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Carzola responded with a fantastic man of the match display against Fulham. In an otherwise tepid first half, the former Malaga playmaker was Arsenal's one ray of light, running at the opposition defence, completing a number of key passes and attempting to take the odd shot now and again. This standout individual display was punctuated in one moment where, given about as much space as you'd find in a toilet cubicle, Carzola used his lightening quick feet to weave his way between about three mesmerised Fulham players who had to resort to bringing him down on the edge of the box conceding a foul. The free kick came to nothing but that wasn't to deny Santi. In the second half, he scored the two goals that settled the match as a contest and rammed

There was a switch during the game with Cazorla and Gnabry moving to opposite sides. Greater tactical minds than myself may be able to explain the reason for this change. Serge Gnabry was able to unleash a few shots cutting onto his stronger right foot even if most of them were blazed over the bar. Given that Gnabry is more creative than outlet, I wonder if a switch to the left would get more out of him, especially as Cazorla can come inside on his left equally as well as his right. Lukas Podolski came on with 20 minutes to go and looked like he had a point to prove. He got on the ball a lot, had some long range shots, one that smacked off the post via the keepers and even went in for a 50/50 tackle on the touchline.

The Cottagers have been in a right mess this season. In recent weeks they have been hit for 4 by Liverpool, 4 from Everton and 6 against Hull City. Can we have one of those please? We haven't won by a larger margin than 2 clear goals since November 30th when we beat Cardiff City 3-0. Even then you have to go back all the way to October 19th when we scored 4 against Norwich. While we have been dominant in many of our games we have rarely had the chance to put on our comfy slippers and slurp on some hot chocolate. Instead having to knock back Whiskey shots to control our nerves like during the final stages at Villa Park on Monday or recently at St James' Park. If we start the game as we did in games like Tottenham in the FA cup then we should have a good chance to score early. Fulham have conceded the most goals this season with 46. That is 27 more than us in 21 games which is quite remarkable really.

Yet despite the development of players such as Nasri, Clichy, Fabregas, and more recently Gibbs, Ramsey and Wilshere there have been numerous players who have failed to make the grade. Denilson, Lansbury and Coquelin have all come through and failed to live up to their potential. Whilst obviously talent and temperament are high on the list of desired attributes, one feels that with the right guidance and support some of these players may have made it or at least attained a higher level of football

It would be insane to hold them to the same standards as the rest of the league. It’s like hauling a bloke off the street and pitting him against their sumo wrestler. OK, so the sumo wrestler might essentially be brain-dead, but he’s still a man mountain who has spent the last ten years reaching optimum weight to win contests with minimum effort. He’s a fatty and there’s no shifting him because he’s bedded into the very floor. Manchester City are a different proposition, in that they play football that doesn’t punish the viewer, aren’t run by complete idiots and don’t have a coach who considers the eye gouge a management tool. There’s a subtler evil afoot, and it’s masked by a beautiful exterior. They’re like a glorious Hollywood film funded by a tobacco multinational which then

Mertesacker and Koscielny this season and this match only served to emphasise how good they’ve been together this season. The affectionately nicknamed BFG successfully completed 14 out of 14 clearances along with 13/13 headed clearances. His French partner in crime also succeeded with 14/14 clearances but faired oh so slightly worse in the air, “only” successfully making 9 out of 9 with his head. That’s a 100% success rate between both centre backs! Unheard-of statistics in recent years.
The only blemish on a near perfect defensive performance was the slight lapses in concentration that allowed Benteke to get free to score a consolation and almost nick an undeserved late equaliser

Serge Gnabry was preferred over Lukas Podolski and that must surely send alarm bells ringing around the German's head. I'm not sure I buy the fitness excuse to be honest, especially when you consider the amount of starts he has had since Tomas Rosicky replaced him in the starting eleven last season. What I find incredible about Gnabry is his awareness and willingness to put in a defensive shift for the team. You get the sense that players like Özil, Walcott, Arshavin before them have to force themselves to think about that side of the game. To go against their nature which is normal for an attacking player but even at 18 years of age, tracking his man and ending up in the right back position is almost second nature. His powerful frame is also used to barge into opponents

There is a rather uncanny symmetry happening in regards to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. AOC had impressed during the pre season and was taking similar steps forward to Aaron Ramsey. On the first day of the season Chamberlain had already chalked up an assist to his name before suffering from a knee injury that would write off the first half of his season. He returns tonight against the last

Oxlade-Chamberlain back to full training and Serge Gnabry putting in an impressive shift against the Spuds, we have two young guns who should be chomping at the bit. Following Walcott’s injury, I’m sure it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed that the position that is open to them is very much a niche position. Of course, Wenger could plump for Rosicky

We have lost some very important qualities, qualities that we do not have in abundance and that is what is most difficult to take. Players like Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere for example are all technically more natural footballers than Theo but we have players in the squad that can compensate for them if injury strikes. The general response as to who should replace Theo seems to be either Serge Gnabry or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain