Arrgh football damm it! The frustration of an opportunity lost. Somehow we couldn’t find a way through for a second goal and the three points.

That Wayne Hennessy played out of his skin. Arsenal worked and worked, particularly Rosicky but it just didn’t happen. Tomas Rosicky won our Arsenal Man of the Match poll.

So we missed the chance to steal into fourth spot that was offered by Chelsea’s draw. Still I suppose that by the same token there’s not too much damage done. We’re still fifth because Liverpool drew too.

Only problem is Tottenham edging a bit further away. The danger is we will end up in a three way fight for fourth, rather than third or fourth, which gives us less margin for error further on. Then again City only drew as well so maybe there’s a lot more twists and turns to come this season.

The game didn’t really teach us anything we didn’t know. We could do with some fullback cover, Stuart Attwell isn’t much of a referee and we need a more effective backup to Van Persie than Chamakh. Notice how Bervatov stepped into the United team and got three goals whilst Rooney had the first 65 minutes on the bench? That’s the sort of option we’re missing.

Strange that Rooney came on at all really, given that United were already 3:0 up at that point, but I digress. Hopefully there will be an opportunity to bring in someone new this January, but don’t bank on it. The Winter transfer window isn’t an easy time to get a really good player.

Plenty more football to come over the next week. Back tomorrow with a look at the next set of games.

Too true. When your limping around the bottom third of the league you need a tight focus on the next three available points. Plus talking about winning things when you’re fifteenth just invites people to take the piss.

Looking at the next game you’ve got to be optimistic. Steve Bruce says that Sunderland are coming to attack, but without Bendtner and Gyan they are much less of a theat. But Sessegnon showed last time that he needs watching. Sebastian Larsson will also fancy his chances of showing Arsene Wenger that he made a mistake letting him go.

What Steve Bruce probably meant was that they are coming to string five feisty lads across the middle and hope to catch us on the break. So Arsenal are going to have to play against nine Sunderland players behind the ball for a lot of the game.

Hopefully we can move the ball faster than we have been so far and get more passes on target. If we can get the passes through to Van Persie and get Gervinho attacking the box we will be okay.

Most of the talk has been about whether Jenkinson will play, mainly because of the long list of alternatives reeled off by Arsene Wenger. I think he will play and that the manager was just trying to fend off another Arsenal crisis story.

This week of course we’ve not been the media’s favorite target thanks to Wayne Rooney and Wenger was canny enough to give the hacks a Rooney quote to help keep the focus there.

Anyway, the real debate amongst fans seems to be Arshavin v Walcott to play up front with RVP and Gervinho. My vote is for Theo, with Arshavin starting against Marseille, but it could be the other way round!

What else could go wrong?  How about Sagna and Vermaelen out as well, that’s what.

So Arsenal started with: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Djourou, Koscielny, Traore, Coquelin, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Van Persie and Arshavin.

If you include our quest to sign Gary Cahill, that means that not one of the back four would be our first choice to start.  For twenty minutes the pretence was maintained, but the pressure was all one way. Bravely, or foolishly, Arsenal tried to play the way they always play; trying to move the ball forward and keeping a high line.  But the Manchester United players knew that it was for show and kept pumping in the attacks.

Jenkinson and Traore were getting outnumbered and outplayed.  Walcott and Arshavin don’t provide much cover at the best of times.  These were the very worst of times.  To be fair to Jenkinson, he never hid, never shrank from the task, but he still got beat again and again.

Arshavin, when he did tackle, seemed determined to get sent off.  He got a yellow for a tackle that could easily have got a red.  Later he made a similar tackle and Howard Webb had mercy on him, no other explanation for him staying on.  Coquelin – what a game to have to make your Premiership debut.  I thought he did OK in the circumstances, better than I hoped, but he couldn’t do much to stem the tide either.

The first goal when it came was soft.  Anderson, I think, chipped the ball over the retreating centre backs, they let it bounce, never recovered position and Danny Welbeck headed in.

Just for a moment there seemed to be a reprieve.  Evra pulled Walcott back in the area and we got a penalty.  Could Van Persie make it one-all?  No.  Terrible penalty and Manchester United started surging forward again.

The second goal required a better finish but came from a poor headed clearance from Traore directed straight into the middle.  Szczesny had no chance from Young’s shot.

The third was a clinical freekick from Wayne Rooney.  Szczesny did well to get his fingers to it, but couldn’t keep it out.  Then, in the dying moments of the first half, Rosicky (our best player today?) combined with Walcott and he nutmegged De Gea.  Three-One.  We weren’t out of sight but it was as close as we got to respectability.

