If in doubt..

...kick it out. A simple adage, designed to instill a bit of instict in such situations. This is the last time I will say this but it was Koscielny's responsibility to clear the ball if he had already prepared himself to do so.

Safety first.

Birmingham hadn't been causing a threat from throw-ins. Booting it into touch wouldn't have hurt, or at least it seems unlikely.

Of course Sczcesny called, but, as has already happened this season, if the defender is able to clear safely without pressure from an opposition player then he should choose to do so. Koscielny had a clear opportunity to remove the danger and dallied when he heard the call. He should have put his foot through it and put it safe.

I am a big fan of Koscielny and I think this is simply a blip on what has been a great season for him this year. Sczcesny is a good young talent and I think he will be a great keeper. Lets not get carried away, we should have put the game to bed way before the 89th minute.

Onwards to the O's tomorrow night. Team news to follow.

WG

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A more sensible review perhaps..

Yesterday was painful. Frustrating. It highlighted every little problem with the Arsenal team this season.

When the 4-2-3-1 formation isnt working (i.e. in the absence of Fabregas) we need to do one of two things, switch to 4-4-2 and put two strikers up front to pressurise the opposition defence or what I'd prefer move Wilshire forward into Fab's role and put Rosicky behind in the deep playmaker role.

Contrary to a lot of frustrated reviews including my own to a point, I thought Rosicky did ok, our midfield was let down badly yesterday by Song who was rarely in the game and when he was he wasn't effective. Rosicky is a shadow of the player he was, but he still is excellent at receiving and distributing the ball forwards with pace and accuracy. He is the master of one-touch football and he did ok yesterday. He didn't set the game alight, but he did help keep it smouldering and allowed Wilshire space and time to perform.

Arshavin and Nasri both did well in bursts but as a whole, collectively our attack did not produce enough.

Defensively, much is being made of our inability to deal with Zigic. Its not a problem that is solely ours, he's a difficult player to play against because he is a man-mountain. Could we have dealt with him better, of course but he is more than a handful and that must be recognised.

I think we were a bit naive at times, we allowed him to position himself in front of Sczcesny and the chaos that caused left Szczesny with a bad starting position for the first goal and subsequent corners, Szczesny needs to boss his defence more and tell them he doesn't want that.

Substitutions, oh the frustration. Arsene did the right thing, he put on his two striking options in Bendtner and Chamakh when the injury to RvP was apparent and when Arshavin needed to come off. At the time I thought it was the right decision and it certainly put us back in the game and we enjoyed a strong period of possession and put pressure on the Brum defence, neither striker was provided with a gilt-edged chance and Bendtner tried to tee-up Rosicky but Foster was sharp and saved well.

I still think it was the right decision.

It just wasn't our day. If it was we'd have done better in the first half and been 2:1 up.

WG

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Moving swiftly on.

As I sat in disbelief, my mobile bleeping away with the taunts of Mancs a certain calm washed over me. We can't highlight the howler at the end as the issue, Koscielny and Sczcesny didn't lose us the game because we shouldn't have been at 1:1 at that point.

In terms of fact, we lost 2:1 to a fortunate winner from the opportunistic Martins.

At the moment, I really have no idea how I feel about it. In terms of collective responsibility, Nasri, Song, Clichy, Sagna didn't show enough yesterday and didnt perform as they could.

Arshavin played well and consistently created chances in and around the box, RvP despite taking his chance extremely well didn't set the final alight and I guess thats just the story of the day, too many players didn't perform to their ability. In fairness to Brum they did really well and deserved it.

I will never forget the look on Cesc's face when the goal went in. I'd love to know what he is thinking. Is it, "If I was playing we'd have won?" is it "What am I doing wasting time here?" certainly it was a great chance to win some silverware.

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the Arsenal dressing room after the game.

WG

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Three Musketeers and the Gap's down to five!

Arsenal took on the visit by the Brum and really they were a bit naughty. They really didn't let the Brum play at all. It was all Arsenal and really it could have been much more of a battering.

