W-L-W... Consistently Inconsistent

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea (FA Cup)
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 5-1 West Ham

The Man City game at the Emirates suggested a tendency to start slowly, very slowly, and then wake up at half time. Three games since have confirmed that tendency, and the result is that against good teams, Arsenal are giving themselves too much to do, while against less good teams, one good half is usually enough.

In the Swansea replay, it was bitty, lethargic, low-tempo stuff in a first half during which ex-Gunner Kyle Bartley came closest to scoring. A wicked inswinging free kick gave him a free, close range header, but his effort, as in the first tie, hit the crossbar. As in the rather chastening league game between the sides in North London, Swansea at times looked more Arsenal than Arsenal themselves, very assured in possession, and threatening despite Michu only occupying a place on the bench.

It was all change after the break. Jack Wilshere produced the kind of display that justifies his status as England's latest great white hope. He was all drive, subtle of touch and with a bewitching ability to just glide past opponents in midfield with a quick change of pace.

Arsenal battered Swansea, but Walcott was wasteful on at least three occasions, enduring one of his less efficient days in front of goal. A couple of goalmouth scrambles in which the ball stubbornly refused to cross the line made you wonder if this was to be one of those strange,unlucky matches, but with an unwelcome extra half hour looming Cazorla fired a pass to Giroud on the edge of the area, he produced a deft first time lay-off inside, and Wilshere advanced to whack the ball confidently past the keeper and in.

The goal and the passionate celebration were both quite Gerrardesque, but in my opinion, Arsenal have a player of more substance than the overhyped Liverpool captain.

The big game at Chelsea, like the big game against Manchester City, brought out the worst in Arsenal again. Another slow start punished, another second half improvement, but another mountain that proved just too high. The way things are going, the mountain analogy will soon apply to the battle for fourth aswell.

Arsenal actually crafted the first clear chance, but it proved to be their only flash of quality in an utterly abysmal first half display. Cazorla zipped a low, cross field ball to Walcott, who fashioned an uncharacteristically incisive through ball to Giroud. The angle seemed to favour the Frenchman but, on his stronger left foot, he drove disappointingly wide of Cech's far post. At moments like that, in tight games, Giroud suffers badly from the unavoidable comparisons with Van Persie. Nobody expects him to match possibly the world's foremost frontman, but the almost-ex-Arsenal player he most often reminds me of is in fact Bendtner! I think Giroud is a better player, but he lacks the Dane's much maligned self-belief, and against good teams, his lack of a clinical touch in front of goal is costing Arsenal.

Punishment was not long in waiting after his miss. It was a typical concession, infuriatingly soft, but not without a sizable dose of misfortune. Coquelin was caught painfully on the ankle in midfield by Ramires, but as the ball broke and the referee missed the foul, Chelsea launched a counter of devastating efficiency. The right back whose name I can't be bothered to try to write raked a long diagonal to Mata, racing in behind Sagna- who has, since I wrote in his praise on New Year's Day, continued to endure his worst run of form since coming to England. The Spaniard killed the pass immaculately and lifted a shot past Szczesny and high into the net.

Cazorla forced a decent save from Cech with a fine long distance try but Coquelin and Diaby were chasing shadows, confounded by Chelsea's enviable trio of attacking midfielders. Arsenal were so passive, apparently unwilling to put Chelsea's possession under any pressure; it all just looked so easy for the home side.

Abou Diaby's apologists most often suggest in his favour that, if and when he becomes fully fit, he will provide a dynamism that Arsenal's midfield otherwise lacks. The irony is that his playing style is in fact so languid and at times downright lazy- he is far more likely to dawdle on the ball than drive his team on. So it was in the build up to Chelsea's second. He was robbed in his own half, he couldn't really be arsed to chase back with conviction, Chelsea outnumbered Arsenal, the ball was worked to Ramires in acres inside the area. He stepped inside the onrushing Szczesny, then flopped to the ground. Spot kick, keeper booked (could have been red!), Lampard reliable as always, 2-0.

Replays were disturbing on a couple of levels. Firstly, there was again an element of misfortune, as Szczesny actually barely made any contact with Ramires. It was a top drawer piece of "simulation"- so good the Arsenal netminder didn't even bother complaining after the penalty was awarded. More worryingly, one angle on the replay showed the incredible fact that when the ball was passed to Ramires, more than one Arsenal player went from a jog to a stroll- walking back towards their own goal. If that's the level of commitment the team exhibits in what was, table standings considered, the biggest game of the season, Arsene Wenger has even more serious problems on his hands than I'd previously thought.

