A win was only what I asked for, didn’t care if it was by a low margin which eventually was the case. We started pretty well from the start and should have scored if Ramsey had taken his chance. Theo had his shot at goal cleared off the line, RVP struck the post after a beautiful foot work and Chamackh had a clear header saved by Vorm, Swansea’s Goal keeper. That’s 4 goals missed which on a very good day should have been translated to goals. Swansea missed a couple of chances too but still

The dust has settled a bit after our deadline day dealings and since then we have played 2 games, a premier league and a Champions League game. We might not have been convincing in those games but the positives have definitely out weighed the negatives.

Our season started properly against Swansea last Saturday and we came out with a win and 3 pts which in turn carried us from 17th in the log to 11th. That’s a huge step up and one which we will only continue to improve upon as time goes on.

Before the Swansea game a lot of us were all dreaming of an emphatic win which I wouldn’t fault if you consider we were playing at home against a newly promoted side that came up through the play offs but what we failed to remember is we were coming back from the drubbing we received at the hands of Man U plus we were missing out on key players and 2 new players that came into the starting line up that have only had 3 days to train with the rest of the team.

A win was only what I asked for, didn’t care if it was by a low margin which eventually was the case. We started pretty well from the start and should have scored if Ramsey had taken his chance. Theo had his shot at goal cleared off the line, RVP struck the post after a beautiful foot work and Chamakh had a clear header saved by Vorm, Swansea’s Goal keeper. That’s 4 goals missed which on a very good day should have been translated to goals. Swansea missed a couple of chances too but still we should have ran out comfortable winners had all the chances from both sides been converted.

The Dortmund game was the tricky one, we were going away to Germany to a stadium that houses seventy-five thousand supporters who are very loud. We went into the game with no Vermaelen, Jack, Ramsey, Diaby and Rosicky.

Our back five was pretty much solid with Szczesny in goal, the duo of Mertesacker and Koscielny and full backs of Sagna and Gibbs. All were very impressive with Szczesny, Sagna and Koscielny churning out star performances.

Our midfield on the night was our problem. Song didn’t exactly start well but he grew into the game and shone in the 2nd half. He was a monster in our midfield and broke up play with aplomb. Arteta on the other hand was shaky which is understandable being that he was playing his 1st champions league match. Benayoun went missing for large parts of the game in an attacking sense but pulled his weight defending. We started with a Midfield of 3 that hasn’t played together before hence the misplacement of passes.

Dortmund pressed us high up on the pitch which led to our indecision at times on ball. They played a lot like Barcelona without ball which we should be emulating.

Gervinho returned into the side after missing the Swansea game to form an attacking trio with RVP and Theo. Those three at times were ineffective because of our below par midfield in terms of moving the ball out of defence through the midfield into the attacking third. The goal we scored was from the mistake of a Dortmund player which we capitalised from and punished them in devastating effect.

Gervinho decision making isn’t all that… Like @wengerboy1 said on twitter he is an instinctive player. He has got the pace and skills to wriggle his way out of tight situations but at times during the game he ran into block of bodies when the right thing to do was to pass and take up the next available gap.

A point away from home in the Champions league is definitely a good outcome. Before the game if you had asked me what I wanted then I would have been rooting for a point knowing we were up against the German champions at their frightening stadium. Still I am a bit frustrated with the result knowing we were 2mins plus added time away from getting all 3 points.

The positives from the game is that we look very assured while defending. The forward players did their bit and covered for our full backs which made it difficult for Dortmund to break down. We looked confident defending set pieces which is also a good sign. Our attacking play can also improve as the likes of Arteta, Benayoun continue to integrate with the rest of the team. We also have the returning Wilshere who would add fight and drive into the side.

We play Blackburn away on Saturday which is a tough ground to go to but still we should be winning games like this and 3 points should be what we gun for. I’m glad we would see the return from suspension of Gervinho and Song and also the return of Ramsey and hopefully Rosicky from injury. This can only give Wenger selection headache which is a good sign that we are well covered and have the much talked about depth.