say he not “that type of player” maybe we should ask Fancis Jeffers who had his ankle seriously injured by Shawcross, or Adebayor who was hacked from behind outside the field of play by Shawcross, or Fabregas who had his leg raked by a stud up challenge from Shawcross… no he’s not “that type of player”

Some people even have the gall to say that a card was not deserved, I tell you if I could afford it I’d smash my TV on numerous occasions. Some of the TV and Radio pundits really do my head in. It’s as if the deliberately make these statements to wind people up —they wouldn’t, would they? The laws of football says that it is a red card for excessive force something that most pundits either don’t know or conveniently forget in their zeal to extol the virtues of English grit and determination.

This whole episode had made me realise that no amount of complaints from the Arsenal side of the fence will change anything, a culture of using the application brute force to counteract skill and technique cannot be so easily forsaken. Maybe the result yesterday may go some way to expunge the notion that we can’t handle ourselves, for as far as I saw we dealt pretty well with what Stoke had to offer and we were able to impose ourselves having Stoke to chase shadows.

The huddle at the end of the game probably meant more than a team huddle has ever meant before, this was an expression of defiance, a show of belief. Wenger has been ridiculed for his conviction in the mental strength of his team, yesterday showed if anything else that this is not the team that crumbled under the same circumstances 2 years ago.

If ever we needed an “us against the world” mentality this is it. What I saw yesterday was a team ready to go the distance, able to put tragedy and disappointment behind them and keep their eyes on the goal, no Arsenal fan would be surprised if we did go on to lift the trophy this season.

let’s win the league for Aaron

Porto takes advantage of naive Arsenal... again.

As has been the case all to often this season, the goals we let in is not down to poor defending as a team but silly individual errors, simple things that show naivety, poor concentration and lack of experience. Too often we go from dominating the game looking the most likely to score, to falling behind because of a stupid mistake.

We had our chances to score, Diaby on a few occasions failed to pull the trigger, their goalkeeper made some outstanding saves, and we were denied a clear penalty. When the Porto got that second goal, the wind was knocked out of us, heads dropped and you could sense it was over. Suddenly we couldn’t string together 2 passes, we were always beaten to the ball, the life seemed to have been sucked out of everyone in the team.

So what are the positives we take out of that game? An away goal to start with, although with our record this season i don’t think we can hold out for a clean sheet, however I’m positive that we can beat this Porto team by more that 1 goal at the Emirates. Hopefully, I say hopefully because our injury record is second to none, we will have some regular starters back in the squad.

It is worth remembering that we went into that game missing 5 first choice players. Now I know injuries is not an excuse, but if it’s good enough for Barca, then it’s good enough for Arsenal. All I’ve heard since Barca lost on the weekend is how they we missing players due to injury which goes to show that no team, however good they are can survive an extended list of long-term injuries as we’ve had.

As things stand we are still in a good position to move forward in the competition, a win would make life much easier, but then an away win in this stage of the champions league is never easy, just look at the result Real Madrid got at Lyon even after spending upwards of £200m on big name players they still succumbed to a Lyon and that was with all of that expensive talent on the pitch. So I’d keep things in perspective.

What is important is that we rebound from this defeat and win our next game, which thankfully is a home game. Sunderland is the only bottom half team to beat us this season, the boys should put last night’s loss behind them and go all out to regain their mojo with a spanking win on the weekend.

Keep the faith.

Wenger cannot be happy with the defensive lapses that can't seem to be arrested.

My feeling on the Chelsea game is far from that of despair, yes I am disappointed that we lost, and as everyone points out the total lack of defensive nous and concentration is really frigging annoying.
Unlike the previous game we were not outmanoeuvred as everyone would like you to believe.

For all the criticism of Arsenal and Wenger’s post match comments, is he really wrong to suggest that the first goal was the game changer?
How different would it be if Clichy didn’t have a senior moment and went wandering off to the near post instead of manning his position exactly where the goal went in.

What the hell was he thinking? This is not a coaching or management problem, this wasn’t even lack of concentration. he clearly saw the danger as he was pointing to the unmarked man so why Clichy I asked did you go on a walkabout? What has happen to the Clichy of 2 years ago?

Anyway my point is that this first goal so early in the game, changed the entire nuance of the match. Now we had to go all out in search of a goal, which is not what you want to do in that type of game against that kind of opposition.

To compound matters, Chelsea’s second just 15 minutes later was a case of deja deja vu. This time the blame wasn’t squarely that of Clichy as I read everywhere. Thomas Vermaelen was in a very good position to cover Drogba, what does he to? Leaves Drogba in oodles of space and motion Clichy to move over to cover the Ivorian. Does he not trust Clichy to cover the centre?

Wenger rightly pointed out that the problem is not in a striker but in the defences lapses. When the game is level the game is even both teams have to try to score will preventing the other from scoring —except for those whose entire plan is to prevent the opposition scoring and hope for a draw— the team that scores first will always have the advantage because the onus is on the other team to score. A two goal lead means that you can pretty much park the bus which is what Chelsea did, if they don’t score then the game is much more open and maybe then we wouldn’t be talking about being a striker short.

Oh how different it would be if only Arshavin had scored that goal, we’d probably be talking about how good we are and about winning the title, instead we’re calling for Wenger’s head. The margins are that small, and the difference between the top teams comes down to little errors that get punished, unfortunately we have been on the wrong side of this fine line much more than we would like.