Arsenal continued in abject fashion until the break. If Ba and not Torres had started as Chelsea's striker, the scoreline would probably have been more decisive at half time. As it was, Arsenal still had a chance, especially because Chelsea had, in midweek, thrown away a two goal lead at home to Southampton.

This undoubtedly played a part in the home side's tentative play after the interval, but I was also led to ponder the highly hypothetical question of how the game would have progressed if Chelsea had no manager at all. Rafa Benitez is an absolute control freak who seems to derive no enjoyment from open, attacking football even if his own team are producing it. It would have seemed natural to most that Oscar, Mata and Hazard should simply continue as they had started but it was clear from the outset of the second half that the Blues had containment on their minds. That worked in favour of a Gunners team who had benefited no doubt from some choice words from their manager.

There was energy, purpose, pressure applied to Chelsea players. Why it didn't happen from the start, nobody knows. Arsenal threatened for a long spell to score and finally did when Cazorla slid a delicious through ball to Walcott, and the wingstriker floated a side foot over Cech's dive and into the corner. This definitely set Chelsea nerves a-janglin' and Arsenal found a sudden sense of swagger; a thrilling counter attack instigated by Cazorla ended with Walcott stepping inside onto his usually useless left peg and dribbling an anti-climatic shot hopelessly wide.

Benitez reacted shrewdly enough, though why he waited until Arsenal finally found the net I'm not quite sure. Bertrand came on for Oscar, shoring up Chelsea's midfield, denying Arsenal the space they had enjoyed going forward since the break. Arsenal, on the other hand, had no hands to play, no change from the bench to change matters on the pitch. The fact that Arshavin, overweight and unwanted, was sent on to try and produce something from distant memory rather summed up the ludicrous situation with Arsenal's lack of further signings both in the summer and in the past few weeks.

In the closing stages Arsenal had pressure but only half chances, while Chelsea occasionally broke explosively but failed to make the game safe. At one point, Torres produced a jet-heeled burst that evoked the Torres of old, to leave Vermaelen trailing in his slipstream, but then produced a touch that was very much the Torres of today, sending the ball harmlessly rolling into Szczesny's arms. Ba came on soon after and won his own battle with the Arsenal keeper, dancing around him on the edge of the area, but Vermaelen had sprinted back and managed to block the striker's ensuing effort.

In the end, a damaging defeat, a dispiriting day.

This left Arsenal seven points behind Spurs, and with the game in hand on the horizon against West Ham, truly a must-win game. Things didn't start too well here either, as Collinson smashed home from a corner kick that Giroud had weakly cleared. Soon after, Podolski conjured some much-needed inspiration, collecting Wilshere's cute dink infield and dispatching a thriker past Jaaskelainen, the ball arrowing into the corner of the net from fully 25 yards.

West Ham could have led at half time. Again, after the break, huge improvement. Arsenal blew them away in a whirlwind spell,four goals in about ten minutes. Walcott found Giroud with a near post corner, and the Frenchman volleyed home for 2-1. It looked suspiciously like a rehearsed routine from the training ground, with Mertesacker making a run to create the space for Giroud. That's right- an innovative set piece! From Wenger's Arsenal! Against an Allardyce team!

The flurry that followed was more classically Wenger's Arsenal. A lovely move ended with Giroud flipping a first time pass throught to Podolski, who squared to Cazorla, who sent a cheekly back flick rolling over the line. Then Arsenal broke at pace, Podolski tore down the left and slid a great cross to Walcott at the back stick for 4-1. Then Arsenal broke at pace again, Wilshere sent Podolski racing down the left again, and again he found the right pass, this time low to the near post, where Giroud notched his second and Arsenal's fifth.

Arsenal remain unable to control a match, so they will need more productive flurries like this to stay in touch with the top four. And they still need signings too. But we have learned not to hold our breath waiting for that.

...Wasn't Expecting That

Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

Many would have feared for Arsenal in the lead-up to this clash. Chelsea had just suffered a noble defeat to QPR, dominating the game and unlucky to lose despite playing with nine men for more than half the contest.

Arsenal had been labouring to victory in matches they were once expected to win comfortably. But progress is progress, and results had improved hugely since the dark days of Old Trafford and Ewood Park.

The worry for many, and certainly me, was that another capitulation against Chelsea would send Arsenal back into crisis mode.

In fairness, some of the worries about Arsenal were well-founded. Their defending for much of the first half was shambolic. But the mental weakness that so often accompanies and exacerbates the defensive vulnerability was not as evident as in the past. And to add a further excitement to what became a surreal game, Chelsea provided their own moments of uncertainty at the back, and contrived to outdo the Gunners in the self-destruction stakes.

