Other Great Cock Ups, part 1: Spring 2008.

Eboue's late blunder against Liverpool got me feeling nostalgic about other comical cock ups from recent bumbling Arsenal teams.

2008- Champions League Quarter Final, second leg: Liverpool away.
The culprit: Kolo, and everyone else.
Arsenal endured some rotten luck in this tie, but stupidity was the ultimate reason they lost it. With minutes to go, Theo Walcott produced a rare moment of brilliance, racing past numerous challenges from the edge of one box to the other on a marathon sprint, then pulling the ball back for Adebayor to slot home. With the score at 2-2, Arsenal were heading through on away goals. In this situation, most good teams know how to shut up shop and hold on.
As soon as Liverpool kicked off, they sent the ball wide down their left, where Ryan Babel waltzed into the box. Arsenal had been caught snoozing after what should have been the decisive goal, but the danger would probably have been quelled by William Gallas, who was shaping to confront Babel. But Kolo panicked and performed a clumsy-looking windmill impression behind the Dutchman, who conjured some contact and went down to win a penalty. Gerrard converted, and Babel scored another in stoppage time to remove any doubt.
It may have been a harsh penalty, but Toure was stupid, Arsenal were sleepy and unprofessional. It was already becoming a familiar theme...

2008- Premiership: Birmingham away
The culprit: Gael Clichy
People like to pinpoint the Old Trafford capitulation in the FA Cup, but Arsene Wenger practically forfeited that game with his team selection. This was the day that a promising season really started to fall apart.
First, Eduardo was snapped in two by Martin Taylor's dopey lunge, and Arsenal played the rest of the first half in a daze, despite their numerical advantage after Taylor's dismissal. At half time they trailed to James McFadden's fine free kick.
Pulling themselves together, Arsenal did enough after the interval to win the game. Theo Walcott plundered a quick fire brace, and Adebayor should have squared to Bendtner to finish off the game, but shot selfishly because he hated the Dane.
Still, that should not have mattered. Conceding once to 10 men was bad enough- surely Arsenal would not do it again. Birmingham had not posed much of a threat, but as we have seen countless times since, if you can't make a chance, Arsenal will make one for you. In the final minute, Gael Clichy sized up a loose ball in his own penalty area, unaware, somehow, that a Birmingham player was ready to steal in. Clichy recovered to nick the ball away but the referee awarded a penalty. McFadden scored, Gallas lost the plot, Arsenal's season fell to shit.
Clichy's mistake was probably the single stupidest thing I have seen an Arsenal player do. Some might argue that his career has not yet recovered.

Blue Sunday

Carling Cup Final: Birmingham 2-1 Arsenal
Some are hoping that Arsenal can pick themselves up from this, and win one of the three bigger tournaments they are still competing for this season. I am asking whether they will win another trophy under Arsene Wenger.

The team were on a decent run of results until yesterday. Unbeaten since the meek surrender to United at Old Trafford. But there had been signs of weakness. Most obviously, there was the amazing collapse at Newcastle, drawing a game they had led 4-0. More relevant to yesterday, perhaps, was the struggle during the FA Cup ties against Leeds, Huddersfield, and Leyton Orient. These games suggested that Arsenal's reserve players struggle to beat limited, but well-orgainised and highly motivated underdogs.

Against Birmingham, Wenger did not want to play too many of his back-up players. But injuries to Fabregas and Walcott forced his hand. Still, that shouldn't have mattered. The only non-regular to come in was Rosicky. Positionally speaking, he is a direct replacement for Fabregas. Quality-wise, he is now painfully inadequate. But the biggest blow, as it turned out, was to the mental side of Arsenal's game. Without their captain and best player, they looked nervous and failed miserably to impose their much-vaunted passing style. Still, big teams win without playing well. They do it by hanging in, not making mistakes...

The game started with Arsenal enjoying a huge slice of luck.

