Playing with numbers

I think most gooners agree that a new goalkeeper and a new central defender would fill the most obvious gaps in the Arsenal squad, but what else has to be put right? I have been playing with some numbers today. Looking at games played in the Premier League and the Champions League I have given each player starting the games 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Arsenal have played 34 games averaging 2,03 points. For the various players the numbers came out as follows:

Goalkeepers
Manuel Almunia, started 11 games averaging 2,27 points.
Jens Lehmann, started 23 games averaging 1,91 points.

Almunia comes out with the better score. Scary!

Defenders
Clichy, started 6 games averaging 2,50 points.
Lauren, started 30 games averaging 2,07 points.
Toure, started 32 games averaging 2,06 points.
Campbell, started 18 games averaging 2,00 points.
Cole, started 30 games averaging 2,00 points.
Hoyte, started 5 games averaging 2,00 points.
Senderos, started 2 games averaging 2,00 points.
Cygan, started 15 games averaging 1,93 points.

All defenders are scoring around Arsenal's average points per game except Gael Clichy who stands out with 2,50 points and Pascal Cygan whose 1,93 points unsurprisingly comes in last of the defenders. Gael Clichy is a great prospect!

Midfielders
Pennant, started 1 game averaging 3,00 points.
Gilberto, started 7 games averaging 2,71 points.
Flamini, started 6 games averaging 2,50 points.
Fabregas, started 20 games averaging 2,10 points.
Pires, started 26 games averaging 1,92 points.
Vieira, started 27 games averaging 1,85 points.
Ljungberg, started 25 games averaging 1,68 points.
Edu, started 8 games averaging 1,50 points.

The first thing that catches the eye about the midfielders is how much better Arsenal are doing when either Gilberto or Flamini have been playing. The workoholics has a very positive impact on our results. It is disappointing to find Pires and Vieira scoring below average, but Freddie Ljungberg's low score of 1,68 points should raise some eyebrows. Edu comes in rock bottom.

Forwards
Bergkamp, started 20 games averaging 2,40 points.
Reyes, started 23 games averaging 2,09 points.
Henry, started 34 games averaging 2,03 points.
van Persie, started 5 games averaging 2,00 points.

One name stand out, Dennis Bergkamp. Arsenal's results are remarkably better when Dennis is in the team. It seems he still is Arsenal's most influential player.

Any conclusions?
This simple hour of mathematics on my part is of course not even close to being conclusive. There are far too many variables that hasn't been taken into consideration and the amount of data used wouldn't get a statistician even remotely interested. Nevertheless it has to be allowed to raise some questions.

First, how on earth are we going to replace Dennis Bergkamp? He will be 36 years old in may, but he still holds the key to Arsenal's stylish game. When Dennis is around, Arsenal are most likely to win. At present there is nobody to take his place. Give him another year!

Second. Arsenal must have a central midfielder who can run continuously for 90 minutes shielding the back four, making tackles all over the place and just be in the oppositions way every time they have the ball. We have had Emmanuel Petit and Ray Parlour. We have been used to have Gilberto, and coming up we have Mathieu Flamini. Cesc Fabregas has been in the limelight in Gilberto's absence. However, Arsenal's results are better with Mathieu Flamini. There are more to a great team than pace and trickery!

Third and last. When Freddie's red hair went out the window the magic went with with it. He averages a mere 1,68 points per game he plays this season, and even worse - it has been like this for years now. I don't know why it is like that. He scores his fair share of goals, but that's how the numbers are adding up. I believe that Freddie has a higher sale value than he has value to the team. Perhaps it's time to let him go to make room for others, perhaps someone like Shaun Wright-Phillips. It could have been Jermaine Pennant!

