Arsenal pay the price while the supporters just count the costs

A bit cheaper in those days

Arsenal's chickens came home to roost once again yesterday in the Champions League draw. The terrible second-half performance at Napoli meant finishing only second in the group which meant an inevitable draw against top quality in the last 16. We ended up not only drawing quality, but drawing the best in the competition. Of course, if you want to win the thing then you have to beat top teams at some point, but the later you play them the better. Over two games in February/March we have little chance to beat Bayern Munich. This is not just because of the quality they possess, but the nature of Arsenal's fixture list is unbelievably hard. It could be a very miserable time for us Gooners if things start to go against us on the pitch.

I know we went out only on away goals to Bayern last season but there is no doubt they are streets ahead of us. On our day we can get a result and beat anyone. Have a slightly off day against a side like them, however, and they might destroy you. Can you imagine the fun Ribery and Robben might have if they came up against a defence missing Sagna or Gibbs? Personally I would far rather have been coming up against the likes of Olympiacos or Zenit St Petersburg than the reigning European Champions. We have to hope for the sort of results we gained against the likes of Real Madrid in 2006, but we don't quite have Thierry Henry up front these days.

 

I haven't had a chance to write about the price increase announced by Arsenal last week as I was busy lamenting the defeat at Manchester City. Now it's quiet for a day or two I have the opportunity to have my say.

The first thing to say is that it is an outrageous liberty to put prices up by 3% when a new TV deal is bringing in something in the region of an extra £30m. It simply can not be justified. To claim that it's in line with inflation is also an outrage. Depending on which way you look at measuring it then inflation can be seen around that figure, but that is to ignore the fact that the average punter is not receiving year-on-year salary increases of more than 1%. Yet again the cost of watching Arsenal has become more prohibitive to the man in the street.

I have never known Arsenal to announce prices at this time of the year. I have to say I think the announcement being made on Friday was nothing but a horribly cynical move from Gazidis and co. They obviously decided some time ago that they were going to raise prices. Having done so they had to think carefully about when to announce it. That being the case they knew they couldn't do it until progress was secured in the European Cup. They also looked at the upcoming fixtures and knew that it might not get much better than a five point lead at the top of the Premier League. They used the qualification in Europe and the position in the league to limit the criticism they would receive from fans for putting up the cost of going to Arsenal.

What exactly are we paying for? We were told that Mesut Ozil was paid for through existing resources, so it's not that they require the extra cash to pay for a star signing. The debt on the stadium is also being managed through a carefully selected financial package, so it's not that they're trying to get it paid off quicker. The other thing we're not yet paying for is the chance to watch a successful side on the pitch. This is not (yet) a winning team. There are no trophies to celebrate. I am at a loss as to why my season ticket is going up by 3% other than to line the pockets of the Kroenke family in the longer term.

The cost was already prohibitive for many (my seat for Grade A fixtures is £80, albeit offset by a cost of less than £30 for Grade C games) and will be so for even more Gooners once we get to next season. I have two children and the cost of bringing them to Arsenal is about to spiral out of control. Perhaps it's just as well that I work shifts that prevent me from going to every game, otherwise my boys might never get to go to Arsenal.

Bad finishing, terrible defending, scandalous officiating - you can't beat 14 men with no defence

This is real Captaincy

I'm sure the neutrals enjoyed the game yesterday. Sod the neutrals. I know that by the end of this piece any of those neutrals (or City fans) picking it up will be button-holing me as a bitter Arsenal supporter. Again, sod the neutrals. I know the stuff I'm going to write about the match officials will sound like sour grapes, and maybe that's what it is. Do I care? No.

Let's start with Arsenal's deficiencies and these were pretty much all over the pitch. Nacho Monreal is not an alternative to Kieran Gibbs. Monreal is a back-up. He's a squad player, and that's fine as he's perfectly adequate as that. What he can't do is come in to the side for a big game and take over while Gibbs is given a break. There are times when rotation is necessary. There are times when rotation is welcome. Your biggest Premier League game of the season is not one of them. We don't play for 9 days after the game yesterday. You do not rest players in games like that. Monreal was so far out of his depth and so far off the pace at times that he looked like he was playing in a different match. The lack of pace in the Spaniard is a massive handicap against decent opposition.

