After Bony headed Swansea in front after 11 minutes we looked visibly shaken by it and it was only the late introduction of Lukas Podolski that changed the game as the German turned the game on it’s head in two minutes. Scoring from a Gibbs cut back and then supplying a great ball to Giroud to tap in from close range. At that point I expected us to go on and score another one

I haven’t felt that late disappointment feeling in a while and I guess it makes it even more difficult to stomach when it does come around. I mean how many times have we held onto slender leads and dealt with ball after ball in our box and then we wax lyrical post match about how good Mertesacker and well, Koscielny are. Of course Koscielny was not involved last night and his replacement may have played his part on the final score as he was beaten by Bony for his headed goal on what was there first chance on goal. Having just written that down, there has been somewhat of the Arsenal of old in our last two performances.

At Stamford Bridge we ignored basics and left red carpet down on the huge spaces behind us for Chelsea to exploit. Last night we dominated the start and then conceded with the opposition first chance. Actually it isn’t finished there is it? How about we shoot ourselves in the foot with a minute to go. All that was missing was yet another injury to add to the collection of all the rest of the players we have out. Somewhere in a parallel universe an Arsenal team are sitting pretty on top with Nacho Monreal the only injured player who is due back next week. As we coast to a Özil and Walcott inspired 4-1 victory.

But blaming it all on injuries would not be totally accurate although it certainly plays it’s part. If last night’s team had picked up a result at Stamford bridge, even a dull 0-0 draw then Swansea would have been dispatched of pretty easily without much fuss I reckon.

As it was we started quickly out of the traps, closed Swansea down and played with full commitment but we had very little quality in the final third. Was this down to the players missing or down to deflated confidence? Maybe a bit of both but we hardly troubled Swansea at all.

After Bony headed Swansea in front after 11 minutes we looked visibly shaken by it and it was only the late introduction of Lukas Podolski that changed the game as the German turned the game on it’s head in two minutes. Scoring from a Gibbs cut back and then supplying a great ball to Giroud to tap in from close range. At that point I expected us to go on and score another one or two more goals but we didn’t (obviously) we instead went into our shell a little. Maybe the Chelsea result played a part psychologically.

What makes it all so much worse is the timing of the equaliser. Had Flamini have been standing a few yards either side then the narrative would have been along the lines of ‘not a great performance but the boys showed spirit to turn the result around, we can build on it now’

That is completely different now. This my friends is the nature of football.

Next up we have Manchester City who dismantled Manchester United and then we have Everton who are six points behind us with a game in hand. Am I confident? Hell no, not at this moment in time.

But football is a game of small margins, get some players back and get over these two difficult fixtures and our end of the season could look more positive with a real chance of silverware.

I’m not about to throw in any towels just yet. Let’s just hope the players don’t either.

Fix up Arsenal!