Physical power and fine margins

Twenty four hours often gives one time to find more context and perspective, and this is definitely the case after yesterday's tightly contested encounter with Chelsea.  Firstly it is remarkable that we can compete against a team that would be bankrupt if they were forced to live in the real world, they have a team full of massive 20/30/40 million pound signings and taking this into account it makes our recent record against them even more impressive.

It was certainly not our best performance against Chelsea but it was far from our worst.  There is no doubt that we created by far the better chances in open play and Cech was the far busier of the too keepers.  The slack defending from Laurent Koscielny in particular allowed Chelsea to play the game as they wanted, with men back in numbers and counter attacking at will, but they still created very very little from open play, and we did enough to merit a point at the absolute minimum.

There is no doubt that Alan Hansen had a point for once, unusual I know, we are not a big side and we are susceptible to set pieces, and this is especially true with Per starting and with Diaby off injured.  The system of defending, whether zonal or not, is pretty irrelevant; our lack of size and experience in defensive terms is there for all to see.  Certainly Kos made the clear errors, but these were not isolated, Luiz was unmarked for the first goal, there were other men left in far too much room without due attention.  Mannone couldn't have really done much for either goal, he was let down by the defending in front of him.  Ramsey showed again that he cannot perform Diaby's role in the side, demonstrating the strong argument for a signing in this area in the window, Coquelin with his better defensive attributes must have a good chance of a run of games now.

We had no luck in front of goal either.  Cazorla wasn't having a shooting day, plus Cech was inspired, his stops from Giroud and Podolski were absolutely spectacular and of the highest order, Giroud did everything right with his injury time chance until he shot, then he just sliced his shot, letting it fly narrowly wide, fine margins indeed.  I do like the look of Giroud though, he is strong and powerful, he has a nice touch, his left foot is quality and he shoots quickly, I think he will come good.

Finally I agree fully with Ashburton Grove, yesterday showed just why Theo Walcott is not an important player to Arsenal, his work ethic and effort summed up why this is the case quite perfectly:

 "But if you watched him off the ball, like I did, it showed you a player who wasn't concerned about tracking back or helping his team mates and only playing for himself. I'm sorry but there is no room for passengers in this team and I'm getting to the end of my tether with Theo. Yesterday showed why Arsene Wenger hasn't picked him. There is no "I" in "Team" and that's what Theo should be told in no uncertain terms."

Lucky moneybags exploit our suicidal Achilles heel

It was a very good game of football, and a very even one at that.  Both sides had their moments and it really was nip and tuck for long periods.  51% possession vs 49%, plus 5 shots on goal for both sides shows how evenly matched this contest was.  Strangely some Arsenal fans seem to think we were terrible but I think the statistics back up my stance, we were decent and in the game, it is just sad that our terrible defending from set pieces cost us the points.

The dropping of Per Mertesacker for Kos looked an error before the game, and afterwards it looked a massive clanger.  The combination of terrible defending from Kos and weak inexperienced keeping from Mannone saw us undone twice by simple set pieces.  It was very frustrating as other than these howlers, Chelsea didn't really open us up or threaten Mannone much.  The second Chelsea goal came from a very soft free kick, Torres diving under gravity again, as a team they really did go to ground very easily all day long.

We huffed and puffed, despite going behind twice to these poor goals.  Gervinho's excellent spin and shot got us level just before half time.  Then in the second half we pushed Chelsea so hard, really we deserved an equaliser, a mixture of good goalkeeping, poor finishing and bad luck cost us our second equaliser of the day.  Podolski's header was expertly saved, Cazorla had a great chance after Gervinho teed him up, Cech pulled off some other good saves, while Giroud's one on one which he narrowly blazed wide was the best chance of the lot.

Diaby's injury is a massive concern and exposes our lack of squad power in the central midfield area, perhaps Coquelin and Frimpong will have to be given some games if this injury is not minor.  We need Szczesny back soon, as Mannone is not up to it, he will continue to cost us points.  It hurts to lose to such a disgraceful football club, a club that is summed up by the joyless and pathetic cheating of their striker, Fernando Torres.  Still, we can bounce back from this, it was really could have been very different with some luck and better defending.

We've come a long way

How things have changed over the last year, we have gone from being a talented and disjointed collection of individuals to a well organised team that is very much greater than the sum of its parts.  This was epitomised today with an outstanding performance away to the moneybags PL champions Manchester City.  Of note City's bench cost more than our entire starting eleven, some context if ever it was needed.

No one could deny we deserved the point, and if any team deserved the win it was us, we shaded both halves and were always the better passing team.  City were outplayed in the first half, we overwhelmed them in the midfield and with some better finishing we should have taken the lead, Gervinho particularly culpable with a poor first touch when clean through on goal.

City took the lead against the run of play, some poor communication at the back saw Gibbs concede a needless corner, it was whipped in well but Mannone flapped and Lescott nodded in.  Poor defending all round.  Mannone did then pull off a fantastic save from Dzeko's magnificent 20 yard curler a couple of minutes later though.

