Very nicely done

So, onto Burnley and was it was same old profligate Arsenal, then?
Well that would be the easy narrative. But while we were undoubtedly profligate, it’s hard to say that has exactly been a feature of our season. Go back and look at the dropped points and you can’t really argue we’ve been guilty of glaring misses.

The team line-up was…
The right one. For games like this Eboue over Sagna really is the right choice. Nasri likes playing centrally so was unfussed being moved into the middle and sorry to bang on about it again, but with the trickery and craft of Cesc, Nasri and Rosicky, Bendtner gave welcome height and Theo welcome pace.

The start was…
Far better I thought than some of the recent fare at the Emirates. To my mind we looked hungry and determined. And also a bit like we might end up having one of those days.

When the goal came…
Around 10,000 people were telling Nasri to shoot. He didn’t and instead chipped it for Cesc who slotted in number goal number 17 of a quite wonderful season.

Then he went off…
And we took a little time to readjust. But Abou Diaby (his replacement) has not had a bad game for quite a while and this was no exception.

Then in the second half we missed chances…
A lot of them.

The story with Bendtner was…
That when he missed his first couple of chances the typical Bendtner baiters got their usual cheap thrill, revelling in his failure to score. Seriously, there are people at the ground so full of self loathing for Arsenal it’s unbelievable. It’s as if they predicted failure at the start of the season and would rather be proved right than wrong.

But then…
The rest of us thought that actually those people could go f**k themselves and so the rest of us sang Bendtner’s name, he acknowledged the support and the idiots had lost. It’s one thing to let a player with a bad attitude know what you think of him but another to get on the back of someone simply having a nightmare day in front of goal. And anyway, in the back of my mind I kept thinking back to Stoke and just how crucial that equaliser was.

They equalised…
It was a bit of a weird one really. On the defence, two left footed centre-backs didn’t really work very well, though Vermaelen was generally excellent.

Then Theo…
Stepped up to the plate. Like Clichy, it either happens instinctively for Theo or it doesn’t happen. And as he set off on the run from which he scored, a little part of me thought that I fancied him to do something soon. And he did. Not just a beautiful finish, but exactly the kind of shot Jensen in the Burnley goal was always going to struggle to get down to. On Chris Waddle’s comments, I’d be an utter hypocrite were I to slam him for them. I’ve thought and pretty said at times that when not playing well Theo looks like he has something footballistically missing. Yesterday, he played very well, was impossible to live with and appeared to be lacking nothing brain wise.

And from then on…
We proceeded to miss countless more chances, before for the fourth time in three games, we netted in stoppage time. I’ve said it before and it’s never been more true that this is a team with great stamina. Almost a quarter of all our goals (23 out of 94) have come in either the five minutes before half-time or the last five minutes. Admittedly the statistics also show that the period 85-90 minutes is the five minutes when we are most susceptible to concede, though I believe I’m right in saying that other than the draw at AZ Alkmaar, none of those seven goals have been particularly crucial.

All in all…
It was exciting. It’s March and we’re still hunting the league title and that’s a nice feeling. People are realising we have a real chance and with that came a great deal of nervousness yesterday, both in the stands and on the pitch. People will say it wasn’t a great performance, but I saw a lot of good things. Crucially, I saw real desire, real hunger to make sure it didn’t turn into one of those days. That really pleased me.

And…
A couple of players showed signs they may be finding form at the right moment. Samir Nasri added to a couple of decent performances of late with his best for a long while. And Theo Walcott had as good a game as he’s had for a while. This is the time when the likes of them need to come good and make their name. You think back to 2002 and it was really in a 10 or so game run at this stage of the season that Freddie Ljungberg went from a flattering to deceive dribbler who spent half his life on the floor to the man who inspired thousands of red mohicans.

Add to that…
That we were able to call on Diaby, Eduardo and Arshavin from the bench suggested that just maybe our injuries are beginning to ease a little.

The thing about Arsenal this season…
Is that ours has not been your typical title tilt. Firstly, injuries have severely limited the number of players who can be said to have been consistently excellent, which is usually a sign of a team with title aspirations. I’d say Vermaelen, Gallas, Song and Cesc have been. Many others, including pretty much the entire attack, have missed significant chunks through injury.

The other thing…
Is that perhaps understandably, people can’t see past our results against United and Chelsea. I’ve argued before that far worse Arsenal teams than this one have taken far more points off United and Chelsea in a season and that in one sense there is almost something freaky that we should have lost all four games to them. As an example, the 06-07 team who amassed just seven more points than this team have with nine games to go beat United home and away.

But the point is that other than those results, we’ve been remarkably consistent. We’ve won 19 and drawn four of our other 25 games, which is 61 out of 75 points. And excluding the Chelsea and United games, the nearest we’ve had to a bad run has been drawing at West Ham, beating Spurs and Wolves and then losing at Sunderland. So two wins and a draw from four games. Of course you can’t exclude the United and Chelsea games but somewhere along the line you have to acknowledge that a team renowned for coming a cropper against the lesser lights has actually achieved great consistency.

And so now…
I think Europe will be tough. By which I mean I have a sense we might go out. The good news is I also had a sense Burnley would make it 2-2 yesterday.

And player ratings…
Almunia (6.5) was fine, Eboue (7) flew before the break but was more restrained after it, which is no criticism because Theo was seeing more than enough of it. Clichy (6.5) stuttered early on but had a good second half, Silvestre (6.5) didn’t do a whole lot wrong but nonetheless aged me around six months in 90 minutes in the usual fashion. Vermaelen (8) was awesome and in spite of being part of a defence that has shipped goals, is a worthy candidate for footballer of the year. If William Gallas could be made club captain after a year, then surely the armband could have gone the Verminator’s way when Cesc went off? Then again, he doesn’t really need it.

Denilson (6.5) was a mix. There were some nice passes and at the end he looked really committed to keeping the lead. But equally there were moments when he seemed to be passed too easily and before the Denilsonistas start having a go, I don’t think I’m the only one who thought that. Cesc (7) was fine and took his goal very well, Nasri (8) revelled in the central role, Diaby (7.5) offered great physical presence at times, Rosicky (7) oiled us nicely, Theo (8.5) ripped em to shreads, Bendtner (5.5) offered a lot but had a nightmare in front of goal, Arshavin (6.5) struggled to get into the swing of things before scoring and Eduardo (6.5) did fine.

The joys of moving house this weekend have left me denied both
technologically and time wise, hence the lateness of this report. I’m
going to go through it chronologically.

The team…
Was the right one really. While the goalkeeper and midfield more or less picked themselves, I was pleased to see Ramsey had kept out Denilson and in Nasri, Eboue and Bendtner we had the nice combination of trickery, pace and height I’ve been banging about for ages.

The Stoke goal…
Was so, so annoying. Not because I object to their throw in
techniques. Indeed I don’t think it overly sympathetic to our defence
to say the initial throw was a nightmare to defend and not
surprisingly ended up on a Stoke head. But it was what followed that
infuriated me. A man standing totally free, a yard out. Unforgivable.

It all made it…
Very difficult for a while. But we were patient and as we cranked up
the pressure, it became harder and harder for Stoke to maintain their
own very impressive high pressure game. And our improvement saw our
captain drop deep to collect a throw in and for just about the first
time in the game have space to cross. Great cross and a great header
from Bendtner. Terrific response.

From then on…
We really had a go and clearly wanted the three points. That said,
like the FA Cup encounter the game was nicely poised. But whereas on
that day I had Stoke 60-40 to score the winner, on Saturday I think
the odds were at least reserved.

Ramsey should have…
Had a penalty. I’m staggered by the way it has now become necessary
almost to assault the opponent before a referee gives a penalty
against you while at the same time the flimsiest of handballs can
elicit a spot-kick. Certainly, I thought the penalty we did get
yesterday was easily the softest of our three claims. The other two
(on Ramsey and Bendtner) looked nailed on.

And now we get to…
That horrible moment. First things first, best of luck to Aaron.

What about Shawcross?
His supporters will say he didn’t mean it. But frankly that’s the age
old trick of issuing a denial for something other than the real question. Of course he didn’t “mean” it.

The real question is…
Was it just a complete fluke? Well, the first thing I think worth
noting is Shawcross’ (I’m almost certain it was he) reaction in the
first half when he was pretty cleanly tackled by Cesc. Shawcross went
properly mad about it in the frankly embarrassing way some of our
players do occasionally when they’ve been legitimately dispossessed. I just couldn’t fathom frankly what on earth he was so wound up about.

And I mention that because perhaps it offers us some insight into his
psyche at the time of the Ramsey challenge. A cool, in control,
customer he certainly didn’t appear to be earlier in the game.

Stoke are actually…
Not a dirty team and have never been dirty against us to the best of
my recollection. And nor do I think they set out to be dirty on
Saturday.

