When I say inflexible I don’t mean that we need Patrick Rice to sign him up for Spursday night Yoga sessions (Europa what?). No. What I mean is that he is inflexible tactically; seemingly reluctant to make significant changes when the system appears ineffective and openly adverse to adapting to suit varying
The other most evident factor is our ability to lose two-goal leads (or more). Tellingly, if we look at the full list we see that the first eighteen games were all one-goal leads. However since that fateful night at the Emirates versus Spurs in October 2008 where we somehow contrived to concede two goals in injury time to our deadliest rivals, this has become increasingly – and
Alex Song's performance was very interesting. Last week Alex Song strode forward, made an assist for Gervinho and created many more chances for others. He was at it again on Saturday afternoon. Mikel Arteta has played as a defensive midfielder for Everton in the past which gave the midfield a lovely fluid
Liverpool came and went, then the Udinese return. Yet still I was in the midst of this out-of-body experience. Even the Man Utd game, which should have left me feeling like I'd spent a night dressed as a sow in the woods of Deliverance, couldn't raise me. It was a waking slumber from which I could not awake, no matter how many street parties they had on the streets of Guildford
Arsene Wenger is right when he says, confidence goes quickly and is slow to build up. The team are refinding their feet and has to do so with new personnel as well as missing first team players. This Arsenal team are still stuck in first gear, there is plenty of internal scope to improve upon and that will come. The most important thing right now was to get points on the board and we got that, we also have a clean sheet to pin to the wall. Alex Song and Gervinho will add defensive and offensive quality
We have a very strong back 5 even before the arrival of Per Mertesacker. Our problem still remains our midfield 3 and attacking 3. They have to cultivate the habit of closing down the opposition when without the ball. Often we see them staring like passengers, which at this stage isn't good enough. Song should learn how to keep his position, sit and leave the ball players to do their job. Arteta has a