Monreal wasn't helped by the fact that his centre-backs chose yesterday to play their worst game of the season. The first goal saw everybody standing still, but none moreso than Laurent Koscielny. The lack of concentration was unforgivable. It wasn't as though Aguero had to make a decent run to get past him (though the corner should never have been given as I will write about below). Mertesacker was equally culpable for David Silva's goal. He must have seen the Spaniard a yard in front of him, but he made no move to get closer. With Vermaelen doing his usual walkabout at the near post it meant Silva was all alone once Monreal had been beaten too easily again. It says plenty about our play that Szczesny let in six goals without being at fault for any of them.

The defence, if I'm being fair, had so little cover in front of them. I felt that Aaron Ramsey was basically playing all alone in there for most of the game. Only Ramsey and Theo Walcott come out of yesterday with credit as far as I'm concerned. There was no running, no tackling, no spirit in the midfield. Jack Wilshere was an absolute passenger pretty much throughout and the way he gave the ball away at times was criminal. To react to the crowd like he did showed a terrible immaturity that will now see him banned thanks to the media coverage (Alan Shearer couldn't hide his delight at highlighting it on Match Of The Day last night - perhaps Jack should tell the FA he won't go to the World Cup if they ban him as such behaviour has been enough to allow BBC pundits to play in FA Cup Finals in the past, hasn't it Alan?) The worst culprit, however, was Ozil. Setting up Theo's first goal was his only contribution of the day. Sadly he also set up Man City's third goal with one of the most careless passes I've ever seen. I've seen people saying Flamini should have cut the ball out. Nonsense. The pass from Ozil was woeful and Flamini couldn't quite rescue the situation. A £45m player should not be going missing in big matches. I read people on Twitter giving abuse to those criticising Ozil and saying that anyone having a go "doesn't understand what sort of player he is". I understand fully that, at the moment, he's a player that doesn't earn his money in the way he should for someone with such ability. I read a stat earlier that David Silva had as many tackles, interceptions and headers as Ozil yesterday (zero) but saw more of the ball so influenced the play more. The reason Silva saw more of the ball than Ozil was that he worked a thousand times harder to make sure he could get on the ball. I was so pleased to see Mertesacker absolutely fuming with his good friend at the final whistle over his disrespect of the travelling Gooners. That's what I want from my Arsenal Captain, and definitely not what I want from my star player. Ozil needs to step it up and I hope the rocket he got from the BFG is enough to make him come out against Chelsea and show us all just how great a player he is.

The last player to get the sharp end of my tongue today is Olivier Giroud. I've said all season that he has been outstanding. His improvement has been immeasurable. However, if there is a fault in his game it is that his finishing ability is sub-standard. We saw it last week against Everton, and yesterday was an embarrassment. In five minutes after we went 3-1 down Giroud missed three open goals. I can just imagine the hatred that would have been pouring forth had Nicklas Bendtner been falling over his feet when faced with a ball six yards from goal and a choice of scoring or laying one on a plate for Theo Walcott. Ultimately, as important as Giroud is to the way Arsenal play, he is not the centre-forward that can win games on his own. The very best sides have a goalscorer who can win matches with their ability to put the ball in the net (I've just watched Suarez score another cracking goal for Liverpool). Giroud sadly misses too many chances at the moment. We saw it in the game at Stamford Bridge last season. We saw it again yesterday. In the big games, with the fine margins, you have to take your chances. Man City scored with six of their seven shots on target. As I've already said, Szczesny didn't stand a chance with any of them. Giroud, meanwhile, missed the target completely every time.

 

So now the other stuff. I have been beating a drum over corruption in football in this country for a long time now. The events of the past couple of weeks have shown that English football is most definitely bent. It stands to reason that the Premier League, where the big money is, is the most likely to be the most corrupt. What I witnessed yesterday was the biggest clue to things being not quite right since we lost at Old Trafford to end the 49 games unbeaten in 2003. As bad as Arsenal were on the day they created plenty. They were done for by the officials.

