Regardless of the way you do it, a win over Manchester United during such a critical period of the season is special. Ironically enough, when we took a 1-0 lead, I didn’t celebrate in the same way I did after the second goal, because I thought it wouldn’t last long. The same happened last year in the final matches against United and Chelsea, where despite taking the lead, I sort of knew that the match would have ended in a negative way.

But yesterday, indeed, was special, and it will hopefully reunite the squad together, see the media putting pressure on United and no longer on our lads and who knows, in a month or two we may look back at yesterday’s match as a season key encounter.

Wenger proves me wrong

What to do when your regular forward-line is out? The media and myself all thought Wenger would stick to his original formation and opt for Bendtner and Vela up front, but he decided to go for a more cautious 4-5-1 formation and use counter-attacking as the sole weapon to try and win the match. Everything worked out nicely, so of course I have to give credit to our coach.

On the wings of Samir

But it was not faultless

Despite being proud of the team, coach Arsene Wenger believes the team was not faultless as he said after the match:

I am very proud of the performance. It was a fantastic game and we won against a great side, who were very dangerous going forward. The team was not faultless, but we were spot-on spirit-wise. Now we want consistency and to keep winning.

No, the team was not faultless as it was not in the wins over Blackburn, Porto and Fenerbahce. Wayne Rooney was in the form of his life last month and Cristiano Ronaldo is heading for the golden ball, but both of them missed glorious chances, which if converted, would have probably changed the outcome of the match. And, I can recall two occassions, first Rooney and then Park, where the two were given incredible space either in the penalty area or in their own half, enough to make their way into our dangerous area. That is why I keep on saying that Song is needed to prevent our opponents from having a lot of freedom when coming forward.

There are still bits and pieces to fix

So what did work out yesterday and what didn’t? The believe of the squad and the determination is what really worked out there. The first minute Almunia blunder may have seen us believe the opposite but from then on, the reaction was superb. Samir Nasri, of course, he was brought in from Wenger after a lot of rumours about whether he would join or not, and we can easily say that he settled down brilliantly.

What may have not worked is Fabregas’ genious and Bendtner in front of goal. Make no mistake, I believe Cesc gave it all, and fought for every ball, but he was not at his best with the passing and considering where he plays, in such a crucial position, giving the ball away means trouble. Nicklas, on the other hand, has confirmed that he’s not a pure striker and struggles to convert chances, so much like Adebayor and Van Persie. If you ask me to rate our strikers based on how capable they are of scoring, I would place them like this:

1. Eduardo
2. Vela
3. Van Persie
4. Adebayor
5. Bendtner

Arsene’s golden opporunity #2

With Aston Villa visiting the Emirates next week and the Carling Cup match before that, Wenger has another opportunity to test things out. Djourou, Ramsey, Vela and Wilshere will surely feature against Wigan Athletic but I want Arsene to give them a chance in the weekend match if they pass Tuesday’s test with flying colours as they did against Sheffield. It makes no sense to have these youngsters doing what you want them to do, and then relegate them on the bench when it matters most.

Until then, don’t hope, but believe

Many Gooners approached yesterday’s match with hope, rather than belief. So did I, in a way, after reading the line-ups. But we have to be more optimistic and believe more in the squad we support. When you consider that Fabregas is still not 100%, Eduardo and Rosicky are out injured and Adebayor and Van Persie have almost always been virtual spectators to the season so far, well, it can only get better, no?