Wenger sacrificed cutting edge for ball players, he wanted his team to have the ball and keep it. Theo Walcott is the one player who can frighten the opposition in full flight but when the game isn’t stretched he cannot keep it.

Match Thoughts – Manchester United 0 Arsenal 0 – Premier League

Power failure to the website host has stopped me from writing a match report over the weekend so this Monday morning the report will be replaced by match thoughts.

Not very much mind you, you have heard everyone else’s so I will refrain from banging on, but I have a few things that I would like to share with you so apologies if you have read this sort of stuff somewhere else.

Adebayor’s BBC interview + absence from match squad could well push the rumour linking the forward away from the club as more than fictional speculation. There could well be some substance behind this after all.

I have a current season ticket for sitting on the fence regarding Adebayor. I can fall onto any side of the fence and nod my head away to what that side of the fence is saying to me. We were crying out for plan B for so long and last season we were being shown a 30 goal plan B who terrorised defenders, he still is the only forward we have who stretch the opposition, the only forward we have who cause the opposition problems when Cesc lifts his head up on the half way line. We all know what his weaknesses are so I have no need to go into that. Whatever Wenger decides to do regarding Emmanuel Adebayor will have pro and against consequences.

It is clear that Robin Van Persie can never do Emmanuel Adebayor’s job as the lone front man. Van Persie is not going to cause Vidic too many problems from that position. An out of sorts Adebayor would have given Manchester United more problems due to his physical stature, his strength and speed would have given the opposition more problems, it is not the Dutchman’s fault, that is not his role but he done what he could for the team, he allowed the shape to look correct all over the other areas on the pitch. Abou Diaby centrally and Samir Nasri out on the right gave the team a far better balance than the side that took to the Old Trafford pitch a couple of weeks back in the Champions League.

We were able to pass the ball better, move around United far more efficiently with players in more natural positions. We were playing our game instead of playing to counteract the opposition, something that we are not good at doing. Arsenal are the best at what they do, they are not the best at stopping others doing what they do best.

Alex Song slotted back into central defence and continued his great midfield form a few yards further back alongside Toure. He is one step ahead of the next move which sees him win many interceptions in both defence and midfield and his new found self belief allowed him to stroll forward and find a more advanced team mate. Song’s job was made a lot easier with Denilson back in the side. It is no coincidence that we shipped 7 goals against Manchester United and Chelsea in two games without the little Brazilian in the starting line up. He has been below his best in recent weeks and needed a breather but now he is back plugging gaps, nicking balls off opposition toes and restarting Arsenal attacks.

Samir Nasri looks like a more direct attacking player from the right instead of the left where he tends to drag it back onto his right foot before playing it simple. On the right he looked far more direct and played more give and go’s. This isn’t the first time that I have noticed this.

Wenger sacrificed cutting edge for ball players, he wanted his team to have the ball and keep it. Theo Walcott is the one player who can frighten the opposition in full flight but when the game isn’t stretched he cannot keep it. Although Abou Diaby gave the ball away on a few occasions he looked far more dangerous through the middle as he carried it past the Manchester United midfield when they lost it in our half.

Do not judge Abou Diaby by his left wing performances, he is not a wide player, he has only been used there because he has the talent to plug in that gap. Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Xabi Alonso would have far less of an influence in that position than they have in their current central positions.

Manchester United went for the same three players in attack. Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney were there to stop us building from the back but our players dealt with that very well. It is true that Manchester United didn’t have the same intensity as they did in the Champions League but we also made them sit deeper and chase the ball for long periods.

There was not much in the way of goal scoring opportunities for both sides as we found it difficult to have a cutting edge without Walcott and Adebayor in attack. Arsene made second half changes, Bendtner for Nasri and Walcott for Arshavin. As we were dominating possession, I would have liked to have seen Bendtner either play as the lone striker with Van Persie pulling to the right or allowed the two to play together. Bendtner would have challenged Vidic and Evans in the air and could have run them a little more than the often static but highly talented Van Persie.

If Van Persie is to play, then he needs the freedom from a central position to make things happen. Put him on the left wing or as the lone forward then you are taking a huge part of his game away.

So although Manchester United were cautious in their approach, they still would have wanted a victory and the display of our team defensively was much improved without Silvestre in the side and Denilson playing in midfield. Wenger has rated Alex Song for a long time even when many such as myself didn’t see it so I wonder where he will feature next season, Denilson is another that he rates very highly and has done a fine job as a starter for the first time in his Arsenal career. With Arsene admitting that he is likely to buy experience it will be interesting who gets ‘killed’ by a newcomer.

Manchester United held on for their point and lifted the trophy which didn’t really bother me greatly, I suppose the gap was too big in terms of points for me to be concerned, but hopefully the gap will close tremendously next time round.

We played many big games this year with half a first team and many back up and reserve players so it was always going to be difficult for us. Gallas, Clichy, Rosicky and Eduardo would have certainly of featured in those games had they been match fit so it is a shame.

Pride, self belief and confidence would have been restored slightly on Saturday, we need a victory against Stoke at home and lets pray for a positive and exciting summer instead of the usual stress that we seem to attract.