Arsene's new policy

Recognise some of them?

When Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal we were very much an English dominated club. Apart from Dennis Bergkamp there weren't too many foreign players knocking about. Obviously a number of those English players were among the very best of their time, which is why Arsenal were able to compete for honours to a reasonable level year on year. At the time of Arsene's arrival England had just got to the semi-final of Euro '96 and seemed to be going places. France, on the other hand, had been dumped out and seemed to be going nowhere. What we didn't know was that France was about to uncover a golden generation of players, led by Deschamps, Zidane and Desailly, that would go on to be a fairly dominant force over the next 10 years, up to the Final of the 2006 World Cup. While we in England were ignorant to it, Arsene Wenger obviously was not.
Wenger's first move, even before he arrived, was to bring in Patrick Vieira. He would go on to be joined at Arsenal by Emmanuel Petit, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord. Each of these players would play a key role, at some point, in that French international success. They all would be crucial to Arsenal's successes in the ensuing years as well.
You can argue that Arsene was very fortunate to be able to take advantage of France's resources when they were at their peak in terms of talent. To do so would overlook the fact that he recognised in these young men (only Petit could have genuinely been considered as an experienced player, possibly Pires or Wiltord at a push) that they were going to be World Class footballers. Off the back of that Arsenal enjoyed a similarly successful period up to 2006. Since that year, when both lost in Final matches they should have won, both Arsenal and France have fallen back in to the shadows. Both are still feared to a certain extent, and often threaten to produce something, but usually fall a little short of the very top, hence no trophies.
So what has Arsene done since the French talent pool dried up? Unfortunately for us he has put his faith in youth and promising players. It is a plan that has not worked out for Arsenal. The likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Hleb etc have regularly burned reasonably brightly, only to walk out for pastures new when it suited them. The year 2011 was a terrible twelve months for Arsenal and for Wenger. Results on the pitch were bad for most of the year, and off the pitch the transfer dealings were simply managed in an unacceptable manner. However, within all of that, and with the recent signing of Podolski I have seen, I believe, a new strategy. This new course being sailed is once again going to be supported by a generation of players from one particular country.
At the last World Cup I think everyone was surprised by the way an unfancied Germany performed. They really weren't expected to come anywhere close to the standards expected of a German side on the biggest stage. Critics were summarily confounded as they played arguably the finest attacking football of the tournament. Along with Argentina they were the only "entertainers" in the last World Cup. Most of this was done with a number of relatively young players. Two of those players are now at Arsenal - Mertesacker and Podolski. We are clearly interested in signing Mario Gotze from Dortmund (sadly the rest of Europe is also watching him). There is another young German in the Reserves now, in the shape of Thomas Eisfeld. He may turn out to be the "Aliadiere" in Arsenal's growing German cast, but I think I can now see what Wenger is up to. Germany are the up and coming international force. We have two of their national team players already. This could act as the same kind of snowball effect that got us Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord. If Gotze, and maybe one or two others, take Arsenal's bait then we could re-live the glory days, albeit with a German-filled side, rather than French. It's enough to make you excited about the future - as long as the necessary business is done to bring in the quality, and ship out the rubbish.

Happy Birthday Rocky, Thanks Big Sol

Why on Earth did he leave Tottenham?

I promised on Monday that I would be bringing you a special piece about Arsene Wenger's current transfer policy. That is still coming your way, but two events today have rather superseded that particular space-filler. First of all I was reminded via his children, Melissa, Ryan and Monique (through their Twitter feeds), that today is the birthday of David Rocastle. Secondly, we have had an announcement from Sol Campbell that he has retired from football (in fairness I think most people kind of assumed that happened a year ago).

