In January of this calendar year, we played at Craven Cottage and an Adebayor double (which saw the debut of his song) plus one from Rosicky saw us thump Fulham with a 3-0 win. We were flying high at the top of the table, the team and fans were united. What a difference seven months make.

In January of this calendar year, we played at Craven Cottage and an Adebayor double (which saw the debut of his song) plus one from Rosicky saw us thump Fulham with a 3-0 win. We were flying high at the top of the table, the team and fans were united. What a difference seven months make.

Seven months ago, I actually got to the stadium late thanks to the useless District Line. This time I vowed not to repeat the feat as myself and a few mates arrived at Putney Bridge station 45 minutes before kick-off. We were so early that we even allowed ourselves a few minutes of singing and dancing outside The Eight Bells pub before the trek through Bishops’ Park. Our time outside the pub coincided with the Tottenham/Sunderland result, which certainly raised the spirits of the travelling Gooners. Little did know that those five minutes would be the highlight of the day.

I had anticipated one change from last week – Bendtner to be replaced by Robin, who scored a screamer for Holland in midweek. I was not expecting Kolo to come in for Djourou. It’s not a move I agreed with – we all know the issues that the Kolo/Gallas partnership have, and Johan has hardly put a foot wrong. Poor Johan – from being on the verge of establishing himself as a bona fide first-choice centre-half, he is replaced without reason by Kolo and the acquisition of Silvestre has pushed him further down the pecking order.

With Arsenal, you can tell within 10 minutes how the game is going to go. If our passing is crisp and our movement good, then as long as we grab the first goal we will be okay. But – as was the case here – if things aren’t clicking then you know we’re in for a hard time. Little things start going wrong – square passes are hit too hard, one-twos fail because of miscommunication, we get boxed into a corner and lose the ball, through balls to strikers hit their heels instead of falling into their path, etc etc. There was no spark in our play here, although we did have the first two shots: Ade with a half-chance from outside the box that he was never likely to score from, and an altogether more presentable chance on 20 minutes from RvP. In one of the only good things he did all day, Theo got around the Fulham back four and sent a deep cross to Nasri, who laid it back to the Dutchman, but his trusty left peg let him down as his curling effort went wide of Schwarzer’s near post.

Just as we sensed a change in the waters, Fulham grabbed the goal. Zamora made a mockery of Kolo on the edge of the box but the Ivorian recovered to make a last ditch tackle before the ex-Spud could get his shot away. The ensuing corner caught us cold as Hangeland got goalside of Gallas and slid it home. An excellent corner – we could learn from that as our set-pieces were horrible. But Gallas shouldn’t be getting beaten like that. Never mind his merits (or lack thereof) as a skipper, first and foremost he has to be a good defender. That passage of play from him was Sunday league, not Premier League.

The two minutes had encapsulated the post-Invincibles Arsenal: a missed chance followed by a goal conceded sloppily from a set-piece. Yet we were unfortunate not to get a goal back ASAP. Last season against Fulham was a revelation because we finally confirmed we had a Plan B: get it out wide and cross it for Ade. We did the same here but this time the Togonator’s header hit the post rather than nestling in the corner. And while we hoped that this would the beginning of the fightback, we were sadly mistaken. The remaining 20 minutes of the half were anaemic; a Theo shot from distance was all we could muster. Although Almunia barely had a save to make, Fulham looked more threatening than us. Not because they were playing well, but because our fragile midfield allowed them to attack our back four.

Generally when a team is playing crap they can rely on set-pieces to dig them out of a hole. Not us. RvP had numerous free-kicks throughout the game. The majority of times he couldn’t get it past the wall, and the one time he did, it nearly went into the River Thames. Half-time. And thus far, a waste of time.

