The Beautiful Groan

What a miserable day. Chelsea win at a canter, United show us how to hold on to a 4-3 lead in the dying seconds, and we lose to Stoke, without any fight to speak of. And to think with five minutes to go on Wednesday night, things were beginning to look quite rosy.

Now, I should say at this point that I’m an optimist to the last. If there are mathematical possibilities of success, I convince myself they can happen, and even if there are seconds left in a game, it is always enough time to retrieve any situation. Even today, playing with nine men, and looking about as threatening as a kitten, I was sure we could at least grab a draw in the dying seconds.

But even as a persistent optimist, I have to admit we’re not in the title hunt this season. We may shortly be nine points off the pace after eleven games in which the best side we’ve played has been Everton. The eight teams we are yet to face include United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Villa, and Man City, and the only side outside the top half we haven’t played are a dangerous Wigan. After the friendly start to the season we’ve had, we should be in the same position as this time last year.

But we’re not, and the complete lack of anything positive from today’s game tells us that we’re just not good enough at the moment. Once again, we had four central midfielders and no wingers, and while the future might be wonderfully bright (and it is), the present feels a bit gloomy. We can still challenge for honours, but the Premiership won’t be one of them. Too many flat performances have already seen to that, because if you’re trying to claim that you can still compete ‘as long as you beat the big four in all six clashes’, and it’s only November 1, you’re in trouble.

And Wenger isn’t stupid enough not to realise it. The fact that so many midfielders came out after the end of the transfer window, claiming that Arsenal tried to sign them, tells you that Wenger knows where the weaknesses are, he just wasn’t able to correct them in time. Of course some of those claims will be agent fuelled, but there is rarely smoke without fire and surely even Wenger would admit that we’re short in that department, certainly when we talk about the here and now, rather than the potential.

Perhaps the admission of another transitional season will allow some of the incredibly talented kids to get even more experience than expected this season, and maybe in the long run that will be rewarded. But right now, it really is painful.

Even the season’s bright sparks are struggling. Cesc looks exhausted, unsurprising given the ridiculous pressure on him (surely burnout is a real danger?), and Walcott now looks badly injured.

Don’t worry, I’ll be positive in a couple of days, probably because attention will turn to the Champions League, and we’re doing fine there, but even my usual optimism won’t be convincing me we’re in the title hunt. Because we aren’t. And that isn’t something I say lightly.

I will say one more thing, and that’s to all the 606 callers who now want Wenger out. Let’s make this clear - we would not be as big a club without him, and like many things in life, we probably won’t realise how good he is until he’s gone. I for one am hoping that day is a long way away, because with him in charge I can at least be optimistic about the future.

After Wednesday night, the feeling was not so much deflation as a wish that the match (or at least the last five minutes) could be played again. You could see the anger in the players’ eyes, and in those of Arsene Wenger himself, and they no doubt felt the same - if only they could’ve had even ten more minutes to sort it out.

For that reason, if I were Wenger, I’d tell the same eleven players, in no uncertain terms, to get out there this afternoon and put things right. If they have the mental fortitude so often spoken about, Stoke would be in for a fearful hammering.

Gallas, however, has been ruled out with a hamstring strain that, as others have pointed out, didn’t seem to hamper him on Wednesday and may very well be an injury along the same lines of Jens Lehmann last season, in other words, the ‘you’re dropped’ kind of strain. Not before time, to be honest, even though the centre back position is not exactly one we have a lot of depth in. No-one should be immune to being left out, and Gallas performances have not been good enough.

But putting that ‘injury’ aside, I don’t want to see too many changes this afternoon. Give them the chance to bounce back and put the Spurs debacle behind them, allow them to show their strength of character.

It is time to stand up and be counted, and with United next up, a sneaked win this afternoon will not do. The players need to send a message, to the fans, to Wenger, to the league, and most importantly, to themselves.

Arsenal 4 (Silvestre 37, Gallas 46, Adebayor 64, Van Persie 68) Tottenham 4 (Bentley 13, Bent 67, Jenas 89, Lennon 90)
(Premiership)

Absolutely unbelievable. For the majority of the game, we saw an Arsenal performance that was confirming us as genuine title contenders, a fast and fluent display that was slowly tearing Spurs to pieces. And then suddenly, we utterly and completely threw it away, in a manner that the rest of the challengers will no doubt be chuckling about this morning.

A full match report would be too long, but the goals were all notable for their own reasons, so I’ll go through those. Credit has to be given for Bentley’s opener, it was an audacious smash from 40 yards and executed with tremendous skill. Some will blame Almunia but I’m not amongst them - the ball swerved so viciously that no keeper would’ve kept that out.

No doubt Bentley will be harping on about this one for a long time, but the trouble with him is his lack of consistency, or perhaps even application. He has the talent, as he can prove in the big games, but before last night had contributed nothing to Tottenham’s season. Last night’s goal will fuel his ego, but don’t expect a run of good performances off the back of it.

The goal sparked an injection of pace into Arsenal, with Theo especially determined - I’ve never seen him with the bit between his teeth so much. He must’ve had four shots in the first twenty minutes and looked really up for the game.

But almost inevitably, the equaliser came from a set piece, thanks to Spurs being even worse at defending them than we are. Van Persie whipped it in, Gomes flapped, and Silvestre nodded home.

Second half, and Huddlestone gave away a stupid free kick, allowing Van Persie to whip in another cross for Gallas to head home this time. Soon after, the centre back pairing should’ve made it three when Silvestre missed an even easier header from another corner.

The third did come, though, and it was our only goal that can’t be attributed to atrocious defending. Van Persie played another magical ball through to Nasri, who lofted the ball over Gomes for Adebayor to pounce. It looked to be game over, but Huddlestone then fizzed a shot in that went through Almunia’s hands and into his face, rebounding kindly for Bent to tap home.

Their hope was short lived, as a minute later Hutton played a woeful backpass, Adebayor picking it up before feeding Van Persie for a well deserved goal. It knocked the stuffing out of Spurs, and the game relaxed. Substitutions were made, showboating began, and Spurs gave up.

And that is exactly the point - inside the last ten minutes, Spurs completely and utterly gave up the game. They were never going to earn their way back into it, because they had stopped trying. Unfortunately, Clichy, who had been brilliant all night, dallied over a pass and then fell over, Jenas picking the ball up before curling beyond Almunia. Four minutes of injury time remained, and you just had that feeling. Crucially, so did Spurs.

And so it proved. On a normal night, Modric’s shot wouldn’t have got a deflection and would’ve gone straight at Almunia. Or, the deflection would’ve taken it wide. But this wasn’t a normal night, and with Almunia covering the goal, the only way the goal could’ve happened was exactly the way it did - the shot deflected on to the post, Lennon tucking away the rebound. Items were thrown, colourful language was used, and had there been a cat, it would’ve been flying across the room.

It truly was unbelievable. This wasn’t like Hull, Fulham, or Sunderland. This was, at times, an electrifying performance that shredded Tottenham’s back line, but it was completely ruined by some abysmal defending. Almunia had a bad night, but he’s been so good recently that he can be forgiven. The real problem was the decision making in the final couple of minutes.

If you are two goals up going into injury time, you keep the ball - simple. Okay, the players sometimes relax, but certainly once one goal has been pulled back, you make damn sure you hold on to the ball when you have it. When you get a corner, as we did, you faff around wasting time by the flag. And this wasn’t inexperience - the worst pass played in those moments was actually from Cesc, of all people. From him giving the ball away, Spurs broke and scored.

This was a freak game, like those Liverpool-Newcastle ones of old, and no doubt it will go down as a Premiership classic. The irony is - that performance would batter Spurs 99 times out of 100 - we were really really good. But in those final few seconds, we contrived to wreck it all.

In the worst of times I am an optimist, but even that is challenged by madness like we saw last night. We’re used to Spurs providing comedy defending. But we are not Spurs.

Nicklas Bendtner has been a bit of an enigma over the past couple of years, undoubtedly blessed with wonderful footballing talent, but often showing worrying signs of being arrogant and not fitting in at a club where team spirit is so important.

In his loan spell at Birmingham, he rubbed a few people up the wrong way, we had the infamous Adebayor incident last season (which was blown out of proportion, in my opinion), the lack of him celebrating with teammates (which was more concerning as it hinted at a deeper problem), and the general air of nonchalance and arrogance that followed him around. He seemed detached from the rest of the players somehow.

Recently, that has all changed. His joining in with the goal celebrations might seem trivial, but it suggests a much tighter bond with the squad, and I don’t consider it a coincidence that at the same time, he is linking up far better in a footballing sense.

There was one moment against West Ham that displayed this perfectly - he and Adebayor played a double one-two, Ade ending up forcing a good save from Rob Green, chasing in the rebound and ending up tumbling off the pitch. The Bendtner of last season would probably not have combined with his fellow striker quite as well, and even if he had, he would’ve probably casually trotted away after the chance had gone. This time, he ran over to Adebayor, helped him up, tapped him on the back and carried on.

Now this might all seem very subtle, and perhaps meaningless, but everything about his demeanour has changed in the last six months. No longer does he seem arrogant, merely confident (in a good way), and he can now be the selfish striker he needs to be, as shown by his superb curling shot from a wide position when Walcott was calling for it in the middle, while also turning supplier when appropriate, as he did for the second goal.

It is almost as if he is now comfortable at the club for the first time, and that can only be a good thing going forward. A clear talent, the worries around him have usually been the nature of his character, but if he can continue to be as much of a team player as at present, he could really fulfill his enormous potential.

West Ham 0 Arsenal 2 (Faubert og 75, Adebayor 90)

(Premiership)

From the moment Robert Green prevented Van Persie from scoring by catching the ball two yards outside of his area, and escaped without a red card, I thought the script for this match was written. And so it proved for 75 minutes, Green producing a string of excellent saves en route to what appeared to be more points dropped for Arsenal.

Bendtner, Van Persie and Walcott had all been denied, the latter two also hitting the woodwork, before the deadlock was finally broken with fifteen minutes left. Adebayor, on as a substitute, fired a cross shot across the goal, and Faubert, unsure who was behind him, slid the ball into his own net. The feeling was one of relief more than joy, as the afternoon had been one of the most frustrating in recent memory.

Some of the play up to that point had been lacklustre, devoid of the usual zip, and West Ham were defending their goal admirably. They even had some excellent chances of their own, Almunia superbly denying Bellamy after an Arsenal-like counter attack.

Late on, Adebayor added some gloss to the scoreline, rounding Green and slotting home after Bendtner played him through from the left back position - one of the best passes you’ll see all season. The two had earlier combined for Adebayor to force another fine save from Green, yet the Sky commentators still managed to get in a comment about the two ‘not getting along’. They seemed fine to me.

There was still time for Carlton Cole to get sent off for a lunge at Song, and I have to be honest, I thought the red card was harsh. It was a tackle borne out of frustration, but it was one footed and came from the side. A yellow would’ve done.

The only argument you could make is that by Phil Dowd’s standard of yellow cards, it was certainly a red, but that was only down to the ineptitude of the official, who was dreadful all day. I’m really glad that after the late goals I can criticise him without running the risk of being accused of sour grapes, because he put in an awful performance.

Some referees communicate with players very well - Martin Atkinson, Howard Webb and even Steve Bennett spring to mind - but others treat footballers like naughty schoolkids, and while Rob Styles leads the way on that front, Dowd id not far behind. Every time there was a mistimed tackle yesterday, he would scold the player like a repressed primary school teacher. The Respect campaign doesn’t stand a chance when men like him treat the players with such a lack of it.

There was only one bad tackle in the entire game yesterday, yet it ended with six cards. And the number of times he insisted free kicks were moved two yards and retaken was getting beyond a joke by the end.

So I feel a bit for Cole, whose tackle was stupid but not dangerous, and who will now miss three games. For us, thoughts turn to Spurs on Wednesday, perhaps revitalised by the arrival of Harry Redknapp over the weekend. We’ll see.

Until then, enjoy only being a point behind Hull.

It’s back to the action this afternoon as Arsenal travel to Upton Park to play West Ham in a match that hasn’t gone too well over the past few seasons. Three points would see us move four points clear of United, and to within a point of Chelsea, who finally lost their unbeaten home record to Liverpool this afternoon.

Team news sees Gallas return alongside Silvestre in defence, with Toure and Sagna on the bench, while Bendtner starts up front ahead of Adebayor, who is being rested for Spurs.