Zigic, found by Fahey, played the best pass of his career through to Lee Bowyer, making a vintage Ljungberg-style run beyond the Arsenal defence. Bowyer reached the ball ahead of the on-rushing Szczesny, and was bowled over by the Pole. It was a clear penalty, and quite possibly a red card, but the linesman had wrongly raised his flag. Clichy was playing Bowyer yards onside.

Arsenal rallied a bit. Their first good bit of play came when a nice reverse pass from Nasri found Arshavin in the box with his back to goal. He shimmied to leave Jiranek flailing, but his left foot shot was repelled by the legs of Foster. The first save of many.

The favourites failed to build on this moment of promise, however. Their play was littered with sloppy moments. Alex McLeish had recognised Arsenal's lack of pace sans Walcott, and the Blues defence played high up the pitch. Arsenal offered no direct threat in behind. Birmingham's pressing was aggressive, fair and very effective. Arsenal players didn't look interested, at times, in getting on the ball and playing their football.

Birmingham took a deserved lead. Sagna gave the ball away with the latest of many poor Arsenal passes. The Blues forced a corner. From it, Djourou went wandering instead of marking the towering Zigic. Johnson won the header over Koscielny, and the big man did the rest, nodding the looping ball into the net from close in. Arsenal, characteristically enough, went to pieces for a spell after conceding. Birmingham threatened a second. Szczesny had to save at Zigic's feet. Arsenal were failing to deal with his aerial threat.

Then, an undeserved equaliser. Wilshere was one of few Arsenal men not buckling under the pressure of expectation. He drove forward on the break. Arshavin eventually found him with a pass from the right, and Wilshere's shot from the edge hit the crossbar and looped out. In the same passage of play, Arshavin got the ball again, beat Ridgewell and crossed for Van Persie, who somehow conjured an agile righ-footed volley on the spin, finding the far corner. Another brilliant goal from the Dutchman, but he took a knock in the process which bothered him until his eventual second half withdrawal.

So Arsenal had, for the second time, got out of jail. Surely they would not mess things up now.

The second half began promisingly enough. Van Persie released Sagna to the byeline, and he measured a ball to the edge of the box where Rosicky was steaming in. The Czech struck on the half volley and the shot went just wide.

Birmingham responded. Fahey struck from the edge of the box, Szczesny well beaten, the inside of the post rattled.

As the half wore on, Birmingham dropped deeper, and the threat of Zigic faded. Arsenal finally imposed themselves for a spell, but still failed to create a gilt-edged chance. Mostly, there were shots from the edge of the area. One such, from Nasri, was batted away by Foster. Arsenal continued to attack with a Birmingham player down injured, and Bendtner, on for RVP, saw his deflected shot clawed away impressively. Rosicky had a backheeled attempt blocked by the on-form netminder. Nasri hit one straight at him.

As the half-chances came and went, and Foster kept out the shots, you started to feel that maybe Birmingham's name was on the trophy. Martins came on to provide Zigic with some company. As the 90 approached, the Blues launced another hoof, Zigic beat Djourou to flick on. Martins stood still and the ball was bouncing through to Szczesny. I'm not sure if he should have even had to shout, but if he did do that, Koscielny heard him too late. The Frenchman pulled out, mid-kick, of what was already an unnecessary clearance. The ball rebounded off his confused keeper, and the loose ball fell comically to Martins, who couldn't miss.

Four minutes were added, but Arsenal failed to mount a meaningful attack. The game was up; they had failed on the big stage yet again. Birmingham celebrated wildly and it was hard to begrudge them their success. They had got the tactics spot on, used Zigic well. They were brave, and correct, to push high and deny Arsenal time to settle. They were denied an early penalty. I was happy for Stephen Carr, one of the outstanding full backs in the Premiership. Birmingham plainly had character in spades, the one attribute that Arsenal most glaringly lack.