City changed tactics in the second half and put an extra man in the midfield, this certainly made them trickier to break down.  We huffed and puffed, Cazorla first tested Hart with a fierce right footed shot which he just managed to divert wide, and then from the resulting corner Kosielny brought the ball down slightly heavily, but he still managed to belt the ball into the roof of the net leaving Hart with absolutely no chance.

The game was not yet over though, there was still time for a magnificent Mannone save and a bad Aguero miss from Koscielny's poor clearance.  Gervinho also could have sealed it, brilliantly bringing the ball under his control but losing his composure at the vital moment, blazing his shot high and wide.

It was another excellent overall team performance, bar that one poor piece of defending of course, but we travelled away to a tough venue and gave a great account of ourselves.  The unsung Per Mertesacker was awesome, his reading of the game sublime, the whole back four player their part too, Cazorla was the hub and a special mention must go to the much maligned Aaron Ramsey who put in an excellent all round shift.

We have come a long long way in the last year, the work ethic in the team is so much better, the organisation Steve Bould is adding is making such a difference, we have got rid of some arrogant disruptive characters too.  Perhaps the one thing that is going to take a little bit more time is for the attacking play to completely gel, our new forwards will need patience to allow them to develop into the team and this won't come overnight.  Great performance and if we can get something out of our game against Chelsea next week then there is no doubt that we are in the title mix this year.

Outstanding result marked by Bould fingerprints

That was as convincing a win as I have seen from an away side an Anfield in recent years.  Certainly it is not great Liverpool side but they are still a decent side with several very good players.  It is easy to put the win down to Liverpool's woes but this is rather unfair on an Arsenal side that is looking like a really solid and organised unit, and one that is going to be extremely tough to break down this season.

It is no coincidence that we have not conceded a league goal in three games and that Steve Bould has been working on our defensive game in training, many of us have been calling for better defensive organisation for some time.  It was also not just down to coaching, the players selected for the game were all doing their fair share of work in tracking back and defending, this was absolutely vital.

Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski started in the wide forward roles and got through a terrific amount of team work.  The midfield three of Arteta-Diaby-Cazorla gelled magnificently.  Arteta sat and did so much unnoticed but vital water carrying.  Diaby put in his best ever performance in an Arsenal shirt, he was everywhere, gliding past men as if he had never had an injury in his life.  Cazorla has given us a new dimension with his crafty movement and sixth sense for a pass.

Liverpool couldn't really open us up, they had a reasonable amount of the ball but couldn't create much clear cut.  This Arsenal side was unrecognisable from last season's without the ball, we were organised and positioned in military fashion.  There was less diving in, there was a sensible knowledge of when to press and when not to.  We had men back in numbers when we needed, we played with discipline and responsibility.

The goals were nicely taken, even if the second was a bad error from Reina.  The first saw Cazorla delightfully played in Podolski, who showed his quality with a quick first touch and unstoppable low finish.  Giroud missed a cracking chance just after to make it 2-0 just before the break, Diaby slipped him in but he sliced his left footed shot side.  Cazorla's goal earlyish in the second half gave us breathing space and we held out pretty comfortably after that.  Howard Webb stood firm when Per won the ball cleanly in the box and later when Suarez dived, otherwise the ref wasn't great and he wasn't awful, somewhere in between.

That's enough rambling from me.  A great performance that we should all enjoy, particularly the remarkable display of the injury plagued Abou Diaby, he look utterly imperious today, if, and it's a big if, he can stay fit then he can definitely be one of the best midfielders around.  I shall keep my mouth shut before I tempt fate any more   It was also great to see a real solidity in our performance, we were tough and stubborn, we held on to our lead at the toughest of locations with relative ease.  A truly great day to be a Gooner.

A time for tumbleweed........

I summarised by thoughts yesterday and having endured yesterday's transfer window, I have to say I feel betrayed by the club.  There is no other way of putting it.  Defensively we are solid, up front we are short with the failed Chamakh being relied on as 3rd choice, and central midfield is a potential disaster zone.  We sold Alex Song and we have not replaced him, we also got a relative pittance of a transfer fee for him, it stinks.  Song had three years on his contract, there is just no excuse for selling him and not replacing him.  The club and manager are setting themselves up for a major fall if we do not achieve this season, after this both senseless and reckless gamble.

I simply have no more to say, I feel flat and let down.  Just take a few slow deep breaths in and out and watch the above video.  It truly is a day of tumbleweed, unadulterated pure high quality unrefined tumbleweed, rolling along, voiceless, the nothingness, the emptiness and demonstrative of the total lack of anything of real meaning.  Tumbleweed sums up the transfer window perfectly for us Gooners.

Judgement day: squad holes need plugging

The good news thus far is that Park and Bendtner have gone, temporarily on loan that is, and we have hopes of clearing out several other pieces of dead wood come midnight too.  The bad news is that nothing incoming has happened since Song's departure and most of us agree that we need at least a couple more players for the squad if we are going to be strong enough to compete on all fronts this year.