Along with the announcement of Tottenham’s result, the biggest cheer of the day came when Ray Parlour walked across the away stand. How we could have done with him in midfield. Myself and DJ even swapped seats to see if that could bring about a change in luck. But it wasn’t lucking that we were lacking, it was quality. And I hate to say this, but maybe desire as well. There was a moment in the second-half where Fulham were nonchalantly knocking the ball around and taking the piss. Where was the pressure from midfield? Where was the tackle flying in? The first sliding tackle I can remember either Eboue or Denilson executing came in the dying moments of the game. A sad indictment of things.

That said, we started the second period brighter. Ade had one shot blocked and one that went wide. But we couldn’t prise Fulham apart, partly due to a lack of accurate/incisive passing (Denilson in particular was massively at fault), and partly due to poor movement. Where we the runs from the front pair that dragged defenders wide and opened up space for Theo to run onto a Nasri through ball?

More dodgy defending from Gallas nearly saw Fulham double their lead on the hour as Zamora got goalside to get on the end of a cross but he could only send it over. The clock ticked on but we still couldn’t create anything of note. Bendtner came on for the hugely disappointing Walcott. Like everyone else, the guy in front of me applauded the departing Theo before muttering “He’s not been very good”. And he wasn’t. After the pre-season performance against Madrid I had high hopes for the Ade/Robin/Theo trio, but it didn’t bear fruit here. Maybe the return of Fabregas will help them, but to what extent?

I was talking to a bloke at Putney Bridge station after the game and we raised our concerns about Theo. In any other squad, he is a youngster who is given time to develop. For us, however, he is relatively senior and big things are demanded of him NOW. What we did conclude was that if he was a foreigner, the fans’ patience with him would be wearing thin and such a performance would receive the kind of vitriol only reserved for Eboue.

Speaking of Eboue, I thought he was our best performer in midfield. He was the only one to pick up the ball and drive at Fulham, winning a few free-kicks in dangerous areas. But of course, he is Eboue, so none of this appreciated. Seriously, some Gooners need to take their anti-Eboue specs off and see him for what he is: a utility player filling in admirably in a position where he has no experience. Of course we don’t like his diving and other antics, but is it wise to start having a go at him when he picks up the ball and is about to embark on a run? I’m not a fan of booing our players at all, but if you are to do it, at least do it after he has fucked up, not before.

Halfway into the second period we came mighty close to snatching an undeserved equaliser as Robin hit a daisycutter that went narrowly wide. Song then came on for Kolo and slotted in at centre-half. There remained one available substitution: why didn’t Wilshere come on? We desperately needed something different in midfield. With Denilson’s passing continuously going astray, a swap with Wilshere was the logical move but it didn’t happen.

As is the case in these games, we picked up the tempo in the final ten minutes. In truth, we were probably half an hour too late. It took a full 83 minutes for us to get behind Fulham’s defence as Robin found Nasri on the left. The Frenchman – who had a much quieter game than his debut last week – cut inside and shot but it was blocked. Minutes later Ade had a curling effort that went straight down the throat of Schwarzer. Clichy too had begun to push forward and even he had shot, but couldn’t provide a John Jensen moment. Alex Song did his best to add some drive but it wasn’t happening. Four minutes of injury time simply prolonged the pain. Last season we were the kings of the late goal and Fulham the masters at conceding them, but it didn’t recur here. ‘Nil point’ as they say in the Eurovision Song Contest, and it was no more than we deserved.

Here’s a sobering thought: the eleven that took to the field consisted of nine of Arsene’s preferred XI, the two ‘non-starters’ being in central midfield. Yet the game showed exactly why central-midfield is the most important area of the game and one in which we were severely lacking. Not once during the 90 minutes did we have any semblance of control in the middle, never mind craft or creativity. Denilson in particular had a shocker. Eboue was slightly more impressive – at least he showed some urgency. Up-front we were toothless in possession and off the ball. Defensively we had little to do – but when we did, we got it wrong. Pretty bleak stuff. I know it was only the second game of the season and we have 36 more to recover, but still…

Here’s an even more sobering thought: the last two times we’ve won the league, we’ve gone unbeaten away from home. Doesn’t bode well does it?