Our passing has now become more ridged and less spontaneous. I haven’t checked the stats but it looks as if we are passing less and less creative

I am back after my loan spell from a nightclub and stay over at my mates. I had to deal with a hangover which I managed pretty well, what I didn’t handle very well was trying to teach my daughter how to do a headstand and damaging my back, it is still caining me as I write this.

Our result at the weekend was pretty piss poor wasn’t it?

The strange thing is that while the first half was going on I was thinking that it is nice to see us play with a higher tempo. We were physically stronger than Birmingham and we passed the ball better in patches than we have in a few games. Regular AV readers know that I am a huge fan of Hleb on the left wing and he looked our most creative player.

Eduardo’s ‘penalty’ was never a penalty and we were lucky to be gifted the goal from the referee. After the goal it all became a little to easy. We shifted down a gear and expected to win the game in cruise control, had we hunted down the second goal properly then we would have come away from the game with 3 points, it is as simple as that.

The Birmingham goal was a bit of a mess but we know that Arsenal can concede goals like that at any moment. We have improved in our defending of set pieces but last season we conceded many goals like that so it is always possible.

I have been thinking about why we have dropped our levels of late and this is my conclusion.

Our passing has now become more ridged and less spontaneous. I haven’t checked the stats but it looks as if we are passing less and less creative. In the early part of the season the players were playing the game from memory, triangles were forming alot quicker and more frequently. At the moment it seems as if the players are receiving the ball and then thinking about the next pass.

Cesc Fabregas was key to this, he was the player who kept our passing ticking along and it is clear that since his injury his form has dipped. Without Cesc on top form Arsenal cannot educate the play and create chances the way that we need to win games convincingly.

Arsenal did not play any different to the way they did against Portsmouth, Tottenham, West Ham. Everton or any of the games of late. Arsene will want to game the team playing at the level as they did first half against Aston Villa. Our form has slumped since then.

The other difference is match winners. Manchester United have explosive goalscorers who can single handedly win matches when Manchester United are not performing at their best.

Arsenal have two match winners. Robin Van Persie and quick accurate passing. Right now we do not have either available and Manchester United have Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez who can and will score goals. Maybe the return of Van Persie will signal the return of our quick fluent play.

We cannot continue to play the way we have been because we will lose ground eventually unless both Manchester United and Chelsea lose form also at the same time which is obviously unlikely.

Theo Walcott is playing like a little boy in a mans team. You cannot blame tiredness for his performance against Birmingham because he played exactly the same way against Tottenham. Arsene has told him to be more aggressive on the pitch and that he should be more direct. The trouble is that he is not doing ANY of the simple things during the game. If we were not so short of wide players then maybe a loan deal for him would be a good thing.

In other news, Arsene is not concerned about Flamini’s contract situation.

Wenger said: “I am hopeful on it. I am not concerned.

To be honest I would expect Arsene to say something like that no matter what Flamini has said to him about his situation.

Right, it is time for me to blend into the rest of the day. Enjoy blending into yours.

Until tomorrow.