But these questions need answering:
Why, every time a player gets a really bad injury, do the pundits
decide it’s an accident? When was the last time an agreed really bad
tackle caused that kind of damage? Are we focusing on the wrong
incidents? Why has the club who notoriously ‘don’t like it up em’ seem
to have suffered these injuries disproportionately.

On which note, it’s not three incidents…
Everybody has been citing the Diaby and Eduardo incidents alongside
the Ramsey one, but less we forget one of our other great British
hopes is currently out long term. Kieran Gibbs did not have his leg
broken in the same way, but was nonetheless the victim of a quite
ridiculous tackle from a Standard Liege player that has put him out for many, many months.

My own view…
Is that football needs to ask itself why so many Arsenal players seem
to fall victim to these injuries. Is it really a fluke? Or is it that
getting in amongst Arsenal has become such a norm in the game that
these things are happening?

It began with the indulgence of Allardyce…
Bolton used to (and still sometimes do) try to kick Arsenal off the
pitch. They were frequently well out of order and very dangerous and
yet they were lauded for it. Guys like Martin Taylor and Shawcross are
not sent out to injure like Allardyce used to tell his charges to. But
they are the products of an era that says “it’s good to get in Arsenal’s faces.”

On which note…
Why do I never read how it is now well over a year and well over 60
games since Emmanuel Eboue was sent-off at White Hart Lane, our last red card.

For Arsene however…
There is a danger in reacting too strongly. While my hunch is that our
run of injuries is no accident, it is true that sometimes these
injuries can be flukes. So I just fear for the Arsenal player who one
day causes serious injury with a bad tackle. I’m not saying we’re a
dirty team for a second, but both Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner have seen red for frankly very poor challenges that were totally out of
character. So irrespective of what previous Shawcross may have,
instead of victimising the perpetrator, I’d rather the whole issue
were looked at.

The scenario…
Was spookily similar to Birmingham two years previously. That was the
27th game of the season, Saturday was the 28th. It was weird watching it because a little bit of me felt guilty about caring about the game following the personal anguish we’d just witnessed. Another part of me felt that if any team knew how to handle such a strange situation, it was us.

As it happens…We didn’t play particularly well after the injury. You can hardly blame the players for that.

But then…
We got the penalty. You think back to St Andrews and the one we
conceded in the final minute and you’re reminded how fine the margins
are in football.

But from the moment the penalty was given…
We were very professional. On first glance it looked like Sorenson
would save the spot-kick. But seen again, you realised that to do so
was almost impossible. Cesc had put it in the part of the goal where
it’s essentially impossible to save. And then what little surprise it
was Thomas Vermaelen was there to bundle in a third.

Poor old Song…
Will miss two games for essentially being a defensive midfielder. I
thought he did nothing wrong for the yellow card, though I can
understand why the referee got it wrong. As one correspondent
mentioned, at least he made sure his man didn’t get past him. Take
note Denilson.

So…
Ten games to go and we’re three off Chelsea and two off United.
Despite usually being an arch pessimist, I’m in no way surprised that
we’re still in it. Around three weeks ago I was maintaining that even
defeat at Chelsea wouldn’t be the end and hell, I’ve been proved
right. I’m not saying and I’ve never said we will win it, but the
players deserve great credit for still being in it at this stage. On
Saturday they showed great bottle to recover firstly from going a goal
down and then from the sight of another team-mate having his leg
snapped in two.

As for the argument that we’re only up there because United and
Chelsea are weak, yawn frankly.

Everyone usually goes on about our feebleness against the smaller
sides. Well in 24 games against anyone other than our fellow title
challengers, I make it we’ve taken 58 points from a possible 72. Not
to shabby at all.

It would be equally logical to argue United and Chelsea are only still
in it because they were lucky enough to chance upon us at our very
worst this season. Had the current crop done as well against United
and Chelsea as last season’s fairly average team managed, we’d now be on 65 points, United would be on 55 and Chelsea on 58.

Which I think is proof, if any were needed that actually we haven’t so
badly thus far.

The team selection was notable for…
Ramsey ahead of Denilson and amen to that. Too often Arsene’s team selections and substitutions feel very hierarchical to me and it’s as if nobody ever really gets dropped. But on this occasion Arsene went for it and even more pleasingly, Ramsey wasn’t the default first player to be withdrawn. Indeed, he played the full 90 minutes and enjoyed a far better game than in the return fixture.

