Fulham (1) – (0) Arsenal
Craven Cottage, London

What can you say about that? Arsenal just didn’t turn up – and make no bones about it, Fulham were nothing special this afternoon.

It was agonising to watch.

You can only hide the cracks for so long and Eboue and Denilson in central midfield is just pathetic when you think of a club of Arsenal’s stature. We lost 3 games last season and still didn’t win the league, so losing a game so early in the season really is a bitter pill to swallow.

There are so many issues which will once again come up among Arsenal fans. Is Arsene the right man to take Arsenal forward? Why haven’t we added to a squad which is so obviously threatbare? Why did we let go of Gilberto when we so badly need him? The questions go on and on.

Only the most optimistic Arsenal fan would think we could win the league this season.

I’ve always been hopeful of this season, and like most of you believe in Arsene Wenger. But when you see a performance like this so early on in the campaign you can’t help but feel depressed. We’ve brought in Silvestre (who funnily enough is injured until mid September) and we’re waiting on a new midfielder.

The problem is Arsenal need more than one extra player.

Today at Fulham, a slow start was taken advantage of and the home side took the lead on 21 minutes. Literally seconds before, Nasri setup Arsenal’s best chance of the game which Van Persie blasted wide. A defining moment in the match – you can get away with substandard performances if you get the three points but this afternoon we weren’t at the races at all.

For the goal, captain William Gallas let Hangeland go to easily score from 4 yards out. A shocking bit of defending and no doubt he’ll be blaming his teammates for that mistake.

Arsene will blame the international week as usual, but the squad is his responsibilty and our central midfield was a nightmare. I wouldn’t expect Wigan to field a midfield like that nevermind Arsenal Football Club. The hub of the team wasn’t there and the last time I’ve seen Arsenal pass so badly and perform so poorly was against Sheffield United away a couple of seasons ago.

We laughed about Manchester United being a one man team after they only drew with Newcastle without Ronaldo last week but without Fabregas we are ten times worse. We are weak. We coped when the little spaniard was out for a few games last season but at this moment at time we just can’t go on.

Arsenal stuggled last season with injuries at important times in the campaign and you would think that would give Arsene a wake up call. Obviously that hasn’t happened and we already trail Liverpool by 3 points only a week into the season.

A lot more questions than answers after this performance and result.

Player & Manager Ratings

Manuel Almunia: 7/10
Apart from the goal and the chance from Zamora, didn’t have anything to do. Couldn’t be blamed for the goal since his defence left him completely exposed.

Bacary Sagna: 7/10
Once again gave everything for the team. Never stopped running up and down the flank and couldn’t have given any more. Delivered a fantastic cross for Adebayor’s header which hit the post. Let down by the poor performance from the majority in red today.

Kolo Toure: 7/10
Was hardly exposed and coped well this afternoon. Made an excellent recovery tackle on Zamora in the first half which could have been costly.

William Gallas: 4/10
Talks the talk but disappointed again today. Let Hangeland go for the first goal with virtually a free shot at goal from 4 yards out. Needs to take more responsibility as captain but I only ever see him having a go at the younger players. Learnt from last season? I don’t think so.

Gael Clichy: 7/10
Full of running again and put in some good crosses and made some important tackles. Like Sagna was playing as a winger in the second half.

Theo Walcott: 6/10
Looked bright at times but wasn’t given much service. Needs to be more confident and take on defenders with his pace. Replaced by Bendtner on 62 minutes.

Denilson: 5/10
Very poor in the middle. Gave the ball away far too many times and couldn’t get his game going at all. Struggled alongside Eboue and couldn’t impose himself on the game.

Emmanuel Eboue: 6/10
Asked to play in the middle which shows how desperate we are numbers-wise this season. Did okay considering he’s playing out of position but times are bad when Eboue is in central midfield. Why on earth did we let go of Gilberto?

Samir Nasri: 6/10
Suffered from the teams overall poor performance. Looked bright in spells taking on a few players but had nothing to target. Too many times had the ball but no-one would show for him.

Robin Van Persie: 5/10
Another player who couldn’t get into the game. Involved in the defining moment of the game when he missed a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the lead. Moments later Fulham scored and you know the rest. Had several decent freekick positions but failed to test the goalkeeper once.

Emmanuel Adebayor: 6/10
Tried to get involved more in the second half but with no service struggled to be any sort of threat. Had a decent header hit the post in the first half but ineffective after that.