THAT GOAL
You have to say, it was apt.
Not particularly unexpected, either. When a massive game is lost late in that manner, you should be surprised. With Arsenal, that's not the case. Defensive mistakes have become routine in recent seasons. Although there has been a brief period of semi-solidity, the CC final saw a return to black slapstick comedy. The first goal was the kind Arsenal concede all the time. But the second was one of the worst we'll ever see. Koscielny was highly impressive against Barca, but the constant aerial barrage against Birmingham clearly frazzled his nerves. There was no need for him to even go for the ball, but I guess he thought Martins was chasing it, and that his keeper hadn't come out to claim. Maybe Szczesny needed to shout, or shout earlier. Maybe Koscileny just should have hoofed now, asked questions later. Maybe the keeper could have been more assertive.

In any case, it's the kind of mistake you just don't see big teams make. But a lack of communication between Arsenal defenders is, at this point, a sad trademark. Something that clearly seperates them from the kind of teams that win things. The goal brought together two fatal flaws that have stained the years since Arsenal's last trophy. Defensive ineptitude, and the absence of experience. Szczesny looks set to be a very good goalkeeper, but he's a rookie. So too, despite the hefty price tag, is Koscielny.

Equally worrying is the unavoidable proof, throughout the game, that Arsenal lack the big game mentality. They looked terrified in the first half. Second period, they improved, and could have scored, but none of the saves Foster was forced into, with the exception of that deflected effort, were amazing, and Arsenal didn't make any great chances. I think they missed Fabregas mentally, but also on a simple, footballing level. None of Arsenal's other attacking midfielders are as incisive, either in their passing or in their running off the ball. Nasri seemed to lack the swagger that has made him so impressive this season. Arshavin was typically erratic, but surely shouldn't have been taken off, especially not for Chamakh, who has been hopeless in recent weeks. Rosicky flitted in and out in his now familiar ineffective style.

Birmingham defended narrow, and Arsenal failed to respond to that by getting wide and making crosses. With Bendtner and Chamakh on the pitch late on, this should have been an obvious tactic, but maybe at that stage Clichy and Sagna were too drained to get forward often enough.

THE AFTERMATH
I had said beforehand that victory could be significant. I am sorry to say I think defeat will be equally significant.

Everyone assumed, since West Ham knocked Man Utd out, that Arsenal would win the Carling Cup. They will not often be presented with opposition like Birmingham in a game of that magnitude. That is no disrespect to Birmingham. But Arsenal tend to struggle to beat the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd. So this was a huge opportunity to end the fallow period.

If they cannot beat Birmingham in a Carling Cup final, how do you think they'll do in the Nou Camp? Do you think they can win an FA Cup quarter final at Old Trafford? Do you think, even if United drop points in the league, that Arsenal are able to take advantage? I think they'd bottle it. I think they will lose in the Nou Camp and lose at Old Trafford. As has happened in recent years, I think the season will fall apart in the space of a couple of weeks.

If Arsenal had played convincingly, and won, I would say it was the first piece of silverware this season, promising the possibility of more. Since they lost, and because of the way they did, I can't help feeling it was actually the last chance to win something this season.

WEAKNESS: if the mental don't get 'em...

... the physical will











Should Arsenal win the Carling Cup this weekend, the club's harshest critics will rain on their parade, dismiss the competition as an irrelevance, and deny that Arsenal have taken a meaningful step back towards the power and poise they exhibited seven years ago. I disagree. I think that Sunday is a huge day for the club, even if the League Cup in itself is the least important trophy they are fighting for. The first taste of genuine success could be the making of this team; defeat, on the other hand, could mean desolation in this campaign and many more.

Of course, this being Arsenal, injuries have taken hold at the very time the campaign is reaching its highest level of intensity. Fabregas is now, sadly, one of the many Arsenal players who can be called injury-prone. His absence, and that of Walcott, will be felt on Sunday, adding to the pressure on the shoulders of players who have, sometimes, buckled. Vermaelen's continued stint on the treatment table is far from ideal, but Arsenal have been living with that for most of the season. More worrying is the prospect of Van Persie missing out, if he cannot recover in time.