As regular readers will know David Rocastle is one of my favourite ever players. As I was growing up he was my first hero in an Arsenal shirt. Like most very young Gunners in the early 1980s I assumed that Charlie Nicholas was God in red and white. As I grew to know my own mind, however, my favourite player became The Rock. Every year on his anniversary I dedicate the post simply to the Great Man. I see nothing wrong in doing something similar in celebration of what would have been his 45th birthday, though today I want to write about why he was special to me.
David Rocastle was a special talent. He had pace, power, skill and an eye for goal. He was tough, strong and determined. He would never back down from anyone - just ask Norman Whiteside who found he couldn't bully the young Londoner in what was the spark for the long running feud between Arsenal and Manchester United, which festered until Martin Keown finished it in 2003 (it's often thought that Nigel Winterburn's goading of McClair in the FA Cup was the catalyst, but it was actually the unjust red card for Rocky that set things off). Above all that he was a genuinely nice man. When someone in the public eye passes away we always get the talking heads queueing up to tell us what a good person they were. In David's case people were doing that years before he even fell ill. I implore you to find a copy of a video Arsenal produced during his time with us called "Rocastle - The Rocky Road To Success". In that you will see some of the finest tributes you could wish to hear about this proud, respectful (respected), and excellent family man. I wish I could have got to meet him.
In some ways I am too young to talk with authority on David Rocastle. When he had his peak years with Arsenal I was too much of a child to really appreciate what I was watching when I saw him play, and the need to take those memories with me. I remarked on Twitter earlier as to one of my favourite Rocky memories. It came not with the goal at White Hart Lane in 1987, but around 18 months later in a game at Anfield. Rocky scored a stunning equaliser from the right edge of the box, with one of the most thunderous shots you will ever see. The ball seemed to stick in the side of the net, such was the power with which it was hit. It was not only a great goal, but it marked a change in English football, and the beginning of the end for Liverpool. Earlier in that season, 1988-89, Arsenal had beaten Liverpool at Highbury in the Mercantile Credit Football League Centenary Trophy. The performance at Anfield in the League Cup, however, was what really made us all realise that we were now challengers to the Liverpool dominance. We eventually drew that game (having had a perfectly good winning goal disallowed late on) and would go on to lost the tie in a second replay at Villa Park. But having outplayed Liverpool at Anfield the players knew they were now better than their opponents. The season finished with Mickey getting the Title clincher back in Liverpool, but without Rocky's goal in the Autumn it might never have happened. I think the reason this goal sticks with me so much is that I was allowed to stay up and watch the highlights on Sports Night that evening. A rare treat, thanks to David Rocastle's extraordinary talent.
I cried when I found out that Rocky had been sold by Arsenal. I was on my way to watch Kent play cricket with my friend Pete, and saw the back of The Sun at the train station. I think I hid it well from my mate, but the tears were there at the thought that David wasn't going to be at Highbury when we went back in August. This came after, in my view, his best season at the Club after switching to the centre of midfield. With his good mate Ian Wright up front it seemed we were in for a long and successful partnership between the two childhood friends. Sadly for Arsenal it wasn't to be. Whatever possessed George Graham to sell his finest midfielder will always be a mystery to me.
I've found this rather superb tribute piece to David on Youtube this evening. I don't know why I haven't noticed it before, but the feelings of his peers towards him are clearly as heart-felt as they can be. Happy Birthday Rocky, always missed but never forgotten.

