We are all still reeling from the Manchester City defeat from yesterday and with defeat, comes the blame game. Arsene Wenger is blaming the referees, and some fans are blaming the team. Others are blaming the manager, and some are blaming one man in particular – Mesut Özil.

But is it deserved? There are videos going round of “Özil’s intense pressing” and at times the lack of effort exerted by the German was pretty astounding. Yet some Arsenal fans think the criticism is too harsh, and that a lot of Arsenal players let themselves down yesterday.

So what do you think? Is the criticism deserved or is it too harsh?

Cast your vote here and leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

I tried to be positive after the Everton defeat but after the Manchester City one, I am less so. The Everton game was not a disaster. It was the first defeat in the league since the opening day of the season and we were unlucky – the game was carefully poised at 1-1 and we had 2 shots blocked on the line and a stone wall penalty denied by Mark Clattenburg, a referee who is notorious in giving awful decisions for Arsenal.

A big reaction against Manchester City was essential. The main issues from Tuesday’s game was the lack of urgency or effort from the team – we went 1-0 up and then let Everton back into the game. Arsene cited suffering physically but that is a poor excuse, these are professional athletes who should be in top top shape. Too much is made of tiredness these days.

And the reaction was positive – after 5 minutes Arsenal were ahead. A nice slide rule pass by Hector Bellerin to Alexis Sanchez was moved onto Theo Walcott, who finished coolly and put the Gunners ahead. That early goal should have been the springboard to push on but just like the Everton game, we lost a lead in a big match.

Look, I understand that scoring an early goal and sitting back was probably the perfect scenario for Arsenal – Leicester City showed that Manchester City are extremely suspect at the back, especially from counter attacks. And with Alexis, Walcott and Iwobi we had the perfect players to execute that game plan – unfortunately it didn’t pan out like that.

The first half was good – and we were unlucky not to be 2-0 ahead when Monreal was marginally offside. And unlucky yet again when Sane scored early into the second half when he was ‘more offside’ than Monreal was.

I’m as angry as Arsene about the officials and he has a point about them being massive cunts*, but we still had more than 40 minutes of football to save our season.

Our performance in the second half was abysmal. We weren’t losing yet the players had already given up. The only player who actually cared was Sanchez and that is going to be a massive problem. Alexis Sanchez is in the middle of contract talks and he knows he’s in a team of players with no spines. Nice guys to train with – perhaps, but winners? No.

He’s won the Copa America twice in recent seasons and the issue is that while the Chilean National Team isn’t filled with the most talented players in the world that doesn’t matter – because they fight. They fight for each other and that’s why they win. That’s why although nations like Brazil and Argentina have better players, they still come out on top.

I would be shocked if Alexis Sanchez signs a new contract, based on what he’s seen and experienced in this Arsenal team.

It speaks volumes that we’re 9 points behind a Chelsea side who are less talented that us. But the difference is they have a squad full of winners and leaders. We don’t.

Then we have Mesut Ozil. He’s a player like no-one else. He can do things other players’ only dream of. But his biggest flaw is that his style of play isn’t to drag a team off the floor and drive them forward. Only players like Steven Gerrard or Patrick Vieira can do that. The problem is Ozil needs the team around him to do the work if you like.

But if the rest of the team aren’t moving or running into the space Ozil is pretty much useless. He is a supremely talented player but isn’t going to win us a game unless he has someone to assist – he’s hardly going to go on a run and beat 5 players to score, or even slam one in from 30 yards.

So I’m not sure about the criticism for the German. On one had he tends to disappear but on the other he needs people to provide for. I’ve seen his body language a few times this season where he tries to play someone into space but their movement isn’t right so he throws a hissy fit. But that’s because he wants the other players to pull their fingers out.

The loss to Manchester City is a disaster because it exposes Arsenal as a team who always bottle it and crumble any time games go against us. All the big games this season – Tottenham, Manchester United and now Manchester City – have seen us collapse. The performance in those games was lethargic and looked to me about the players not believing. Arsene talks about playing with the handbrake on and that sums those games up perfectly – we were afraid.

So apart from blowing our title race out of the water by Christmas, we also have issues with contracts for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil – players we can’t afford to lose, yet might not want to stay.

* May not have actually used those specific words.

After the defeat against Everton I was livid. I’m not sure why really, but watching the game and seeing us concede a goal just before half time was a killer. We had played well for the first part of the first half and the frustrating thing was that we didn’t push on to score a second goal which in their current state, would have probably buried Everton and their fragile Premier League form.

For whatever reason, we took our foot off the gas and let Everton back into the game. It was a game I previewed and said would be tight – I incorrectly predicted a 2-1 for Arsenal – but I wasn’t a million miles away. With the game carefully poised at 1-1, anyone could have won the game.

Unfortunately it was Everton and it was yet another Merseyside team who beat us – our first defeat since the opening day of the season against Liverpool.

We were extremely unlucky not to get a point in the end despite our below par performance, with two shots saved on the line and stone wall penalty not given to Alexis Sanchez – and despite the disappointment it’s important to put things in perspective.

Yes, we’re not in the best position in the league after all the big teams won last night – we currently sit in 3rd on 34 points, with Chelsea top on 40, Liverpool above us on goal difference and Manchester City only a single point behind in 4th. Tottenham are 3 points behind in 5th, with United another 3 points behind them in 6th.

So if you take Chelsea out of the equation, then there’s only 4 points separating 2nd and 5th place in the Premier League.

If it wasn’t for Chelsea then I don’t think half the Arsenal fans would have been so disappointed and angry at losing to Everton. It’s the first time we’ve lost in 4 months and only the second time in the league. But Chelsea’s unbelievable form of 10 wins in a row is making them firm favourites.

Since the opening day defeat to Liverpool, our response has been nothing sort of outstanding.

In those games before the Everton loss, our record was 10 wins and 4 draws from 14 Premier League games – quite a response.

If you wanted to be picky, you would look at the games against Boro, Tottenham and United were we should have been braver and maybe won them, but at the same time 10 wins and 4 draws is nothing to be ashamed of.

Another positive is that the team looks much more capable of genuinely challenging for the  title this season. Defensively we have weaknesses (as Gabriel showed midweek) but the form of Koscielny and Mustafi has been excellent. Monreal and Gibbs are fighting for the left back position and Bellerin and his replacement Jenkinson have been doing okay.

One player we do miss though is Santi Cazorla. There is no-one in the team like him and probably along with Özil, Sanchez and Cech, is only one of 4 players in our squad that is irreplaceable. That is a worry going into the busy Christmas period when a massive player like that is missing. You’ll remember his injury a couple of seasons ago pretty much derailed our title challenge then.

We have a massive game on Sunday where the winner takes the spoils. With both teams under pressure I can see that game ended 1-1. It’s a game where each team can’t afford to lose and a draw would suit them both.