Bad Week But Keep The Chin Up

Welcome all,

Many times have I been tempted to post a blog after the Carling Cup Final but I opted not to incase I critisized this team so bad that it just made me out to be a tool which happens with a lot of other bloggers. People say this past week couldn't have been any worse. Rubbish, it could have been a whole lot worse than what it's been. We could have gone out of the FA Cup if we didn't turn up with the right attitude and we could have easily lost yesterday if it wasn't for a fantastic late save by Szezesny plus Liverpool did us a massive favour by beating United earlier today.

I'm not going to go through every game in detail because I know you don't want me to and who wants to hear me yap on about something that happened a week ago. Losing the final makes us all feel sick to our stomachs so I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say we should just try and avoid bringing it up if its possible.

We all know how crucial it was to beat Sunderland yesterday. Somewhat unsurpisingly we failed to do so. We've been in this situation in previous seasons. Needing to beat the smaller teams but failing to do so for whatever reason. We've been through it all, lack of attitude, desire, urgency and so on. This team seems to be "learning lessons" every single season. When will they have enough knowledge to actually be able to win a trophy? The excuses are beginning to tire me now.

People who watched yesterday's game will tell you we dominated and deserved to win. Maybe we did but did you see the first half performance? It was flat, we lacked creativity and there was little or no urgency my the majority of our players to go and create chances. Around the 70th minute the players actually found out that there was the possibility that just turning up wouldn't be enough to take all three points (something they should have learned hmmmm about 2 years ago?). After that it was a barrage of attempts on the Sunderland goal. And when I'm critisizing the lack of urgency I'm not saying it goes for all the players. The likes of Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere were superb yesterday. I can only imagine how hard it can be for them when they're doing everything they can to pave an opening yet the rest are inclined to relax and think the opportunities will come anyway. Sorry it dosen't work like that. There is no longer such thing as just turning up for the three points. Teams are now tactically more aware and have well thought out plans when going to places like the Emirates.

I did mention on my Twitter that I was slightly surprised to see Denilson and Diaby in the same team. Either can play the holding role so what's the point in both when your up against a side that's obviously going to defend for their lives for the duration of the match. You just knew Denilson was going to be sacrificed as time went on. He's a player that is seriously under-performing at the moment. He made a decent start to the season but its all gone downhill from there. I'm not sure if the holding role is for him and I hope the boss gives him the freedom to play next season when Frimpong and Coquelin return. I think it was the 2008/09 season when he got 11 assists? Not bad if you ask me.

We badly missed Van Persie and Fabregas yesterday but I'm just sick of using that excuse. You ask me if I think we would have won with those two and its a definite yes. Absolutely no doubt. We have to learn to cope without them though. Van Persie has a long term injury every season and when the day comes where Cesc says Adios then it will be a real test of this club's inner strenght. I'm not interested in discussing that at the moment though. They're both huge players for this club and the sooner they return the better.

Anyway, here's yesterday's player ratings:

Szezesny: 7 - Didn't have a lot to do but made a world class save late on to deny Welbeck.
Sagna: 7 - Got stuck in and gave everything. Typical Bacary.
Djourou: 7 - Comfortable as ever.
Koscielny: 8 - Last weekend's howler dosen't look to be playing on his mind, fine display.
Clichy: 7 - Got burned once or twice by Sessegnon but offered plenty going forward.
Denilson: 6 - Kept possession well but needs to add more bite to his game.
Diaby: 6 - Too square and struggled to get forward.
Wilshere: 7 - Whole hearted performance.
Nasri: 8 - Deserved to be on the winning side. By far the best player on the pitch, an absolute joy to watch.
Arshavin: 7 - Really gave it his all yesterday, can be proud of his performance.
Bendtner: 6 - Got himself into some good positions in the first half but faded.

Subs:
Chamakh: 7 - Looks to be finding his feet again and should have scored the winner.
Rosicky: 6 - No time to make an impact.

Its frustrating that we've only gained a point on United after the weekend. I was certain we could close the gap to a point with that all important game in hand. There's no time to let the heads drop though. We can still go level on points with them but now its time to put the league on the backburner for a bit. We've got an absolutely huge week coming up. We're away to Barcelona on Tuesday night in a game that's so big I'm getting butterflies as I type this. Then on the Saturday we go to Old Trafford in the quarter final of the FA Cup. This week really is make or break for us. All the odds are stacked against us. The media think we'll get thumped in Spain, lose at Old Trafford and then eventually fall in the league. As fans we need to stick behind the team. We've been in promising positions like this before and made a right duck's arse of it. This is a real test of how far this team has really come. Can we come away from both games with huge smiles on our faces? I believe so but you really can't predict anything with Arsenal. All it takes is another refereeing error or individual mistake for it all to blow up in our faces. Whatever happens we'll be behind the boys all the way.

On the injury front it dosen't make good reading. Fabregas and Song are big doubts for Tuesday's game. Jack Wilshere was initially put into the same category but today told us via his Twitter that he will be ready and raring to go for it. We all know Van Persie won't be back till April the 2nd at least but my main worry is Cesc. This team needs him so badly for Tuesday. He is a leader, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. All the players look up to him and if he's involved I'll be a whole lot more confident that we can finish the job. Song's involvelement is also crucial. We don't have any other natural holding men at the club right now that can protect the defence the way he does. Fingers crossed they will both be there. I think I've spoken enough for one night. I'll be back with a small preview of the Barca game soon.
Till then take care.