I remember exactly where I was when Arsenal signed Sol Campbell. I was at work and had heard earlier in the day that Arsenal had called a press conference to announce another signing - 2001 was a very busy and very good Summer of transfer activity for Arsenal supporters. It was assumed that we would be unveiling Richard Wright that morning, but he would have to wait 48 hours for his moment. I had been telling people for six months that Sol was coming to Arsenal. The longer his future dragged out, the more likely it seemed in my view. Part way through the morning I decided to take a break and logged on to the internet. I was met on Arsenal's website with the headline - Sol Campbell Signs For Arsenal. At that point the website crashed due to the traffic trying to get on to it, and I could get no more details. Sitting behind me in the office was my mate, and fellow Gooner, Jimmy. I jumped up and shouted "Yes! Jimmy we've signed Campbell!" I don't think he believed me at first.
Signing Tottenham's best player and Captain was all a bit surreal. I couldn't really take it in, and it still hadn't sunk in with me when I went to the first home game that season against Leeds. I got my new gold away shirt printed with Campbell 23, like most other people that year, and it only sunk in that he was with us when I got my first sight of him in the flesh, wearing an Arsenal shirt. In truth he would go on to struggle up until he played back at Spurs, and got that monkey off his back. From then on he cemented his place among the legends.
I can understand why the Tottenham fans despise Campbell so much. However, even the most rabid of them must realise why he chose to come to Arsenal. If they are in any doubt they should remember that he had won the Double by the end of his first season. Sol went on to be one of the key men in the Invincibles. Jens Lehmann can not talk any more highly of Sol in that years end of season DVD. Sol was a leader and a dominant defender at Arsenal. He had success and won trophies. Even if he hadn't turned his back on that lot up the road, which immediately brought him hero status at Arsenal, his ability would have made him a firm favourite.
Sol remains the only Arsenal player to have scored in a European Cup Final. Sadly it wasn't quite enough to bring the ultimate glory. I was disappointed with the way he left Arsenal in 2006. All that had been forgotten when he came back two years ago. That period in 2010 gave Sol a new lease of life. He was absolutely incredible and he carried the Arsenal team through those final months of a season that should have seen success. Sadly nobody else could get up to his standards. It remains a bug-bear of mine that Manuel Almunia was the Arsenal Captain at White Hart Lane that season, when Sol should have led the team. His performance that night should be held as a blueprint for how to play at centre-back at Arsenal Football Club. It was a tour de force that couldn't bring us victory due to the incompetence of those around him. Sol would walk out on us again at the end of the season, and play only eight games for Newcastle - had he stayed at Arsenal he'd have played a whole lot more, and we might just have held on for the Title last season.
For all that his two departures from Arsenal have been odd, it is clear from listening to him that he sees Arsenal as his Club. I would not be averse to seeing Sol back around the place as he does his coaching badges - the more winners and legends that are involved the better. Thanks Sol for all the great memories, and the trophies, and thanks for coming to Arsenal and destroying Spurs in the process. Sol Campbell, Arsenal legend.

It's all happening

Weltklasse

It's been a quite couple of weeks, but all that has changed over this weekend. First of all we saw Arsenal taking what could prove to be a crucial point at Stoke (though with better finishing, better refereeing, and a little luck it could have been all three points). This was followed by the hilarious news that Harry Redknapp has not even been contacted by the FA as they are about to appoint Roy Hodgson, and I am delighted for old "Woy" as he is very well qualified, with relevant experience and a good record across Europe (he also took Fulham to a European final, remember). Then today Arsenal have trumped it all with the biggest signing the Club has made since Dennis Bergkamp arrived in 1995. Make no mistake, Lukas Podolski is a World Class player and, at just 26 years old, he should have his best years still ahead of him.

Let's start at Stoke with a brief review. I felt their goal was avoidable had Vermalen and/or Gibbs done more to put Crouch off. As it was he rose (unusually for him) unchallenged and planted a good header past Szczesny. Before and after that the game was largely dominated by Arsenal. Chances came and went as per usual. The goal was made by the best cross of the season by Tomas Rosicky and RVP couldn't miss from there. We should have had a penalty. I don't care that one or two angles make it look "soft" when the main TV camera shows the clear push on Yossi Benayoun. A point at Stoke, given our record there, looks okay on the face of it, but a win would have been so much better for us at this stage. Six points from our final two games are an absolute must now.
What went on off the pitch at Stoke has not had nearly enough publicity. All credit to a couple of the newspapers that have highlighted the outrageous abuse directed at Aaron Ramsey, and Alan Hansen also condemned it on Match Of The Day. However, I have not seen mention of it at all on Sky Sports News. What exactly is Rambo's crime here? How half-witted do you need to be to consider him worthy of abuse for having his leg shattered by Shawcross? I even saw one Stoke fan on Twitter claiming that Ramsey's leg was "clearly broken before Shawcross made contact" with him! Unbelievable. Then we have the xenophobic and disgusting chanting at Arsene Wenger. To their credit Spurs and Man Utd have done their best to stamp this out, and Arsenal have done similar with the Adebayor stuff. Not so in the inbred backwaters like Stoke, however. The constant stick handed out to Wenger culminated in most of the crowd mimicking Le Boss and his protests to the referee on the touchline. That the BBC should choose to show this and give a platform for the fat, ugly, northern cow sitting behind the bench to get on TV is bad enough. For Gary Lineker to then find it so obviously amusing, and then put on his own xenophobic "impersonation" of Wenger at the end of the show was a disgrace. Once again the public service broadcaster has lost sight of its basic tenet of impartiality. What Lineker has done, and I'm sure he knew it, is make sure that Arsene will have to suffer this crap wherever he now goes with Arsenal.