Cesc celebrates

Sunderland…
Played with three strikers, which was possibly a first for a visiting side at the Emirates.

Can anyone explain…
Their fans. They came in huge, almost cup tie numbers. They seemed to be continually fighting each other. Loads of them left their seats after 35 minutes and quite a few didn’t appear for the second half. What was going on?!

Silvestre v Sol…
The thing with Sol is that the bad moments simply induce a lot less stress on my heart than Silvestre’s do. Sol gets done for pace – fine, I can handle that. But every time a ball gets played over the top and Silvestre gives chase, I think I lose about three weeks off my lifespan. Seriously, my heart just leaps.

Our general approach…
Was quite good really. We had a balanced look about us, with height up front, pace on one wing, trickery on the other, an enforcer in midfield and a marauding full-back etc etc. And we were pretty disciplined throughout. We went for the second goal after the break without being cavalier.

Cesc…
Didn’t have his best game but still got us the penalty and scored it. His pumping of the fists to himself after scoring reminded me a little of the way I celebrate our goals and I liked that.

Alex Song…
Was excellent, particularly in the second half. He was in the right place time and time again.

Theo…
Had a bit of a nightmare at times, crowned by two crosses that should have curled but instead ballooned, the kind of skill most footballers learn age about 8. But then I guess Theo wasn’t playing football at 8. That said, he had a couple of good runs and the second he went off, we suddenly looked a lot less dangerous and Sunderland had a lot less to worry about.

Other than that…
There is not all that much to say. The United result was a reminder to all the pessimists that for all our failings against United and Chelsea this season, we’ve been more consistent than United and as consistent as Chelsea against the rest. And while this year people say you can’t win the league without beating your closest competitors, so in seasons gone by they’ve said you can’t win it unless you can win the bread and butter fixtures.

Next week at Stoke…
Is absolutely huge. It’s a real bellwether game. Lose it and it will be hard to see us pushing on. Win it and it’s go, go, go.

And finally…
The playa ratings: Almunia 7, Eboue 9, Clichy 7, Silvestre 6, Vermaelen 7, Song 7.5, Cesc 6.5, Ramsey 7, Nasri 7.5, Theo 6.5, Bendtner 7. Subs: Rosicky 6.5, Sagna, 6.5, Denilson NA.

The cross/shot for the first goal…
Was the kind all keepers must hate. But even so, Fabianski had more than made up the ground and quite why he couldn’t divert the ball away from goal is beyond me. It is true that goalkeeping in general this season hasn’t been great, but I really think our lack of a top class one has cost us this season, which is a great shame.

The game…
Was hugely open but in a game where you’re the away side, that’s not always a bad thing. We fought back well and deserved our equaliser.

How can it be acceptable…
For penalty decisions such as the one on Rosicky to be given?

And if the pass back rule is for “deliberate” pass-backs…
What could possibly be deliberate about what Sol did? Should never have been a free-kick and the referee should never have been so proactive in helping Porto take it.

That said…
What were we doing. You can forgive the initial screw-up. But then the defenders should have been on their toes and Fabianski should have booted the ball downfield and just taken the booking. Unsporting, but hey.

We’re always told Diaby is not like Vieira…
But what is it about his current positioning that differs from the once great man? It’s a compliment by the way. He’s playing really well at the moment. Unlike Denilson.

And that’s yer lot. I’ve got to be back in at work very shortly.

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0
From Goodplaya at the Emirates

On my last appearance on the Arseblog Arsecast I insisted…
That we’d only know how terminal defeat at Stamford Bridge would be AFTER Wednesday night. And of course I stand by that now. We’re outsiders, undoubtedly a point or two further adrift than we’d have liked. But we’re also undoubtedly in there. And however you look at it, we have played more of the top eight than anyone else.

Continuing the theme of slight smugness…
I never normally predict anything Arsenal related. But before the game I spoke to my brother on a couple of occasions about the need to not concede early on and then to plunder one in the second half. I was wrong in thinking Bendtner would get it but otherwise spot on.

And I thought that because…
We really needed not to concede. We’ve let in rubbish goals in the last two games that have dented our confidence massively. Last night in the first half there were one or two moments where we found ourselves far too committed upfield but on this occasion we were a) able to get men back/foul and b) were playing Liverpool, who let’s face it, aren’t United or Chelsea.