We have a lifeline, just

We are let down by our defense, again
Arsenal never make it easy for themselves. Not so tonight either. This time around it was no Pascal Cygan or Jens Lehmann to blame. Kolo Toure made a dreadful miss trying to head away a long goalkick from Oliver Kahn and Pizarro made it 1-0 already after 4 minutes. We couldn't have had a worse start. After Arsenal had a decent finish in the first half Bayern killed off the game. Pizarro left Toure for stranded again to score his second and Salihamidzic scored to make it three minutes later. There is no excuses to be made. Bayern had a solid defense, Arsenal didn't. When you play the best in europe you can not allow yourself to make multiple errors in defense and expect to win games. You can perhaps get away with it in England, but not at the biggest scene of them all. That is the simple facts of the matter and that is the task Arsene Wenger has to address to push this team to the top of european football.

A glimmer of hope
There were nothing left for Arsenal to do but to try to get a priceless away goal that would give us a glimmer of hope before the return game. Irony had it that Kolo Toure was to be the one to get it. Good for him. That goal changed this tie from almost certain elimination to give us a fair chance. We can do the job, IF we keep a clean sheet.

Focus on Bayern

Lots of attention
My "Spurs" headline on thursday did what it was supposed to do, attract attention. The number of hits got of to a flyer.
To all you Spurs supporters out there trying to enlighten me:
*Yes, I agree that Robinson-King-Carrick-Defoe is a central line above average. The problem arises when you benchmark it to the likes of Cech-Terry-Lampard-Robben, Carroll-Ferdinand-Keane-van Nistelrooy or even Lehmann-Campbell-Vieira-Henry. It just doesn't compare.
*Yes, I also agree that for £1,5 million Spurs got the better goalkeeper.
*No, Reyes didn't cost Arsenal £17 million. That figure requires all clauses in the agreement with Sevilla to be activated. Actually, the initial payment to Sevilla was in the Defoe region and the final fee looks to be about £10-11 million as I understand it. Still, it's a lot of money.
*Finally, no Spurs is not the only club that has declared high ambitions, but failed to put the necessary quality on the pitch. The comparison was just too tempting to let go.

Was Arsene's mind on the game after next?
At least his fear for further injuries must have had a big impact on his team selection. I can't blame him. Sheffield United was bound to compensate for inferior ability by putting out a physical performance and trailing Chelsea in the premier league also makes the game in Germany even more massive in our hunt for a big trophy this year.

We allowed them a replay
In previous rounds both Stoke and Wolves have come to Highbury and taken the game to Arsenal, but a reserve packed Arsenal side looked more than capable to stroll past Sheffield United who seemed more than happy to go for a replay. Only good goalkeeping from Paddy Kenny kept Arsenal from going in front. Controversy started with Dennis Bergkamp being sent off. A harsh decision. Perhaps referee Neale Barry also thought so, because the next thing he did was to rule out what looked a perfectly good goal for Sheffield United. Compensation? I think so. From then on Sheffield United if possible looked even less interested in winning the game. Arsenal always looked most likely to score, and finally they did when Pires put a rebound into the net. Arsenal should have killed the game off, but they didn't. Instead Senderos handled the ball in the dying seconds of the game and Andy Gray scored from the spot. In the end 1-1 probably was a fair result. Stoke and Wolves showed a more offensive approach, but then again they lost. Sheffield United kept to their game plan and it paid off. They earned the replay they came for. We can't blame them for that after all.

Defensive substitutions
With five minutes to go Arsene substituted Reyes for Cygan, put Cygan at left back and pushed Clichy into midfield. I'm not saying that caused the equalizer, but it is suspicious how many goals Arsenal concede in the last minutes following a defensive substitution by Wenger. It can't be a coincidence. I don't think shuffling around defenders is a good idea. A friend of mine even suggested that the best thing to do when Arsenal are one goal up with five minutes to go is to put Arsene in a car and drive him home. He never gets the tactics right in those situations according to him. He might have a point.

Bayern on a high
Bayern absolutely dismantled Dortmund on saturday. They won 5-0 with Roy Makaay scoring a hat-trick in the process. It's hard to say whether Bayern just were great or Dortmund were plain awful. From what I have seen from the game it was a bit of both. At least Bayern takes on Arsenal with morale on a high on tuesday. It will be a nailbiting encounter. I just wish Sol Campbell was playing, but he isn't and I guess Pascal Cygan will do his best to make my hart stop at some point.

