Without the creative passing of Mesut Özil and the individuality of Alexis Sanchez we lacked that bit of quality in the final third when it really mattered. I thought we had enough about us to have beaten Stoke, we looked the stronger of the two sides but in games where the legs do not move as freely as you would wish, you sometimes need that additional bit of quality to unlock the door
Whether or not our chances were directly down to Theo's movement, the team looked very creative and inventive. I enjoyed watching Alexis Sanchez, he seemed far more rounded in his performance. His mixture of beating his man and finding the pass seemed far more balanced than usual. His driving runs inside from the left caused Stoke problems for the entire match
Robin van Persie is more than due a goal from open play as he hits his first rut of the season and it will be interesting to see how he combines with Gervinho. When Gervinho replaced the hamstrung Walcott last weekend, he looked sharp and immediately gave us a link from the right of the pitch, something that Theo was struggling to do in that game.
If Bendtner continues from where he left off then I expect the Dane to flourish in a more creative and fluid team around him. I have a good feeling that he will score if he plays this evening