Twice Arsenal fell behind to fairly soft goals- and twice they roared back.

The game started in a raging whirlwind of goalmouth action. A minute had not passed before Ashley Cole exposed the downward-spiralling Djourou, offering a poor impression of a right back, and only a timely intervention from Koscielny prevented Torres from latching onto the low cross.

Santos on the other wing was faring no better, and Arsenal's suicidally high line was next broken down his flank, but this time Sturridge dithered too long over an obvious pass across to Torres, and when it came the low ball was too close to Szczesny.

Arsenal responded with menace, and Theo Walcott twice showed uncharacteristic productivity, only for others to waste his good work. First, he was released down the right after excellent breakaway play by Arteta and Ramsey. Cole was left for dead on the touchline, and the low cross was perfectly measured for the onrushing Gervinho, but with Cech making a desperate lunge to save the ball, the Ivorian was put off and screwed an awkward effort wide.

Similar poor finishing by Gervinho had been punished by Tottenham during Arsenal's last defeat and one would have been forgiven for thinking that would be the case again as, after Van Persie skied another chance from another excellent Walcott cross, Chelsea hit the front.

Terry hit an accurate, raking crossfield pass that left Mata facing up to Santos, and the Spaniard easily cut inside the Brazilian before whipping in a vicious cross. With Mertesacker looking flat-footed and unable to head clear, Lampard ghosted in in trademark fashion and placed an emphatic header past Szczesny.

Sturridge had a chance to give Chelsea a two goal cushion. Lampard lofted a first time pass over Arsenal's backline but Sturridge screwed the bouncing ball well wide of the goal, and Arsenalk were still in the game.

The first equaliser was the result of Ramsey's creativity and Gervinho's unselfishness. The Welshman threaded a Cescesque ball through Chelsea's static rearguard and Gervinho squared cleverly to Van Persie as Cech came out. The finish was a formality. Gervinho's pass was simple, and clearly the efficient option, but it remains the kind of pass that professional footballers often fail to spot in the heat of the moment.

Chelsea responded well to the setback. Sturridge soon had the ball in the net, but from an offside position, and as the interval approached, Terry bundled in Lampard's corner after as Arsenal defended with their typical lack of authority- Mertesacker culpable again.

2-1 down at half time, but Arsenal had surely noticed that Chelsea were far from watertight at the back, and set about testing the Blues again straight from kick off. Ramsey hooked a half chance over the bar after Gervinho had roasted Bosingwa. Then Song turned skilfully in midfield and hit a peach of a left footed pass to release Santos, who had left Sturridge trailing. The defender, enduring a torrid afternoon to that point, bore down on Cech and slipped a shot under his right leg for 2-2.

The staggering openness of the match continued. For the third time, a Lampard pass opened up Arsenal with worrying simplicity, and Cole reached the ball first only to be upended by a desperate Szczesny. The keeper had the look of a man who expected a red card, as did most of the viewing public, but he got away with a yellow; a vital moment.

Arsenal took the lead for the first time. Walcott ran at the Chelsea defence with Cole busy complaining about a soft free kick award. The winger tripped himself up, then jumped to his feet as the home defenders hesitated, and after a nice trick and aburst of acceleration, he was through on goal. He blasted his shot inside Cech's near post and a surreal game had a rather surreal goal.

There was more to come. Although Arsenal defended deeper and with more authority for much of the second period, they were undone with ten minutes to go by some more slack play from Santos, some poor refereeing, and some bad luck. The Brazilian presented the ball to Mereiles with a poor pass but looked set to seize on the latter's heavy touch before he was blocked off by Lukaku. No whistle sounded, and the ball was moved inside to Mata. His shot took a hefty deflection off the sliding Song and looped wickedly into the top corner of Szczesny's goal. In recent years, Arsenal have so rarely come out on top in a high-scoring game, and it seemed that hoodoo was to continue.

Instead, it was Chelsea who imploded in the closing stages. Malouda panicked Terry with an overhit backwards pass that had Van Persie interested. The two seemed set for a foot race until the troubled England captain slipped (or, as some have mischievously suggested, took a deliberate fall). Van Persie had a clear run on goal. He calmly rounded Cech and slotted home and Arsenal were in front again.

4-4 is a familiar result for Arsenal of late and there were some predictable moments of panic at the back before a stoppage time counter attack saw Arteta release Van Persie again. The Dutchman took a touch and then leathered a swerving shot past Cech and inside the near post. Arsenal celebrated wildly after this goal and after the full time whistle.

Can the revival continue? Suddenly a top four finish looks possible again.

Modric: The Missing Piece in Chelsea's Champions League Jigsaw?