Thank God we're not like Spurs

On second thought
When I saw the line-up on monday and realized there were no english players around it just felt stupid. Thinking about it, what would the alternative have been? If you wonder, look no further than White Hart Lane. Spurs have been playing Anthony Gardner, Simon Davies and lots of mediocre players, they have spent more money than Arsenal on signings and come up with nothing. Even though they are looking sharper now I can't see them challenging moneybags like Chelsea any time soon. Arsenal still can have a shot at it. Why?

The Arsenal squad
When you go trough the arsenal squad from no.1 to no.31 you find that there are five english players from a total of twentyfive, but Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell are first choices at their positions in a full strength national team. Manchester United are probably the only club to top that, but that includes Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney with a combined transfer fee of £60 million. That's almost the total fee of the entire Arsenal first team squad in two players alone, and that brings us to the core of the problem. There is no way Arsenal can compete with that kind of spending power. Not to mention the russian. Nevertheless we want to compete, don't we?

How can we compete?
If we can't buy the finished articles like Chelsea or Manchester United we have to create talents ourselves to supplement whatever we may afford in transfer fees. The first thing on Arsene Wenger's agenda as Arsenal manager was to build a state of the art training facility. The London Colney training centre and youth academy is already second to none, but still it is currently under expansion (scheduled to be finished later this year). This is the basement of Arsene Wenger's vision of Arsenal as one of the worlds major clubs. Next was to recruit as much talent as possible into this environment. A world wide scouting system was established and young hopefuls from all over the world are brought in for a very limited amount of money. Foreign talents like Lupoli, Quincy, Clichy, Aliadiere, Eboue, Toure, Senderos and van Persie blend in with english players like Ashley Cole, Taylor, Pennant, Hoyte, Bentley, Stokes, Ryan Smith and Ryan Garry. Currently we have two first team regulars that are products of this policy, Ashley Cole and Kolo Toure. One english and one foreign. A combined transfer fee for the two would probably exceed £30 million today. Not bad for two defenders, and the best is yet to come. With all due respect for Liam Chilvers and others seeking the news these days, they just didn't fit the bill. Fabregas and Clichy is of a different class, but they may soon be followed by Justin Hoyte and David Bentley especially. The opportunity is there.

It was a first, so what?
Chelsea did it in 1999 and Arsenal did it in 2005. A team consisting of foreigners alone haven't been a daily event and it is not likely to be either, even if it's a new world out there. Arsene Wenger surrounds himself with the best available at an affordable price. London Colney has started it's production of special talent. Arsenal has four world champions in their midst and lots of other international players. Emirates Stadium is just around the corner. After that the sky is the limit for Arsenal and their players, both british and foreign. All moulded in Arsene Wenger's magic hat with hard work and balanced books. What a hat, I take mine off! I think it is a job well done after all.

A class act and a new record

It's a first
Arsenal entered Highbury tonight without one single british player in the squad. To the best of my knowledge that has never happened before. I don't think that is a record we should take any pride in, and it is a contradiction of UEFA's proposed rules for homegrown players.

They did well though
After some early scares from Crystal Palace the park became a playground for our overseas players. Three great goals from Bergkamp, Reyes and Henry sent us 3-0 up in 39 minutes and the points was well secured before half time. The second half became a formality even though a couple of goals were scored. Vieira added Arsenal's fourth and then the captain brought down Andy Johnson in the penalty area. Johnson scored from the spot. Arsenal were cruising and Henry added his second to make the final score 5-1. A class act from Arsenal. Perhaps, just perhaps it isn't all over just yet?

