Arsenal 3 - Birmingham 1: 3 goals, 3 points, Team Defence sucks.

A win is always welcome, and based on the last time B'ham came for a league match at the Grove, it is an improvement on the draw they shared last time. The goals today were nicely executed, as expected, with the technicians the club has, this has to be expected rather than hoped for as a surprise. Van Persie slipped in a shot, Diaby rounded off a routine move, and Arshavin guided his goal home. Nice, obligations met, 3 points in the bag.

However, as all will have seen, there were so many errors made today, the first by Mannone, knowing Almunia is back, he needs to ensure he keeps him on the bench, the error today should not be tolerated, this is the big time, no room for such elementary errors. He had two choices, either catch the ball or punch it clear, he did none with conviction, and Bowyer shot into an unguarded net.

Then there were a string of missed passes, Gibbs is another who needs to bring his A-game to the table, with Clichy out injured, this performance was not one that will keep Clichy on the bench. Defensively, he lost his composure after a few missed passes and the error for the goal.

As a team, after B'ham scored, the team never reacted quickly to push ahead, and B'ham had many opportunities to score an equaliser, the midfield wasn't compact, the defence pushed up in suicide fashion for one B'ham chance that needed a fine stop by Mannone to keep it at 2-1. The midfield need to improve on regaining the ball quicker and constricting the space.

Arsenal were 2-1 ahead, why should we be the ones who have to soak up the pressure? Do we want to show we are a class above? There is no need to wait 84 mins to put a game to bed the way we did today. Do we not understand we face tough opponents every week, with Champions League as well, if you are 2-0 ahead after 20 mins, the game should be over, you should impose yourself on the opposition to know that there is no way back into the contest. I hope we learn from this, it is a long season, and with energy being sapped, players injured, errors we make every game, we need to stake everything in our favour to win matches, no need for such performances.


Player Ratings

Mannone 4: Bad error for the B'ham goal, he needs no praise for the other save as he was simply doing his job, that is what he is supposed to do.

Eboue 6: One of the better players, never arrowed in aimless crosses like Sagna loves to do, kept the ball well and created space on the offence.

Vermaelen 5: Decent performance, not much more.

Gallas 5: Decent performance, although when the line was very high, he should have been the one to set the depth, would have been very costly.

Gibbs 4: Many missed passes, lacked composure in defensive motions, not a good showing, won't displace Clichy playing like this.

Song-Billong 5: Decent performance, nice passing mostly, not compressing space however.

Diaby 5: Worked very hard, we all know he has good technique, but needs to improve decision making, improved performance though.

Fabregas 6: More involved defensively, however as a captain, needs to ensure the team are in charge all the time, came very close to having a draw.

Rosicky 5: Decent performance from the experienced man, although fitness was an issue, allowed B'ham to break past him very easily.

Walcott 4: Only saw 32mins of action, brutal follow through tackle ensured he played no more.

Van Persie 6: Looking decent as a leading striker, nice technique and distribution and variety of attacking positions.

Arshavin 5: Not able to get into the rhythm of the team, looks an individualist at times, needs to bring his collective A-game all the time. Nice goal though.

Sagna 4: Misplaced pass led to a corner, that the team is never comfortable defending. He also needs to stop crossing, simply gives the ball away.


Trainer Rating

Wenger 6: Obligated 3 points, deployed his assets in decent fashion, but why did he allow the team to suffer for so long? The team was 2-0 up very early on, do the pragmatic thing and ensure the mentality of the team is that of being an immovable object, B'ham were allowed into the match way too easily. The fixture list is going to be crunch time soon, we need to conserve energy and get a right attitude for such matches, because with this attitude, we will lose crunch matches.