In the first half the two linesmen laid down their markers. For City's first goal there should never have been a corner in the first place. Koscielny had to play the ball because a City player was standing behind him. That player was offside. Had he not been there then Koscielny would have been able to let the ball go. Just because the City player didn't touch it doesn't mean he wasn't offside in that situation. The pass was clearly intended for him. The defender only played the ball because he was aware of the run being made behind him. Meanwhile, at the other end, we twice saw Arsenal pulled back for offside when they weren't even particularly close. Things would only get worse.

In the second-half Martin Atkinson, a serial offender of incompetence (or something more sinister?) allowed Yaya Toure (the best player on the pitch) to get away with a studs up, near knee-high, foul on Giroud. He gave the free-kick which would indicate he saw the incident. Why, then, was Toure not sent-off? He then chose to ignore a clear handball by Zabaleta which prevented Theo Walcott from being one-on-one with Pantilimon. It was a penalty. There is no doubt that it was a penalty. Why, then, was it not given?

Let's get on to the two goals Arsenal had disallowed, shall we? Neither of them were offside. Given what we'd seen from that particular linesman for City's goal earlier on I would have to wonder what was different with our players, who weren't infringing. The one good thing Giroud did pretty much all game was score a fine strike on the turn, only to see the flag up when he knew absolutely that he wasn't offside. Nicklas Bendtner buried a good header and suffered the same injustice. Who knows, that goal could have been a turning point for Bendtner as it might have seen Arsenal come back and get a result. As it is he has nothing to show for scoring a fine goal.

If I was a journalist I'd be investigating the officials in the Premier League. As a fan I fail to see that such things can be simply mistakes when it always seems to be certain teams getting the benefit of them. It just so happens that those teams are the ones with massive resources. It doesn't help that the FA chooses to bury its head in the belief that the officials are completely beyond reproach. They also constantly fail to deal with poor performance from the officials. Even if you accept that the bad decisions yesterday were nothing but honest errors there will be no punishment for those responsible. There is so much at stake here that there should be penalties (pardon the pun). If I made such horrendous, obvious, and regular errors in my job I would be unemployed by now. Steve Clarke has seen his West Brom team not given numerous decisions in recent weeks, and he is the one who has been sacked. The likes of Marriner, Atkinson, Dowd etc simply move on to the next pay cheque. The only question for me is who is paying it?

Missed chances cost Arsenal in "fair result"

We missed three of these yesterday

As well as Everton might have played in the first-half yesterday they didn't trouble our goalkeeper at any time. They reminded me a lot of recent Arsenal teams in the way they kept the ball from back to front, but didn't actually threaten to score a goal. As a result Arsenal should have been at least 2-0 up when the half-time whistle was blown. I've said before that Olivier Giroud, with all his redoubtable qualities in just about every aspect of his game, is not a World Class finisher. We saw it again yesterday with one-on-ones being missed, and a complete air shot in front of the open goal (thank God Ozil was standing behind him to put it in the net, but just imagine the stick Nicklas Bendtner would be getting had he done it), before hitting a 25 yard screamer that beat everything except the goalpost. Aaron Ramsey, who had an absolute stinker of a game, also missed when clean through on Tim Howard. On such golden opportunities are points won and squandered.

I imagine the Everton fans are starting to think that Moyes had them conned over the last twelve years or so. They've been pretty much there and thereabouts in recent times, but have only the odd European appearance and one Cup Final to remember in all that time. The football being played was functional at best. What they have now is a side playing with pace, movement and attacking flair. There is, however, a nod to the Moyes era of midfield kickers in the shape of Gareth Barry. I consider Barry to be the Mark Thatcher of Premier League football. He's a man who seems able to get away with all sorts of misdemeanour, up to the point where he gets a stern ticking off (or a yellow card) whereupon he goes quiet for the remainder of the game. I resolved to count how many fouls it took for Howard Webb to deal with Barry yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see there were only three of them before a card came out. However, all three of those fouls were yellow card offences. The Mark Thatcher analogy remains appropriate.

