I feel massively sorry for Emmanuel Eboue. He had a fantastic game and was certainly one of our better performers on the day. He was one of the players who added that drive and direct running that many of the more popular players missed from their performance throughout the game

I must be missing something here. My understanding of the game isn’t what it should if I am going by all the reaction to the Emmanuel Eboue penalty.

I am known for having red and white specs attached to my head and I acknowledge that I cannot take them off even if I try but I like to think that I can hold my hands up and say ‘god, that was stupid’ if I feel we have made a bad error.

When I saw the incident at the time I thought it was not a foul, I felt he went down easily and I expected Andre Marriner to point towards Szczesny’s goal and blow his whistle. With the eight minutes of stoppage time long gone surely Lucas was desperately looking for one last chance to gain his team a point. To my utter astonishment the referee pointed to the spot.

The replay on Sky Sports proved my red tinted initial gut feelings to be correct. It was not a foul.

Eboue did not run into Lucas. Lucas was NOT directly in front of Eboue. At the time I, like I am sure hundreds of thousands of Gooners wanted Eboue to get to the ball first and clear away the danger. Our defence was in a panic and the players wanted rid of the ball as far away and as quickly as possible. Lucas stopped running for the ball and stepped into Eboue’s path and within a split second he fell to the floor thus tripping Eboue over in the process.

I repeat Eboue did not run into Lucas, Lucas stepped into Eboue.

It was clever from the Brazilian, it was a piece of gamesmanship which should have earned him a yellow card but instead it forced a referee who had already played an extra THREE minutes of injury time, into giving a levelling penalty. Take absolutely nothing away from Dirk Kuyt, his penalty was superb and gave our keeper no chance.

I do not understand why the referee decided he needed to play on for so long but I do understand why he gave the penalty. He was conned and thought as many do, that Eboue just ran into the back of Lucas and pushed him over.

I feel massively sorry for Emmanuel Eboue. He had a fantastic game and was certainly one of our better performers on the day. He was one of the players who added that drive and direct running that many of the more popular players missed from their performance throughout the game.

Cesc Fabregas had been fouled in the box deep into stoppage time but had a poor game throughout the 90+ minutes. Van Persie’s penalty was fantastic under intense pressure. I expected his celebration to be the post match picture. Arms outstretched, roaring in jubilation. Lucas and Marriner had very different ideas.

Don’t assume that I am deflecting all the blame onto the referee, not at all. We should have kept our cool after Van Persie’s penalty and used our possession game to keep the ball away from Liverpool. We had the ball shortly after Liverpool kicked off and we have not learnt our lesson from past collapses but even that wasn’t the most disappointing thing for me.

Once again we looked short of ideas at the Emirates. Van Persie is all of a sudden the only player who knows how to score goals. Samir Nasri’s goals have dried up, Cesc hasn’t been scoring all season and Theo’s diagonal runs have also come to a halt.

We are playing football in front of the opposition and are not getting in behind.

Earlier in the season we were moving the ball quickly and our interchanging football was fluid and very difficult to stop. At the end of the season our football looks slow and predictable.

Robin Van Persie cannot carry the team on his own, he is playing alongside many, many talented players who are completely out of form. Players are no longer taking responsibility in the attacking third and we are easy to shut out right now.

Our engine is not purring and when it doesn’t purr it is very difficult to move.

One recent complaint that I can agree with is our late substitutions and the positions they take up. We have got into the habit of bringing Bendtner on late in games and then playing him wide right and then use our full backs to cross balls into Van Persie usually on his own in the middle. If we are going to do that then surely having Bendtner attacking the crosses would be more beneficial.

We do not bloody need Gary Cahill who conceded 5 to Stoke City. We do not bloody need a new goalkeeper to displace a 21 year old keeper who is one of the brightest prospects in Europe. We need a ‘super super’ talent who can unlock defences on his own or/and a goalscorer who can tuck away a half chance instead of passing on the responsibility to someone else.

I am not one of those who think that we try and score the perfect goal. I believe that Arsene wants his players to keep the ball until a good chance comes available. I totally understand that. There is nothing worse than two players standing unmarked in the penalty area for a glory seeker to smash the ball over the bar from 35 yards out at an angle.

However our players are not even getting into goalscoring positions anymore. No players are dribbling aggressively into the box. How many players are making runs off the ball to get away from their man and scream for the final ball?

This is the reason why I believe we have dropped too many points in recent weeks. If we were doing what we are supposed to be good at in the final third then those too familiar bad endings wouldn’t happen. We have the second best defensive record in the league.

To Alan Hansen, Jamie Redknapp, James Richardson, Mark Lawrenson et al who bang on about our defensive failings, we are strong defensively. Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Szczesny, Fabianski having all been largely fantastic for the most part. Clichy since December has found his form again.

We are built as an attacking force and it is that which has let us down. We are not making the most out of our possession and that for me is the reason why we will not win the league this season.

Those blaming Emmanuel Eboue who was visibly upset after putting in a good performance should look at the replay and watch the actions of Lucas.

Lucas dive – Click link for Arsenalist video

It is important that the team find a spark again and quickly. We want to stay in second at least. Beating Tottenham at White Hart Lane would be a great start.

Szczsney (7)
Eboue (7.5)
Koscielny (7)
Djoruou (7)
Clichy (7)
Diaby (7)
Wilshere (6)
Cesc (5.5)
Walcott (6)
Van Persie (6.5)
Nasri (6)

Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions