Just travelling back from the game and I can’t believe it.

Cruising for 80 minutes, then we collapse. I’m too tired and gutted to post a proper review, but I will say a few things.

Firstly, Arsene needs a new goalkeeper. Almunia isn’t good enough and Fabianski clearly isn’t either. He literally “threw” away the win today, and he was hardly tested.

Secondly, Abou Diaby is one lazy b*stard. Seeing him today was a disgrace. He strolls around the pitch and for a midfielder, has no idea how to close down or defend. The player is a liability.

I wanted to run onto the pitch and give him a slap.

And finally, and probably the most damning of all, is the fact that Sol Campbell, a 35 year old no-one else wanted and a player we got for free, has more balls and determination than the rest of the squad put together. There was only one player who wanted to win today and it was the stand in captain. And if that’s the case it really is a sad state of affairs.

Campbell, Nasri and Theo played well but apart from that no-one else cared.

But on the plus side, the weather was nice.

What a devastating defeat that was.

It was so devastating because:

1. We had terrible luck during the game.

Spurs open the scoring with their first shot, which is by all accounts a freak goal. Danny Rose, making his Premier League debut, scored a fantastic volley from 30 yards out. Credit where credit is due, it was a brilliant strike but 99 times out of 100 that same shot would have flow right into Row Z.

And this was after 20 minutes of Arsenal completely dominating possession.We then shot ourselves in the foot by conceding a second straight after the break, but after, we still didn’t have the rub of the green. In the final 15 minutes, Robin Van Persie had a free-kick saved, an acrobatic shot saved and Sol Campbell had a header saved onto the crossbar.

Even at 2-0 down we had actually had enough chances to win the game but it was never going to be our day.

2. Tottenham had no ambition

Amazingly, a team aspiring to break into the Top Four defended so deep and in huge numbers we couldn’t get through. Credit to Tottenham, they defended well but they were so negative it was ridiculous. They were camped outside their 18 yard box for the vast majority of the game and had no intention of taking the game to us.

The freak opening goal was perfect for them and they defended in numbers.

3. Robin Van Persie returned

Why did Van Persie have to return now?

He played the final 20 minutes of the game and once he came on we looked completely different. We looked dangerous, clinical and like a completely different team. He almost scored twice, and setup the ball for Walcott from which Bendtner scored. And what made the performance even more impressive was that he looked so sharp despite the fact he’s been out of action for 5 months.

That just shows the world-class quality we’ve been missing. And watching him play so well was depressing. Why couldn’t he just have returned a couple of weeks earlier? Why did the footballing Gods have to injure him back in November? It was torture watching him back and knowing that ultimately his return can’t actually help determine our season.

If he didn’t get injured on International duty we’d be 5/6 points clear at the top of the league right now. And the thought of that almost brings me to tears.

4. In the end, the injuries cost us

The fact was that we had half a team missing. William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Alexander Song, Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie were out, albeit two of them managing 20 minute cameos. With all (or even half) of those players fully fit we would be a completely different outfit. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and most of the other Premier League teams haven’t suffered as badly as we have this season.

But whether that’s down to poor management or bad luck is up for debate.

5. We had the majority of possession

We played well for most of the first half, but when we did actually get near the Tottenham penalty area we didn’t shoot. There were several times we had opportunities to pull the trigger but never did. Our build up play was good but we lacked that killer instinct – and that only arrived once Van Persie came on.

At times during the game, I was in awe of the quality of football being played but the frustrating thing was we didn’t make it count. Up until the 80th minute, Sol Campbell was our most dangerous attacking threat. I think that says it all.

But despite all that…

We can be proud of this team. Regular readers of this blog will probably think I am overly negative at times but it’s hard to be right now, even after a shattering defeat to the hands of Spurs. Every player (except Diaby) gave it 110% and put in a performance they can be proud of. And before the game against Tottenham, despite the massive injury list, the remaining squad have somehow kept us in the title race. That, without players like Gallas, Fabregas, Song, Van Persie and Arshavin is nothing short of a miracle.