I thought Arsene Wenger got a few things wrong yesterday in the way we were set up. I was surprised that Arteta was preferred to Flamini in a game where a good physical presence was needed against the impressive Ross Barkley (King Koscielny and Per Mertesacker were outstanding in their marshalling of Lukaku). If you watch Everton in any game you will see that their full-backs are vital to their attacking threat. That being the case it surely called for a winger to be deployed and get those full-backs afraid of crossing the halfway line. Instead of Walcott being out there from the start we had Wilshere and Cazorla who not only offered no threat in attack, but summarily failed to assist their own defenders in wide areas. Finally, this Everton side has only really been hammered defensively when they played Liverpool the other week and came up against the pace and running of Suarez and Sturridge. This was another reason why Walcott should have started, and the running ability of Rosicky (as well as his combative tackling) would also have been welcome. It's no coincidence that we had our best spell after the substitutions saw those two come on with Flamini adding energy in the centre.

Our goal was odd in that we tossed a ball in to the air to the far-post. Our new target-man Theo Walcott (he won three headers after coming on) laid off a lovely headed pass across goal that saw the ball end up in the net. I thought Theo was brilliant when he came on and showed good touch and good composure on the ball. It was a shame we didn't get the ball out to him a lot more as he was also delivering some excellent crosses, only to find that Giroud had absented himself from the penalty area at times.

I've watched quite a bit of Everton in recent weeks and Deulofeu has missed chance after chance. Against Liverpool alone he wasted three one-on-one opportunities. He missed a couple at Old Trafford in the week. I said to a bloke at work yesterday morning that I fully expected him to score against us, because that's how things seem to work. I wasn't surprised when he did, and what a superb finish it was. Wojciech Szczesny has been so good this season and he had no chance with that goal. The midfield were the ones who should have snuffed out the danger. I'm always telling my 8-year-old when he plays that he mustn't dive in to the tackle and allow the attacker to just breeze past him having sold himself too early. Flamini and Arteta did just that as Everton came forward and both missed the opportunity to hold up Barkley. Once he'd got past them we were in trouble, though Mr Webb might have penalised Lukaku for dangerous play had Everton been playing Manchester United.

After the goal we still had a chance to win the game. Giroud, as I've said, had that incredible effort crash back off the bar. It put me in mind of the goal Neil Mellor scored against us years ago for Liverpool. The other genuine opportunity fell to Mathieu Flamini who miskicked when he should have put his head on it. However, having flunked his shot Flamini was then clearly fouled by Jagielka. I couldn't believe that only Flamini himself appealed for the penalty. I've watched it back on Match Of The Day 2 this evening and it is clear that Jagielka deliberately throws his body in the way of our midfielder to stop him keeping the ball in play. If that wasn't a foul then we might as well give up. Again, nobody has made anything of it, but it's clear as day to me. We should have had a penalty. Put together with Giroud's shot off the bar and our luck certainly wasn't in.

All in all it was a superb game of football between two excellent passing teams. I don't buy in to it being a "fair result" for the reasons given above. We had the chances, we hit the bar, and we should have had a penalty. Everton played very well, certainly as good as any side we've played this season (including Dortmund). It's a measure of how far we've come, I suppose, that the likes of me are lamenting being "only" five points clear after fifteen matches. Onwards and upwards.

 

A quick postscript on another subject. I see that a load more players have been arrested in connection with on-field corruption. Regular readers will know I've been banging a drum on this for a long time. I firmly believe that aspects of English football are bent. It is only a matter of time before Premier League clubs, players or officials are implicated. The history of English football is waiting to be re-written, and Arsenal could be huge beneficiaries.

Opportunity knocks - Arsenal must take it

Can they take their chance this year?

 

 

I wrote in the season preview that there was a chance for someone to maybe take advantage of the flux that was about to affect Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea. Never before had the previous years top three come in to a new campaign with new bosses in place. For Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs this surely represented an opportunity. So far Arsenal have been the team that has pushed forward with the signing of Mesut Ozil providing the absolute X Factor around the Club as a whole.

Despite the carping from the pundits Arsenal have passed just about every test so far. You'd have to think, given what has happened since, that the side wouldn't have lost at Old Trafford had flu not been sweeping the squad. If Arsenal win tomorrow they will go 15 points clear of the Champions. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that, if they're not already out of it, then United would be put away for good with a Gunners victory against Everton. But it's not just Man Utd that can't pick up the "easy" points. Today we've seen Chelsea lose and Man City drop two more points away from home. Liverpool may have two comfortable home wins in the last four days, but they lost at Hull last week and we swept them aside at our place a month or so ago.

With the way the results have gone again this weekend there is a massive chance for Arsenal to put distance between themselves and everyone else. In a way there is even more pressure on the game tomorrow because of the opportunity it represents. I said on Thursday that we would know by Christmas if we are serious contenders. The fact is now that if we get results in our next three games the Premier League would be Arsenal's to throw away. If someone offered me a win and two draws from our next three games I would bite their arm off. Not losing to City or Chelsea is crucial as it means neither of them will have got any closer to us in the table.

It's quite difficult to not get too carried away at the moment. The truth is that I don't want to start believing yet. At the same time that might be affecting my enjoyment a little bit. Sadly we've been up there a couple of times since we last won the Title and then blown it when it was ours to win. I listened to Alan Davies on the excellent The Tuesday Club podcast this week and he said he wished it was May now so that at least he would know how it turns out. He also pointed out that, with our record, it's too early to get excited. Apart from anything else I couldn't handle six months without sleep because the thought of Arsenal winning the Premier League is filling your mind all the time. Davies also mentioned that in 2008 we were 8 points clear in February but fell apart spectacularly. December is definitely too soon to start getting excited.

Having said all of that there are some major differences to 2008. Hear are a few: We don't have Almunia keeping his place ahead of Lehmann; we don't have Gael Clichy at left-back; we don't have a knackered Kolo Toure coming in to the side and breaking up an excellent Senderos/Gallas partnership; we don't have a Captain so unsuited to the role as Gallas; we don't have Greedybayor not passing to Nicklas Bendtner to guarantee three points at Birmingham just because he didn't like him; we don't (yet) have our goal poaching striker laying in hospital with his ankle completely shattered. This team simply "feels" different. At the same time we are lacking anyone who knows what it's like to go the distance in the Premier League and win the Title. However, there is an aura about some of the Arsenal players at the moment. They play the game for each other with the requisite fight needed to get over the line. To borrow a line from Arsene Wenger they seem to have "exceptional spirit" in this squad of players, not least in the way the German internationals seem to be leading the squad, and who seem to love being at Arsenal.

As usual I have to sound a note of caution in that we have been pretty exceptional in terms of results since February this year. At some point there is going to be a blip. We will undoubtedly go through a phase where results falter. If that phase is over the next four weeks then we are in trouble. If it comes in the four weeks after that then, while unwelcome, it wouldn't be such an issue. With Podolski, Walcott and Chamberlain all hopefully returning to full fitness, and Jack Wilshere being handled very sensibly (largely thanks to the fact that Aaron Ramsey has been so good) there is no case of tired legs. At the same time there is still the need to bring in some genuine back-up to Giroud in January - it would be criminal to throw away a Title through not having someone who can play a run of games if required (Bendtner probably could, in fairness, but he wouldn't get given the time by many in the home crowd to "enjoy" a run in the side). There is one more person knocking about who could be a huge figure in the run-in. If Arsenal can get to March still up there challenging then Abou Diaby, if he could just stay fit for seven or eight games, might just provide the midfield spark that could carry us over the line. Diaby has the ability to have a massive impact and that could be Kevin Campbell-esque if we can get there. That's a long way off, of course, and a win over Everton is what matters most at this very moment.