A quick word on Harry Redknapp and the England job. It was no surprise to see Harry being interviewed on Sky, in his car, this morning. Sky must be very relieved as they would have had far too much airtime to fill had he gone to work for the FA. The content of his interview was astounding though. Harry said how he "bears no grudges" that Roy Hodgson looks like he will be given the honour of being England Manager. Why should he have the right to hold a grudge? The FA have confirmed that Hodgson is the only person they have approached. This means he is the only person they want, at this stage. Where does the idea of a grudge come from? It's not as though Hodgson has stolen something that rightfully belonged to Redknapp! I have to say that I think Sky missed a trick with this interview. After his jaw-dropping conversation last Tuesday with Ivanovic I would have preferred them to have dispatched Geoff Shreeves to tell Harry the bad news. That would have made for very fine TV.
It was becoming more obvious that Redknapp was not the man the FA wanted. Let's face it, the media appointed Harry to the job as soon as Capello was sacked, but nobody at the FA gave any sign of agreement. The fact that the FA had made no move for him in the intervening months should have been clue enough that they were looking elsewhere. You would have to say, also, that Tottenham's second half of the season has proved them right. Sadly for Roy the press will be waiting with knives sharpened for England to fail. They will not forgive the FA for not appointing their man, and only winning Euro 2012, or a heroic failure akin to Italia '90 can keep the pressure off Hodgson.

And so to Lukas Podolski. With the England business, and Sky's obsession with the Manchester derby this evening, it's almost slipped under the radar in terms of its "news" value. So let's just look at the facts here. Arsenal Football Club, one of the biggest in Europe, has just signed Lukas Podolski, one of the best footballers in Europe. Podolski has 95 caps and 43 goals for Germany, at the age of just 26. This man is a special player and a unique talent. Such a signing deserves far more of a fanfare than our media are giving it. Podolski also happens to be a very decent guy who gave his FC Cologne warm-up shirt to my nephew (who was Arsenal's mascot) before the friendly there last Summer.
With one year left on his deal at Cologne we have got him on the cheap at just £11m. German TV is reporting a weekly wage of £130k. I find that incredibly encouraging. It surely shows a sign of intent from the Club. The wage structure is being rewritten once again, and we can only hope that Podolski is here to play with Robin Van Persie, rather than in place of him. The high wages for Podolski must now be bettered in any offer to RVP.
I mentioned there that this signing feels like a statement of intent. On the face of it we seem to have changed tack. The Club is, hopefully, now looking to move forward again. The last time there was such a signing, and such a feeling of optimism (for me at least) was when Dennis Bergkamp came to Arsenal. The similarities in the signings, and the merits of the players are incredibly similar. If Podolski can be followed by three or four more very good players, one or two squad players (goalkeepers in particular) and the dead-wood gets shipped out (there's still plenty of it) then next season could be good. Could be.

Tomorrow I hope to write a piece about how I see Arsene Wenger's current policy in terms of who he is apparently looking to recruit, and how this is comparable to the way he did things when he arrived at Arsenal. Look out for it some time late tomorrow evening, or early Wednesday morning (more likely on Wednesday to be honest). I'm signing off now to watch Man City play Man Utd in the most important ever game in English football ever. Never before has such a match ever been played in the history of our game ever. Ever.


Note to Sky TV: There will NEVER be another Anfield 1989, so stop trying to create one.