Arsene Wenger: 5/10
Will point to the international break as the reason we dropped points but the fact is Arsenal’s squad is so thin. Emmanuel Eboue in central midfield? Times are desperate and we all know Fabregas is out injured but the thought of Cesc playing alongside either Eboue or Denilson sends shivers down my spine. The performance was terrible and Gallas is not a leader – sometimes I think he’s just at Arsenal to pick up his wages.

Liverpool (4) – (2) Arsenal
Diaby (13′), Adebayor (83′)
Anfield, Liverpool

So close, yet so far – which sums up our season really.

Arsenal started the game brightly, and dominated the first 30 minutes of the match. With their sharp passing and attacking possession Liverpool were chasing the game. It was a surprise that Benitez started with both Crouch and Torres up front, but it meant Arsenal’s midfield could get at the Liverpool defence and on 13 minutes we got what we deserved.

After some good attacking play, Hleb fed the ball into Diaby who ran from deep and smashed a shot in at the near post.

Advantage Arsenal.

But after that we seemed to take our foot off the pedal and Liverpool were spraying long balls over the top which were causing us problems and from a corner Liverpool equalised.

And it was a gift.

Steven Gerrard always plays in a good ball and to give Sami Hyypia the time and space in the box was criminal. The header bounced in off the post and Fabregas was just too short to get it away.

Unfortunately it was our defensive frailties which would cost us dear later on in the game.

The second half ended 1-1 and it was up for grabs. The second period started at a decent pace but for about 20 minutes both teams seemed to drop the tempo ready for a grandstand finish.

Another defensive error resulted in another Liverpool goal. A long ball wasn’t dealt with and Torres was given time to get the ball onto his right foot. He didn’t need a second invitation and he smashed the ball into the top corner.

The game was finely poised and Arsene went for broke. Walcott and Van Persie came on for Eboue and Diaby, in the pursuit of that vital goal that would put Arsenal into the next round.

And on 83 minutes it came. Liverpool had a corner which bounced to Theo, who waltzed past 5 players in a simply sensational run. He managed to get himself wide on the right where 4 Arsenal players were waiting in the middle for a cut back. Walcott didn’t disappoint and his pass was converted by Emmanuel Adebayor.

The question now was could Arsenal hold on for the remaining 7 minutes?

Unfortunately bad refereeing decisions have cost Arsenal against Liverpool, and the home side were gifted a penalty. Replays showed that there was minimal contact on Babel but it was enough for the referee to blow the whistle.

It’s hard to not feel aggrieved at the decision, especially after Hleb was robbed of a perfectly good penalty at the Emirates. You wonder where Liverpool get this luck from? They get the decisions at the right time. It’s unbelievable and when the penalty was awarded I was stunned.

There was no reason for Kolo to tug down Babel because there were about 6 players back in the Arsenal penalty area and Babel had a hell of a lot to do from the position he was in.

Dutchman and penalties eh?

Once the kick was given all prayers were with Almunia and whether he could pull off a miraculous save to keep Arsenal in the Champions League. He dived the right way but in front of the Kop Gerrard was never going to miss. And with Arsenal playing desperate football in the remaining minutes the very man who won the penalty Ryan Babel scored on the break.

What a rollercoaster.

So why did Arsenal lose over the two games?

Fatigue & Tiredness

Liverpool just looked like the fresher team. Arsenal played well and tried to pass the ball and performed excellently for the first half an hour, but as the game wore on Arsenal looked jaded. Adebayor and Hleb in particular couldn’t get into the game, whether it was down to form or fatigue. The team was over-reliant on Fabregas to make things happen and this kid is burnt out. To his credit, Diaby put in a good performance but Eboue and Hleb’s influence was sporadic at best.

And Adebayor missed a sitter before we finally got the equaliser.

Fans wanted Theo to start tonight and he probably should have looking at his fantastic run to create Arsenal’s equaliser. You really have to feel for Theo Walcott. He puts in a brilliant display against Birmingham and scores 2 goals but that is overshadowed by the horrendous injury to Eduardo. Then he destroyed the Liverpool team with a quite phenomenal run but ends up on the losing side.

Instead of getting the plaudits his magic moments will be forgotten.

And the absence of Bacary Sagna is such a massive loss. Apart from his solid defensive performances he adds something to our attacking game. Maybe it was Sagna not playing which was the reason why Walcott didn’t start the games over Eboue.

Defensive Frailties

Arsenal probably deserved to progress in Champions League over the two legs if you looked at their attacking play, but you could say that about many games this season. The fact is that for all our possession and incisive passing we lost 4-2 tonight. Yes, the penalty call was so difficult to take, especially after working so hard to equalise, but you can’t expect to win football matches if you concede 4 goals.

The fact is you can put all of Liverpool’s goals down to poor defending.

I still can’t get over the first goal. The defending was a complete shambles and if you’re going to give a top side a free header only 6 yards out then you’re going to be punished.

The second goal was no better, after we failed to deal with a long ball. The situation was still retrievable but we stood off Torres and let him shot with his right foot which was criminal. He is a top quality striker and to do that was asking for trouble.

Then the penalty and goal from the break are self-explanatory really.

Just Plain Bad Luck

It really does seem everything has been going against Arsenal since the injury to Eduardo, and the Liverpool ties followed the same vain.

People will say that you can’t change what’s happened and that we should get over it but there’s no about that element of luck has vanished over the two games. There was the Hleb penalty fiasco in the first leg and Ryan Babel was fortunate to get his in the second. It probably would have been fairer if we had a penalty each over the two legs but it didn’t pan out like that.

Final Thoughts?

Well it was a fantastic game of football tonight and give credit to Liverpool, they played more expansively that I thought they would. We all know how dangerous Liverpool are in Europe and now they have beaten us they will feel like they can win it. It’s a shame how the draw panned out really as well. Chelsea and United got favourable draws and we got the team no-one else wanted.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t still hurting over the 2 major penalty incidents in each of the ties because I think it would have made a difference to the outcome of the games. Such games are won and lost on the little things and even the most dedicated Liverpool supporter couldn’t say that certain things didn’t go in their favour.

But Liverpool have qualified and all you can say is congratulations to them and good luck in the next round.

The game in a way summed up our season. We were strong early on but in the end we were hanging on.

I suppose now our focus will be on how we can add that extra strength we need for next season. The game on Sunday will be even tougher now after tonight so let’s see what the boys are made of.

Arsenal (1) – (1) Liverpool
Bendtner (54′)
The Emirates Stadium, London

Would you put money on yet another 1-1 draw at Anfield on Tuesday?

Today saw a lot of similarities from the first encounter apart from the final scoreline, including the fact that for all our play it was a set-piece and header which gave us our goal.

Cesc, Kolo and Gallas looked tired which isn’t surprising and Liverpool (with 7/8 changes from midweek) looked and performed like the fresher side. They were the better team in the first half an hour and just when Arsenal looked like they might do something Liverpool opened the scoring with a well-taken Peter Crouch goal.

He caused us all kinds of problems this afternoon and if Liverpool want to beat us next week all they have to do is play Crouch. Luckily Benitez will stick with his favoured Gerrard-Torres combination with the two Dutchman out wide which is, I think, a less of a threat than Peter Crouch is.

Arsenal did step up their game in the second half (sound familiar?) and got an equaliser ten minutes into the second period. Fabregas floated in a great freekick and Bendtner made an excellent run and headed the ball home from 5 yards out.

Seriously, we need to cross the ball more against this team!

And just to make the game like a carbon-copy of last weeks encounter we were denied a decent penalty shout when the game was at 1-1. To be honest, I didn’t think it was a penalty when watching the game but afterwards Graeme Souness who was talking to Sky said it was a stone wall penalty.

Maybe we’ll finally get one on Tuesday?

Liverpool are a compact side, who make things difficult and have that abilty to shut out teams. But there is no doubt that they suffer from set-pieces because of their zonal defending. Arsenal need to take advantage of this fact and score goals in the air in the upcoming Champions League game.

Whether Arsene will do this though is another matter.

I’d like to see Bendtner and Adebayor start on Tuesday but we know that won’t happen.

Our team selection is predictable.

Last week I predicted the team selection over 24 hours before the kick off, and it’s pretty obvious what the starting eleven will be next week.

GK: Manuel Almunia
RB: Kolo Toure
CB: William Gallas (captain)
CB: Philippe Senderos
LB: Gael Clichy
RM: Emmanuel Eboue
CM: Mathieu Flamini
CM: Cesc Fabregas
LM: Abou Diaby
FW: Alexander Hleb
CF: Emmanuel Adebayor

Walcott will not start because I just don’t think Wenger believes he’s ready for the big games just yet. I can see Theo making an appearance though in the second half depending how the match is playing out, probably coming on after 75 minutes. Nicklas Bendtner won’t start either because Arsene will put Hleb in the hole were he can link up with his mates Cesc and Flamini in the middle, which to be honest makes a lot of sense.