There are 13 games left to go in the season, the best we can do is put our full support behind the team, the best they can do is put their full effort into the games. We could get lucky, other teams  could drop points, this is sport and in sport anything can happen…

Drogba opens the scoring, claims he is lucky

The propensity for the mainstream media to resort to tried and true stereotypes is palpable and in their infinite wisdom it came down to men against boys, Chelsea’s physical prowess easily swatting aside Arsenal’s delicate beauty. That however is a disservice to both teams, Chelsea was tactically astute and executed their manager’s gameplan, Arsenal didn’t.

We we not sharp, strong, smart enough up front. Chelsea was relatively comfortable in handling our forwards, they were well organised and this was the one area where the physical difference showed us up.

We controlled the midfield completely, not only were we smarter in the middle but we were stronger. Converting that midfield prowess into attacking/scoring opportunities was a different story, once we got into the final third their organisation snuffed us out.

Ashley Cole has become a much better player, he hurt us. Sagna wasn’t up to his expected standard, it can be argued that he was up against it today against both Anelka and Ashley Cole. Neither Nasri nor Arshavin did much to help, until Walcott appeared in the second half and pinned back Ashley Cole, Chelsea had an awful lot of freedom on their left flank. That was Walcott only real contribution.

Good delivery in the box is always dangerous, a slight touch from anyone can result in a goal. Chelsea had that delivery courtesy A.Cole. What did we have? Well even the greatest delivery in the world wouldn’t have mattered, none of our forwards would have been able to get near any crosses.

Chelsea wasn’t 3 goals better than us, but that’s what happens when you take your chances. The first goal was always going to make the difference, and after Chelsea went up all they had to do was keep organised at the back something they are very adept at.

So what now? In reality the two points dropped against West Ham and the three against Sunderland is what makes the difference in the league. Games against the top four can always go in any direction and there’s no reason why we can’t win at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately even if we go on an amazing winning run — which is entirely possible— we are now dependent on other teams dropping points.

An unusual mix of youth, experience took the field for Arsenal v Liverpool

The assertion in my last post about the value for money that last night’s tie offered was vindicated by the quality on display from both sides. Unlike most of Arsenal’s Carling cup games, the line-up for Arsenal boasted a fair amount of experience, with Liverpool fielding a similar mixture of youth and experience.

A 2-1 victory for Arsenal was a fair reflection of the game with Arsenal just edging out Liverpool in all areas. While Aquilani will have you believe that they were denied a clear penalty, it would have been extremely harsh to have adjudged Senderos of bring his hand to the ball. We could make a similar claim for a penalty when Sanches Watt was brought down Kuyt.

There wasn’t a player who you could say had a bad game, the obvious stand-outs were Merida, Ramsey, and Eastmond. The former performed more or less to the level that we would expect from a player long hailed as good as Fabregas. As similar to Cesc as Merida is, he looks to be stronger than our Spanish captain.

Eastmond is one of those players that has recently made the switch from defence to midfield, while he had a few appearances in the middle last season, it’s only this season that he has played regularly as a midfielder. It says a lot of his talent for him to have not only made the switch but has been good enough to make it into the Carling cup squad.

There was enough in Eastmond’s performance to suggest if he were to continue in the way he has then it won’t be long before some first team players start really worrying about their places. If I were Diaby, I would have been worried about my place in the team.

Wenger has persisted with Diaby, but with Nasri coming back to fitness, and Ramsey pushing for a starting place in the first team, the player most at risk of losing his first team spot must be Diaby.

There is, in reality, a huge difference between having a good Carling cup game and being ready for a run in the first team. It is encouraging for us to see these youngster up to the task in games like last night, and they deserve the praise they receive. The games coming up will only get tougher and those guys need us to be 100 percent behind them.

The draw for the next round is on Saturday and includes Manchester United, Manchester City, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa. It would be nice to get Blackburn or Portsmouth, but I’m sure the players would be happy to test themselves against one of the bigger teams.

Good game, good win, goodbye, thanks for reading.

Tonight’s probable line-up:

Subs: Szczesny, Randall, Frimpong, Sunu, Merida, Senderos, Eastmond

The biggest disappointment will be the omission of Jack Wilshere who will be out through an ankle injury, Armand Traore who was really looking forward to tonight suffered a groin injury and will miss out. Wenger is set to use this game as to give some players returning from injury —Eduardo, Bendtner, and Nasri — a workout, which will mean even less opportunity for some.

I am looking forward to see how well Bartley does, at 6’3″ he could be the centre half we’ve been craving. I hope Wenger doesn’t go with Senderos tonight.

Francis Coquelin is my favourite player in the reserves, his performances in that league has been nothing short of exceptional. Although he had a good game when arsenal played West Bromwich Albion, it wasn’t what those who’ve been watching reserve games have come to expect from the young frenchman. Tonight gives him the chance to shine it what will be the biggest game of his career so far.

Merida will have to take a seat to Ramsey for the time being, and will replace Nasri on the hour mark — jezz, I sound like I know exactly what Wenger is thinking

The last time we met Liverpool in the Carling cup we scored 6, I don’t expect another 6 goal drubbing but we should progress to the next round. My bet would be Arsenal win 3-1.

Arsene has been speaking about his last minute U-turn on sending Merida to Levante for a season’s loan, his statement reinforces the idea that he is reluctant to send his “better” players out on loan.

I nearly gave him out on loan in the pre-season but, in Valencia, I made the decision to keep him because I feel he is a classy player. He just has football in his blood and these players always have a good chance to come through.

“On the day I had to make the decision and I decided to keep him. He was going for the year to Levante. It would have been good for him but I felt that he has too much quality to go out.

It seems to me that saying he has “too much quality to go out” is sending a message to those that are out on loan that they have a lot more work to do.

That’s all from me today, I’ll be back tomorrow, thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

Another centre back goal, they are determied to outscore the forwards.