Stoke City (a) preview - get that body armour on

Cretin

Tomorrow has taken on a must-win kind of feel. That being the case there are not many worse places for Arsenal to visit than Stoke City. Our struggles against this lot, particularly at their ground, have been well documented. I've read a lot of quotes from our players and Manager this past couple of days where they've used the words "battle" or "fight" but I'd rather they concentrated on playing Stoke off the pitch. The fact is that, if we impose our game on them, they won't get forward enough to trouble us with the high ball, or long throw, in to our penalty area.
In the absence of Mikel Arteta I expect Aaron Ramsey to continue in the middle of the pitch. There was a thought that Abou Diaby might start tomorrow but he apparently has a "virus" and faces a fitness test (I don't believe that he has a virus). Ramsey struggled badly, along with the rest of the team, when we got hammered at Stoke this time last year. For once it wasn't the usual kicking being given to us either, but Aaron failed to shake off the ghosts of his previous visit when Shawcross snapped his leg in two. Tomorrow he must step up to the plate. The lad has been under such pressure recently that I can see him getting a goal, and it is certainly long overdue. Anything that shoves the sick abuse from the Stoke fans back down their horrible northern throats is more than welcome.

Lots of cretins

Elsewhere in the Arsenal team we are likely to see the hard working Yossi Benayoun come in, and then the boss has a decision to make as to who replaces Theo Walcott. As usual I would like to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain in the starting line-up. The Ox will have no problem addressing the physical challenge of playing against Stoke. He is strong and tough and should relish the chance to run at a poor defence.
You might have guessed from the tone of this piece that I dislike Stoke City. You would be right. I dislike their supporters intensely. Don't get me wrong, they are great fans of their club, and create a non-stop and intimidating atmosphere in their stadium. But they are the same people that rejoiced in what Shawcross did to Aaron Ramsey. If that's how they want to support their team then they're welcome to it.
I also dislike Tony Pulis. This man refused to condemn Shawcross' tackle on Rambo, and is the archetypal small club whinger. He loves getting one over on the big boys, and fair play for that. But he is also very quick to claim that something other than the superior quality on show at a big club is the reason why he might lose those games occasionally. At risk of being pulled up over Arsene Wenger's behaviour on occasion, it really irks me when you get the small club syndrome whingeing whenever something goes wrong. Pulis is a cretin of the highest order and, while I can respect his outstanding success with Stoke, and his ability to coach his players to stick to a very effective style of play, he remains the antithesis of football in the Premier League era. Wimbledon used to be castigated for playing like Stoke do, only they were far better at it. For some reason I can not fathom, Pulis is seen as a genius by our media, where Dave Bassett and Bobby Gould were marked out as villains for their team and its considerable glories. I just don't get it.
As I said at the start of this piece, Arsenal must win tomorrow. If they do then third place is ours for the taking. We must make sure we are ready to do just that.
Cue the neanderthal reaction when this appears on Stoke's NewsNow feed.

Arsenal should not be funding this glee club

Arsenal Ladies - couldn't care less

I had given some thought to writing a piece that went in to some detail on Chelsea's performance in Barcelona on Tuesday evening. I've decided against it but I will say that it was a superb defensive display. Barcelona's play was reminiscent of the worst of Arsenal's football, where there was little clue as to how to break down a massed defence. From a Chelsea point of view it merely served to show what is possible with tactical nous and defensive organisation. The fact that they were missing their centre-halves before half-time was virtually without consequence in the context of the match, simply due to their players' willingness to stick to a very good plan. I didn't want Chelsea to win, and I hope they lose in the final, but credit where it is due.