Unfortunately, the build up to this match has again been overshadowed by the actions of our captain, with Gallas this week photographed with a cigarette in his mouth. I can’t say he was smoking, because it was unlit, but these things aren’t exactly fashion statements so to claim that he had no intention of smoking it would be ridiculous in the extreme.

It might seem like a minor crime in the grand scheme of things, and it is, but it just adds to the catalog of black marks against his reign at the club. And I say ‘reign’ because it seems that is how he sees it.

He isn’t playing well, which is the first thing, and while he admits this himself you suspect that his frankness is an attempt to get the fans on side. But while players make mistakes on the field, he isn’t showing the defensive commitment as much as he should, his pre match team talks seem more for show than anything, and his comments off the pitch aren’t as captain-like as those of his ideal replacement, Fabregas.

But Wenger isn’t one to admit his mistakes quickly. Remember that this is man who gave Aliadiere chances for seven years before finally letting him go. He likes to prove the critics wrong, and while he usually succeeds, the Gallas experiment is surely not going to be seen as one his best decisions.

My opinion? Gallas’ reign as captain will end with him leaving the club, whenever that may be. It could happen next summer, but it is hard to imagine him staying in any other capacity.

But there are more important things to think about today, and that is how to get the three points from a West Ham side likely to play football under Zola, rather than shutting up shop. Here’s to a good game, and three points.

At last, we are back to club football after what has seemed like an eternally lasting international break. A good couple of weeks for England have coincided with another spate of injuries for Arsenal, with Gallas, Sagna and Bendtner all out of today’s match with Everton.

Van Persie has been passed fit though, and today would be a good day for he and Adebayor to click as they did against Porto. As Wenger says, with the next internationals months away, this is the start of the marathon, and kicking it off with an impressive win would build confidence and send the right message to the rest of the league.

Because as it stands, we are still being written off. Some were even claiming us to be out of title race after the Sunderland draw, ludicrous given that United were only a point better off this time last season, and went on to claim the league by more than that. But knee jerk reactions are something we have got very used to.

Back to today, and Everton are a much better team than their poor start suggests, and they won’t be easy. Having said that, nothing less than three points will do, and it is up to a couple of new names to make their mark. Silvestre is likely to make his debut with the absences at the back, and the thought of him pulling on an Arsenal shirt still seems bizarre to me. In midfield, Diaby is likely to feature at some point, making his first appearance of the season. It is a big year for the Frenchman - he has a real chance to earn himself that central midfield slot alongside Cesc, and to do that he needs to cut out the occasional laziness in his game.

Elsewhere, the team is pretty much as expected, and the good news from the Everton side is that Cahill is suspended, a welcome boost given his aerial ability and our utter fragility in that area. He would’ve been a real threat.

Enjoy the game.

Two seasons ago, there were two curses that struck the Arsenal team. One, we always conceded the first goal, and two, it was always an absolute screamer. Time and time again Lehmann would be beaten by a thirty yard thunderbolt.

Last season, the blinding goals dried up, before picking up again this season. We now only concede two types of goal - from corners, or from distance.

Is it any coincidence that in the season where those long rangers weren’t getting us down every week, we had a midfielder who harried their players into rushing everything they did, and increased the speed of the game to a point that left most of the opposition behind?

There is no mistaking the quality of Geovanni’s goal two weeks ago, but watch it again and you won’t see anyone making his life more difficult. Again, when Grant Leadbitter scorched one into Almunia’s net from 25 yards last week, Song had first given it away and then instead of making a challenge, stood off just ensuring he wouldn’t commit a foul.

Although Flamini may have prevented one or both of those goals, there is no point bemoaning his departure - he only broke into the side with a year left on his contract and had every right to move on in the summer, and through no fault of Wenger or anyone else. These things happen. But what we need to do is assess who can step into that role, because it made a massive difference while he was filling it so expertly.

Early season, it seemed Denilson was the surprising choice. He has added a bit of bite to his game over the last six months, but his positioning does still let him down, and he doesn’t add speed to the game at the moment, which is a little odd for a Brazilian. If Cesc were injured, he would surely move forward into the Spaniard’s role, a more natural fit for him.

As for Song, does anyone know yet whether he is seen, long term, as a central defender or defensive midfielder? It seems a different direction is taken every time the decision has been made. If he is to play that holding role, he certainly needs to add drive to his game, he is a little too lackadaisical to play like a pitbull. Diaby, whenever he is fit, could be accused of the same.