I’m sure that Wenger has continually repeats the mantra of keeping concentration, taking chances when presented, and killing off teams. They know that, but somehow they can’t carry it the tasks at hand.

Results like yesterday are very disappointing, especially as Arseblogger puts it,

It’s one thing being taken apart by nice football but when you’re gifting the opposition goals then you’re going to have problems. We’ve conceded 15 goals so far, I’d suggest 10 of those goals were totally avoidable

It’s even worse when the players recognise the problem, continue committing the same crimes. Vermaelen, Sagna, Clichy, Diaby, and Sagna, all came out with statements pointing out that lessons must be learnt concentration must stay sharp yet we fall at the same hurdle.

Looking at the big picture we are in a good position, yet the missed opportunities leave a sour taste in the mouth. A win would have put us 3 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand, now we will be at least 2 points behind after playing our game in hand.

There’s a lot of blame going around, most of it falling on the usual suspects. Diaby especially is coming in for what I think is undeserved stick. The free-kick that changed the game was not his fault in fact it wasn’t a free-kick even Hansen said it. Some say that he (Diaby) lost the ball too much, or gave too many bad passes, simply not true — 45 out of 48 passes found their man, and he made 8 interceptions.

The player that most disappointed was Andrey Arshavin, left on only because he is always capable of creating a moment of magic which I suspect Wenger was looking for by keeping him on. The question is whether playing with 10.5 outfield players worth that one moment of magic? A tough call to make.

Strangely I never felt that we were in control of the game, we were 2 goals up but not playing well, we needed to step up our game and in the end we didn’t.

It’s been a feature of our season we concede late goals, 7 out of 13 goals conceded in the last half hour, 4 of the 7 conceded in the last 15 minutes, it’s something to worry about. If this doesn’t stop soon, it will become a a major psychological problem, once it comes to the last 10 minutes players will start to worry about letting in that last goal instead of concentrating on the task at hand.

Hopefully we’ll keep scoring more than the opponents, because at the moment it seems we will always concede one.

We were in control, there were no big chances for AZ but in the last minute they scored. It feels like a defeat.

It is disappointing but here 5 reasons why it’s not the end of the world.

Vela goes down for what looks like a stonewall penalty.

1.) Even if it feels like a defeat — it wasn’t

So we didn’t win, so it feels like a loss, but it isn’t. We’re still top of the group, a win at home in the return game will see us needing at most a point from the last 2 games inn order to qualify for the next stage.

2.) We won’t be complacent at The Boleyn Ground.

So we were complacent last night, not even bothering to move out of 2nd gear, and it bit us in the as with a last minute equaliser. If anything it reminded the team that there is no place for complacency in sport.

An easy win last night might have meant a little less focus at West Ham, the equaliser should have the team looking to bounce back and show a bit more than what was on display yesterday.

3.) Alex Song

Is Song the league's most improved player?

Although he was at fault for the equaliser, Song put in another man of the match display.

I thought the turning point came for Song in the 2008 ACN, at this point he became a mainstay for Cameroon, putting in consecutive man of the match performances, and being named in the tournament’s best XI was a marker for the young man.
Despite having an indifferent 2008/2009 season he has now become on of our most important players, the problem now is who’s going to replace Song in January.

4.) Competition for places

A lot of us was of the view that the was a lack of competition for places in the squad, some player could afford to be complacent as their place in the starting 11 is secure.
It may have been an accurate assessment, but now were are seeing a genuine battle for starting spots all over the pitch which bodes well for the future.

Arsene choosing to start Manonne instead of Almunia is a clear indication to everyone that they have to work hard to keep their pick. Of course there are a few who will obviously start when fit, but the realisation that no one is immune to a “chest infection”.

5.) …and finally Arsenal could do a Spain

Here is Fabregas’ theory on how Spain went from a team that plays lovely football to European Champions.

I don`t know.  I think it was in one game we played against Sweden and we lost 2-0.  Everyone was saying they wanted to sack the manager; everyone was saying that we were the worst team in Spanish history, stuff like that.  And, from that game, I don`t know, something happened.  We came all together, we wanted to win more than ever.  We did it for ourselves and, from then on, just clicked like that.  We started playing well, confidence came back, the fans started realising we were playing well and they came next to us, next to us, following us everywhere and, at the end, we were all so together that you could see, even when I was on the bench or when I was playing, even if we were losing 1-0, you were relaxed because you knew you would come back always, and the way we played football, it was amazing.  And I think the togetherness in that team was something special.

Sound familiar?

Nikopolidis was determined to do a Mannone.

Fortunately the same van Persie scored the goal that we deserved on the night.

We all deserved a performance like last night. Perhaps determined not to have a repeat of Standard Liege, Arsenal came out with all guns blazing. Unfortunately we forgot to calibrate the gun sights, 22 shots at goal with only 2 goals to show is testament to the inaccuracy of our aim.
Wave after wave of attack came upon the Greeks’ defence only for us to be denied by our own profligacy and a determination by the Olympiacos custodian to “do a Mannone”.

Patience and discipline was the bywords for last night, Wenger summed it up saying,

“We kept our composure and kept going. We played with a desire to keep the discipline in the team. We did not do anything crazy. I always felt we could score. We have matured and a game like this shows just that.

We could be forgiven to think that the goal would never come, reminiscent of our first loss at the Emirates when West Ham was the recipient of a footballing master-class yet they left the Emirates with 3 points. I would have been cruel for us not to win last night, and the team showed the maturity and discipline to continue playing to get that result.

The popular man of the match was Arshavin, but I was particularly impressed with Rosicky who reminded me quite how good he is. He showed incredible touch, balance, pace and vision, once the Czech regains full fitness teamed with Fabregas and Arshavin our attack should be the most potent in the league.