On to (only sightly) more important matters and I want to briefly write about the Arsenal Ladies. I wrote a similar piece last Spring, I recall, whereby I bemoaned the idea of Arsenal Ladies and, more particularly, the fact that they cost Arsenal Football Club more money than they can make. That was at the beginning of the FA Womens Super League last year. Nothing has changed, apart from the fact that, tonight, Arsenal Ladies are taking to the pitch at Ashburton Grove. This has really annoyed me.
As part of the new semi-professional league some players (up to four per club, I believe) are earning at least £20,000 per year to masquerade as footballers. You can be fairly certain that Arsenal, being the pre-eminent force in English female football, will be doing just that. This is a far bigger waste of money than paying large wages to the likes of Bendtner and Denilson. At least those two might have actually produced something that was of benefit to Arsenal Football Club in some way. On top of that outlay is the money paid to the rest of the squad, the coaches and physios etc as well as the sundry costs of running a football team and various youth sides. On top of all that is a hire fee paid to Borehamwood FC to use their pitch in order for games to take place. There is simply no way that this is a good business move for Arsenal.
When you bear in mind that Arsenal has a wage structure and won't pay out big transfer fees, much to the frustration of its paying supporters, how can the Club justify spending money that can't be recouped on Arsenal Ladies? I know the player wages for these women are a drop in the ocean compared to the real Arsenal footballers but, to coin a popular advertising slogan, every little helps. I'm sure every Gooner in the land would rather see the money wasted on Arsenal Ladies being put towards keeping Robin Van Persie. Now they are playing at the stadium, under floodlights. I suspect the gate receipts might not even cover the cost of the electricity used in the ground tonight.
I realise I will probably get accused of being a "dinosaur" and other such nonsense for writing this piece. I have no problem with women playing football. Good luck to them if that's what they want to do. But from the point of view of Arsenal Football Club it must be recognised that this is a waste of important funds. If you consider that the professional league in the USA, where women's "soccer" is huge, has collapsed, what chance does female professional football have in England? Ultimately it's about quality, and the standard of a game of women's football is simply not what people are going to part with big money to watch. It does nothing for Arsenal and I implore the powers that be to end this gravy train and focus on what's important - the winning of real trophies.

Van Persie - Player Of The Year...but not Footballer Of The Year?

More than deserved

I was always confident that our Captain would be rewarded for his amazing last 16 months with the PFA Player Of The Year award. Robin Van Persie has dominated the Premier League since returning to fitness in early 2011. For the award to have gone elsewhere would have been utterly ridiculous. Last year we had the nonsense spectacle of the chimp from White Hart Lane getting the trophy on the strength of two games against Inter Milan (incidentally, Kyle Walker winning the Young Player ahead of Sergio Aguero is an utter nonsense and appears to have been part of an elaborate betting scam that saw high-street bookmakers closing the book last week). This year I felt there was nothing that would stop our man from getting his hands on his deserved silverware.
So what does the title of this piece mean exactly? As the news was being leaked all over Twitter last night that Van Persie had won (the PFA had put a press embargo on the news until late in the evening for some reason, overlooking ready access to the internet on mobile phones for those present) it was being soured by the journalists that report on football in this country of ours. Regular readers will be fully aware of my dislike for these people. Many of them have declared themselves experts on the game, and they truly believe they know more about football than not just you and me, but also esteemed managers and players. The arrogance of these people was summed up on ESPN yesterday as Neil Ashton (an annoying little clown at the best of times) stated that the FA should appoint Harry Redknapp as "all the media want him in the job." The journalists, of course, have their own award - the Football Writers Association Footballer Of The Year. This is generally considered the "real" player of the year award due to its longevity. It had some merit in the year it was awarded to Robert Pires after he had been ridiculously overlooked by the PFA in favour of Van Diver Boy at Man Utd. This year it may well be different.
Last Sunday, on Sky's "Sunday Supplement" programme we heard one of these wonderfully well versed people, Martin Lipton, stating that he believed Wayne Rooney to be Footballer Of The Year. His failure to hide his Manchester United bias was embarrassing. Yesterday this took on a whole new dimension with two of Fleet Street's highest profile football reporters stating that Shrek had received their votes also. Brian Woolnough and Oliver Holt are very recognisable to most football fans, and I suspect their opinion is well respected among their colleagues (even though most of us that watch the game know they talk utter drivel most of the time). There appears to be a growing momentum among these cretins to give their trophy to Rooney. They are now quick to point out that he is only one goal behind RVP in the Premier League this season. That's a fair point, but they have been telling us all season that Van Persie has been carrying Arsenal. We have been a "one man team" who "couldn't survive" without RVP. Given that this has been the argument they've given all season, it must follow that Arsenal's current League position of third is a remarkable achievement for one man. If RVP has carried Arsenal to third place single-handed, while Rooney has been surrounded by such an array of talent at Man Utd (cough), surely it must follow that Van Persie is Footballer Of The Year?
It will be very interesting to see what happens when their award is finally announced. Just a brief look at the quality of Van Persie's all-round play and spectacular goals should be enough for him to walk it. However, I fear the press and their love of Manchester United will see him miss out. I hope to be wrong, as Van Persie deserves so much to be recognised as the best player in England right now (even if he appears to have got his suit off Trigger from Only Fools And Horses).

Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea - if you don't try to score?

John Wayne - he knew the importance of shooting

Today's game was once again extremely underwhelming for Arsenal supporters. In the first-half we were lacklustre, apart from the last five minutes, while the second-half saw loads of possession, but not one single shot on target. It says it all for me that, for all the ball we had, Szcesny had far more to do than Petr Cech after half-time - I thought Szczesny was outstanding actually, doing the things that set apart a goalkeeper from a shot-stopper (the difference between a David Seaman and a Manuel Almunia, if you like).
The most frustrating aspect, and not for the first time, was our lack of interest in actually going for goal. I would have said you have more chance of scoring a goal if you actually try to do so. We've all seen Lampard's uncanny ability to score goals that take deflections, but one of the reasons for those deflections is his willingness to actually have a go. One of the only times Robin Van Persie had a shot in the second-half was the only occasion you wanted him to bring it down and beat his man. His decision to try and turn Cahill inside-out twice was infuriating, but his decision to try and play an impossible pass to Santos with things opening up for a left-foot strike on the edge o the box was plain criminal. Put that with his disgraceful miss from two yards in the first-half and it's fair to say Van Persie had a shocker. In fact he's been having a shocker for the past five or six games. I suspect this is the only blog where you'll read a word of criticism about the skipper today, but he certainly had the look of someone moving on this afternoon. It was a very Hleb/Flamini/Henry/Nasri/Fabregas (*delete as appropriate) kind of performance.
You can look at Van Persie's miss and Koscielny's header against the bar and maybe consider us slightly unfortunate. I don't believe we were. There was a lack of urgency, pace , ideas and effort in evidence yet again. It's no coincidence that if Song and Van Persie perform badly (as they both have in the last two games) then Arsenal struggle. Ramsey worked hard, but was caught on the ball far too often once again. Rosicky buzzed around and, along with Gibbs and Koscielny (who took his turn, after Djourou on Monday, to carry Thomas Vermaelen in defence) was our best outfield performer.
The substitutions once again defy any logic. I hope that Tomas Rosicky had a knock as to take him off seemed ludicrous. Diaby didn't too badly at all, but I would rather have seen Song or Ramsey taken off. Withdrawing Chamberlain to bring on a left-back just underlined how Wenger pre-ordains his changes - there was no way The Ox was getting through the ninety minutes today in almost any circumstances. Then we have the Walcott injury. For the second game in a row a player was sent back out by Colin Lewin and has made an injury worse. Walcott has a "serious" hamstring problem. As much as I don't rate him, and don't follow England, it would be cruel indeed for him to miss Euro 2012 as a result of the Club not protecting his injury properly. Also I should mention that it took Gervinho a full five minutes to get stripped and ready. That is not acceptable. If you're on the bench then you should simply have to slip off your tracksuit and get on the pitch. He was sat there putting on shin-pads and tie-ups and adjusting his boots etc for what seemed an age. In the meantime Theo tried to run and completely knackered his leg. Not good enough.
Newcastle's win puts Arsenal under genuine pressure for third place, though QPR beating Tottenham has been a real bonus. One point from six at home is not what you need at this stage of the season. A win on Monday would have made 0-0 today perfectly acceptable. We would have been pretty much secure for the top four now had we beaten Wigan. As it is we now must take at least seven points from our final three matches to be sure, in my view. Ordinarily a draw at Stoke would be fine, but we would be on a bad run if we fail to win next weekend. A defeat is unthinkable. Arsenal must find some form, and that probably means Song and RVP finding theirs.