Wenger's big surprise works out well

Well done big man

As I wrote yesterday Arsene Wenger was always planning to "rotate" one or two of his players for the game against Hull. I didn't think there would be as many as five changes and I certainly didn't expect to see Nicklas Bendtner in the starting line-up. The Dane wasn't even in the 18 at Cardiff on Saturday so it was definitely a shock to see him come in for Olivier Giroud. With Walcott back and Podolski on his way I thought that maybe Bendtner had finally made his last Arsenal appearance. As it was he managed to do his job well.

I don't agree with this resting of key men from the starting XI as it doesn't often pay off. Last night Arsene got it right, however, with Bendtner taking less than two minutes to repay the Manager's faith. I said in the preview piece that Carl Jenkinson is capable of putting in some good crosses and he certainly proved me right with that delivery for Bendtner's early goal. It was a really good move down Arsenal's right, and the movement off the ball created the space for a first time cross from The Corporal. Bendtner had made a perfectly timed run and could hardly miss having got on the end of it. It was a really superb goal. I've now seen Bendtner get three goals this season (he scored twice for Denmark against Italy) and each of them has been from a good cross that he's been able to attack. If there has ever been a defence for Bendtner's play in an Arsenal team then it has to be that we haven't played to his strengths often enough. If you could just get him to stay in the middle and then put a decent cross in he will invariably get on the end of it.

It was a fairly dominant display from there on. The second goal, right after half-time, was a killer for Hull. Again it was a magnificent Arsenal goal. Aaron Ramsey clearly saw Mesut Ozil's pass to Flamini on Saturday and felt that he fancied a piece of that action. It was a wonderful ball he played behind the defence for Ozil to easily pass the ball in to the bottom corner. It was simple yet utterly brilliant. My brother tells me that the people sitting next to him arrived late for both halves of the game and missed both Arsenal's goals. Serves them right.

You could argue that Arsenal should have won by more goals such was the dominant way they held the game last night. On a lot of occasions I would be inclined to agree. However, when you consider we play Everton, Napoli and Man City (two of those away from home) in six days next week then the conservation of some energy is welcome. The scheduling by Sky/BT Sport of those two Premier League games is a scandal for which the FA should be ashamed to have allowed to happen. As it is, we've ticked off another win and earned another three points. City and Chelsea keep winning, but so do Arsenal at the moment. Another loss for Man Utd has put them out of the race it would seem. Liverpool are still hanging around, reliant on Luis Suarez. Spurs' comeback win at Fulham could see them start to pick things up now. As long as Arsenal keep grinding out the results it doesn't much matter what anyone else does. Get to Christmas without being reeled in by City or Chelsea and it is very much there for us to go and win. These next three Premier League games are huge. By December 25th we'll know if we are genuine contenders.

The Tigers are coming to tea

The Corporal is reporting for duty

As I said yesterday I'm not surprised that Bacary Sagna isn't in the squad this evening. His thigh was heavily bandaged during the game at Cardiff on Saturday and, with Everton, Man City and Chelsea to face in the next three weeks, it's important that he can get some kind of rest. Given that Lukas Podolski has been out since time began with a hamstring injury Arsenal really can't risk Sagna any further. Given that Everton have the likes of Deolefeu (don't know if I've spelt that correctly) and Nasri to dribble at our full-backs in the not too distant future I would be far more confident if Bac was on the pitch.

Sagna's absence gives an opportunity for Carl Jenkinson to further his own claims. I have to say that The Corporal's recent displays have not filled me with confidence. Last season he appeared more than ready to step up whenever he was needed. Of late he's looked a little out of sorts. Having Per Mertesacker alongside him will undoubtedly help as the BFG will be pulling and pushing him in to position whenever he needs to. Jenkinson is very capable when going forward and has regularly shown decent crossing ability when he gets in to those forward areas. Any injury to Sagna this season represents a massive chance for Jenkinson to push himself towards an England spot for Brazil 2014. The fact is that Glenn Johnson appears injury prone, while Kyle Walker spends more time out of position than any full-back I've ever seen. I can't believe that either Jenkinson or Nathaniel Clyne aren't capable to forcing their way in ahead of Walker before next summer.