There was not much to be done by the defence, but Eboue again is solidifying his status amongst the Arsenal faithful, whilst Clichy had one leery moment overall the defence was virtually given a night off by Olympiakos.

The final goal by Arshavin — a bit impudent, surely offside — was the icing on a cake, the champions of Greece was resolute in defence but the scoreline was no more than Arsenal deserved, another step for the gunners in their quest for that elusive trophy.

Eduardo left to rue is attempt at fancy football

Going down 2-0 within the 1st 5 minutes is either bad luck or lack of concentration and I’d go with the latter, there was no reason for Eduardo’s heeled attempt at a pass and to compound it no one thought it prudent to close down the attacker (Mangala). Diaby could have done the job but somehow thought it a better idea to mark the space on his left —where that boy’s head is? I don’t know.

There is no question about it, our play was atrocious misplaced passes, bad marking, poor tackle and a complete bastardisation of the term free kick. Cesc was the poorest of the lot, nowhere close to what we expect from the captain and up until the second goal seemed intent on wasting every freekick.

So we were a shadow of our usual standards and letting in two goals looks bad, but the truth is most of us were confident of a comeback. Teams like Standard Liege are just not good enough. Losing those goals so early meant that we had enough time to score the 3 goals needed to win. It was just a matter of keeping our heads in the game, and once Bendtner scored that crucial goal just before the half you knew we’d go on to do the job.

That Vito Mannone had nothing to do was a testament to how much of the ball we had, with 10 men behind the ball Liege made it a chore for us and the lack of movement by some of our players made it even more difficult. The effect of our overwhelming possession would eventually be manifested in the weariness of the opposition and the last 15 minutes showed just that.

This game can only be seen as a boost for the team, who have suffered two defeats after outplaying the opponents. It’s much easier to believe that you can win from a losing position, or you can win when not at your best, when you’ve already proved it. I have the feeling that some on the team needed a game like this.

I can’t go out without mentioning something that’s been bugging me for a while. What is wrong with Clichy? I know he’s saved us from 2 goals last night, but recently he has put is in difficulty far too often. It could be that he lacks the discipline to play the current formation, or that he’s just having a slow start to the season, but his performances have been at the least worrying. He has been well known for reading a pass and nipping in just in time to intercept, but when he gets the timing wrong it can be disastrous and lately he has been getting the timing wrong. You need to sort it out Gael.

yet another barren season for Arsenal.

All things in consideration, this side has actually done well to reach this far. If you compare this season to our “more successful” previous season you’ll see that appearances can be deceiving. It’s not as bad as we perceive, compare.

• Premier league position 3rd 83pts, 4th possible 79pts
• FA Cup 5th round (4-0 loss to United), Semi-finals (2-1 loss to Chelsea)
• Champions league Quarter finals, Semi finals

No I didn’t forget the Carling cup, it’s just a test bed for the youth squad. It’s not that bad.

I’m not calling for Arsene to be axed, especially not for the result last night. Really does anyone of us actually think that the defeat was down to squad selection or tactics? That we we knocked out of the champions league was down to the fact that our team is just not good enough.

We’re not a bad team, this is a very good Arsenal team and a few tweaks over the summer can turn us into a great team. Very much like the great team we lost to last night. I hate united with a passion, even more than Spurs, but I have to acknowledge that theirs is an exceptional squad. They have the right mix of youth, experience, flair, grit, nous, everything you need in a complete squad. From goalkeeper to striker they have a squad that should be the template for us to follow.

Zero losses in the league this year, a champions league and Fa cup semi-final show that we are not that we are not far off. We all know that a few additions to the squad will make all the difference, the £15m investment in Arshavin is a start. Arsene intimated that as well saying

“It’s a difficult question to answer tonight because I am too disappointed. I need to take some distance with this season. We are on a consistent run of 21 games unbeaten but recently in the games that have mattered, like Chelsea and tonight, we couldn’t win. That of course needs thinking.”

We must accept that the great experiment have not yielded the results we wanted, but along the way we have uncovered a few gems, which can be used to the the club forward. There are some that are genuine jewels, others that need a bit of polishing and a few that can be discarded.

Trophies are all that count in this game, win some and everyone loves you, players want to be part of the team, win none and you’re a desperate failure, players leave and it’s hard to replace them. This season we have failed again, there’s nothing we can do now but to start planning for the next.

We still have two big games coming up, although they don’t mean much in terms of trophy, wins against Chelsea and Manchester United be a massive boost for the team and us fans.

There we a lot of lessons to be learnt from this season hopefully we will have learnt them and come back better next year.

Arshavin and Fabregas working in tandem for the Arsenal

As preparation for games go I’d say that instead of the game being a rehearsal for the next game, it was a rehearsal for next season. The good thing being that Djourou was able to get some minutes under his belt and players like Cesc, and Walcott was able to be taken off quite early in the game.

Wenger tried Nasri in a more central role, in fact in a defensive midfield role which I think he is able to pull off quite well. He has the bite and the willingness to make tackles and break up the opposition’s play. Whether or not it is a role that maximises the use of his talents remains to be seen.

Usually Fabregas plays deeper with Nasri higher. I wanted to test how it would work the other way round. It could be reiterated that we will do it again because it was quite convincing. But that is open, we have 48 hours to study that then make a decision.

Quite how that is supposed to work without Arshavin on the left, I’m not sure. Like I said next season when the Russian or someone else is available on the left, but not on Wednesday.

Cesc was again pushed up in that attacking-midfield-off-the-striker position that Gerard plays for Liverpool. The player (Fabregas) admits that he is still learning that position, and yesterday showed us that he is a very quick learner.