And with Rosicky out then there’s no choice but to start Diaby and Eboue. Diaby to be fair had a good game in Milan, but Eboue is someone who worries me. Because Kolo isn’t a proper right-back he needs decent defensive cover but Eboue just doesn’t provide it. Then there’s the fact he always loses the ball, makes reckless challenges and is prone to get stupid bookings.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he gets sent off.

So Bacary Sagna aside, it will be the team that did so well against AC Milan at the San Siro. The theory is with those 2 wide players we will be tough to break down and try to spring with pace on the break.

I guess we will see on Tuesday night.

Arsenal (1) – (1) Liverpool
Adebayor (23′)
The Emirates Stadium, London

It’s hard not to feel frustrated after that game. Where do I even start?

We knew Liverpool would sit back, and catch us on the break. And even though Liverpool were well organised they were very, very lucky to end up drawing tonight.

Almost everything seemed to go against Arsenal.

We started the game well and got the opening goal when Robin Van Persie whiped in a great cross onto the head Adebayor, who couldn’t miss from that position.

But after being in control of the game we pressed the self-destruct button.

Only 3 minutes later, Liverpool equalised. I have to point this out right now – Emmanuel Eboue is a massive liability. Shocking, he really is. I have defended him in the past but tonight he was a complete disgrace. He made no effort to push on down the right wing and gave the ball away so many times. And the more I watch the Liverpool goal the more p*ssed off I get.

Flamini loses the ball to Gerrard on the right, and Eboue is just strolling back. He gets sucked into the middle where the central defenders are and leaves Flamini to track Gerrard. Eboue is just a coward. He doesn’t get involved in the game and in that passage of play he just left Gerrard – who was running down the left side – to Toure and then Flamini! People say by playing Theo you lose out defensively but Eboue offered nothing to the Arsenal rearguard.

Watch Eboue in the move Liverpool scored from. It’s a disgrace.

And with that Liverpool scored the massive away goal which they wanted. Talk about gifting them a massive boost.

And early in the second half, Almunia was called upon to make an excellent save from Kuyt, but it all stemmed from Eboue’s idiocy!

Liverpool had a freekick on the right side which was hit towards the back post by captain Steven Gerrard. Martin Skrtel won the header and knocked it inside but instead of challenging for the header Eboue decided to dive and give the defender a free header in the 6 yard box!

Luckily Almunia made an excellent save.

But seriously, it’s like playing with 10 men.

Arsenal basically dominated the second half, and we played some excellent football but were let down at the wrong moments. Adebayor still seems to have a terrible touch (does he train?) and Hleb looked like he was dead on his feet. Theo looked lively when he came on but the attacking threat was basically left to Fabregas, Flamini, Toure and Clichy running from deep.

Then two moments which should have given Arsenal what they deserved.

In a congested Liverpool half, Hleb managed to wriggle through and was pulled down by Kuyt and amazingly a penalty wasn’t awarded. When I saw the move in real-time I thought it was a stone wall penalty and the replays have confirmed that. He was in on goal and Kuyt pulls him down. I defy anyone to say that was not a penalty kick.

And then later on in the half, Nicklas Bendtner blocked a goal-bound effort from Cesc Fabregas. Ironically Bendtner added something to the Arsenal attack when he came on (maybe because he can actually control the ball and hold it up) and was really unlucky to get in the way of the shot.

Seriously, can our luck get any worse?

The penalty decision in particular though really baffles me. Would the foul be given if it was at Anfield, Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge? Of course it would. It’s not as if it was a debatable decision, and being the home side you would think things would go our way – not the complete opposite!

And when you see Chelsea’s goal against Fenerbahce you wonder why we can’t get that kind of luck!

People will say tonights result could have been a lot worse, but the fact is our play deserved much more. In a perverse way though a 1-1 scoreline might put Arsenal in a better mindset going into the Anfield clash, since we have to look to score and if we do it will really put the pressure on Liverpool. If we go into the game 2-1 up we wouldn’t be sure whether to stick or twist and let’s be honest, our defending isn’t exactly the best.

Player Ratings

Manuel Almunia: 7/10
Made a vital, vital save early in the second half to deny Liverpool another away goal. Could he have done better for the first goal? Maybe if he doesn’t come out it gives Gerrard a decision to make when crossing the ball to Kuyt.

Kolo Toure: 7/10
Ran up and down the right side all night and looked shattered towards the end of the match. Almost had to play in two positions with Eboue ‘playing’ ahead of him.

