Cesc Fabregas looked back to his best but was lacking runners. Had Theo Walcott or Carlos Vela been playing then Cesc would have been able to use his range more effectively
Firstly I don't see that booing one of our own players is a good thing to do regardless of the circumstances & reasons for doing so but when it comes to our team , there's no player worth our sympathy
Fabregas: He raised his game above recent levels today and one just felt he would have shone much brighter if the team around him had brought on their attacking game. His distribution was good. He got involved in the retail side of the game
Nasri and Toure definitely miss out, but Fabregas, Sagna and Clichy all have a chance of returning to the squad after missing the mid week Champions League action through injury. van Persie and Adebayor were rested and will return to the starting line up
Johan Djourou could well come in and help the back four progress. The defending against Chelsea has probably been the best it has been all season
It is just to note that the kids are not getting a real view of the hyper-competitive world of sport and that might be why they don't realise they have to take their chances or suffer career consequences
Without Clichy and Sagna our back four looked all over the place, It didn't help that Gallas was coming back in from injury. Silvestre had a pretty poor game in my eyes, and did not fill me with confidence
Arsene played the perecentages here, and it didn’t work. Hey, it happens. Barcelona did the same the night previously as they knew they had Real Madrid coming up on the weekend. And whilst Boro aren’t as glamorous as Real Madrid, the logic is the same
I was unsure about how we would line up but the manager has given it away by declaring that Ebcheerue will play at right back in place of the rested Sagna
With qualification already assured we’ll see a Carling Cup player or two in the team. There’s a mid-week break after the league game on Saturday, so there’s no major need for resting players