A couple of unsavoury tackles on the captain left us heart in mouth, but Cesc came through OK. According to Wenger

He told me it was the knee that he had before and we don’t like that. But he told me after the game that the ankle is worse than the knee so it’s not too bad. The referee told me he played the ball, Downing told me that as well. But he didn’t play only the ball. It’s always difficult to say if it’s intentional or not, if it is to aggravate or not.

So a good result and some confidence ahead of the first half of the champions league semis. Still on an unbeaten streak, and finally a win for Wenger against Southgate.

Check back tomorrow for a look at the upcoming game. Don’t forget to leave your thought is the comment sections, thanks.

Another of Fabinski's 2 allowed excursions per game, costs Arsenal the game.

I was sure we would win that game, yes Chelsea are on a run, yes they are a good team, and no I’m not a professional football manager with Wenger’s vast experience. The fact is it doesn’t take an experienced manager of Wengers’s stature to realise that we were never going to win that tie with such a poor team selection.

By all means Wenger has the right to be proud of his team of young upstarts, we are proud of them to, but not so blinded by that pride to see that his collection of youth would need some reinforcements to get past Chelsea.

I along with millions of fans still remained puzzled as to why Wenger would go for such a team. There is absolutely no reason for leaving Arshavin or Nasri on the bench, or to “rest” Alex Song. I know that there is a huge amount of games coming up, but this game represented our best chance of silverware, so it makes no sense at all to prioritise any other game over it.

The fact that Villa drew their game at West Ham in the early kick-off should have made the Liverpool game even less important, so what was Wenger thinking?

Never mind what Wenger was thinking, what the hell was going on with Fabianski? We saw in his previous games that he loves to come off his line, and on occasion that willingness to play sweeper was praised. There were times when it simply looked like suicide, and Saturday it really came home to roost.

I am convinced that Fabianski is a good keeper and in time he could be one of the best, only that talent deserted him against Chelsea. He was quite simply a bag of nerves. You could see it coming, you could see in his eyes that he was overcame by the event, all you could hope for was that the makeshift defence would restrict Chelsea’s opportunities. Alas that was asking for too much.

My hope is that Łukasz will learn from this, and temper his propensity to come flying out of his box. Less likely is that Arsene will learn from this, not because he is as stubborn as fake boobs, but simply because that is the man. This is what makes Wenger who he is, a stubborn belief that he can create a team of world beaters without breaking the bank.

You just don’t leave your 2 most expensive players on the bench just to prove a point. That is wrong. That is a crime against the Arsenal faithful.

Walcott opens the scoring for Arsenal

It was clear that Gibbs was marked out as the weak link in our defence, their attack mostly coming from his area of the pitch. The youngster for the most part did his job admirably, and of course he made mistakes — trying to head back to the keeper from a distance was one, taking down Valencia once he realised the magnitude of his ill thought out header was a calculated risk, the ensuing yellow card was well worth the risk.

The starting line-up Wenger chose to employ looked like a team that was just enough to win the game, Wenger thought resting players for the more important Champions league return leg on Wednesday was a good idea. Steve Bruce must have looked at the team sheet and told his boys that the have a chance.

With the crowd at the JJB begin them a well organised Wigan team imposed themselves, not allowing Arsenal to get in their flow. We didn’t help ourselves with poor passing and an inability to hold on to the ball. Wigan was the better side in their first half, and no one could begrudge them going into the break with a 1 goal lead.

As if going 1-0 doing was not bad enough, we suffered yet another injury. Johann Djourou had to be replaced by Silvestre, when the Swiss went down with a knee injury. He will be out for Wednesday’s game, and while Silvestre is a seasoned pro, we would rather not have to depend on him to protect our goalie.

The back 5 for Wednesday will do well to keep Villarreal out. Fortunately for Arsenal, Marcos Senna is likely to miss the game after sustaining an ankle sprain. So it will be a depleted defence versus a depleted midfield.

Anyway back to the game, the 2^nd half produced a much more recognisable Arsenal, and with half an hour to go Bendtner — who had another afternoon to forget — flicked on a header to Walcott who somehow played it to Arshavin, the Russian was felled but had enough composure to get the ball on to Walcott’s feet for Arsenal’s equaliser.

From then on it was all Arsenal, and Wigan who had shipped 4 goals last week to Everton seem to have lost all appetite for the battle. Wenger went all out for the win, replaced Denilson — He must be feeling the effect of playing so many games at this level, with 31 league appearances and 12 cup games a total of 43 games at the top level, probably the most games by any player this season — with van Persie and Walcott with Adebayor in an attacking 4-2-4 formation. Arshavin was in the mix for the 2nd goal, combining with Cesc who got played the ball for an easy Silvestre tap in.

Arshavin then got the goal that he deserved and Song wrapped up the scoring with a mesmerising show of nimble feet and exquisite balance to cap another great performance.

This is one of those results that would have commentators eulogising on the team’s ability to win even when playing poorly, a true sign of championship material… . Alas this is Arsenal so we have to be content with another “lucky” win. At this point of the season considering how far we’ve come, it’s just another great result for our club. On to Wednesday an another lucky win would suit me just fine.

Walcott opens the scoring for Arsenal

Adebayor scores the all important away goal, possibly the best goal of this champions league campaign

First half Arsenal was ,a bit slow out of the blocks were made to struggle by a Villarreal team who made it look like they were intent on giving us a dose of our own medeciney. The made the most of their possession and after some brilliant passing, Senna launched a beautiful long range shot that would have beaten any goalkeeper.

Admittedly he (Senna) was afforded too much space to take that shot but the space came about through the technique and ability of the opposition, not lack of shape, concentration or effort by the Arsenal. Denilson and Song, who both had good games, were straining to get into position but Villarreal was just too good, too quick, too slick.