The second half was all one-way traffic.  I wasn’t surprised when Oxlade-Chamberlain came on, but I thought he would replace Arshavin.  In fact it was Coquelin who trudged off.  Didn’t understand that at all.  Anyway, Man Utd got another five, you all know that and I can’t be arsed to describe them.  We got another consolation goal through the determination of Jenkinson and Van Persie but we are not consoled.

I guess we all knew it was going to be bad, but this was a humiliating rout.

Szczesny: didn’t deserve to concede eight, there were a couple where he might of made a better decision, but he made loads of saves too, so he shouldn’t be hard on himself.

Back Four: Dire. But not through lack of effort. Jenkinson played his heart out and will be distraught.  He got a second red in the end, to add to our troubles. Koscielny was probably the best. But as a unit they were hopelessly outclassed. Djourou conceded more freekicks than I could count.  After Jenkinson’s red, Walcott found himself at right back and conceded a penalty, so he was replaced by Lansbury. He knows how to tackle, but it was late in the game by then to be of any relevance.

DM: The pressure on Coquelin must have been immense, and I he didn’t deserve to be part of this humiliation on his debut.  When he was taken off, we didn’t really have a holding player. I guess the idea was we could get back into the game with more attacking pace, but the next goal was United’s.

AM: Ramsey and Rosicky didn’t do too badly when they got the chance.  In fact Rosicky seems a man transformed this season. He seems to have more energy and more purpose. He tackle, holds the ball passes. But he was on to  a loser today. OxLade-Chamberlain didn’t get a touch for ages.  He had one good run, but like Coquelin, this was the debut from hell.

Wings: Walcott worked hard, he earned a penalty and got a goal.  Arshavin was lucky to stay on. lost the balled and often left Traore facing two incoming red shirts. Yes he created the odd chance, but not enough.

Forwards: Van Persie will be seeing that soft penalty kick for a long time. It was the chance to equalise and it was given up easily. Yes he scored, but by then United were six-one up. Chamakh was sent on at seven-two. Just to share the pain I guess.

It was painful to watch.  I’m not sure when we were last beaten so comprehensively, though I’m sure some statto will tell us *.  On the telly Merson was laying into Wenger, saying we should have set out to play differently.  More defensively.  Looking at the bench I don’t think we had many real options anyway. We could have played Lansbury from the start I suppose, but it would still have been a desperately inexperienced set-up.

This game was lost before today.  We need that other central defender.  Traore isn’t great cover for Gibbs.  Not sure Gibbs is that great anyway.  Rosicky is trying the rise to the challenge of senior attacking midfielder with more passion and skill than any of us would expect.  But it was never going to be enough at Old Trafford.

For me, the people who represented Arsenal best today were the away fans.  They kept singing and chanting long after the club deserved it.  Collectively, they were my Man of the Match.

Never has an international break been more welcome for the club.  But the real key is the next three days.  Let’s seal the deal with Cahill and get the most creative midfielder we can lay our hands on.  In and ideal world, another left back too.  But today, it doesn’t look like an ideal world.

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* 5th November 1960. West Ham 6:0 Arsenal, so worst result for nearly 51 years!

So in the end disappointment.  Barcelona were the better team last night and they won.

They weren’t the better team for the usual sublime skills that generally have you singing their praises for the silky passes.  Arsenal can do that bit too.  Last night they demonstrated the other side of their game – the determination to press their opponents on every inch of the pitch.

If you take the ball off Barcelona, they want it back. Always and straight away. It doesn’t matter if you are back in the corner at your end. They still want it back. They don’t think about ‘their end’ or ‘your end’, they just think about the ball and want it back.

Early in the first half, Nasri had the ball near the corner flag at our end.  Barcelona won it back.  It took four of them to do it and at the time I smiled at Nasri’s skill.  But the point was that, even though it took four of them, they had the ball back before Arsenal could even get across the half way line.  And so it went on.

Van Persie Red Card
That has to be one of the softest dismissals I’ve ever seen.  Van Persie contributed in getting the first yellow for losing his cool, but the second yellow was outrageous.  Barely a second passed between the whistle for offside and Van Persie taking a shot on goal.  To get sent off for that was so massively disproportionate it left me speechless.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

At first I thought there must have been some incident off-camera.  I was waiting for the TV Producer to run some replay that explained the appearance of the ref card.  But no.  It was a yellow and red for carrying on for one second after the whistle for off-side.  Something that happens countless times in every game, including last night.  Unbelievable!