Had the first half been a movie…
You’d have seen the kick-off, then the screen would have gone black before the words “45 minutes later” appeared. It really wasn’t a classic, but in a way that was exactly what we needed. Not that my body felt that way – the lack of excitement left me freezing come the interval.

Into the second half…
And we began to feel our way into the game. Gael Clichy was regaining the confidence and instinctive feel that his game relies on and we were the ones pushing the play. The Match of the Day highlights may have suggested a roughly even number of chances, but really we were the ones forcing it. With Bendtner up front we looked far more balanced. We still had the (admittedly quiet) trickery of Arshavin and Rosicky, who had replaced Nasri, but we also had something else to offer.

When the goal came…
It was no surprise to me to see that a Bendtner mistake, followed Bendtner atoning for his mistake was at the root of it. Rosicky hadn’t had a great game until then, but his cross was perfect and credit to Abou Diaby for the run and for converting a less than routine header. It was no doubt my imagination but there did seem to follow a split second of hesitation on the pitch after the goal where everyone waited for the OK that we were allowed to cross and header the ball.

Talking of Diaby…
After all that talk of him being an attacking midfielder, he’s playing surprisingly deep. Arguably deeper than Song. Weird. But he did it well in fairness.

Our defensive play overall was very decent…
And once we got the lead we really dug in and didn’t make silly mistakes. We were a little lucky right at the end with Gerrard’s free-kick following by no means his first dive. Lucky not so much in that the handball was outside the area but lucky because had it not been stopped, it looked like giving Almunia problems.

Playa ratings make an abbreviated return…
Almunia (8) was by no means perfect with his handling but goalkeepers are there to make important saves and then Babel shot he tipped onto the bar was undoubtedly one. Eboue (8) was our best attacker in the first half and offered us drive that we lack in the absence of an on form Theo Walcott. Clichy (7.5) had his best game for a while and really pushed Liverpoool up the pitch. Gallas (7.5) made an outstanding defensive tackle and Vermaelen (7) was very solid too.

Cesc (6.5) was quiet although involved in the goal build-up, Song (6.5) was fine but not at his absolute best and Diaby (7.5) was in the right place at the right time, at both ends of the pitch. Nasri (6) did very little during his time on the pitch, though admittedly it was a time when nobody was up to much. Arshavin (6) got better in the second half but was quiet overall, Nasri’s replacement Rosicky (6.5) was unusually unsure of touch with the exception of the cross for the goal and Bendtner (7) gave the kind of “involved” display that is his trademark. Not everything worked, but it certainly added a dimension to our game.

Late sub Sagna (6.5) did fine, while Walcott (6) ran and closed down (sometimes), but didn’t always hold the ball very effectively when we needed to keep it.

So can we do it?
To many people the idea of us winning the title is preposterous. But I do think that’s predominantly because we’ve served up our worst performances of the season in the most high profile of games. And more recently because they’ve come back to back. If you look at the rest of the fixtures where Chelsea, United and Arsenal haven’t been playing each other, we’ve taken a point more than United from a game less than them and three points more than Chelsea from a game less. So we have actually been very consistent against the so called lesser lights who we supposedly struggle against.

And I don’t think we get enough credit for that. It’s no coincidence that United and Chelsea have been dropping points at unusual places this season. It’s because it’s a really tough league. I watched a fair bit of Hull v Chelsea the other week and it wasn’t that Chelsea were particularly poor, Hull just played really well.

So a bit more credit is due on that front.

Anyway, I for one still believe.

But right now something is missing.

Something is not right at the back…
The marking for the first goal was a joke. Nobody took Terry, nobody took Drogba and Gael Clichy left his post and went on a bizarre run to nowhere. But really it’s not so much about individuals. There is some kind of imbalance about the team and whereas we can simply put more goals past lesser sides, it’s always going to be a lot harder against the likes of United and Chelsea.

The galling thing is that yesterday’s back four, coupled by Song and Diaby is not a bad defensive shield. Yes, the keeper needs replacing, but as we saw yesterday he can’t be blamed for every error.

As for the second goal…
We appeared petrified of Frank Lampard running with the ball. Enough said really. Drogba got lucky with the ricochet but there was no doubting his determination.

Our attacking play…
Was not terrible given the situation. Arshavin didn’t do a lot wrong for his chance. But at 2-0 down at Chelsea, it’s going to be tough. Especially when you’re lone forward is 5ft 7ins or something like that…

So why didn’t Bendtner start?
I accept the man may not yet be 100 per cent fit. But is there no room for compromise at all? Surely after two sub appearances you could at least give it a go? If he got knackered, I think everyone would understand. As it was, the lateness of his substitution was utterly predictable.