For all the brilliance of Villarreal in the first half, you could sense that it took great effort and that physical toll would give Arsenal a 2nd half advantage. The Arsenal upped their game as some of the Villareal players tired opportunities for Arsenal came more often.

The Arsenal equalizer was on par with Villarreal’s opener, not much for the approach play by Arsenal but in the quality of ball from Fabregas and technique from Adebayor. A player who seems to only just realise that his place in the team is not as ordained as he thought, Adebayor is now beginning to resemble the guy who scored 30 goals last season.

Denilson again showed why he is highly rated by Wenger, winning more tackles and making more interceptions than anyone. Once he gains possession of the ball, he passes it on to start the team going. A cursory look at the Brazilian can be deceptive, not known for putting in crunching tackles, or running all over the pitch like a crazed fowl, he just makes well timed interceptions and helps in transition, very much like his predecessor Gilberto. My one criticism of him would be his protraction in tracking back at times.

Another player whom I thought was superb last night is Kolo Toure, at the beginning of the year this is what I said about Him.

Toure should — instead of putting in for transfer — keep his head down, lose those extra ounces he is carrying around and get back to the level that is expected of him. I bet that’s what Billy “big mouth” Gallas said to him.

Last night — no just last night but for the last few 2 months — He seems to have found his recovery pace. It was obvious that he wasn’t 100% fit and now that his butt no longer looks like J’Lo’s his game has considerably improved.

The return leg will be a huge test for Arsenal, a possible season ending injury to Gallas and 2-3 weeks for Almunia means that we face Villarreal with arguable 2 of our best performers this season. On last night’s display I am confident that we have the ability and the temperament to reach a famous night in Rome.

Zayatte jumping into a takle on Walcott,

What irritates me even further is the amount of scribes prepared to support his cause simply because his team is perceived as the quintessential little guy standing up to the big boys. When hacks can write things like

Arsenal reach FA Cup semi-finals on night of shame at Emirates.

Gallas’s winner late on trampled on the best traditions of the Cup, the best chances fell to the visitors.

The FA must today order an investigation into a night that shamed football.

Then you realise how warped their sense of justice is. Never mind that after our poor start to the game we pummelled Hull for 65 minutes, never mind that we had 17 shots on goal compared to Hull’s 3, never mind that Arsenal had 68.3% possession, or Hull committed 19 fouls against us, or that Hull was booked 6 times, or they started time wasting with 75 minutes left. No Arsenal didn’t deserve to win because they are arrogant and Wenger didn’t have the good grace to seek out Brown for a handshake.

As Sam Wallace puts it Nowhere else but English football could one manager accuse another of cheating and then complain when he does not shake his hand.

The contentious goal was just that — contentious — the assistant referee does not have the convenience of replays from 6 different angles to aid his decision. It had to be made in a split second just like the lunge from Zayatte on Walcott was missed or the other countless fouls were missed, even a handball against van Persie was missed within 6 yards of the ref.

While I think that the goal was offsides, I don’t see how Hull can feel they deserved to get points from a game where they were clearly outplayed.

Nearly every day you hear our supporters accused of being quiet, poor supporters, booing our own team. God forbid the one time we decide to be vociferous in support of our men, that support suddenly is construed as “influencing the referee”. Well it’s about time the players got that kind of support, anywhere else it would be praised as the power of the 12th man.

We deserved this win, no doubt we started poorly and Hull’s goals was due to that poor start, but once we started to click I was in no doubt that we would win. It took a while but the constant pressure on Hull eventually paid off, and kudos to Bendtner for not giving up where he would have 2 months ago.

I must say I wasn’t to impressed with Diaby, constantly holding onto the ball too long, it was quite a surprise to see Song subbed off instead of Vasiriki. The substitute did turn the game though, Bendtner was much stronger than Vela, while the Mexican is skilful Hulls tactics needed a sledgehammer to counter and Bendnter was just the tool for the job.

So on to the new Wembley for the first time, I can’t wait to see how we match up with Hiddink’s Chelsea. Much has been made of the dutchman’s influence on Chelsea, we will be the first “big 4″ team Hiddink faces, a trial for both teams.

On a final note Big Sam “toad-face” Allardyce has said something that I totally agree with. One the question of Morten Gamst Pederson’s antics he said:

He is one of many Premier League players who are guilty of diving, but the bottom line is simple enough. Until Keith Hackett decides that fouls should still be given for players who manage to stay on their feet, then people will always cheat.

I would rather he did not do it at all and there can be no doubt it should have been a straightforward yellow card. But what about players who are dishing out fouls all the time? I would like to see them being punished, not least because it would mean those on the receiving end would not need to resort to diving.

It just strikes me at the moment that when a player stays on his feet, a referee thinks: “That can’t have been a foul, because he’s still standing. It doesn’t look like a foul to me, so I won’t give it”.

That’s where the frustration creeps in. Players feel they are being denied what is due them and start wondering if there is any point trying to stay on their feet.

They inevitably reach the conclusion that, next time there is any contact, they might as well go down. Even if the contact is slighter than before, the inclination is to hit the deck and see what happens.

Not the condemnation of MGP that we would have loved but I agree with his sentiments. Do you?

Since the injury to Eduardo last year there have seem to be something missing from the team, I feel that Eduardo’s presence brings out the best in the players. It’s something intangible that seems to light a fire in the rest of the players.

I’m not claiming that it will last forever or that we can’t win without him, but you can feel the energy he brings even from upper tier row 32.

You can only be as strong as your weakest link and when players like Song and Eboue perform like they did yesterday then we can be very strong.

