No More Slip Ups Please

Welcome back all,

Its not often I post two blogs in one day but I don't feel like doing anything at the moment. When Arsenal lose big games like today it seems like everything in life is pointless. Luckily this spell of depression only lasts a couple of hours so I should be back to my old optimistic self soon enough. Today's game was huge for both sides. Neither had been in good form of late and a trip to Wembley was on the cards. What more of a motivation could you need? There was no real surprise in our starting eleven. Gibbs and Denilson came in for Clichy and Fabregas while Arshavin replaced Rosicky as expected. The United line up gave everyone a bit of a shock. Ferguson opted to go with seven defenders, yes seven! The Da Silva occupied the wings and John O'Shea sat in front of the defence. On paper it wasn't a United side that would give you a few nervous twicthes but the Rooney - Hernandez partnership up front was enough to keep our defence occupied.

The Old Trafford pitch looked as though it would suit us down to the ground. Much better compared to the one we played on back in December where we struggled to get any sort of rhytm going. We started the game well too, plenty of early possession which I'm sure the players found strange considering they were deprived of it on Tuesday night. However, we nearly fell behind when one twin crossed for the other but he headed over the bar, Gibbs the culprit for letting him go unmarked. We remained on top but in typical fashion we soon fell behind. A Hernandez header was brilliantly saved by Almunia but tapped in by the onrushing Fabio. It was a sickening blow. The defence had completely switched off and been punished severley. We could have equalised immediately as Van Persie turned Vidic but saw his shot saved by Van Der Sar. Nasri also came close to getting his name on the score-sheet with a clever snap shot but the Dutchman between the sticks saved again.

At half-time there couldn't have been a whole lot that Wenger said to the team. They were playing very well but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net, sounds familiar I know. We came out in the second half and continued to dominate the game. We created an opening minutes in as Koscielny found himself in space in the United box, instead of shooting he tried to slip the ball back to Van Persie, Brown cut it out and almost scored an own goal only for Van Der Sar, the ball the rebounded back out to Laurent who forced the keeper into another brilliant save. How it was still 1-0 was beyond me and we would soon pay the price for these misses. United went down the other end, Djourou attempted to cut out a Rafael cross but the ball looped up in the air and Rooney headed it past Almunia. A truly sickening setback and an undeserved one.

The 2-0 score-line in favour of United was simply baffling. We controlled the game, we created far more and we looked more up for it. That's football for you, sometimes you just don't get what you deserve and it can be a huge psycological setback. The man of the match was Van Der Sar, need I say any more? I could go through the chances we had after Rooney's goal but I'd be here for the night, I'll leave you to watch the highlights.

A bad night was made even worse when Djourou was stretchered off with a dislocated shoulder. Since then it has been confirmed that he will miss the remainder of the season which is a huge blow. If I had to pick one defender that I'd want to stay fit between now and May it would definately be that man. He's been outstanding for us. We're now looking at a Squillaci - Koscielny partnership which really worries me. When they play together we concede goals, its a well known fact. However when either plays with Djourou we're okay. It puzzles me to be honest, maybe its the lack of height they share? What I do know is that we need Vermaelen back as soon as possible. I'm told he's progressing well but no definite date has been set for his comeback. I think we can cope for the next three weeks because we take on reasonably average opposition but then we have a hugely important run in and Vermaelen's presence would be fantastic if its possible. I'll keep you up to date on that one.

As for my player ratings on yesterday's game:

Almunia: 8 - Another solid shift for the Spaniard, won't do his confidence any harm.
Sagna: 7 - Got forward well, Fabio didn't cause him many problems.
Djourou: 6 - Okay but his evening ended on a sour note as he was stretchered off.
Koscielny: 7 - Reliable at the back.
Gibbs: 6 - Provided width going forward but unconvincing defensive wise.
Denilson: 7 - His best game in a long time, needs to build on this.
Diaby: 6 - Threatened to do things but lacked creativity.
Wilshere: 8 - Outstanding again, running out of words for this boy.
Nasri: 7 - Gave Evra all sorts of problems.
Arshavin: 7 - Looked dangerous but would have liked to have had a bigger impact on the game.
Van Persie: 7 - Lacked service but gave United problems when he got the ball.

Subs:
Ramsey: 7 - Looked very sharp, promising signs.
Chamakh: 7 - Got himself into some good positions, unlucky not to score.
Rosicky: 6 - Could have score from long range.

Its been another bad day in the office for our players but the hunt for the title is still very much on. We can now focus on this 100%. Of course all of us would still like to be fighting for more than one trophy but its time to move on. Next Saturday we are tasked with a tricky trip to West Brom. They're a side on form and we'll have to work our socks off to come away with the three points. Its good to finally have a week off, the players can clear their heads and regroup. Keep the chins up Gooners, there's still a hell of a lot to play for!
Till next time.