Birmingham are pretty far from formidable, but they will not feel as much pressure as Arsenal will on Sunday. Not much is expected of them. They have a dogged, defensive work ethic throughout the team, and the kind of physicality that can ruffle the feathers of those of a more artistic temperament. Up front, they have Zigic, a towering, immobile lump, the kind of player recent Arsenal defences have struggled to deal with. He opened the scoring at the Emirates this season, and back then, he was acclimatising to the English game. Now we can expect him to play a more substantial role and Arsenal will hope he is not to be a central figure in the final.

Djourou is the man who will be expected to quell whatever sporadic aerial threat Birmingham pose. He and Sczcesny, along with the ever-dependable Sagna, have been instrumental in making Arsenal look a little less brittle in recent months. That the Polish keeper was under threat at times from Stoke's grenades will not have escaped the attentions of Alex McLeish, however. As much as Arsenal will try to win the match on the floor, Birmingham will try to do it in the air. Still, the Gunners defence ought to be confident of producing an effective enough performance and providing a platform for the attackers to go and win the game. Gael Clichy has rediscovered some consistency, and Koscielny, assuming he is able to start, has improved immensely since finding a semi-regular partner in Djourou.

Can Arsenal produce when it matters, and without their talismanic captain? Much may be expected of Nasri, but although many believe that the position of central playmaker is his most natural, he is not yet a player who can shape a game, or indeed provide habitually incisive passes, like Fabregas does. An interesting subplot will be whether Nasri actually plays centrally at all; with Walcott's injury, the Frenchman may prove a more natural right-sided attacker than Bendtner, the other obvious option.

Tomas Rosicky could perhaps step into Fabregas's boots, although, after a promising start, his season has lapsed into inconsistency. Perhaps his goal against Leyton Orient will provide a spark. One man who has found one is Arshavin- the jeers of a few weeks ago no longer ring in the Russian's ears and the goal against Barcelona cemented his rehabilitation- and he is no stranger to shaping the outcome of big games.

Wenger could even, if he chooses, bring Denilson in alongside Song, and allow Wilshere the liberty to roam that his talent probably deserves. But would Birmingham be obvious opposition for the sideways passing and general conservatism of Denilson? Probably not.

After the unfortunate picking off of some of the physically brittle members of the Arsenal squad, those who still stand need to cast away the clouds of mental fragility that have hung over them in recent years. Wenger has constantly praised what he sees as a growing maturity: if Arsenal play in a mature manner, focussed and professional, without compromising the freedom that marks their game at its best, they should end the trophy drought on Sunday. If they fail to play to their abilities and crumble against a mediocre side, some serious, soul-searching questions will need to be asked. NO PRESSURE THEN!

As The Squad Creaks, Will Cracks Start To Show?

Arsenal v Stoke

RVP: out
KOSCIELNY: out

Djourou now acts as Squillaci's babysitter. Bendtner or Chamakh upfront. Tony Pulis looking to throw a spanner in the works as Arsenal enter a critical phase of the season. Is the squad good enough to fight on four fronts?

By Arsenal standards, the list of unavailable players at the moment is unremarkable. But we know how quickly the injury list can reach epic proportions. And now would be an inopportune time to say the least. Arsenal have a habit of seeing whole seasons fall apart in the space of a week or two...

Whatever happens in tonight's game, I still think United are heavy favourites for the league. Arsenal have to deal with being favourites on Sunday in the Carling Cup final. That game will be crucial in shaping the rest of the season. If Arsenal finally lift a trophy for the first time since 2005, they can relax somewhat. They will still want to win every trophy they can, but the pressure will lift and that will give them a better chance.

Defeat is almost unthinkable. If they cannot beat Birmingham, how can they expect to get past Barcelona? To beat Man Utd in the quarter finals of the FA Cup (assuming they eventually get there)? How can they expect to challenge for the title?

If they cannot win this season's League Cup, having been presented with winnable game after winnable game, will they ever win anything?

That is a question everyone will ask if Arsenal lose.

Birmingham have been beaten twice by Arsenal in the league this season. But they have a recent history of denying the Gunners in dramatic circumstances. Kevin Phillips's last gasp fluke last season saw the loss of two points and the dwindling of Arsenal's title hopes. Worse still was the game in 2008 at St. Andrew's: Eduardo's leg break; Gael Clichy falling asleep; the referee pointing to the spot; last minute woe; Gallas's amazing breakdown. The day the title was lost.

Let's hope that this time the woe is Birmingham's.

Big Test Passed, Bigger One Coming

Birmingham 0-3 Arsenal

Birmingham always look to rough Arsenal up. In 2008 Martin Taylor overstepped the mark and broke Eduardo's leg. This time there was an early, reckless lunge by Roger Johnson that could have done Fabregas damage. Arsenal responded well, kept playing their football and won comfortably.

Birmingham might lack flair but it is not just their physicality that makes them a tough proposition. They defend deep, almost never letting a team get behind them, and their home record shows that they usually succeed in keeping games tight even against far superior opposition.

Van Persie's opener was a vital moment because it meant Arsenal could play the rest of the game on their own terms. He dived when running onto Fabregas's sideways pass. The referee bought it, and the Dutchman's free kick hit Lee Bowyer and bounced past Ben Foster.

The game should have been over by half time, but it could have been level if the ref had spotted Van Persie's clumsy handball in the Arsenal penalty area. The same man was wasteful when he twice spurned point blank opportunities at the other end.

In the second half Birmingham offered no threat, but Arsenal continued to waste chances, until Nasri and Fabregas exchanged pinball passes and the Frenchman buried the ball inside Foster's near post from the edge of the area. The third, an own goal, was the result of more bewildering interplay between Arsenal's two best players, whose understanding seems to be growing.

Their creative capacities will be tested again on Wednesday. The match between Arsenal and City looks at the moment like a 2nd place playoff but either team would gain a lot of belief from a positive result.

They will both be disappointed that Manchester United were let off the hook by a wasteful West Brom during Saturday's lunchtime game. United benefitted from chickenshit refereeing from Chris Foy, when Gary Neville took out Graham Dorrans and appeals were waved away- no penalty, no red card. Then they benefitted from the hosts' profligacy when Foy did blow up for Rio Ferdinand's ill-timed swipe on Jerome Thomas. Peter Odemwingie sent a pathetic penalty yards wide.

That made United's winner seem inevitable, despite the poverty of their performance, and it arrived through Javier Hernandez, who continues to show the ability to turn tight games in United's favour.

A Whiff of Silverware

The much-maligned Carling Cup now appears to Arsenal an oasis in the desert of their trophy drought.

And (he said conveniently) what an unfairly maligned competition it is. Despite the top teams using it as a testing ground for young talent, there are still a lot of competitive, exciting games.

And to those who would poo-poo Arsenal's prospective triumph, it should be remembered that either Manchester United or Chelsea have won five of the last six League Cup tournaments- success breeds success, trophies can lead to more trophies, Arsenal should be going all out to win it.

In the semi-finals, they will play Roy Keane's Ipswich, who have just dispensed with West Brom. The other semi will be contested by Birmingham and West Ham. There is certainbly nothing to fear in this line-up.

You'd be tempted to say that Arsenal should be able to win it while continuing to rotate. That said, an understrength United team has been humbled by the Hammers, showing the dangers of complacency. And Alex McLeish's Birmingham have never proved an easy touch against Arsenal.

It has to be said that a defeat over two legs against Ipswich would be little short of a disaster.

This Arsenal team's inability to win big games, and the lack of silverware that has led to, has surely become a burden for the players now. Here they are presented with three distinctly winnable games and a trophy waiting at the end. There are no more excuses. Field a weakened side and go out, Wenger will be crucified. Field a strong team and lose, it would be a new low for a team that at times seems scared of success.