I have summarised our current squad below, players in black are excellent players, players in blue are decent squad players, players in green are promising youngsters, while players in red are not good enough:

Goalkeepers: Szczesny, Mannone, Martinez, Fabianski

Defenders: Sagna, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscelny, Vermaelen, Djourou, Gibbs, Santos, Squillaci

Defensive/all-round midfielders:  Arteta, Coquelin, Ramsey, Wilshere, Frimpong, 

Attacking midfield/wide forwards: Cazorla, Diaby, Rosicky, Gervinho, Walcott, Arshavin

Centre forwards:  Giroud, Podolski, Chamakh

Obviously the colours and the positions are very subjective, but overall this is a pretty good way of focusing the mind and appreciating where the strengths and weaknesses of our squad lie.

Overall I am pretty content defensively, we have three top centre backs and a decent 4th choice in JD.  We have two excellent full backs and decent back up, Jenkinson's performance at Stoke may well have cemented his place as Sagna's deputy.  I rate Szczesny, Mannone is ok and Martinez is  a great prospect.

When we start to move further forward the problems start.  With Song departing we are very short in terms of experienced players who can sit and play with discipline in a deeper midfield role.  Arteta is great but we need some quality to complement him, as well as take over from him when he is injured or fatigued.  I firmly believe we could come into serious trouble if Arteta gets a significant injury, it is too big a gamble to take, especially given his injury record.  The counter argument is that Coquelin and Frimpong are good enough, this is a decent point, however if we are without Arteta for any significant period then it is too much to expect these young chaps to deliver consistently.

Up front we are also short of central forwards.  Giroud and Podolski are both excellent but in different ways, Giroud is a strong and powerful player who can hold the ball up, Podolski can play centrally or as an inside forward.  The problem is that we have very little back up beyond these two and that is not enough.  When the games come thick and fast, we may get hit by injuries, so it is utterly barmy to start a season with just two centre forwards.  We need a third forward and ideally this player would be young and pacey, and someone who is happy not to be starting week in week out.

That's my two pence worth anyway.  We need an experienced midfielder and a pacey 3rd choice forward.  The frustrating thing is that we're not far off at all, but gambling by leaving ourselves short in these key areas could see us utterly shafted if we get injuries in these key areas of the squad.  We need to minimise our chances of being shafted by bad luck and a couple of additions are essential in this regard.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

It was sort of what I had expected today, but the solidity we showed defensively was a real positive, even if it was slightly balanced out by our lack of cutting edge when it really mattered.  Stoke provided their typical challenge, they were well organised, compact, late in the tackle and cynical with their time wasting.  They certainly deserve some credit for their work rate and organisation, however several of their tackles crossed over a line and the cynical nature of the time gaming was not impressive, typical and expected though.

We controlled the game for the most part, Stoke rarely threatened, one correctly disallowed goal for offside and that was about it from them.  We created a lot of half chances and we also opened up their defence on several occasions, it was just a bit disappointing that our final pass or cross was not quite on the money.  This was particularly the case in the first half, Gibbs got into a couple of terrific positions, the final ball was lacking, Podolski had taken up some great positions and it is one of those things that happens when players have not played together much, there is not that instinctive knowledge of where one's team mate is floating.

Podolski had out best chance in the first half, his goal bound shot was batted away by Wilkinson's arm, a clear penalty by anyone's book, unfortunately the hapless Mason waved play on, not for the last time unfortunately.  Ramsey had a decent chance from the edge of the box in the second half, unfortunately he screwed his effort wide.  Other than this there were quite a few long range efforts, some of these stung Begovic's gloves, but too many drifted harmlessly wide.

Cazorla was hugely impressive, Arteta disciplined as ever, if there were some weaknesses, then Diaby and Gervinho didn't really deliver enough final product.  Podolski and Giroud worked so hard for the team, a lot of the latter's hold up play was outstanding.  The back four were excellent, Mannone didn't put a foot wrong either.  Without the ball we played so much better than we did in many away games last season, there was some good no nonsense defending and less dangerous possession football in our own defensive areas.

Overall we deserved three points one hundred times more than the opposition but it just wasn't to be, we couldn't quite crack the nut in the end.  A special mention for Lee Mason who was typically weak in his performance, not only did he miss the stonewall penalty for Wilkinson's handball, but he persistently have Stoke some very soft free kicks in our half of the field, as well as letting Stoke get away with some terrible reckless tackling.  This was epitomised by the yellow for Wilkinson's shocking second half lunge, the Stoke players reacted as if they knew a red was on the way, luckily for them Mason is as limp and toothless as they come, a yellow was all he could produce.  It was just lucky that we didn't get any legs broken today, tackles like Wilkinson's are designed to end careers, truly appalling stuff from Pulis' Neanderthal cloggers.

Overall we must take heart from this new found defensive solidity, but we must also look at hard at our attacking options and consider bringing in some more fire power before the window shuts next week.  A point away at Stoke is definitely nothing to be sneered at, it is a very very tricky place to bring anything away from.  Finally a special mention for that large majority of Stoke fans who seem to think they are being funny with their Arsene Wenger obsession, actually they would do well to realise that 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', this Freudian slip on their part is rather amusing and ironic, the joke is on you Stoke fans!  As for booing Aaron Ramsey for having his leg shattered by Ryan Shawcross' thuggery, that needs no comment, it just tells you a lot about the kind of human that supports Stoke City, sad really.