And if you look at the positives, surely more luck in the injury department and our season would have been different. You just think about the number of points players of that calibre could have added to our total this season and surely it’s encouraging. How would Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool cope without Rooney, Drogba and Torres for 5 months? It would be hard to imagine that they would be in a better position than we are now.

But the summer is now a massive time in terms of our future. Does Arsene add strength and experience to our ranks or does he do what he’s always done and lose three players and bring in two. We seem to be rebuilding all the time – over the last few seasons we’ve lost Flamini, Hleb, Adebayor and Toure. Yes, you can argue that it was better to get rid but these were first team players, and if Arsene doesn’t want to use them in first team then surely they would make good squad players. Beyond are first choice starting eleven, we don’t really have the players who could fill in if one of the those players (i.e. Fabregas, Van Persie, Gallas, etc.) for any real length of time. We can maybe replace them for a game or two but not for several months. If football didn’t have injuries then we’d be competing for the major honours time and time again but unfortunately this sport isn’t like that.

Barcelona (4) – (1) Arsenal
Bendtner (18′)
Champions League Quarter Final (2nd Leg)
Camp Nou, Barcelona

What a frustrating game to watch.

Despite Arsenal missing players Van Persie, Gallas, Fabregas, Campbell, Song, Arshavin and Djourou – essentially half a team – they were in this tie.

After a solid opening 18 minutes, Arsenal were defensively disciplined and Barcelona found it difficult to make any clear opportunities, with the only real effort of note a Lionel Messi shot from outside the area that Almunia saved comfortably enough.

And the focused display was rewarded when Abou Diaby won the ball on the halfway line, played in Walcott with a perfectly timed ball and he played in Bendtner. The pass wasn’t the best but the Great Dane managed to get an effort on target which was saved by Valdes, but Bendtner recovered excellently and scored the opening goal.

Advantage Arsenal!

But then, Arsenal literally self-destructed and gifted Barcelona an easy ride.

The back pages of tomorrow’s newspapers and every football website will be raving about Lionel Messi being a player who is from another planet. The best player in the world who annihilated Arsenal.

But the sad fact of the matter was Messi wasn’t phenomenal against us. Arsenal gift-wrapped his 4 goals with amateurish and naive defensive mistakes.

Don’t get me wrong, Messi is an incredible talent. And for me, he could be the greatest the game has ever seen. But he didn’t have to get out of second gear to score his goals. He didn’t score from a piece of magic, or some sensational dribble. His goals were straightforward and put on a plate for him.

Arsenal defensively were shambolic and collapsed as soon as Bendtner gave us the lead.

And that is the most frustrating thing of all. We were solid and focused for 20 minutes but were woeful for the rest of the game. The second half was painful to watch as Barcelona cruised to victory without breaking a sweat.

Once Bendtner gave us the lead, we collapsed. Diaby was absolutely shocking again, and had a glorious chance to release Walcott but instead lost the ball, from which Barcelona equalised. And even then we didn’t deal with the goal very well.

Diaby lost the ball, Barcelona broke and a cross was played into the box, only for the geriatric Mikael Silvestre to obviously not realise the ball was near him and he poked it to Messi, the worlds most dangerous player, to have a free shot right in front of the goal. Great defending there.
So that was gift number one.

After failing to even hold onto the lead for 5 minutes, the collapse continued as Arsenal kept losing possession cheaply and giving Barcelona exactly what they wanted – lots of the ball. The sad thing was for all of Barcelona’s high intensity pressing game, they didn’t have to work hard to get the ball back, we gifted it to them.

And on 37 minutes Messi scored again.

A cross from Abidal from the left was well cut out by Vermaelen, but Pedro pushed the ball back to Messi who had all the time in the world to lash a shot passed the stranded Almunia.

Barcelona had come back without even having to break a sweat.

Then we conceded the customary “break away” goal as Messi ran free and had the time to chip the ball over Almunia. 3-1 to Barcelona and memories of Rooney and Drogba scoring break away goals against us in the league.

