Match reviews written straight after the game finished were quite mixed, reflecting the disappointment that our recent winning run had come to an end. Arsene Wenger was subdued in the face if ‘didn’t you play well’ from the media.
“We got encouragement, but we needed encouragement and points and we didn’t get the points.”
Arsene hates to lose and that is just as it should be, but the team put on a huge performance against a club that has had nearly a billion pounds spent on it.
Blogs written later and media reports have much more praise for Arsenal. Maybe there were some who still secretly thought that a run at the title was realistic. Personally, I felt that had slipped away by September as we paid the price of the Nasri/Fabregas saga with pole-axed morale and five late arrivals to incorporate.
What we did show last night, in a game that could have resulted in a draw or better, was that despite all those setbacks and injury to every single fullback we are able to compete at the top end of the league.
Thomas Vermaelen won our Arsenal Man of the Match poll, just ahead of Wojciech Szczesny. I think that was right. Vermaelen had an immense game – as a fullback, central defender and pushing forward to try and get a goal right until the very end. The guy never stops fighting to win and his technique is fantastic.
Szczesny had a good game too. He is a great keeper. Tough, agile and fantastic anticipation. He had just one flaw yesterday when he rolled the ball out into a dangerous area. Fortunately the shot that resulted hit the post.
Arteta was another star. He worked constantly going forward and back. Koscielny has surely now convinced the doubters of last season. Another strong performance from him.
Someone who wouldn’t be anyone’s man of the match, even allowing for the fact he was only on for twenty minutes, is Arshavin. This was a big game where everyone was working their socks off, even those who were struggling to make an impact. But Arshavin wasn’t. It’s getting hard to make a case for him now. The flashes of genius are too rare and, although he tackles a bit more than he used to, his play is so casual and sloppy that he misses opportunities for us and creates them for our opponents.
The neutral sponsor’s Man of the Match was Samir Nasri. I think that’s wrong and surprisingly so. I don’t think he had the biggest impact on City’s win. Balotelli or Aguero up front had more influence on play. Zaboletta marked Walcott completely out of the game. Kompany closed down Van Persie throughout. Maybe whoever made the choice decided that it should be an ex-Arsenal player to fit the overall story?
Anyways, where does all this leave us? Apart from worrying about another defender being injured after Djourou had to come off with what appeared to be a groin strain. We are still fifth, although the weekend games have spread the the teams out a bit more. But we have now played all the away games against the teams above us and we are still in touch with the top four fight.
There’s still a lot in this season for Arsenal. Come on you Gunners – and take out our disappointment against Villa on Wednesday!
