You want Arshavin to be in Gervinho’s positions but Arshavin doesn’t get into Gervinho’s positions. Theo Walcott on the other side started slowly but got much better as the first half went on. When he found his stride, he was the most dangerous player on the pitch. Direct, aggressive and purposeful

Arsenal 1 (Vermaelen 82) Fulham 1 (Vermaelen 65 [og])

I had recorded the Fulham match on my Sky box and had to view the match after it had finished. For the first time in my life I watched the game late without knowing the score, a quite surreal experience I must say. My mobile battery had died whilst I was out so I had no choice but to put the game to the back of my mind.

For once I had got the line up correct in my pre match thoughts having figured that both Gervinho and Koscielny looked dead on their feet during the midweek. Johan Djourou and Andrey Arshavin had a chance to show the manager that they should be considered first choice. I thought Arshavin had started well enough, found himself involved in the game and then faded badly. It is a crime that a player so gifted can vanish from the game in a puff of smoke. He started the game trying to find van Persie with little cute passes in the box and also had the ball in the net but it was disallowed for a marginal and correct decision.

While Gervinho can frustrate with his selections of finishes and passes, he doesn’t disappear. His energy and presence is always there regardless of his end product. If only there was a way to mix the two.

You want Arshavin to be in Gervinho’s positions but Arshavin doesn’t get into Gervinho’s positions. Theo Walcott on the other side started slowly but got much better as the first half went on. When he found his stride, he was the most dangerous player on the pitch. Direct, aggressive and purposeful. His run and set up for Ramsey was great but Ramsey side footed high over the bar. That should have been 1-0. He is still snatching at chances as Cesc was doing at a young age.

Plenty of credit must go to Fulham for the way they doubled up on van Persie and our wide players when they had the ball. A sharper Arsenal would have passed through it more often but this fatigued Arsenal could not do it as often as we would have liked.

Fulham’s goal should have been prevented. Danny Murphy’s pass to John Arne Riise was a very good pass but Vermaelen got to Riise chest control first, he panicked and tried to clear the ball for a corner but instead slid it past Szczesny. Perhaps the right footed clearance could have been the better option.

Knowing we were not at our sharpest, the team would have wanted to have kept it tight and pushed for a late winner. We had fought hard and tried to control the game but one mistake at the back and it goes out the window. That is exactly what happened. Arsene replaced Arshavin for Gervinho and that says it all. Arshavin hasn’t started since we beat Bolton in the Carling cup on October 25th.

Fulham put two men on Gervinho when he had the ball and they still could not contain him. He was heavily involved in the short time he was on the pitch and on another day he could have had another assist.

Before that van Persie had a shot saved off the goal line after some fantastic footwork to carve open the chance. Thomas Vermaelen’s header levelled the scores following a pin point Walcott cross but we couldn’t quite do enough to get the winner.

I have to look at the controversial penalty incident again as I missed it at the time and didn’t go back to watch it.

While we were obviously affected by our recent games what is still evident is the fight and determination from the players. The amount of times our midfield swarmed over the Fulham players to pinch the ball high up leaves a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. Watching Theo Walcott sprint back to the half way line to win the ball back after losing it is just what we have been missing consistently from a few Arsenal teams of late but this is not the case with this team and I like that.

This team will not suffer any hangovers from this, you can be sure of that. They play with heart and passion, they just have very heavy legs. Legs that will be rested this week in the Carling cup against Manchester City.

Important points dropped and we should have won the game today but winning every game isn’t going to happen. I hope the midweek game can sharpen some squad players up because judging by the lack of sharpness, Arsene will need his squad members.

Man of the match: Theo Walcott