Had we been creating chance after chance just before the break then fair enough. But who can honestly say they were surprised that all we managed between 45 and 64 minutes was one opening for Nasri? A complete waste of 19 minutes. Bendtner is not perfect and he will sometimes screw relatively simple looking things up. But he gave Chelsea something very different to think about.

What really annoys me…
Is that the vast, vast majority of our players ARE good enough but that we seem to have a manager who has become such an obsessive that almost any sense of pragmatism has departed our dealings. I say almost because Sol Campbell was clearly a very pragmatic signing. But he is the exception.

For the past three years or so we only seem to have got players who are perfect fits for what Wenger wants. And while everyone goes through good and bad spells, the likes of Vermaelen, Arshavin, Nasri, Eduardo, Sagna, Gallas etc are good players. Good enough too in my mind.

But it’s the players we haven’t signed that are killing us. The midfielder the summer before last, the goalkeeper this summer and now the striker we clearly need in light of a very bad injury list in that area of the team.

I fully appreciate the perfect player at the perfect price was not available. But would compromising just a little not have been worth it?

So we’re out of the title race…
Probably, but not definitely. We’ll know a whole lot more at 10pm on Wednesday night when us, United and Chelsea all have less than routine fixtures. United and Chelsea both have potentially tough away games, though just as Liverpool have run into form, how annoying that Everton and Villa appear to be running out of it?

The referee…
Why was it that on 68 minutes when Bendtner was chopped down by Carvalho and no yellow card was forthcoming that I was able to confidently turn to the people I was with and announce there would not be a single yellow til gone 80 minutes and that after that at least three would follow?

It’s because I’d seen it all before. Referees, particularly in the big games, seem to predetermine the disciplinary pattern of the game.

It’s either:
a) I’ll book the first foul of any vague gravity and keep going on that vein.
or
b) However bad the tackling I won’t caution anyone. Then on 80 minutes I’ll get card happy as to prove to everyone how well I’ve done to keep a lid on the game for so long.

It’s pathetic frankly. Just referee what’s in front of you. Book Malouda for constantly going in a bit over the top. Probably book Song too. And certainly book Carvalho (hardly renowned as a clean player!) for his foul on Bendtner.

Seriously, for 80 minutes you could do whatever you wanted out there, but so much as touch anyone in the final ten and that was your name taken. For the record Mike Dean booked four in those last ten minutes, including two Chelsea subs for presumably their first offence! Totally inconsistent and yet so predictable.

John Terry
There was something very wrong frankly about the badge kissing pledges of loyalty and commitment at the end. You kind of wonder if he gets it.

For the record, my take is Capello’s decision was undoubtedly right. Had Terry simply hit Wayne Bridge for no good reason, he’d have shown himself unsuitable as captain. Given he’d repeatedly slept with the mother of his child…

Perhaps more importantly though, he’d undermined Capello’s otherwise impeccable judgement. By Capello doing what he has done, the damage to the manager’s authority has been limited.

One other thing that must be said at the end of this quite rambling post is…
That Didier Drogba is an excellent footballer full stop but against Arsenal he really has hit some great heights. Fair play to him.

Hull’s performance last night…
Was the kind of performance I thought northern sides reserved only for us. Credit to Phil Brown (who I warmed slightly towards when he admitted their penalty at the Emirates was a joke) for putting out a side who gave everything and were outstanding for 90 minutes.

It was hard not to contrast their running with the lack of it we saw at times on Sunday.

The statistics certainly show we’ve been wretched against the top two this season…
But Arsene and the team do deserve some credit for their record against “the rest”. Based solely on games against “the rest”, we would be level on points with Chelsea but with a game in hand and two points ahead of United.

At least we’re not sitting here bemoaning all the points we’ve dropped to the dross.

Before Chelsea drew with Hull I’d have taken a draw on Sunday…
It’s certainly true eight points would have been a lot to make up. But look at the remaining fixtures and you see that while we have Man City and Spurs to come after the Liverpool game, they will still have to go to Old Trafford, Anfield and White Hart Lane and entertain City and Villa. We need to be in touch, not on top.

As for Sunday…
I think the team should really pick itself. Diaby or if not Ramsey in for Denilson (who I really hope was watching Stephen Hunt of Hull last night) and Bendtner in for Nasri with Arshavin dropping back. Suddenly, from being a team that is one paced and very samey in some areas, we would have height up front, players who contrast rather than replicate each other on the wings and if not power in midfield (Diaby), then at least energy (Ramsey).