Obviously, winning the Carling Cup after beating Spurs's 3rd team, Newcastle, Wigan, Ipswich and either Birmingham or West Ham would not prove a whole lot, but lifting that trophy could be a big psychological boost. It could lift that invisible weight off the players' shoulders and give them the hunger to chase more glory.

Let's hope that the end of the drought is in sight.

Birmingham 1-1 Arsenal: anti-climax

There was always the possibility that the prevailing talk of a three-team-race going to the wire was a bit premature.

The primary lesson of today was that dreams of Arsenal winning this season's title were always on the fantastical side. Why? Because you'll never win anything with a keeper like Manuel Alumunia. In stoppage time, he produced another clanger to add to his greatest hits collection, thus denying his team a hard-won three points. The momentum we had is now gone, and we are left with the all-too-familiar prospect of a once-promising season falling to pieces in the space of a few days.

I make no apologies for what I am about to say. The blame for today, and all the other adverse results he has contributed to, should not lie at the bumbling Spaniard's door. When a player is so painfully out of his depth, it is the manager's responsibility to take the appropriate measures. I appreciate everything Arsene Wenger has done for Arsenal, and I share his vision as to how the game ought to be played, but he has, as I've been saying through the poor results and THROUGHOUT OUR WINNING RUN, handicapped Arsenal's tilt at trophies this season.

It beggars belief to hear people say that Arsene spending a bit of money on a decent goalkeeper would be "spending for the sake of it". That is quite apart from other undermanned areas of the team, areas in which we've had to play players out of position because only our FOURTH-choice centre-half can't be trusted. But the goalkeeper was the big one. Everyone knows our goalkeeper is shit. It's the worst-kept secret in football. To the people who say that to spend on a goalkeeper would have been needless, I say, add up the points we've lost through goalkeeping errors (not just those of Almunia, but also his inexperienced back-up), and tell me where we'd be with those extra points. It's not rocket science.

This was, as it turned out, a HUGE opportunity to win the title. In theory. But where the practise fell short was in not giving ourselves the best possible chance. It is in a way almost like the manager applies for a license to lose every summer. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt him, because it clearly does, but I just don't understand how he cannot connect these things in his mind anymore. It is not just the goalkeeping situation, there are other flaws aswell, but the goalkeeping situation is the most glaring. It has run all season long. Every fan saw it as a ticking time bomb. And today, off it went.

More Ramblings

The appeal over Vermaelen's dismissal has, as expected, been rejected, so for the first time this season he will miss a league game, this weekend against Birmingham.

The manager is left with something of a conundrum. Does he play the rickety-looking duo of Silvestre and Campbell? Or use Song and Campbell, a partnership that looked solid in the second half against West Ham? This would theoretically make us stronger at the back, but weaker in midfield, with the loss of any real anchor.

Another possibility is that Campbell will be rested, and Silvestre will partner Song, because it's already been said that Sol will struggle to play two games in a week, and the thought of him facing Barcelona is frightening enough without him being knackered before the game even kicks off. Apparently, there is a chance Gallas will make it back for the first leg... Let's hope so.

I also wonder whether Sagna could play centre half in the league, with Eboue at right-back, but in fairness that is Championship Manager logic, and it is probably too vital a time for that sort of tinkering. What all this does illustrate is that Wenger really should have shelled out on a little more cover at the back.

Gallas has never had a season free of injury for Arsenal; he's always missed a month or so at some point, so that was to be expected, as I've said all season. I know I moan a lot, and Campbell has generally done well, but to have only he and Silvestre as back-up always had a potentially costly look. Wenger just seems to prefer that sort of costliness to the financial kind. Fair enough, he will say he trusts in the unity of the squad, and perhaps point to Song's versatility, but the fact is it could be damaging to lose Song from the midfield, particularly away from home (or indeed against Barcelona, if his deployment in defence is being considered there).