Competition always being out the best in you and with players coming back from fitness bodes well from the competition within the squad. Players like Adebayor cannot take their place for granted if they continue to play like donkeys.

Denilson who has always worked hard can see his spot in the starting squad slip away if he doesn’t step up his game. On Wednesday against Roma we will see just how much the team has improved.

It is sad that fourth place is the height of our current aspirations, even sadder that our cause is being sabotaged by utter stupidity from a so-called professional.

Eboue is a player I’ve had a lot of time for. Time and time again he has been detrimental to the goals of the team, and time and time again I’ve stood up for him.

Looking past his obvious faults it’s easy to see what he could bring to the team. Yesterday for 30 minutes it looked like he was intent on showing us exactly why he is in the squad, with pace and power, his surging runs unsettled Tottenham. He was easily the outstanding player on the pitch until he lost the plot.

How can a person take this long to see the error of their ways is beyond me, Eboue has been given enough chances to prove that he can get his head right. Yesterday was the last straw, there comes a time when you must cut your losses and move on, the time to cut Eboue adrift has come. I would not even want him as a back up right back, putting him there will be even more dangerous for the team.

Currently it seems to me that Eboue has his place in the team simply because of the lack of bodies, I sincerely hope that once we have players back fit that Wenger will see it fit to leave Eboue out, and sell him as soon as he can.

One player who has seemed to get his head in the right place is Gallas. Since being relieved of the captaincy, William Gallas has been liberated and has turned into the solid centre half that we thought we were buying from Chelsea. He has quietly gone about his business and turned in some exemplary performances for the team.

It is remarkable how much difference not having the captain’s armband has made to William, as captain he probably felt that he was compelled to show how much it meant to win, sadly the way he chose to demonstrate that winning mentality was all wrong. Luckily for us Gallas only has to concentrate on his performance and it shows. I only hope that he is not just playing well to bump up his value in the summer transfer market, as it would be nice to keep the current Gallas for a few years still.

The result yesterday was acceptable given the circumstances, there was a small chance to actually get all 3 points, equally we could have come out with nothing but the trauma of losing to Spurs at a time when we cannot afford to lose to anyone much less to Tottenham.

What do you think? Was it 2 points lost? should Eboue get another chance? Is Gallas finally coming good? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

No doubt that Cardiff worked hard defensively to keep Arsenal from scoring, what Wenger failed to point out though is that Cardiff is a championship team who, given our talent and resources, we should win against if we play to our standards.

Keiran Gibbs, another from Arsenal left back factory.

It is the norm for lower league teams to go the extra mile when they come up against top opposition, usually though the gulf in class shows, except that it didn’t show yesterday.

Of course the fact is we didn’t lose the game — adding another notch to the not losing streak — a replay at the Emirates is not in itself a bad thing for both clubs, not to mention the fans. Cup games are an opportunity for a lot of fans to get to see their team. It will also mean another £3m in the coffers.

Ah! I see, it was just a ploy to raise the extra money to buy Arshavin. In all seriousness we were poor in most areas of the park yesterday, with the usual culprits making it to the hall of shame.

Eboue - Clueless! The yellow card was a tad harsh, but try as he might Eboue will not make a good midfielder, why can’t Wenger see him for what he is, a good right back.

Ramsey - He is talented as the next guy, but clearly he is not ready to start in matches such as yesterday’s. Holds on to the ball too long and his passing needs to improve a lot.

Diaby - The enigma that is Vassiriki Abou Diaby – continues to confound, one game brilliant the next game rubbish. Yesterday was the next game.

The rest of the team was not more than average, Van Persie was his usual brilliant self. Bendtner worked hard, one of his better games. The central defence was as usual insecure and indecisive. Sagna’s crossing was atrocious, Nasri was Ok no more. The goalkeeper was competent.

Two players that did well, or better than expected was the ever impressive Gibbs and Alex Song.

I know Song isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but yesterday he showed a glimpse of what can be. With Ramsey and Eboue contriving to give the ball away at every available opportunity Song was the one who was always there to mop up. He was strong in the tackle, sensible with his passing and his positioning was top notch. It wasn’t the greatest performance ever, but it was the best I’ve seen from him.

Keiran Gibbs another from a seemingly perpetual line of leftbacks, for someone who was converted to the position so recently I can only remember him being trouble in the position once and that was probably he second or third time he had played a first team game as leftback. A great job by the youngster.

Having rested some of the regular first team players, I hope we don’t repeat that level of dross against Everton. If Wenger thinks Cardiff’s defence was first class the wait till Wednesday when he comes up against Everton and their 4-6-0 formation. A win against Everton is a must, if we are to stay in touch with the title chasing pack.

When Daniel Cousin levelled the match there was a strong sense of deja vu, but excellent finishing by Nasri and Bendtner put paid to any hopes of a Hull City revival.

Ball where it belongs, at the back of Hull's net

Arsenal started the game a little tentatively and got more and more in control of the match. Van Persie came close to scoring when he lashed a wicked free-kick only to see it tipped on to the crossbar by the Hull keeper. Minutes later Van Persie was again involved when he place a corner kick in a good area for Adebayor to take advantage of his aerial abilities for a simple looking goal.

Hull scored the obligatory goal but the persistence and skill of Van Persie again came to the fore when he set up two late goals for Arsenal.

Robin van Persie is hitting the kind of form we’ve all waited to see. His touch is as beautiful as ever his vision and technical ability is second to none, and he looks as strong and fit as ever.

Arsenal fans have long held on to the knowledge that a fit Van Persie is one of the best in the business. The player concedes that the is still much more improvement to come and that should bode well for Gooners.