William Gallas: 7/10
Tried to rally the troups by pushing forward in the second half and defended well.

Philippe Senderos: 7/10
Torres caused a few problems but didn’t really have a clear chance at the Arsenal goal. All in all kept him quiet and restricted his threat.

Gael Clichy: 8/10
Up and down the pitch again. One of the few players who gives 110% week in and week out. Like Toure, was almost down the flank by himself. Everyone seemed to be playing the ball to Clichy on the left side in the second half.

Emmanuel Eboue: 4/10
Not sure why he plays. Had a chance to score but the ball was probably just behind him. Almost gifted Liverpool a second goal and offered no sort of offensive threat.

Mathieu Flamini: 8/10
Ran everywhere in the midfield and made some excellent tackles. Showed passion and desire and wouldn’t stop closing down. Excellent engine.

Cesc Fabregas: 8/10
Found it hard going against a congested Liverpool midfield but made some vital openings and almost scored himself. Was left to run the midfield by himself as the wide players were non-existant.

Alexander Hleb: 6/10
In and out of the game. Struggled to make an impact and hasn’t been playing well for a while now. The problem is without any other options Hleb knows he’ll be playing every week and it looks like he is getting complacent.

Robin Van Persie: 6/10
Come off at half time with a thigh problem. Great delivery for the opening goal, and as ever one of only a few players willing to shoot and test the goalkeeper.

Emmanuel Adebayor: 6/10
Found it tough against the Liverpool defence but did come into the game more in the second half. Took the goal well but still struggling with his first touch.

Theo Walcott: 7/10
Replaced Van Persie at half time and looked lively. He was hampered though when Bendtner came on as he was forced to switch sides and play on the right, and with Arsenal’s persistance to play down the left saw less and less of the ball as the second half progressed.

Nicklas Bendtner: 7/10
Showned some good touches and added something to the attack. Not sure if he was trying to grab the glory with Fabregas’ chance or was just unlucky.

Bolton Wanderers (2) – (3) Arsenal
Gallas (61′), Van Persie (66′), Jlloyd Samuel OG (90’+1)
The Reebok Stadium, Bolton

What a comeback.

I didn’t actually catch the match, but had to watch Sky Sports’ Gillette Soccer Saturday and Bolton led after only 13 minutes with a header from Matthew Taylor. Diaby was then sent off after half an hour for serious foul play – did anyone manage to see what Diaby actually did?

So talk about up against it.

And just to really compound the misery, Taylor snatched another goal just before the break.

As every Arsenal fan knows luck hasn’t exactly been on our side over the last few weeks, and the looking at the half-time score you would think that with 10 men the game as a contest was over.

Try telling the players that.

The game was still 2-0 after an hour and Arsene decided to just go for it. Walcott came on for Senderos and Adebayor replaced Bendtner.

From then on the game was wide open.

Gallas scored just after the changes from a Cesc Fabregas corner, and Van Persie equalised with a penalty 6 minutes later after Alexander Hleb was fouled in the box by Tim Cahill.

At 2-2, the win was up for grabs and both teams seemingly went for the winner. But after managing to get two goals back Arsenal had the momentum and Cesc’s cross managed to creep into the net in injury time after Jlloyd Samuel’s attempt to clear.

Amazing.

On a soggy, wet pitch in Bolton and with 10 men for the vast majority of the match, Arsenal came from 2 goals down and won. Talk about character.

The result is so impressive for a number of reasons.

Arsenal have been written off for the Premier League title by many people (me included) but at the moment they sit 3 points behind Manchester United. Do I think we can still do it? Well if Arsenal can comeback from 2 goals down with only 10 men then this side are capable of doing something. They certainly suprised me anyway.

And currently form has been poor. So after 4 draws and a defeat you wouldn’t have high hopes of a win after trailing 2-0 at half-time. The team and Arsene deserve a hell of a lot of credit for the character shown to dig deep and get the 3 points. Especially against a Bolton side who are tough and know how to defend.

I’m still stunned.

There’s still fight in this Arsenal team yet and the nature of this result can only bode well for the Liverpool Trilogy coming up over the coming weeks.

Edit: You can see the goals online here.

You can see that the second from Taylor was particularly fortunate, taking a big deflection from Senderos and taking the ball away from Almunia. Another positive was that Hleb looked like he has found his form again.

And apologies for saying it was Tim Cahill, I think I was caught up in the drama!