MY apologies for a shockingly late match report. Technical glitches did for me initially, a chocca-bloc non-Arsenal weekend more latterly. But, here, finally is the report I penned post our Liverpool win:

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.

Friday morning update: Technology has beaten me again. The report will have to wait a bit longer. In short: great result and we have to believe we’re in it.

What can you say?
It’s hard watching this Arsenal side. We’re not a bad one. In fact in many ways we’re a very good one. In fact we’re probably a squad who a fair few managers could add a couple of players to and turn into Champions.

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.

A FEW thoughts:

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.