The Game

We’re 100% back in the title race of course but problems are still there and they may come back to haunt us, starting from Wednesday.

That’s what I said on Sunday.

“Don’t be so pessimistic” yelled some.

“We win and you focus on problems!”, yelled others.

“Go support Chelsea or Spurs”, some wanted to say. No-one said so but I love that hilarious line so much and I need something to cheer me up after this game.

Anyway. There’s no need to be an expert of the game to understand that if you prefer to focus on the positives and neglect the negatives of the side, these will come back to haunt us sooner than you expect.

Some of the decisions taken by Wenger today leave a lot to be desired. Theo Walcott and Eduardo are two players who look like they need months to get back to their ideal fitness level after injuries and Mikael Silvestre and Manuel Almunia are, as always, a bomb ready to cause severe damage.

But oh well, maybe we should be all smiles because we did better than ManUtd here or think of Sunday when we will probably win easily against Hull City and our poor form on the road will be forgotten again, right?

In the meantime, with this, we lost seven points which we shouldn’t have lost away from home after the draw against West Ham and defeat at Sunderland.

Match Video Highlights

Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.

Player Ratings

Almunia: 3 – No comment.

Silvestre: 4 – Two told me the same thing before the game: Eagles will be a tough client for Silvestre if he plays. Well he played and we all saw the result.

Gallas: 6 – Very uncomfortable night for the Frenchman and I was incredibly disappointed to see him first miss that glorious chance and then not track back in the end.

Vermaelen: 5 – This will go down as his worst performance in an Arsenal jersey. He looked sluggish from the start and the challenge to concede a penalty was very poor. He did raise his level after the mistake and pushed forward in search of a goal, but this left big gaps at the back and we were lucky not to concede on the counter.

Sagna: 6 – Provided very little when going forward tonight, though was solid as always at the back.

Diaby: 6 – Considering he’s back from injury, I think he had a pretty good game. When he means business he can cause damage with the ball in his feet.

Song: 6,5 – Another solid game in midfield for Alex, who also saw plenty of the ball near the Burnley penalty area and not to blame if he doesn’t know what to do when in that position, it’s not his job to cut the defense.

Fabregas: 8 – Please, don’t say he’s the reason we didn’t win the game. I understand he was phenomenal in the 40 minutes he played but this is Arsenal and they are Burnley, we can’t make up excuses.

Nasri: 6 – Tried hard to get involved and like Sunday, shifted onto the right a number of times. But not enough.

Walcott: 3 – Poor Theo. I feel for him. He clearly is not ready to play back-to-back games, just as I said in the preview. So many misplaced passes, so many selfish moments.

Arshavin: 6,5 – Even when everything seemed to be going wrong up there, he still made himself available and did incredibly well with his first touch and shielding of the ball. Unlucky not to score when he hit the post.

(Subs)
Eduardo: 3 – So slow, so disappointing and like Theo, he needs months to get back to where he was before the injury. Hoping he can.

Ramsey: 5 – No one could replace Fabregas today and after a very good start, Aaron seemed lost in midfield and failed to provide the same service provided in Greece.