With Theo on the bench we’d have pace to call on too. Another realistic option is to bring Comrade Eboue in for Nasri to make us a little tighter.

And finally…
Transfers. I don’t really talk about them much on here but I will say that we couldn’t find another goalkeeper somewhere in the world to come in for the rest of the season, is a big disappointment. I’d also hoped that somewhere there would be a striker who could have a Kanu/Adebayoresque late season impact. Sometimes I wonder if Arsene is a little too much of a perfectionist when it comes to transfers. Maybe the Harry Redknapp way is worth a try, if only occasionally.

I’m writing two and a half hours after the final whistle…
And a couple of post match pints have soothed me and a post match post mortem that was actually more a public inquiry in it’s scope has helped me make sense of it all.

I should say first of all in case there are any United fans reading…
That your side obviously deserved to win and win comfortably. I don’t doubt that for a second.

That initial bit out of the way…
Our defending was so embarrassing it was almost laughable. We had a great chance to beat what I will diplomatically say is not Fergie’s greatest team and we blew it pathetically.

Let’s start at the beginning…
Today’s front six differed from the one battered by Chelsea only with the inclusion of Rosicky in place of Eduardo. If we were small and one dimensional that day, today’s selection was no less so. If there was any way that one of Bendtner, Theo or even Eboue were fit to start, I’d have gone with them. They may not be the best players in the squad but they do at least have a niche – Bendtner height and the other two pace. Without them, we looked very sameish and all United had to worry about was a variation on a theme from Cesc, Nasri, Rosicky and to a lesser extent Arshavin. Contrast us with United, for whom Nani offered something completely different to anything Park, Carrick, Scholes or Fletcher could do. And it worked a treat.

Talking of Nasri and Rosicky…
Their limitations are never as obvious as when they play together. Both are good players to have, even if Nasri could be offering more. But too often it feels like they’re replicating each other, making our wings look one paced and predictable. Go back to 97-98 and though the formation was different, with Overmars one side and Parlour the other, you had the perfect contrast. Pires and Ljungberg were also very different players.

While I’m on the team selection…
It’s also easy to say with hindsight, but I think starting with Denilson ahead of Ramsey was a decision based on fear and hierarchical dogma instead of logic. It gave us two defensive midfielders employed to mark Fletcher, whose appearance as the “hole” player was admittedly unexpected. The thing with Denilson (leaving aside some quite woeful defending that we will come to) is that if you dedicate yourselves to stopping Cesc you’re not really worrying about Denilson consequently getting loads of space in which to do his thing, irrespective of his five goals from outside the box this season. Ramsey may give the ball away more but he does at least contain spark.

The early stages…
Both sides were enjoying some joy. You can argue Arshavin should have passed once or twice when in decent positions but really they’re exactly the kind of chances you can see him scoring. Given what he was being asked to do, he did it very well. United were enjoying a fair bit of success too, with Nani exposing a still rusty Clichy and Song looking both rusty and a little unsure of what he and Denilson should be doing. These games are all about the first goal and I’d say prior to the opener the odds looked around 63-37 that United would get it. So they were on top, but we were hardly out of it.

When the opener came…
It was a horror show. Nani’s skill to escape Clichy and Nasri was breathtaking. But ask yourself what Nasri was doing there, just as you might ask what he was doing for the second Everton goal a couple of weeks ago. He was drawn towards the ball then and today he would have been better placed a couple of yards behind Clichy to mop up if Nani escaped the full-back. Then, for a defensive midfielder, Denilson’s attempt to stop Nani was pathetic. And then when the cross came in Almunia’s feet were too quick to adjust and when he found himself totally exposed he palmed it into his own net rather than at least fisting it up into the air. Yes, it was an unusual ball by Nani, but no, you couldn’t see many other keepers doing it.

Talking of which…
Just about the only time the post match pub conversation went quiet was when the question of which other Premier League team Almunia would get into was raised. Ask yourself that. I should declare at this point I was one of those who thought at the beginning of the season that he’d do. I was wrong.

The second…
Was disgraceful frankly. Poor enough that despite the Everton horror show we are still able to be caught so badly from one of our own attacks. But unforgivable that despite a huge head-start, Denilson jogged back towards our goal and allowed Rooney to walk straight through our defence. Then as it went in we got the token hands in air exasperation. Pathetic. I readily admit United’s third at the Emirates last season was a great breakaway goal. This was frankly nothing of the sort.