Ole-Ole-Ole-Ole, Jose-Jose
So, how did Reyes do in his first game since the radio hoax? The fans responded as expected and Jose followed up assisting Bergkamp for the first and then scoring the second himself with a firecracker. At half time "Jose Antonio" was played over the speakers at Highbury. That shows the spirit of Arsenal and I guess that was felt in the players hart as well. Sheer brilliance! Arsene Wenger also paid his tribute by keeping Reyes on for the full 90 minutes.

Gael Clichy
Arsene Wenger kept faith in Jens Lehmann and Edu for tonight's game, however Freddie Ljungberg and perhaps most notably Ashley Cole was absent. That left a place in the team for Gael Clichy who is in line to become a regular at left back should Ashley Cole become too tempted by the Chelsea payroll. I guess that made a lot of people take a extra good look at the young frenchman and to be honest he has had better games. The talent is there, but I reckon the summer is too soon for him. Clichy himself has stated that he hopes Ashley will stay, "he is the best leftback in the world and it would be a big blow to lose him" he says. If that statement reflects Gael's personality perhaps he will be the world's best leftback himself sometime in the future, but for now I hope and believe Ashley Cole stays.

Hang in there Jose

Unsettled
Jose Antonio Reyes has hit the news for all the wrong reasons lately. I'm sad to hear that he is finding it hard to settle down in London. Sad, but not mad. I can understand his problem. Jose is a country boy who has been used to have a close bond with his family and friends. Jose is just a shy lad with a exceptional talent. To make the transition easier he and the club arranged for some of his family to move to London with him. Everything should be all right then, right? Well, perhaps not. What if his family are the ones who finds it most difficult to settle into the big city life? Jose says enough to suggest that in the radio hoax. In London Jose has his football and his teammates, some of them even spanish. What does his family have. Nothing but loneliness? You can get homesick from less. If this is the case, what does that do to the mind of young Jose? He would feel guilty for having put them in that situation and at some point his thoughts is bound to drift towards trying to make things better.

Give him support
What can be done to resolve the situation? I don't have all the answers, but the best we can do for for the lad is to stand by him. He has always tried to do his best for the club and for us. He's just a kid who has been exploited in the simplest of hoaxes. A mean trick that has been put into action by people that doesn't care one bit about our Jose. He hasn't said that the club sucks. This has nothing to do with money or greed. He has done nothing major wrong to deserve anything but our full support and I expect "Jose Antonio" to roar all over Highbury on monday. We stand by each other. That's the Arsenal way.

Wage structure

Recent history
Arsenal offered a one year contract to Dennis Bergkamp that almost made him sign for Bolton instead. Arsene Wenger wanted Sylvain Wiltord to stay, but a new contract couldn't be agreed with the french international. Now the same story is out regarding brazilian international Edu. We were able to get Sol Campbell to sign, but just for two more years. Then negotiations with Ashley Cole were put on hold due to the Chelsea tap-up. From my point of view the approach from Chelsea is likely to be a result of obstacles in Arsenal's contract negotiations with the player. It's a small world and news travel fast. These players are all experienced internationals and they have spoken public about their desire to play for Arsenal. Still no agreements can be made. Has the gap between Arsenal's proposed wages and what players and their agents reckon is a fair deal in today's market become to big? The facts tells me that Arsenal seems unable to agree new contracts with players the manager wants to keep, and that is a disturbing matter.

At some point the board will have a decision to make
To be focused on expenses is a healthy attitude, but somewhere there is a line. If you cross that line you will not only keep the expenses down, you will keep your income down too. The Emirates Stadium is only 18 months away, and to fill 60.000 seats you need a competitive team on the field. To have that we must keep our best players. I admire our board for not accepting to be held hostage to greed, but we can't hide from the fact that Chelsea are there. So are big spenders Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Juventus and others. We don't need to pay £80.000 salaries to get Ashley Cole to sign, but offering £30.000 will not keep him either. The same goes for Edu. Both players wants to play for Arsenal. I believe they are willing to pay a price to do so, but not just any price. In my opinion we have a board that is ambitious, but still responsible. I trust they will find the right balance at this crossroad and make sure we keep the team together. Not to do so isn't an option if we want to play in the big league.

