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Arsène Wenger and Mikel Arteta have spoken about how the team want to come back with a far better result but we've heard this before only to hear in the next post match interviews how the team were nervous due to the previous result. Interviews have been minimal, so much so that post Chelsea and pre Swansea press conferences have been abandoned. That is truly how Arsène feels about the Chelsea result so there is no point in listening to his 'accident' claims in the press and then crying about it. His actions speak far louder than words.

They have frequently been found wanting, lacking the requisite collective mental and physical edge needed to see off the opposition. They have too often this season, been bested in dramatic fashion by their top four domestic competitors.  Perhaps there are too many footballing passengers in this team hoping a few fellow players will carry them to a win. Some fans and pundits have criticised Wenger for being stuck in his ways. But perhaps he should revert back to his previous winning model of power and precision and abandon this feint-hearted tika-tika football experiment. Perhaps he should build a new team based on his previous proven winning formula of power, speed, clinical finishing and defending and in addition to the possession and triangular passing football he craves.

Going into this game, the manager had never beaten Jose Mourinho and afterwards, never looked further away from doing so. Of course, the usual talk of not being able to compete with their spending/squad/whatever will be levied but when you think that they are coming off the back of a defeat at Villa & the likes of West Brom have given them more of a scare at their place this season, Arsenal's pathetic surrender becomes even more inexcusable. Painting Chelsea as some sort of unbeatable, unstoppable force falls foul in the face some of their results against teams far further down the pecking order than Arsenal. This was the first time they had scored 6 goals against anybody this year and also the first time in two spells under Mourinho - statistic that unfortunately says more

We looked like a boxer going up against one of the hardest hitters in the business, jabbing at our opponent without once putting our guard up. Inevitably Chelsea struck with pretty much the first blow and Eto'o was on hand to curl it around Szczesny. Moments later André Schürrle drove a low shot into the corner of Szczesny's net Then in full self implosion mode Oxlade-Chamberlain stuck out an arm to block a Hazard shot that was going wide anyway. The referee clearly not having seen the incident was trying to communicate with one of his officials. Then mistaking Chamberlain he sent off Kieran Gibbs even though Chamberlain was seen telling the referee that he was the guilty culprit.

We had a good opening ten minutes or so against Tottenham but then looked quite shaky, whereas today we were unsteady and lacked any real composure from the get go. There wasn't one standout performer either, everyone was equally poor and the whole setup was a mess. We weren't defensively tight which is how we managed to not concede against Tottenham and we got dispossessed in vulnerable positions

I cannot tell you how much I want us to beat Chelsea. While we are depleted somewhat with key players missing, we still have a lot of quality on that pitch. I don't care if we have 10% of the ball and have one shot, as long as that shot goes in and we keep the ball out

And how can you argue with such sentiments? It is crunch time, make or break or however you want to put it. It is the time of the season when brushing off a defeat and looking to bounce back in the next game is no longer possible if you really want to have a chance of the title. It is the most open race in many years now. We are currently sat four points behind them with a game in hand so even if we win at Stamford Bridge at lunch time, we will still require more dropped points from them if we are to have our destiny in our own hands. I think we will beat Manchester City at the Emirates if we are aggressive enough so a positive result could be a great springboard.

Anyway Arsène's impact was instant I mean, winning the double in your first full season is taking the piss, especially when you consider that the club had not won the title since 1990/91. To be honest it must have been a piece of cake to a new man who came into a league where post match pints was the norm. Also the technical level of the league was poor considering the limited amount of foreign imports in the country at that time. It must have been like walking into a race where all your competitors were off their faces after an all night bender and you are one of the few sober runners. This isn't to down play Arsène's early success but he was a man way ahead of the opposition. The only club Arsène had to deal with was Alex Ferguson's Manchester United who were ahead of the opposition themselves not down to foreign methods but down to

So what of those who are yet to put pen to paper? I say 'those' but one of those people are in fact the manager along with right back Bacary Sagna. Here is the thing, I think Sagna has turned his Bacary on us (sorry) which is fine. He has been very loyal and has stuck with us for years now. He is coming towards the end of his peak years and is unlikley to improve as a player from this point onwards. He may want to either have a new challenge or indeed one last pay off. As long as it is not to Tottenham then I can pretty much appreciate whatever he does when the season ends. For me, Bac is the best right back I have seen playing for us since I first started watching Arsenal, back in 1990. Better than Dixon and Lauren in my opinion. Wow, we've only had three first choice right backs in 24 years. That is what you call continuity. I think we would struggle to find a right back as good a Sagna defensively but should Sagna want to leave then this could be a chance to evolve rather than replace

In the North London derby, ludicrous, fantastical notions of ‘playing the Tottenham way’ or ‘Wengerball’ essentially go out the window as simply securing a victory is all that matters. Nothing reinforced that fact more than the latest tête-à-tête between Arsenal and Spurs. Arsenal took an earlier lead but failed to capitalise, spent much of the game on the back foot and ultimately, looked second best. However, for all their possession and positive approach, our rivals could not find a way through and still found themselves on the receiving end of defeat. While there may be a worry or two over the way the team played and struggled to get a proper foothold on the game, the end result was the only thing that mattered. It may well have been one of the least enjoyable matches to watch