Reasonable But Disappointing

Arsenal 1 Fulham 1

So it turns out my bad feeling about this game wasn't misplaced. Although the result itself could have been worse had Vermaelen not been so determined to atone for his error because the rest of the team didn't look very threatening.

Up until the last 30 minutes we were slow and when the own goal was conceded it became apparent very quickly that we weren't going to win the game. In fact if the team was in this position earlier in the season, or even in the back end of the previous one, we would almost certainly have lost.

The Champions League hangover was a factor yesterday but with top spot secured with a game to spare in our group, the first team will have a weeks break in between our next three Premier League games before we enter the busy Christmas period.

So now the gap between us and Spurs has now extended to five points (they also have a game in hand) and while that's worth noting, I can't consider Tottenham a valid threat yet. Even if they are, fourth is more than achievable anyway with only three points separating us and Newcastle. While it's a disappointing result, the two points dropped are not irretrievable if we get back to winning ways against Wigan next weekend. On top of that, Liverpool face Man City today so by the end of the weekend we may have climbed a place in the table compared to our position before the weekend.

One of the final things I'd like to mention is to do with something I highlighted in yesterday's post. The reliance on Van Persie for goals caught up on us yesterday. Ramsey's profligacy in front of goal stood out again as he was teed up by Walcott in the first half. The winger dribbled down the right and broke into the penalty area before sliding the ball to the Welsh playmaker and he skied his attempt. It was awful to look at. Also worth noting was Walcott's performance yesterday. He was probably our best performer on the day and was unlucky to not have a greater return for his endeavour than the assist for the Verminator's equaliser.

Tuesday night we play Man City at home and while we know Wenger is going to rest nearly if not all of the team that played yesterday, it's hard to know what Man City will do. Mancini has a massive squad. He could play a team today with terrific individuals and then go out Tuesday, rest most of those who played Liverpool and pick a team of equal quality again. I suspect he won't do that though and will follow suit with Wenger to play a mix-and-match team of players on the fringes of the first 11 and youth prospects from Manchester City's academy. I really hope I'm right because I would fear for the inexperienced players that will line-out for Arsenal if I'm not and Mancini decides to field a powerful 11.

To go into detail (and this is all speculation) Mancini could go with this team today:

Hart

Richards - Lescott - Komany - Kolarov

De Jong - Barry - Toure

Silva - Balotelli - Milner

and then easily play this team on Tuesday:

Hart

Zabaleta - Kolo Toure - Savic - Clichy

Johnson - Hargreaves - Milner - Nasri

Dzeko - Aguero

More on that game though when it gets closer and we have a better idea of injuries.

Fulham Preview: Nervous is an Understatement

In half an hour Arsenal's match against Fulham kicks-off.

As the title of this post suggests, I'm not confident about this match. Fulham are a really solid side with players that can hurt most defences going forward. And these games are traditionally very tight. Last season Arsenal drew away to Fulham in the last match of the season (the game had very little meaning though). In the match at home, the team relied on two sublime goals from Samir Nasri to edge the game 2-1.

This evening we will be relying on Van Persie to fire us to three points. The man has been unstoppable in front of goal recently and we really need that to continue. While the team has been winning with relative comfort in recent games, the reliance on Van Persie's goals has been considerable.

We need other players to start picking up the slack. While its great to have one of the best strikers in the world scoring more than Brad Pitt in a brothel, the importance of the whole team contributing to our tally can't be underestimated.

Van Persie has 17 goals this season. Our next top scorer is Theo Walcott with four. And while the young winger is on course for a respectable haul in that department (on top of impressive assist numbers) the rest of the team need to get their act together. Gervinho has been very impressive on the left but 2 goals this season is not good enough, especially when you look at the chances he has missed already this season. Ramsey only has one league goal to his name and when you take into consideration his position on the field , that return is appalling. Playing in front of the solid and ever-impressive axis of Song and Arteta in midfield and subsequently behind one of the world's most lethal strikers must yield a better return than a solitary goal. Ramsey has the ability to do better and he must start soon.

Arshavin is a surprise starter tonight and the teams are now out on the pitch. The Russian needs a big performance if he is going to force his way back into the starting-11 on a more consistent basis.

I'm going to go for a 2-0 win because I feel that Van Persie will deliver the end-product again tonight. However, it would be excellent to see someone else on the scoresheet too.

Hopefully my nervousness will have all been for nothing.

The Naked Hypocrisy of the PC Brigade

This is a piece I wrote for work experience in college a few months ago.

Over the last few weeks, political correctness has taken a turn for madness. Andy Gray and Richard Keys lost their jobs last week for 'sexist' remarks made off-camera about the female linesman, Sian Massey. They were sacked for a harmless jibe.