We came, we played, we won

We swept the floor with Aston Villa
It was a relief to see Arsenal look like Arsenal again. It was also a relief when I first saw the line up. Senderos had recovered from injury and was set to play. He's a natural central defender, Hoyte is not. Senderos added muscle to our back four. Wenger had also come to his senses and reinstalled Jens Lehmann and Edu to the team. Finally. The team had a calm and collected presence at Villa Park. With the exception of Senderos we only had experienced players out there, and it looked that way. There where no fuss, they just relaxed and played their football. The first half was brilliant. With perfect finishing we could have gone in at half time eight goals up. That's how dominant we were. Vieira and Edu ruled the midfield, Freddie and Reyes ran their socks off, Bergkamp looked sharp and Henry finally scored again. The only negative from the game is the fact that we conceded a goal, again.

Could Edu have made a difference earlier?
If Edu's web site is to be believed Edu has been available for selection since boxing day. He could have been on the pitch when we lost valuable points against Bolton, Man.City and Man.Utd. Looks like Edu has been left out just to put pressure on him to sign the new contract. Well, it backfired in to ways. He didn't sign and Arsenal lost more ground in the premiership. I just wonder, how many of those eight points could have been added to our tally if Edu was included? If any. It's easy to be wise looking back. Edu after the match at Villa Park opened the door for the possibility of staying with Arsenal by saying "It was nice to be back in the team. I was hungry to play and I am still feeling hungry to keep playing for the team and we will see what happens in the future now". Perhaps we should grab this opportunity. What do you say double-d?

Jose Antonio Reyes
Media has it that Reyes is on his way back to Spain because he is finding it hard to settle down in England. Arsene Wenger has acknowledged that it has been a problem to that effect, but he claims that everything is all right now. Reyes is a great player with skills, pace and a good shot. However he seems to make the wrong choices at times. He isn't fully integrated in Arsenal's attacking rhythm. I hope that will be sorted out. Bergkamp, Pires and Henry took their time to settle in too. In the meantime the media once again will have a field day at our expense, and the suggestions of a Owen-Reyes exchange has already hit the surface.

Bayern München
I had a look at Bayern yesterday. They won 2-0 at home to Leverkusen, but they really didn't impress me much. They were lucky to keep Leverkusen from scoring and then they got a gift from the referee at the stroke of half time. A penalty that never should have been put them in one nil up. That changed the match. My impression of Bayern is that they will struggle when the ball moves fast. Who can play the ball faster than Arsenal. No one. Arsenal will score goals on them for sure. What we have to avoid is to give away set pieces. They have a couple of players that always looked dangerous on free kicks and corners. Brazilian defender Lucio has a towering presence like a bulldozer and Michael Ballack is a constant danger. Ballack also is a bit like our Freddie, he just has that ability to get himself into scoring positions. Overall I think we will go through to the quarterfinal. At present the name Bayern München is more scary than their team.

The Ashley Cole saga
A formal investigation of Chelsea is now underway. Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon has been caught red handed to the embarrassment of their club. This afternoon Chelsea also was unable to break down Kevin Keegan and his side at home. Perhaps some people at the bridge has been gloating a bit too soon after all. Let's see how they cope with some negative attention for a change.

Time to move on

Transfer funds
It has been reported in the press that Arsene's requests to strengthen the squad during the transfer window were knocked back. This has been denied by chairman Peter Hill-Wood. Whatever the truth is, that's history. If money was denied it was for a good reason. I'm confident that the necessary funds will be made available during the summer, and I'm equally confident that Arsene will use them. Arsene is a proud man, and the fact that he was unable to follow Chelsea to the door this year hurts. He will do his upmost not to let that happen again. My only worry is that Arsene sometimes is a bit preoccupied with offensive players and a bit naive when it comes to the defenders. Not to mention the goalkeepers. So whatever dreams we have about the brilliance of Fernando Torres and others, what we need is a Pat Jennings and a Frank McLintock in their prime. If anything like that still exists.

