Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain once again looked dynamic, confident and dangerous. He is not only a dribbler or speed merchant, he has the eye for the pass and provided just that, a diagonal slipped ball into Theo Walcott who did what Ramsey didn’t, he took it on and faced the keeper one on one but once again he hit the keeper. He has finished that same chance so many times in the past but this season, it just is not happening for Theo Walcott either. Against QPR

I am feeling somewhat dejected today. Dejected and very frustrated.

The team that stepped out against Bolton were good enough to have beaten the home side handsomely. Arteta and Sagna returned to the team and they both added shape and stability to the side that fought back to beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

We started brightly and dominated the ball, our passing was quick and we were positive. It was the type of start that usually reassures me that we have a good chance to win the game. Unfortunately if you continue to be profligate in front of goal then you will not win games. Once again we need too many chances to score, van Persie apart, we are incredibly wasteful. We snatch at chances and have been doing that all season.

I loved the movement of the front three and they were causing Bolton all sorts of problems. van Persie was dropping off the front and that was leaving plenty of space for other players to run into. Robin played in Aaron Ramsey but instead of taking the chance on he prodded first time at the keeper. I do not want to criticise a young player like Ramsey who has so much right about his game at his age but he has a habit of taking shots far too early. Had he collected the pass into his stride, he could have rounded the keeper or slotted into the corner, anything other than poking the ball first time at the keeper when time is on your side. For the role Ramsey is playing and for the amount of chances he has had, he simply hasn’t scored enough goals this season. I am not having a go at Aaron per se, I am just pointing out the obvious that a player of his quality in his position, he should be contributing far more to our goals for tally.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain once again looked dynamic, confident and dangerous. He is not only a dribbler or speed merchant, he has the eye for the pass and provided just that, a diagonal slipped ball into Theo Walcott who did what Ramsey didn’t, he took it on and faced the keeper one on one but once again he hit the keeper. He has finished that same chance so many times in the past but this season, it just is not happening for Theo Walcott either. Against QPR at home he had a similar clear cut chance that he fluffed. Last season away to Newcastle and Tottenham he slotted them away with ease.

Walcott is in the team to score those chances, he is our wide striker who is supposed to score 15-20 goals a season and right now he is badly out of form. To be honest, minus a patch of form around the Chelsea and Norwich games, Theo has not been at his best level and in a season where he has stayed fit I, as I am sure he would have expected more of himself if not in performance then at least in goal scoring.

While Chamberlain and Walcott are different players and it is easy to jump on the bandwagon after a few games but the form and talent of the junior only increases the spotlight on Theo Walcott. I believe that once Walcott manages to finally take that step up to the next level then he will be a very effective and deadly player, unfortunately for us, that is not the case this season. Whether we see it from now until the end of the campaign, only time will tell.

Laurent Koscielny struggled to deal with his center forward for the first time in some time., David Ngog caused him all sorts of problems and the former Liverpool man should have scored when he got on the wrong side of the center back but his slotted shot shaved the wrong side of the post.

In the second half Robin van Persie was denied by a double dose of woodwork. Firstly his side footed effort from a Sagna cross bounced off the base of the post and later on a wonderful right footed chip across the keeper smacked off the crossbar just has it had done against Sunderland at the Emirates earlier in the season. Efforts like that deserve goals but for some reason the footballing gods are not giving them to him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a powerful snap shot that was tipped over, on top of a first half chance created by Robin but the pass meant that he had to stretch and his shot sailed over the top. It is incredible to think that he is only 18 years old. Without wishing to increase the hype on the kid, I think it is obvious to anyone who has watched the guy for more than 45 minutes that this kid is going to be special if he continues his growth as a player.

So when he was removed from the pitch for Thierry Henry I was a little stunned. Perhaps Wenger wanted to keep Walcott on as he is more of a striker and we needed a goal, that is plausible but based on form and impact on the game, the wrong player was removed in my opinion.

Thierry seems to be finding the pace of the games difficult right now and has done ever since he came back. The irony is that had he started the game then we could have well won the match. As we saw against Leeds United, he can finish, had he have been on the end of both Ramsey’s or Walcott’s first half chances then he would have put them away without any fuss.

Bolton took over in the latter stages and had chances to win the game themselves, on another day they could have been awarded a penalty when Mark Davies and Per Mertesacker came together in the penalty area. Justice was done though as the Bolton man dived ridiculously in the first half to get Thomas Vermaelen booked.

The result is incredibly disappointing and there is no doubt that we should have won but we have to do better in front of goal but I do not agree with many that we didn’t play well. I thought our team looked very strong, especially in the first half hour of the game.

Mikel Arteta showed how much of a miss he has been with a dominating performance. He fights for 90 minutes when he doesn’t have the ball and caresses the ball around the pitch when he does. Sagna is not even match fit yet but already makes us a much better side with his powerful forward runs and his excellent defensive reading of the game. He could and perhaps should have had an assist on his return but for the bloody post.

Had one of van Persie’s efforts gone in along with one of Ramsey, Walcott or Chamberlain’s attempts then we would be talking about a positive display. That is the margin we are playing with right now.

To state the obvious, winning games is about scoring more than the opposition. It doesn’t matter if you create 30 chances and have 75% possession. If you don’t score then you don’t win and while our defence has been under scrutiny this season I believe that it is the other end of the pitch that has been our greatest concern this season.

I am looking forward to Gervinho and Chamberlain playing either side of van Persie but that does not directly add goals to our team, if anything I would have imagined that Walcott would have been a crucial part to our team because of his goals.

While we are all bitterly disappointed with the result and indeed our league position I don’t think it is a fair reflection of the game to suggest that we were poor. Our finishing was poor but our performance was encouraging. But as I said, work needs to be done in doing the most important part of the game.

If we are to find any crumbs of comfort, if you can call it that, then it is that Chelsea haven’t driven further forward after they also managed a draw this midweek.

We badly need to turn around our fortunes and start a winning run. We have proved that we are capable of doing that, the challenge now comes from doing it under pressure.

Man of the match: Robin van Persie