'In all fairness, women don't know the offside rule.' That's the kind of quip men make to each other when watching sport. Banter like that happens all the time, outside of sport too, between both genders.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson makes plenty of jibes about the ineptitude of women drivers. He has yet to be sacked by the BBC. There's an entire TV show, 'Loose Women' dedicated to women talking about how stupid men are. It hasn't been cancelled.

So where is the line drawn? It's not okay to say women don't understand the vaguest rule in football (some referees have yet to fully grasp it) but it's okay to say they can't even drive a car? Obviously, if this is the way, there can't be a line, only different levels of tolerance.

The sexism argument is dominated by those with the thinnest skin, they shout above the other voices and take centre stage. This is where it is taken too far: when people get offended by the slightest remark. And when it is taken too far we go into the territory of ultra feminism or ultra masculism. And either of these mean that anything anyone says about the opposite gender can be considered as sexual harassment. Society can't work that way, there is a fundamental flaw in that logic whereby an alternative opinion becomes a criminal offence. It's insane.

What's really interesting, about the latest instalment of the gender-equality debate, is the hypocrisy of those who have fuelled it. The Sun, Karen Brady and Sky Sports have all condemned what Gray and Keys said. So if the Sun is anti-sexism, then their page-3 girls were hired for their expert opinion on current affairs. Karen Brady must agree because she writes in the Sun and her columns, fighting for women to be taken seriously in the business world, would lose credibility if that were not the case. And the 'Soccerettes' of Sky Sports must obviously be brilliant football analysts.

If the sexism argument was looked at through androgynous eyes, it would appear as ideology. Men and women are simply too different to treat each other as entirely equal. That isn't the only flaw in the argument, the people that argue it with the most venom are not innocent of sexism or double-standards and there is not a clear line between what's sexist and what isn't.

Nasri Guilty As Arsenal F.C. Is Sentenced To Third

Bolton 2 Arsenal 1

Well if there were any believers left in this team's title ambitions, their hopes have been well and truly shattered now.

Nine points behind and now looking over its shoulder, the team is on course for that all to familiar collapse at the business end of the Premier League season.

Still though, with four matches left to play, it's probably too soon to start the inquisition into where it all went wrong so I'll just concentrate on this game.

Set-pieces were our undoing again today. One in either half saw us concede two goals. Typical Arsenal is all you can say about them. In the first half Song allowed his man, Cahill (just wait for the everyone to link him to us), to pull away from him far too easily. This resulted in Clichy pulling off of Sturridge to try and challenge him as he won the corner kick. Nasri (nightmare day for him) managed to clear it off the line but only to the unmarked Sturridge's head. He made no mistake from about half a yard out and Bolton were one up.

The penalty, right after the break, was a non-event really. It was the wrong decision to award it and Szczesny made a comfortable save with his feet.

Van Persie then proceeded to equalize almost immediately after. A lovely one-two between him and Fabregas (who had another very good game) saw space open up for the former to strike home his 17th goal in as many matches.

Robin has come to form in the second half of the season and he's most definitely my player of the season. The differences in fortunes between him and Nasri speak volumes. Nasri played his best at the start of the season with almost no pressure on him. Van Persie has done it when it matters the most, at the most important time of the season. If the football awards were handed out after the end of the season, he'd have won both the PFA and Football Writer's player of the year without a doubt. His goal today meant he has scored in seven consecutive away games in the Premier League, a new record, and that just says everything about how he's playing.

Nasri had a day to forget. He was put through three times and made a meal of the opportunity offered every time. Perhaps Chamakh might have made more of his header if he had went for goal rather than the tap-down on one particular opportunity, but Nasri's display in front of goal was not good enough for this level.

The winning goal for Bolton was all about Djourou. He let Cohen get in front of him and the Bolton substitute sent a terrific header in over Nasri's head. And that was it.

So we have four games left. The team needs to restore some pride and provide us with some glimmer of hope for next season. Manchester City are eight points behind us with two games in hand, and we have to go to Stoke and play Manchester United next week. So don't rule out finishing as low as 4th if this run continues. And if that happens then Wenger will have some serious reflecting to do in the summer.

Time To Plan For Next Season?

This is something I've been sitting on for a while. And today United went nine points clear while we cant seem to win even when we play well (a la Spurs).

Season over?

Well in the context of the title race, it is. Over, gone, finished. For us anyway. Even if we see a late collapse from Manchester United, Chelsea are in poll position to take advantage, and the win against West Ham this evening confirmed that.

On top of that, our next three games are terrible. We face a Bolton side tomorrow that will be looking to put a shocking F.A. Cup semi-final display behind them. Then we play United at home and Stoke away. Nine points from those three on our form? Chances are slim and none of that happening.

Even the Aston Villa and Fulham games seem like chores now. So is it time to freshen up the first team a bit?

Maybe Wenger should give the likes of Henderson a game and maybe even Emmanuel Frimpong. I mean we're heading for another calamitous finish to the season as it is. And make no qualms about it, one win from six in the league is a disaster for Arsenal F.C. So Wenger has every right to consider mixing it up a bit.

Because he needs to attempt something to stop the rot. And I think a few new faces in the line-up would freshen things up and go towards getting some form back. Frimpong and Henderson would be more than motivated to impress and subsequently attract a few nice offers for loans next season. If they played well enough they might replace a few players like Rosicky and Denilson in the first-team squad next season. It'll be interesting to see his line-up because Wilshere looks very tired and Diaby is unlikely to make it due to a calf injury.

In my opinion the highest we'll finish this season is second. It's a heartbreaking reality from a few months ago but that's where we are. Every time United left the door ajar, WE shut it in our own faces.

We're not a bad team but we are a team that has a taste for being the bridesmaid. That's what Wenger needs to address this summer. Add 'winning' to the ingredients of the squad along with more pace and I think the problem would be solved.

Tomorrow we face a Bolton team that got smashed last Sunday. They can react two ways: go out tomorrow nervy at the back and terrified of getting another thrashing against a team who, on its day, would have no problems tapping in a few goals against them. Or they could go out motivated towards making amends for what happened a week ago. The latter is the most likely.

The match is at Bolton which will suit both teams. But Arsenal have shown no evidence of being capable of winning against a decent team in recent weeks. Another draw looks on the cards. And that's not being masochistic but our run does speak for itself. I think we should go into the game looking to enjoy how we play and not expecting any kind of result. At least then we can't be too disappointed.

N.B. It'll be interesting to see how Gary Cahill, you know the man who will fix all of Arsenal's defensive problems because he's tall and English, performs tomorrow (providing he plays). Any decent performance will surely spark a quantity of 'reports' that Arsenal are in for him. So he's someone worth looking out for just for that.

A Disastrous Result

Arsenal 0 Blackburn 0

Our title chances are officially out of our hands.We're now relying on United dropping points and us winning all our matches.

There's actually more chance of us drawing all our matches. There was no drive in this team today, they didn't have it in them to grind out the win.

I said I was feeling complacent looking ahead to this match. Maybe the players were too. But the fact is Blackburn wanted that draw far more than we wanted the win. You only need to look at Olssen's performance, not one player in our team can say he matched his drive and enthusiasm today.

This Arsenal team was faced with four major tests of their nerve this season and they've failed every one of them. United in the F.A. Cup was a shambles, Sunderland at home was bottled, we practically threw the match away to West Brom and today when we needed to win, our attack was toothless.

The blame can only go with the players. You say the manager buys them but he can only bring them to the pitch, he can't make them put the ball in the net.

Whether it's a culmination of bad luck or bad attitudes on everyone's part is impossible to judge. But this team is now on life-support battling for every breath in this title challenge.

One more result like this will pull the plug.

(Insert April Fool's Pun Here)

Blackburn have been uninteresting this year. They're where they should be. And a cumulation of two points in their last six games in the league shows that they are struggling at the bottom. They'll be there or thereabouts in the race for the drop and they only have one weapon that could damage us in Samba. Although Hoilett looks decent too.

The international break has been very kind to us. I can't actually remember a break that's ended where we've had more players fit than we did before it. Fabregas, Walcott and Song all return which is a massive boost. Van Persie's scare mid-week seems nothing more than that so he should be fit too.

So I think the team will be Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Walcott, Nasri, Van Persie.

That's our strongest possible front-eight. That much of the team is world-class. Those players would get into any matchday squad in the world. The other three is where the worries lie. Koscielny and Squillaci appear to be very decent centre-backs, individually. Collectively, they just can't seem to click, hopefully they'll get it together soon.

I've been thinking a lot about Almunia. No not in that way. But regarding his ability. As a shot-stopper he's as good as anyone. But his concentration is poor. So I think he'd be the kind of player that works well in a lower side that concedes a lot of shots on goal. But, in a team like Arsenal, a team who keeps the ball for long periods, he doesn't see much action. So he finds it extremely difficult to maintain his concentration. Meaning he does stupid things like he did at West Brom.

I'm not worrying about this match. As a fan, I must say that I feel quite complacent. I think if we show up and play our game, we'll win. I can imagine Walcott given these guys nightmares. It's going to be sweet seeing him scorching the wings again. I'll say 2-0 because I expect Blackburn to defend in numbers and to do everything possible to frustrate us. All going well with fitness tests, we should have our best attack on the pitch, so surely they'll have enough to break Blackburn down at least twice.

Also, the Emirates pitch has been shrunk to the Highbury dimensions. How making the pitch smaller helps us take defenders out of position is a bit of a mystery to me. So I'm really looking forward to seeing what difference it makes.

Let's win this one for Rocky!