The Gilberto factor
Thierry Henry has pointed out that the decline didn't start at Old Trafford. "Everybody talks about losing at Old Trafford but for me that was not the turning point," said Henry. "The turning point was losing Gilberto and Edu plus other players who weren't in the squad." I fully agree. Gilberto is a player that never has got the praise he deserves. Some people just could not see his value to the team when he was playing. He didn't make twists and turns. Nor did he score great goals. What he did was to work tireless for 90 minutes, win duels all over the place and cut off the opponents. Nothing glamorous about it, but the value is for everyone to see now. God, we miss Gilberto!

Another factor
Something I have been thinking about for a while, how much is Martin Keown missed? Not that he played that many games last season, but he was there. An institution of attitude, fighting face and all. I believe he had an immense influence in the squad, perhaps also along with Ray Parlour to some degree. Have we lost some of that never say die attitude? If so, how much of that is down to the Keown factor? Even Sylvain Wiltord's crazy stunts has probably left a void in the dressingroom. All together I think it was to much at once.

Let's not make a new factor
Taken in to consideration the youth our current squad and the experience and skills of Dennis Bergkamp. How much will we suffer if he was to call it a day now? You can not underestimate the value of just having these kind of personalities around. I say, give the man another year. I don't want to find the answer to this question the hard way as I believe we have with regard to Martin Keown. Dennis Bergkamp is a symbol of the Arsenal revolution. Keep it that way!

Villa Park next
After the disappointment of tuesdays defeat a new game is approaching. Three valuable points is at stake, and just as important the need to build up some confidence before the champions league starts up again. The circumstances could have been better though. We have to travel without three of our four central defenders. That leaves only Pascal Cygan to team up with one of our second choice right backs due to injuries and suspension. Either Emmanuel Eboue or most likely Justin Hoyte will play. Our defensive resources is exhausted, just as our central midfield has been for months. This shows how fragile our squad is. We're in luck though, we're not going to Anfield or any place like that and we still have lots of offensive power. If the players are mentally ready to work hard for the points over the full 90 minutes, we will win the game easy. If we feel sorry for ourselves, we will be in trouble again. Has Arsene been able to pick up his players and motivate them to go on fighting for what seems to be a lost cause? Arsene has defined his target, Arsenal shall be the best team for the reminder of the season. That's bold words. Can we owe up to them?

Evaluation in february

No complaints
Thierry Henry pays tribute to United's performance by saying "Manchester United showed great character today. It was not an easy game for them and they were twice behind but they won it". Patrick Vieira also accepts this in his comments. "Manchester United played better than us and deserved to win the game" he said. "Even when they were losing 2-1 they did not panic. They showed a lot of experience and really controlled the game. They put the ball on the floor and they scored goals, so all credit to them. Our commitment was really high, we just played against a better team on the night. That is it".

The only issue at hand
"Just now overall we concede too many goals to challenge for the Championship. We've conceded 29 goals now, you concede four goals at home, you cannot say you want to win the games. You cannot concede four goals at home. We concede so many goals because, as I said, at the start of the season we were a little bit too casual because everything went well when we conceded goals. We conceded two - we scored three. We conceded three - we scored four or five. And then slowly the confidence drops, good habits drop, and suddenly you are confronted with a problem". These are Arsene Wenger's words from the press conference after the game, and how true they are. Le Boss points his finger at what is obvious for anyone to see.

To many distractions
There have simply been too many distractions in the team. It all started with Patrick Vieira's flirtation with Real Madrid in the summer. That matter was allowed to drag on for too long. Contract issues related to key players have been on the agenda more or less continuously. Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Lauren and Edu have all been subject to ongoing negotiations. May be it would have been better to take care of these matters in a non competitive environment during the summer. Then the situation concerning the goalkeepers. Suddenly Jens Lehmann was dropped and replaced with Manuel Almunia. What happened behind the scenes? Perhaps nothing, but Lehmann and Almunia for sure don't have a healthy rivalry. They barely speak to each other. Finally Chelsea comes along, trying to unsettle Ashley Cole during his contract negotiations with the club.