For an expereince Chelsea side with an inexperienced manager at the helm, the Champions League remains top priority. In the Premiership, Drogba, Terry, Lampard and co have tasted success. But their hunger for European glory grows as their careers wind down. Terry in particular must surely be haunted by his penalty miss in the 2008 final's shootout against Manchester United.

There is a real sense now that it will be difficult for any club to challenge Barcelona's European dominance, but we should not forget that in 2009, Chelsea were seconds from beating them. If their power has always troubled Barca, it has been a lack of guile that has left them short against Inter in 2010, United in 2011, even as far back as Liverpool in 2005 and 2007.

Since the days of Mourinho, Chelsea have never operated with a central orchestrator- someone like Deco in Mourinho's Porto, or Sneijder in his Inter Milan. Lampard has played for years in a similar position, but in a very different style. While his consistent performances and impressive goalscoring feats have proven invaluable to Chelsea over the years, he has never looked like conjuring a creative piece of magic in a tight European game. And his central role in the team has left no room for a playmaker to flourish.

Lampard is now 33 and ought to be moving towards the end of a fine career. He showed signs of decline last season and these facts suggest that Chelsea's pursuit of Luka Modric is very much warranted. With Lampard on the way out, Chelsea have the opportunity to build their midfield around a different kind of player, one who will not score half as many goals but who could potentially revolutionise their often insipid style and, vitally, make chances for Torres.

If Torres recaptures his best form, and nudges Drogba aside, and Modric arrives and does the same to Lampard, it should freshen up Chelsea's style. And it could also make them a real threat in Europe.

will the big-game hoodoo continue?

Chelsea have been in rotten form of late but seem to love playing against Arsenal.

Their last two visits to the Emirates have both yielded victories of a three goal margin.

They have Frank Lampard, who has been sorely missed, making his first start since his injury a few months back.

Fabregas returns too, but he's often been bullied out of games against Chelsea. And you could say that that's the problem in microcosm. Chelsea tend to have too much power and pace for Arsenal. It's almost like the ghost of Wenger's successful Arsenal sides is haunting the current bunch, in the form of a Chelsea team that have all of that old power and poise and character, and the trophies to match.

The tables have turned in a big way over the last five years or so. Pre-Abramovich, Chelsea went almost ten years without beating Arsenal in the league. Chelsea were the team who entertained at times, but too often looked a team of style without substance.

Now the upper hand is Chelsea's and Arsenal are the ones who crumble when the big matches roll around.

After meek defeat at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, it is undeniably crucial that Arsenal produce some kind of performance. But it remains difficult to back them because they continue to look naive tactically and lacking in the necessary mental fortitude.

At Old Trafford, there seemed at least a desire to keep things tight. But the toothless result of that shift in emphasis worryingly suggested that when Arsenal play in a more balanced manner, they lose a too much of their attacking threat. Overcommitting seems to be their style, but if they overcommit that will play into Chelsea's hands. And if they sit back a little and play with more caution, it may lead to a closer game, but also take away from Arsenal's ability to create chances.

And perhaps the greatest worry of all is that Drogba has made meat of far better Arsenal centre halves than Koscielny and Squillaci.

Depleted Chelsea Torn aSunder

see what I did there?

Chelsea let a few squad players go in the summer. Carvalho, Deco and Ballack weren't exactly setting the world alight but they were reliable pros who could step in and do a job. Their squad isn't as deep as it used to be and the signs are that it's already starting to creak. They've dealt well with Lampard's prolonged absence, but losing Essien was a Bridge too far and their impressive home record this season was obliterated by an adventurous Sunderland team. Fair play to them. It's all very well saying Chelsea were under-strength but it still needed a team with the balls to exploit it.

As well as their midfield problems, Chelsea were without Terry and Alex, and Gyan and Wellbeck were breaking their makeshift backline almost at will. Cech actually kept the score down, and Ivanovic should have seen a red card for a blatant professional foul, only for a gutless Chris Foy to wield a wimpy yellow one.

Sunderland's first two goals were great efforts, a slalom and scuff from Onuoha and a sweeping move finished confidently by Gyan. Their third was slotted by Wellbeck from a beautiful Ashley Cole cross.

Fortunes are changing so regularly this season. Arsenal's season felt doomed to mediocrity last weekend. Liverpool thought they'd turned a corner. Now the gloom has returned to Merseyside and optimism will rise again in North London. Chelsea were until recently seen as hot favourites to retain their crown; today has raised serious questions about that assumption.

But who will push them closest? United are still struggling to win away games. Arsenal will hope to lay down a marker in the North London derby next weekend.

This Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

In 1984 (the book, not the year), George Orwell wrote that "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows". Under Arsene Wenger's increasingly totalitarian regime, the fans have become used to hearing that two plus two equals five, but an atmosphere of revolt is building.

These last two have been the most disheartening games I can remember as an Arsenal supporter. I can't say I was expecting much better, but it's deeply frustrating to witness a team lose the big games, the same way, over and over. I said during the week that I could bear to see Arsenal lose, but not in the same manner again. And while the performance was improved, the decisive factors were a repeat of last week's and other failures that have apparently been ignored by the players and those who guide them. The shortcomings are numerous and have been talked about here at length before, so where to begin tonight? Why not the goals. Chelsea neatly summed up the dual defensive malaise that defines this Arsenal team. The first- the set piece. You could tell just watching that goal that there had been no meaningful work done with these players as to how they were going to deal with the opposition's aerial threat (this is something I'll return to). Terry's free header, Drogba's unobstructed finish- it was another disgracefully easy goal to concede.

The fact that Arsenal came back to threaten at the other end- with Arshavin denied by Cech- made it all the more sickening to view Drogba's second. On the break of course, and another comically simple goal to concede, when you break it down. One pass and Lampard is running at our back four- Song and Diaby deciding that a 1-0 deficit is grounds to abandon defensive duties. But still- he'll need to play a difficult through ball, right? Well, no, because Gael Clichy is going to inexplicably run infield towards Vermaelen, and away from Drogba, who collects Lampard's simple ball, works his way inside the hapless Frenchman and batters the ball past the increasingly pathetic figure that is Manuel Almunia. Fuck me, this is turning into the most annoying running joke ever devised. You'd need to have a dark sense of humour, I mean, in Larry David parlance, "Heart of Darkness-black", to laugh at this now.

To be fair, Arsenal were the better side for the remainder, but it's little comfort. Chelsea happily ceded ground, defended their area well, and played on the counter. Wenger complained afterwards- more grasping for a non-existent moral victory- that they didn't really come out to play. He does not seem to understand that they wanted to win more than they wanted to entertain. Why would they invite Arsenal into an open game with a 2-0 lead? To him it's reprehensible, and I'll admit that I find it dull and uninspiring, but it WORKED. Any Arsenal fan with a crumb of knowledge of the club's history pre-Wenger would do well to consider the hypocrisy of any condemanation of Chelsea's style. Are these "fans" claiming that they would not have celebrated in 1989, in 1991, in 1994? We're all so sophisticated now, eh?

As I've said before, Wenger's successful seasons at Arsenal have been peppered with accomplished counter-attacking play. I distinctly remember an FA Cup game at Chelsea during which Arsenal endured sustained pressure only to win the game with lightning breaks- as recently as 2003. The final in 2005 is not such a sterling example, because it consisted of United making and squandering chance after chance, but again, nobody offered to give the fucking trophy back because we hadn't put on an exhibition of possession-chess. So let's dismount those fucking high horses and fix this mess, or at least acknowledge that the mess exists.

Arsenal have a multitude of problems on the playing side that are gnawing at any sense of optimism. Many people have Almunia at the top of the list, and I guess that is a problem that should be solved quite easily, but here we are, stuck with him for this season at least. But even if he is finally replaced in the Summer, it would be foolish to think that our problems would end there.

One thing that seems obvious to me is that Arsenal need a defensive coach. Perhaps a strong number two who will have the balls to disagree with his holiness, the Autocrat. Wenger either does not or cannot coach defence. It's there in every set piece, and every time we are sliced through in another devastating and simple breakaway. The transition from defence to attack and attack to defence is too slow. Going forward, we often look ponderous. I've stated here before that we are no longer a force to be feared on the break. In a funny way, building the team around Fabregas, great as he is, has weakened this side of our game. Pace and power has been replaced by poise and stealth, but overall the team is too one-dimensional. Walcott is the only forward player with raw pace and seems to have no idea how to use it- he was invisible again. Other than that, it's pass to feet, pass to feet, pass to feet. No threat in behind, no threat in the air.

That's it though. It didn't take long. Out of the title race as soon as the real games arrived. And the Champions League nothing more than a pipe dream, because good teams will either smother us, or play through us, or both. The season will probably retain a competitive edge, because after Wednesday we may well be involved in the undignified multi-team scrabble for 4th. From a position of strength, we could soon find ourselves staring into the abyss. Or we could just finish third, but either way, there will be no happy ending, because there is no reason to believe that what needs changing will change in the coming months. Maybe the Summer transfer window will provide respite.

Maybe Drogba will leave Chelsea. Meantime, pass the Prozac.