At a time when Arsenal is crying out for some creativity Robin van Persie has recognised that he is the go to guy for now and has relished the chance to lead from the front. Not bad for a £3.5 million troublemaker from Rotterdam.

Notable for various reasons was Eboue’s performance on the right. It seemed that every time he passed the ball it was to the opposition, his passing was dreadful. What I did like about him — which in no way can excuse his abysmal passing — was the way in which he protected the defence, not once did I see Sagna caught out through lack of tracking back by Eboue. He also “threatened” Hull’s defence with a powerful surging runs.

I am not sure how highly Wenger values the protection offered by Eboue, as the amount of times he loses the ball and generally breaks up the rhythm of our game seems to negate any of the positives he might bring to the table.

Sadly we will have to make do with Eboue until Walcott recovers from his injury. Another player who falls in the “Eboue” category is Bendtner. One minute infuriatingly poor the next minute he pops up with a goal, more often than not it’s an important goal. He could have had 2 goals on saturday, it didn’t matter though as we won the game and avenged our defeat to hull at the Emirates.

OK it wasn’t a vintage Arsenal performance, but I then again we don’t really have vintage Arsenal players on the pitch. We all knew what Bolton would do and they didn’t disappoint. Putting 10 players behind the ball and hope for a chance on the counter is the best that Bolton could do.

How you like me now? Akes Bendtner of his hecklers

One of the big problems we have at the moment is the lack of a real creative spark. Samir Nasri looks like the only midfielder capable of creating anything. Meanwhile Adebayor seems to have lost his powers this year — maybe it’s the hair — given the chance to open the scoring the Togolese dithered and the opportunity was lost. In a game such like this we should really put away those chances.

Robin Van “the man” Persie didn’t disappoint though, and if he is to be believed there is not just 1 or 2 percent more to come from Robin but a massive 20%. After two years of being in and out of sickbay, it is really a joy to see Van Persie having an extended run in the side And you can see how much he is enjoying it.

If we could provide Van Persie with half the service Adebayor enjoyed last season the he’d be leading the league in goals this season. As it is our midfield is patched up and put together like some sort of Frankenstein project. It is only when Nasri moves to the centre and Vela is introduced we start to see a semblance of wengerball.

Bendtner almost repeated his party piece of scoring on his first touch, instead he had to endure the silliness of some sections of the crowd before he raised the roof with the only goal of the game. The only thing I have to say about those jeering Nicky is that it does not help.

We all want the same thing from our team that is to win games, and I just don’t see why these people must find reason to bully their own players.

The main thing is we still won the game, and for now 3 points is much more important than wengerball. When you look at how well Liverpool broke down the stout defence of Stoke, or how Villa had to depend on a stroke of luck — again, then we should appreciate that winning against a 10-0-0 formation is not as easy as it looks.

There was more good news for gooners — OK not good news — but you know what I mean.

Spurs losing to Wigan and Chelsea embarrassed at Old Trafford puts a smile on my face. Oh, and Flamini suffering the ignominy of having warm the bench while Beckham plays 89 minutes. I don’t know, but I’m sure that’s not what Flamini signed up for.

It was a familiar feeling of elation turned to anxiety finally descending into despondency. After being put under pressure for most of the game maybe we should be grateful that a point was earned, but being up 2 – nil it can’t be regarded as anything less than 2 points lost, and actually feels like a game lost.

Arsenal has let in more goals in the final 15 minutes than all of last season

Ok so we were battered by Villa in the first half although if you look closely Villa actually created nothing from open play — OK 1 opportunity — all of their chances came from set pieces, luckily for us the psots were on our side. Sagna who was by far Man of the match had to display some fine acrobatics to keep Villa out.

It seemed inevitable that Villa would open the scoring, but much against the run of play the gunners were the ones who got the goal. The much maligned Denilson following a pass to which Eboue had lost, won the ball from Reo Coker and slotted the ball through Friedel legs for the first goal of the game.

Shortly after the goal our bad run of luck continued when Song had to be replaced by Ramsey after picking up an injury. This came after Wenger was forced to start Toure when Djourou picked up an injury during warm ups.

Early in the second half Arsenal scored a second from a great piece of play from Diaby combining with Eboue. A goal which shows exactly what Diaby is, clueless defending but potent in attack.

For some time we saw the old Arsenal, full of confidence and verve, beautiful one touch passing and completely in charge of the game. It would take something extraordinary for Villa to get back in it, and they did. Agbonlahor was found himself on the right side of the Arsenal defence from a well weighted pass, Gallas went in for the tackle but missed the ball and took down Agbonlahor for a penalty.

Arsenal fans knew what was coming, Villa grew in confidence, Arsenal got flustered and ragged at the back. When the 4th official signalled 4 minute added time you could sense the apprehension. This is a phenomenon I can’t get my head around, how could you play an entire 90 minutes and suddenly get nervous in added time?

Although we have let in 6 goals in the last 15 minutes we had only lost points twice from winning positions. Against Hull we scored first but the last goal was on 66 minutes, and we all know about the Spurs game. It seems like deja vu which it is, there’s no real history of throwing away leads this season.

It does feel like a loss, it always does when a team equalises at the death. The second string is not that bad on their day, take away 6 players of the calibre that we have injured and there are not many teams if any that would do better than we are doing right now.

There have been mistakes made in the transfer season hopefully these will be corrected in the next few weeks. Arsene has to strengthen in some areas, otherwise the team in it’s current incarnation does not have much hope of winning silverware

I cannot knock the team for yesterday’s result. When the news came that Djourou was injured if anyone had offered us a 2 – 2, I don’t think there are many gooners who wouldn’t take that as a result. We would like better for our club but the fact is the team we put out yesterday could have done much worse.