Vieira, Gilberto, Flamini - we’ve had a good run of holding midfielders over the last ten years, but right now we don’t have a natural successor. Aaron Ramsay looks the right sort, but is far too raw to be called.

The question for Wenger is whether he adjusts the structure to match the personnel. Cesc is as willing a runner as we have, but stuck in the Bergkamp role as he was last weekend he cannot control the centre of the park. Without him there, we lack energy. The alternative would be to push Toure forward, but that hits our second problem - a lack of cover in central defence.

Right now, as I see it, we have no Flamini, so the onus is on those that remain to raise their game as he did last season. Song can tackle and he can create, but he needs to play with more fire if he is to protect our sometimes shaky back four.

Because if we keep letting Premiership players time to take aim from 25 yards, we’ll be out of the title race by Christmas.

Three days after a home defeat to Hull shook the club to its core is not a good time to face Arsenal, or any big club for that matter. The top clubs tend to respond to adversity, or a bad result, by taking it out on their next opponents, and with Porto having such an abysmal record in England (the only previous time they had avoided defeat was that draw against United when Mourinho danced down the touchline), it was all set up for a recovery night at the Emirates.

And so it proved, but a great deal of thanks for that must go to Porto themselves, who were utterly dreadful. It says a lot about the Portuguese league that they can be so dominant in their own country yet play in Europe and look so horribly inept.

It could have been different - the first half an hour was actually quite tight, but once Van Persie had slid home the opener all the fight went out of Porto. It was precisely the opposite reaction to Hull’s at the weekend, and they got exactly what was coming to them. Both strikers ended the game with a brace, and with Cesc and Walcott running riot this was exactly the tonic everyone needed after the wake up call that Hull had given.

It is difficult to read too much into the match though, and it shouldn’t be said that this marked a complete recovery, because Porto were so utterly dreadful that what looked like a tricky Champions League group should now be a walk in the park. After all, Porto actually won their opening game, a feat that is unexplainable after seeing some of their woeful defending the other night.

But it certainly was a timely confidence booster to some, especially the pairing of Adebayor and Van Persie up front, whose goals should have eased the pressure on them a little. Vela again impressed in a late cameo, showing he could be a game turner from the bench this season.

A draw in Kiev and a 4-0 win at home is a great start to the European campaign, and the Carling Cup is again looking like an entertaining distraction. It is in the league that slip ups must now be avoided.

After a thumping Carling Cup win over Sheff Utd, there was a lot of talk in the build up to the Hull game about a similar scoreline being dished out by the more senior pros. A few warnings were given, especially given Hull’s excellent start to the campaign, but it seems the impression that they only had to turn up to win spread to the players themselves.

Because as well as Hull played (and they really did), the lack of commitment from the home team was nothing short of shameful at times. There was no drive, no passion, it was as if they were just waiting for the inevitable goals to come. When one finally arrived, it was an extremely fortunate own goal, and at that point it seemed that the match would be a breeze.

Only when Hull had completely turned the match on its head did some of the players seem to realise that they were even in a contest, and by then it was too late. A contender for goal of the season from Giovanni (who I predicted pre-season would keep Hull in the division), was followed by a trademark goal from a corner - not a Hull trademark, but an Arsenal one, a problem that really needs to be rectified. Hull had their tails up, and realising they were within sight of a stunning upset, fought for every ball even harder than before. Any commitment from the men in red was too little too late against a supremely organised team.

If it seems that I’m blaming everything on the Arsenal players, then that isn’t really fair. Phil Brown set his Hull side out to attack and cause the midfield diamond problems, especially Denilson, and it worked. Even when they conceded, they fought incredibly hard for ninety minutes, and really deserved the plaudits they got.

But had there been the same drive on both sides, the result could and should have been different. It isn’t acceptable to be so lacklustre in any game, not even against a newly promoted side, because unlike the Spanish league, anyone in this division can catch you out.

Our only hope is that this was a blessing in disguise, a wake up call that such a lack of focus cannot be repeated if we are to win anything of note this season. To play with this lack of spirit is poor once, if it happens again after this lesson then serious questions will have to be asked.