Arsenal line-up
I was surprised to see Rosicky start.  When I thought about the team decisions Wenger had to take I hadn’t even thought about Rosicky.  He worked hard, putting heart and soul into the game.  I thought that he got the balance about right in terms of when to drop deep and help Sagna and when to stay in space to provide a way forward, but he didn’t have the pace or control on the ball to be enough of a threat.

Van Persie was clearly fit enough to be on the pitch, but not fit enough to make as much impact as he can.  I thought he wasn’t risking 100%, fearful of his fitness.  It was probably worth the gamble, but thanks to the mind-blowing decision of the referee we’ll never know.

First Barcelona Goal
Terrible and unusual mistake from Cesc.  The way that Barcelona were energetically pressing in numbers round the ball, the back heal was way too risky.

The Arsenal Goal
Even this was scored by Barcelona! But it was a good corner from Nasri and a great leap from Diaby, who still missed the ball but unsighted Busquets for an own goal.

Goalkeepers
We started the season with four first team keepers, now we’re down to Almunia.  Presumably Mannone or Shea will have to return to sit on the bench now.  Unlucky injury for Szczesny.  Almunia actually did very well and can’t be blamed for the goals.  He kept us in the game.

Abidal
Eric Abidal somehow got away with grabbing Robin Van Persie by the throat without being spotted.  Ironic given the advert they run at half-time about the extra match officials – “now we see more”!  Maybe there will be retrospective action after the UEFA comments after the Rooney incident.

C’mon Arsenal
All-in-all a disappointing night, but not too much of a shock.  Thanks to our first leg-win and the own-goal we were only one strike from going through right up until the end.  The team gave their all last night but were out-played.

Let’s try and take it out on Man Utd.  C’mon Arsenal!

***** Man of the Match poll running here. *****

Jack Wilshere is building a big fan base beyond just Arsenal fans.  Plenty of other football supporters and the pundits are singing his praises and if it wasn’t for Rooney throwing his toys out of the pram then Wilshere would be the big football story of the last couple of days.

Is Jack the new Paul Scholes?  He has the same ability to pick out and deliver great passes, creating opportunities for the team that others can’t.  He has the same determination to keep the ball and his team moving towards goal.

Like Scholes he doesn’t have out and out pace, but can produce bursting runs when needed.  He’s got the stamina too.

The downside is that he also tackles like Scholes.  I’m not saying he shouldn’t tackle or should allow himself to get muscled off the ball.  But Paul Scholes has the tendency to throw himself in to horrible late tackles in parts of the pitch or stages of the game that make it pointless and invite a red card.  At the moment Jack looks the same.  Hopefully he’s young enough to learn.

If he doesn’t it could have a bigger impact on his career than it has had for Scholes.  I think that English football will slowly change for the better and reckless tackling will get more red cards.  Jack needs to learn or it will hold him back.

Is Jack the new Paul Scoles?  No, I think he can be even better than that!

I hope he has good genuine mates and good advisers.  I would hate to see him become the new Wayne Rooney!

But right now the future looks pretty good.  His ability to influence the game at both ends of the pitch is fantastic for such a young player and his potential is huge.

FIRST HALF: The starting line-up isn’t much of a brave new world. I think Capello could of gone for some more new faces. Nothing to lose by doing it and put some pressure on the established players.

At last though the right formation for Rooney, 4-5-1, the one he played in all last season. Theo Walcott has made some nice runs and got some crosses in too.

A few promising signs but nothing special. No end product.

SECOND HALF: Walcott comes off for Ashley Young, but Gibbs gets his debut replacing some bloke called Cole. Back to 4-4-2! Sloppy stuff from Dawson on the Hungary goal though it’s a bit unfair to single him out – it’s been lacklustre stuff second half. We’re back to 4-5-1 again as Milner replaces Rooney.

Great goal by Gerrard.

Gibbs is doing ok, running with the ball, very positive.

Another great goal from Gerrard. England looking like they mean business, very different from the way the second half started. Totally different from South Africa.

Looks like Wilshire might get a few minutes at the end. He’s coming on for man of the match Gerrard.

FULL TIME: Some good stuff this evening from all three Arsenal players. And it was good to have three Arsenal players involved. Wilshire only got about eight minutes, but they all looked confident and competent.

But the evening belongs to Steven Gerrard. He scored two excellent goals to turn the game around. England looked better than in South Africa. The formation works better, giving Gerrard freedom to move around just outside the box. Not enough to completely destroy the bad memories of the summer, but a good start.

The last gasp winner for the US over Algeria means that England are back on an all to familiar route.  Next we have to beat Germany – and if we pull that off we probably get Argentina.

Is fate against us or are we going to be ghost-busting?

An on-form England has the chance to get past both these opponents but we are undoubtedly in the tough half of the draw now.  We’ll gave to hope that yesterday afternoon was the start of a run rather than a last gasp bid to avoid embarrassment.

England weren’t brilliant but there were encouraging signs.  Milner delivered the ball more reliably than Lennon and Wright-Phillips.  The other midfielders did better as well with much more passing on target.  Much more moving the ball forward.

Capello persisted with 442.  Is he unshakably wedded to this or does he worry about Rooney’s fitness if left to do all the from-running alone?

England still looked a bit unco-ordinated at the back with the defenders occasionally getting in each others way.  That’s understandable when we’ve had to keep changing the line-up and we got away with it against Slovenia.

So, the dream and the tension goes on.  I reckon that the best thing that England will have taken out of yesterday was a big dose of self-confidence.

Come on England.

They weren’t brilliant but they were good enough. Good enough to pass the ball and move for each other. This time they looked more relaxed and more confident.

Gerrard didn’t leave a hole in front of Ashley Cole but still got in the box to support Rooney and Defoe. Milner played a blinder, whipping in crosses with enough consistancy to get Rooney and Defoe running into the box with belief.

Still don’t understand the Joe Cole issue but who cares. England are through.

Wayne Rooney has just had his best ever season, playing as a lone striker supported by attacking midfielders.  England have Wayne Rooney.  England has attacking midfielders.  Capello seems to favour a big traditional centre-forward who can receive the ball reliably, hold-up the play with strength and pass accurately.  Heskey does this well and if Capello sticks to his system, I would think he sticks with Heskey.

But I also think that to do this would waste the fact that England has one of the best forwards in the world at the moment.  Anyone who has watched Rooney’s powerful acceleration and determination to put himself in the box on the end of a pass knows that he doesn’t need someone to hold up the game for him.  He is the game.

Play him at the front, with Gerrard or Lampard just behind.  On current form that would be Gerrard.  Then play three supporting players behind them.

Put Barry in front of the back four.  This does two things.  It sets Lampard and Gerrard free because they know they don’t have to check to see if the other one is covering the defence.  It helps to cover the fact that England have lost their two most agile central defenders.  Terry and Carragher are going to have to rely on their experience of reading the game and their strength.  They could do with Barry cutting out the pacey runs through the middle when they are caught square with their backs to goal.

Come on England.

England 1 : 1 USA

Flags by abflag.com

Last night’s game was hard work to watch.  It wasn’t so much that England found some new low, rather that they rediscovered an old one.  For ninety minutes it was as if Capello had never been there.  The familiar dilemmas had returned.  Can Lampard and Gerrard excel together?  What do you do on the left? Who should play in goal?

I haven’t added ‘who should start up front with Rooney’ because I thought Heskey played a blinder.  Yes he buried a decent chance into Howard’s midriff rather than the net, but we all expected that anyway.  He was a fantastic target man, winning every ball and laying it off for a team mate, and was good in the build-up to England’s goal.

The injuries are a worry, particularly at the back. King and Ferdinand were the ones to deal with pacey strikers.  Let’s hope King’s groin strain isn’t serious.  The decision to replace Milner with Wright-Phillips is a curious one.  If Joe Cole is only the third best option on the left, why did he make the final twenty-three?

As for the goalkeeper.  Green’s nervous blunder on his tournament debut was a nightmare. Personally I think that Capello should have picked one successor to James and stuck with him to give him the experience. Goalkeepers need a run in the team.  The choice wasn’t an easy one, there have been several similar contenders, but by making it and sticking to it the keeper chosen would have got the maximum experience.  I wouldn’t rule out sticking with Green.  Sticking with someone is the key.

Gerrard and Lampard? They are two great players, they should both play, but side by side in a flat four midfield just doesn’t seem to work. They are so similar in style that if the formation doesn’t dictate what they do, then identical instinct or indecision kick in.

There are plenty of teams that successfully play 4-1-3-1-1 or 4-4-1-1, call it what you will.  Maybe Heskey should be dropped, Gerrard sit behind Rooney, Lampard in the centre of the three and Barry, or King, in front of the back four.

Well that’s my view from the armchair, I suppose it’s just possible Capello knows a hell of a lot more than me!

Hopefully this was just a nervy start and guys will get into their stride.  None of the teams have really impressed so far and maybe we all expect too much from the eagerly awaited first games.

I still expect England to progress by winning the group.