So…
It was 2-0 at the break and Arsene’s refusal to introduce a sub until gone the hour mark was akin to the band carrying on playing while the Titanic sunk. It was ridiculous frankly. If you were United, the last thing you’d want would be a change of approach from us, particularly when it would have meant going more direct. The really galling thing was that it felt as if Arsene was refusing to be budged from what he always does and wouldn’t face up to the predicament we were in. Poor from him today I thought if I’m honest.

By the time Walcott did come on…
It was 3-0 thanks to another terribly defended goal. Bad enough how (Denilson I think it was) lost the ball in the first place. Quite what on earth Gael Clichy was doing I don’t know. Why didn’t he close Park? How on earth did he expect Nasri to catch him? I haven’t seen the replays either, but why were we beaten at our near post too?

When Walcott and eventually Bendtner did come on…
Neither was remotely perfect but at least we could suddenly vary our play. We still had the trickery, but now we also had reason to pump one into the box or move it wide. And sure enough we got a goal from a cross that was tossed into the box, not headed out properly and put in by Vermaelen, who was his usual very decent self.

And you know what…
While United were getting chances, we still contrived to miss two or three really good ones in close succession that would have made it 3-2 with ten minutes (five of normal time and five of injury time to go). My point is not that we deserved to draw, but that that shows just how there to be got at United were, which makes it so disheartening to lose the goals like we did.

A poser…
Why if we have two central defenders in very good form, two good full-backs and a usually very good defensive midfielder, have we conceded 28 goals? That we have scored so many and play gung ho football is I think only a partial explanation.

The statistics show…
That no team in the division has a better record than us when 3-0 down at home. By my reckoning we’ve gone on to “win” both the last two United games from that position and have “drawn” the last two against Chelsea (they finished 4-1 and the other stayed 0-0). We should be proud of it.

I’m not being altogether serious by the way.

But it is true…
That we responded to the hammering from Chelsea really well and now we need to do it again. It’s also the case that you judge a team on their season and not on singular results. And if you look at the season, it’s February and we’re not out of the title picture. We’re four behind United and five (potentially eight) behind Chelsea). And if anyone tells you we’re only still in it because of Chelsea and United’s failings, I’d remind you that at the current rate Chelsea will notch up a near Premier League record of 89 points. So that argument’s rubbish.

I still think…
Not losing next weekend is the key thing for us. After it, Chelsea will still have to go to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and Goodison Park. We will have just the trip to White Hart Lane and we’ve also played Villa and Everton twice too.

William Gallas…
Refuses to make eye contact with Manuel Almunia from what I can figure out. It doesn’t reflect greatly on Gallas but it also tells you everything about what the defence think of Almunia. It’s that bad. Almunia himself is a liability. I hate to think of the reaction had that late mis-kick led to a goal. Either way, it’s hard to see him leading us to anything.

The defence…
Clichy is rusty as anything and were Gibbs fit, he’d have a good case to be in the team. Sagna is good but needs to improve his crossing, Vermaelen inspirational and Gallas gives us something.

Song today…
Did alright at times but looked unsure of his role.

Denilson…
You know what one of my mates thinks of a Denilson performance by how long a gap he leaves between the Den and ilson when pronouncing his name. If it’s short it will be: “Denilson actually did alright.” If it’s long it will involve a look to the heavens in between the two syllables. I haven’t spoken to him after today’s game but I suspect it was a long pause.

Cesc…
Struggled. He needed players round him who United would worry about neglecting if they focused on Cesc too much. To that extent, we missed Diaby badly. Cesc looked gutted. He’s desperate to win the title with Arsenal.

Nasri and Rosicky...
Didn’t deliver on the big stage.

Arshavin…
Was excellent.

Concluding thoughts…
A lot of progress has been made this season and while the defeat was emphatic the table is not a horror show. We’ve still got plenty to play for in the league and now is the time to remember how we won at Stamford Bridge last year, albeit a little fortuitously, in the middle of a far worse run than this.

But I did feel…
Some of the pessimism seemed a little over the top. By my reckoning Villa is no easy place to go, particularly less than a month since we’d tonked them at our place. By my reckoning, Almunia made one decent but not unbelievable save and a cross got fortunately deflected onto the head of Stewart Downing and while he might have scored, it was a lot less easy than some reports would have you believe.