Half time came and I still believed that we could nick the couple of goals that would see us through. That was based on the belief that we couldn’t play as badly as we did in the second part of the first half.

But Barcelona had learnt their lesson from the first leg and played much deeper and kept the ball away from us. Possession is nine tenths of the law and we couldn’t get the ball. And unfortunately, on the rare occasions that we did win the ball, we wasted it. It was frustrating to watch as this Arsenal team couldn’t string 3 passes together.

It was a case of having the ball in decent areas of the pitch but not doing anything with it. Instead of releasing a fellow player or moving the ball far to often players like Nasri and Diaby would dwell on the ball and inevitably lose it after being closed down by 3 Barcelona players.

I cannot count how many times Diaby lost the ball tonight.

We had the game in our hands, and despite missing numerous first team players we still fielded a team that could have progressed tonight. Arsene Wenger called for 120% effort, intelligence and commitment and if we had that then we could have got something from the game. But we didn’t release Theo anywhere near as he should have, lost possession far to easily and didn’t use the ball well at all. This is not the first time I’ve seen Theo in the team and no-one seems to pass to him, do some of the players have a problem with him? Because when I watch it seems like it.

It doesn’t take 120% intelligence to work out Barcelona’s weakness. Theo Walcott ran them ragged in the first leg and he was the one who set-up the opening goal tonight. Why didn’t we use him more after that?!
And I have to mention the officials, they were utterly shite.

The booking for Denilson when he clearly won the ball (about 20 seconds before he actually made contact with Messi) was unbelievable. Most of the decisions he made were shocking and the real nail in the coffin was the offside decision against Bendtner when Arsenal were 1-0 up. If that wasn’t given then it could have been a completely different game.

Player Ratings

Manual Almunia: 7/10
Badly exposed for all of Messi’s goals so you couldn’t blame him for those.

Bacary Sagna: 7/10
Kept Pedro and Bojan quiet and supported the attack well.

Thomas Vermaelen: 7/10
Did well under the circumstances, considering he was doing two jobs at the back alongside Silvestre. Could see the frustration on his face at the performance around him and you couldn’t blame him.

Mikael Silvestre: 4/10
Never seen him play well for Arsenal, and was asking myself throughout the game why the hell he is at Arsenal. Red nose couldn’t wait to get rid of him so why would we want him? Shocking mistake for Barcelona’s first goal, and terrible overall. I realise he’s defensive cover but when you’re behind an ageing Sol Campbell and midfielder Alex Song in the pecking order you wonder why we can’t promote a youth talent into the squad.

Gael Clichy: 8/10
One of the few plus points tonight. Determined, quick, ran for every ball and made some vital interceptions. Most of our attacking play went through him on the left hand side. On 75 minutes, he ran 60 yards up the field after winning the ball and instead of passing took a pop shot from 25 yards which flew well over. And you know what, you couldn’t blame him – why pass to team mates when they do nothing with the ball?

Abou Diaby: 5/10
The Walcott pass was the only positive thing he did. After that, constantly lost the ball, strolled around the pitch and looked completely lost. He either has a fantastic game or just disappears. Unfortunately tonight it was the latter.

Denilson: 8/10
Did well considering, won the ball back in vital areas and was one of the few players who actually completed a pass. Made a fantastic tackle on Messi in he first half only to be booked.

Samir Nasri: 6/10
Couldn’t get into the game and looked dead in all honesty. Involved in a rough tackle from Milito in the first 15 minutes and seemed to struggle after. Just didn’t have enough of the ball to influence the game.

Tomas Rosicky: 6/10
Offered nothing and looked unfit. Had a decent chance in the second half but blew his shot well over the bar. Tracked back well and helped Clichy but couldn’t get forward and influence the game.

Theo Walcott: 7/10
The service wasn’t there for him. He was the outlet ball for the team but no-one gave him a decent ball to chase after the one for the first goal, so rendered hugely ineffective for the majority of the game.

Nicklas Bendtner: 8/10
Did excellently for his first goal but like Theo was let down from the lack of service from midfield. Had one chance tonight and he took it, so you couldn’t ask anymore from him.