In any case, the longer this team can renew their claim to a trophy (or two), the more heroic and surprising they become, and likewise Wenger. I feel compelled again, though, and for the umpteenth time I know, to add that I think he has unnecessarily handicapped himself by not buying. Obviously, his vision extends beyond this season, whatever its outcome in silverware terms, and the last few weeks have at least suggested that any failure this season will probably be as heroic as last season's was abject.

Progress Report: Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham

I only saw the highlights of Saturday's game, so I can only draw half-justified conclusions, but there were a few to be drawn nonetheless. One thing that stands out is the goalkeeping dilemma. Almunia was back from his "flu", but only returned to the bench. We can surmise then that his number 1 spot is under threat, but Mannone may have blown his big audition, and so the plot thickens. Expect Almunia to be starting midweek, and in need of a performance not just for all us fans who are tired of this debilitating flaw in the side, but more importantly for his own fragile confidence.

All of our home games so far had turned out to be relatively straightforward, in terms of scoreline: 4-1, 4-0, 6-2. Yet in all of these games, before the result was decided, we had moments of worrying fragility. Against Portsmouth, at 2-1, Gallas could easily have been sent off for an APPARENT professional foul (replays proved the referee was right- but I doubt if he was right for the right reasons!). Against Wigan, Mannone was forced into important saves as our defence creaked first half at 1-0. And against Blackburn two weeks ago, we were behind twice and could have been level again at 3-3 if the referee had given the trip on Dunn as a penalty.

Against Birmingham yesterday, again the game ended comfortably but for long stretches it was closer than it should have been. Two early goals seemed to herald a bit of a rout. First, a trademark Van Persie finish. I get annoyed when people compare him to Bergkamp, but one way in which he emulates his fellow Dutchman is in the high ratio of eye-catching goals he grabs. For both men, these are often the result of an accomplished first touch in tight areas. Alex Song's pass was well aimed but awkward for RVP to take in his stride. The way he manouevred it onto his left was fantastic, and the finish, when he's on this kind of form, a formality. He has the potential to be more prolific than his legendary countryman, and one feels we'll need him to be this season. When you think about it, how lucky have we been... Bergkamp, Henry, Van Persie. Not many scruffy goals in there, even for the Frenchman who scored more than two hundred.

Van Persie's strike was quickly followed by a second from Diaby, after great work down the right by Eboue and Rosicky. And how great it is to have the latter back. Because he's not a regular scorer it can be easy to ignore him but he really does oil the gears of the team very well and I think we've looked more fluid from the minute he returned. I believe he played twice for the czechs during the international break aswell, so that can only bode well for his contract prospects. Let's be cautious though, we all know his history...

In any case, after that it should have been plain sailing. But Arsenal wouldn't be Arsenal without a soft goal conceded. In one of the few instances he was called upon, Mannone dropped a cross under a slight bit of pressure and Bowyer smashed it in. This happened not long before half time, and it wasn't til the last few minutes that Arshavin put the game to bed with an Henryesque finish on the break. Admittedly, Bimingham didn't threaten to equalise too often, but it's worrying that we made such hard work of them. Then again, the first game after the international break doesn't often see a vintage attacking performance, so we can be pleased with the three points.

The main worries are the aforementioned goalkeeping dilemma, and the equally ever-running injury crisis. The brittle Walcott was predictably crocked after a (legitimate) clattering from Ridgewell, and replaced by Arshavin. From what Wenger said, he's out of the AZ game, and you get the feeling it could be a few more. Also with Eduardo and Bendtner out of the squad, Robin Van Persie was in the unfamiliar position of being the only FIT striker. I said at the start of the season that while our attacking options are plenty in the sense of having plenty of ATTAcKERS, we don't have enough FORWARDS. Two injury-prone strikers, and Bendtner who seems to be getting into the Arsenal spirit of being oft-crocked, is not enough. I've never seen Vela or Walcott play as the spearhead so Wenger naming them as options was disingenuous, a bit disrespectful towards supporters he's developed a bit of a habit of talking down to. So now we're in the position of praying that RVP's glass legs hold up.