Brum opened the scoring with a soaring header by "Man Mountain Descended From Trees" Zigic who deftly flicked the ball into the far corner. A well worked goal to be honest and deserved after a great ball in. Fabianski would never have been able to save that and neither would anyone else.

Yesterday we saw more of the Arsenal that I keep babbling about. Mobility, Pace, Combinations. At the heart of this were Chamakh, Nasri and Wilshire. Its great to see how well Chamakh is settling in and I can't see anyone dislodging him at the moment. Nasri and Wilshire were frightening going forwards, Wilshire in particular dominated, no mean feat for a 18yr old. People bang on about signings, potentially we might not have seen Wilshire now if we'd signed another midfielder. Wenger is right not to stifle the likes of Wilshire, Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Lansbury and Eastmond. If they're not given a crack of the whip, how will we ever know if they are good enough? So to all those who said "If Wenger doesn't sign X then I'm not going to support them anymore!!" ... Well then I guess you missed the masterclass yesterday by the new three musketeers of Nasri, Wilshire and Chamakh...they even sound french and musketeery!

One french player to do himself little credit was Diaby again, I felt his presence in the game was an interuption to the game being played by the musketeers rather than an assistance. I saw him dribble off and moves fizzled out as players got too far ahead and marked. Diaby slows Arsenal down now, he's a good player but he's a round peg in a square hole.

One massive potential talking point was Wilshire's lunge at Zigic, it rightly earned him a red and I'm pleased Wenger and Wilshire came out and immediately identified the decision as correct and Wilshire apologised. In todays climate a bit of honesty on these things does you credit. Though in truth, Wenger couldn't defend it after his stance on violent football.

So, in summary and excellent result for us, a great team performance and it seems everyone is giving the Wookie some love, with Djourou and Song both congratulating him on a great save at the end. I just cant see that with the Waiter. His time has passed I think.

Congratulations to anyone who followed my advice and had a punt on Nasri, wish I did now!

WG

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Oh Eck! Welcoming the Brum to the Grove

This weekend sees the return of Birmingham to the Grove and the return of Alex Hleb, a player I still rate very highly. I'm so glad to be back to normal football after the international interruptions. I'm delighted to see that we have emerged relatively unscathed, albeit Sagna is injured but Eboue is a ready made replacement.

I'd like to talk briefly if I could about Alex Hleb. He's a player I've liked since he signed for us, the nimble little belorussian (sic) first strutting his stuff in front of me at Barnet in the inaugural pre-season friendly. What Hleb gave Arsenal is something we haven't replaced, whether it was always successful is another matter but he gave us dribbling at pace, mixed with an excellent workrate and a great understanding with Fabregas. Fabregas was gutted when he left for Barca.

Honestly I'd resign Hleb in a heartbeat. Wenger won't because he didn't want to lose Hleb and Hleb forced it through. I understand Hleb's choice. I wouldn't make the same choice in his position because I am an Arsenal fan through and through, Hleb isn't and never would be. He grew up in Belarus, not England and dreamt of more successful teams than us I'd wager.

In truth, I don't think Hleb fits into Arsenal 2010/11. This version is all about mobility and moving the ball about at pace. Hleb, like Diaby holds onto the ball too much for this.

So, to Saturday and the 3pm kickoff. We're looking very strong for this weekend with potentially Fabregas, Bendtner and Walcott back in the fold. In truth, unless they are all in top condition I don't expect any of them to start. I would prefer brief cameo's from the bench until they are ready for war.

Birmingham are a different side under "Big Eck!" they are more dynamic and they create a lot of chances. They're a hardworking side who will be easily mid-table this year. Hleb has stated that the "Blues are too good to go down" and I agree. There are certainly worse teams in the Prem this season.

My predo, home win for the Gooners, I even think we'll keep a cleany, so I'm plumping for a resounding 2:0 win.

Wenger to announce later who's fit and who isn't. So that could really make it interesting.

WG

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