Eboue’s cross for the first was world class. He hit one in the first half that was Sunday league class. That is Eboue for you

Talk about a leopard never changing its spots. That 90 minutes last night was Arsenal all over. It is important to remember that it is still only pre season, yes it is the final stages of pre season and we need to sharpen up but Cesc Fabregas and Kolo Toure played their first matches of the pre season.

We started off playing good possession football, not overly penetrating and quick but we were the better side. Walcott played Adebayor clean through from just inside the Ajax half and he should really score those sort of chances but he doesn’t seem to have the selection in finishing. Adebayor tries to pass the ball past the keeper and often gets that finish wrong. We know that Thierry Henry would have scored, Fernando Torres probably would have also it is something we have to accept with Adebayor as our front man. He brings so much else to the team and overall had a very effective game. His work rate was extremely high.

His second miss from Eboue’s shot looked worse than it was. He lacked composure and could have slotted it low past the keeper but I think many strikers would have hit the defender as well.

On 34 minutes Ajax sent a straight ball forward, the Arsenal back four were in a good line and should have had plenty of time to pick up their players.

Kolo Toure headed the ball into the air and William Gallas should have followed Suarez but he let go and Suarez fired in a fantastic left foot volley past Almunia.

Two minutes later, William Gallas showed even worse defending that the first goal.

Kolo Toure was standing in the correct position but Gallas was standing practically next to Clichy. Ajax saw this and played a long pass forward.

Toure had to deal with two attackers as Gallas was nowhere to be seen, the ball was knocked back to Huntelaar who was unmarked and hit a fantastic shot into the bottom corner of Almunia’s net.

It is hard to blame pre season for these errors because we have suffered from stupid defensive mistakes for a couple of seasons now. Why do we find it so difficult to defend one simple ball forward? It is very basic defending. Toure and Gallas look like two players put together without any instructions on what they should be doing. I question what defensive work the back four do day in day out.

Why are Gallas and Toure not working? There does not seem to be simple communication between them. It is bog standard defending.

The second half was much better from an attacking sense at least. We were far more committed and purposeful. We increased the tempo as we always do in second half of games that we are not winning. Adebayor had a fantastic game, and got his goals. Eboue’s cross for the first was world class. He hit one in the first half that was Sunday league class. That is Eboue for you. Bendtner’s introduction really worked. His composure on the ball and strength is a major plus from the bench this year.

Robin Van Persie was not at his best against his enemies and could have got in trouble had it been a serious game. His temper was increasing as the game went on.

It would have been terrible preparation had we lost like that before the FC Twente match but the team can draw on the positives in coming back from behind.

You can be sure that Steve McClaren will play a compact defensive team who will look to hit long passes in between Toure and Gallas which is quite clearly still a weakness for Arsene Wenger.

Have a good day. Drop your view in the comments.

Until tomorrow.

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