Hull City come to our place tonight a little more humble than when last they visited under Phil Brown. I'm sure Fabregas will be sitting at home in Barcelona wearing his puffa jacket and jeans just to annoy Brown. Having been relegated they have done exceptionally well to come back to the Premier League so quickly. Steve Bruce is equally as execrable as Brown at times, but at least he has had moderate success as a Manager on more than one occasion. Their win over Liverpool was fantastic at the weekend but hopefully it's taken plenty of wind from their sails ahead of tonight.

Among the players at Hull are a couple of ex-Spurs men. Tom Huddlestone will fill a huge hole in midfield and Ozil will have to be careful that he doesn't get eaten by him. I hope Arsenal aren't having to provide the post-match buffet for Hull's players as feeding Huddlestone could actually bankrupt some clubs. In all seriousness Huddlestone can pass the ball very well on his day. Arsenal mustn't stand off him when he gets the ball as pressure put on him would see him all at sea in the centre of the park.

For Arsenal there is more and more talk of rotation. There is a possibility that Kieran Gibbs will again be rested but with Sagna out I think that's one change too many in "rotation" terms in the back four. In midfield there are options of course. Flamini could come in, though I'd rather save his energy for getting around the pitch against Everton on Sunday. Gnabry, Rosicky and Walcott are all pushing for a start in other areas of the midfield, and Theo may well be used up front instead of Olivier Giroud. The big Frenchman has started to look a little weary late on in some games of late which is hardly surprising given the work he has been getting through. What worries me is that, without Giroud, we lose the fulcrum to our attack. There is no doubt that the goals scored from midfield this season owe a lot to his domination of centre-backs. Theo is not that player, and Nicklas Bendtner simply isn't a genuine option. For me Giroud has to play. I would rather we went out at our strongest, as we used to, got the game wrapped up and then rested players. It is far better to win a game early than to find youselves desperately chasing a goal late on. The team selection will be the most interesting part of the build up to this one.

Ozil back in the game

Came to the party at Cardiff

I know it was a few days ago but I can't let the superb display at Cardiff go by without writing a little about it. I would have been happy enough had the boys gone down there and come away with a hard-earned point. To go there and put on such a tremendous performance was testament to the way these players have been going about their business this season.

Aaron Ramsey was once again the star of the show in his home city. I said in the preview piece on Friday that he would be a different player from the youngster who played against Cardiff in his first season at Arsenal. The respect he showed to the fans of the team he supports was admirable (though he did celebrate Flamini's goal!) and he got similar respect in return. The applause that greeted his first goal was very similar to that which Eduardo received when scoring against Arsenal for Shakhtar Donetsk a couple of years ago. Football fans may be a fickle bunch, but we know a nice guy when we see one and that's why people like Ramsey and Eduardo are still loved even after they've moved on. Maybe the likes of Van Persie could have learned something there, rather than running their mouths off at those who had made them in to a World Class performer in the first place (claiming that Alex Ferguson was responsible for him being so good was the most disrespectful thing he could have said after the support he received from Arsene Wenger).

As much as Ramsey was the key man in scoring two tremendous goals - the header for his first was an outstanding finish - I want to single out Mesut Ozil for some praise. I've been very critical of the German and his ineffectual performances of late. On Saturday he was much more involved in the general play, with the extra space created by the running of Cazorla, Wilshere and Ramsey being something he could revel in. He provided the cross for that Ramsey header but the pass for Flamini's goal was the one thing in the game that took the breath away. If a better pass gets played this season then I can't wait to see it. It is a player of rare ability that can see the brilliant run from midfield and then thread the pass through two or three defenders, at the most perfect weight imaginable, to allow a first-time strike from Flamini who didn't have to break his stride. The finish itself was emphatic, but the pass was from another planet. That is the quality you pay £45m for and if it's a sign that Ozil is starting to settle then it can only be good for Arsenal.

The games now come thick and fast until the FA Cup 3rd round in January. Tomorrow we play a Hull side that will be buzzing after their win over Liverpool on Sunday. We will go in to the game without the rested/injured Bacary Sagna. He had a massive strapping on his thigh during the game at Cardiff so I'm not surprised he is out. I'll preview that game tomorrow morning in more detail.