Lessons to be learned
With the exception of Kolo Toure the entire back four, both goalkeepers and most of the established central midfield has been subject to off the field matters during the last six months. All having made the headlines over lengthy periods of time. Perhaps we should be able to handle that, but at some point it becomes one to many and it becomes more about "me" and less about "us". The togetherness slowly is starting dissolve and you are confronted with a problem. Just as Wenger says. However if there are some lessons to be learned from this it is mostly managerial lessons. Timing and strategy has everything to do with leadership, and the responsibility to remove any rotten elements also comes down to the boss.

Bottom line
The ones that perhaps got blinded from the bright lights of being unbeatable was the leadership. Why have we put ourselves in a situation where we have to play a clown inn goal. Why do we have to rely on teenagers or a player born under a unlucky star for a crucial game like yesterdays. Last, but not least, why have we played our cards in a manner that has taken focus away from football for many of our key players. Perhaps their hands to some degree is tied due to the commitment of building Emirates Stadium. But for me it is obvious that the first step on the road to recovery isn't a meeting with the players. It has to be a meeting amongst the leadership planning for next season. Jeez, this sounds like Spurs!

The months ahead
For the rest of this season we have three targets. First the champions league (ah, that didn't sound like Spurs at all). This season can still be a successful one by lifting the biggest trophy of them all. Second there is the FA Cup. West Ham or Sheffield United will leave Highbury as losers and from there anything can happen. Third we can achieve direct qualification for next years champions league, which means the premiership matches are just as important as they have been. This has to be done with what we have. Now Arsene Wenger's manhandling skills are up for what perhaps is the biggest test yet. Lifting this bunch of disillusioned players to become champions of Europe. Well no one can take the dream away, not just yet. Go you Gunners!

Disappointing - we slip up again

There have been worse
Loosing to Manchester United is just about the worst scenario thinkable, but loosing at Old Trafford back in november felt worse than tonight. That game was lost because of faults made by the officials and unsporting behavior from our opponents. Today we fell to our own shortcomings. Fact of the matter is, there's no one else to blame. Even though Pires should have got a clear penalty and a Bergkamp offside decision was highly questionable to say the least. We looked like easy winners for almost an hour. Then the cost of our defensive lapses became to much to handle.

The defense
When you let in four goals at home, there is no way you can win a game. We have been let down by our lack of ability in that department once more. At one stage our central defenders were Justin Hoyte and Pascal Cygan, and to top that the goalkeeper was Manuel "Fawlty" Almunia. It sounds like your worst nightmare. Manuel Almunia became the scape goat on 58 minutes when United took the lead, but disappointingly the player who perhaps was underperforming the most was the rock himself, Sol Campbell. Especially his passing were bad, and it was one of his poor passes that led to United coming back into the match in the first place. We had them rattled and then we made a silly mistake. Again. We are not going to be premier league champions this year, but deep down we knew that already.

Looking forward
We have a trip to Germany in the champions league coming up in a couple of weeks. At the moment it may be hard to see us go all the way in that competition. We lack the necessary ability to consistent defending, but we'll have a go. Commitment alone can bring you far and we still have the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp putting in world class performances up front. Such skills can split up any defense at any given time. The Arsenal is still a force to be feared.

Incomprehensible
There is no way Arsene Wenger can afford not to bring in a new goalkeeper this summer. It is nothing short of incomprehensible that Manuel Almunia is the first choice goalkeeper at Arsenal Football Club. Attacking football has to be built on defensive security, and that starts with the goalkeeper. If you want to be a world class team you need a world class goalkeeper. It's as simple as that. I don't want to speculate on who that keeper should be, but it most certainly isn't a Celta Vigo reject.

Keep smiling
Tonight's good news is that St.Tottrings Day is coming closer. There is no way in hell we will throw that away!