The Everton game has left me feeling pretty happy overall, it clearly had weaknesses that stuck out like a sore thumb but the positives will help us much more than the negatives will effect us.

The tempo and attitude was correct. The players showed the kind of determination and hunger that would have added another 4-6 points to our season so far had we showed the right commitment against Fulham and Hull City.

Prior to kick off I wondered about which choices Arsene would make in defence. I expected that he would move Toure to right back and partner Silvestre with Song at the heart of the defence. That unit would have had the best balance and shape but instead Wenger did not want to destabilise the spine of the team and he chose to play Song out of position.

Alex Song was nowhere to be seen for the first goal, he should have been much tighter to Steven Pienaar and didn’t bust a gut to get back at him.

Would Toure have been in a position to stop Pienaar? Would Eboue have got there? Who knows.

The players did not look sharp, they looked like they have all been away on International duty. Arsenal rarely play to their best after Internationals. Because our combination play is our only method of attack we tend to suffer more from it than the other teams who grind and mix it up more than we do.

Chelsea can play badly for 5 games and pick up 4 wins and a draw. Perhaps to a lesser extent Manchester United can do the same but Arsenal need to click as a team to win matches.

Theo Walcott made a big contribution to the game when he came on but he was not the only one that gave us that extra penetration going forward. Emmanuel Eboue at right back gave us that extra attacking threat.

Many Arsenal supporters have showed frustration with Adebayor’s finishing at times, and I hold my hands up and say that I have also critisied his array of putting the ball into the net. It is only fair to say that Van Persie has arguably missed more chances than Ade has so far this season. He did manage to find the net with a header following a block from Tim Howard.

I thought that was Van Persie’s first header for Arsenal until I remembered another. Does anyone know who it was against?

Could Kolo’s injury be a blessing is disguise? I think it could well be. Silvestre had a pretty decent debut and if he wasn’t ahead of Djourou then he could well be now. Djourou should be available for Tuesday and could well slot into right back in place of Song as Sagna will still be missing.

Samir Nasri had another impressive game on the left wing and scored the equaliser. Arsene is surprised about the Frenchman’s performances so far.

“I didn’t count Nasri in here for the first six months of the season, like I do for everybody we buy at such a young age,” admitted Wenger.

“When you look at the impact he had already here you can say he’s ahead of what I planned for him.

“He’s 21, goes from France to England, and I must say I’m quite pleased with his attitude and his performances. He’s doing extremely well and he is already becoming an important player for us and that is why you do not want him to get injured.”

Everytime he comes into the side from any kind of absence it just seems to make no difference. If this is Nasri at his lowest match sharpness then I welcome the day when he plays 15 games in a row and full of confidence.

It amazes me to think that he is only 21 years old. I really do think he can be one of he greats once he settles in and stays fit.

Before I leave you all, I just want to give you some interesting figures. The cost of the Tottenham starting side that lost to Stoke cost *£102.6 million. The starting Arsenal side costs *£31.35 million. That is £71.25 million less than the Premier League’s bottom club. That is quite astonishing.

What sticks with me is what several Arsenal fans said on various blogs etc.

‘Tottenham are showing more ambition than us’

‘If we do not buy big then Tottenham will overtake us’

So on and so forth. I don’t suppose those who said that will come out and hold their hands but hey, such is life.

Champions League talk tomorrow, enjoy your afternoon.

* stats from soccerbase

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