We have a squad that has strength in depth, but there are 2 positions that particularly, do not have a back up who can do the job like the first choice does.
And you could always put your money on Van Persie getting crocked playing for Holland. It has happened a lot over the years.
With Walcott returning and Vela waiting in the wings, we still had Eduardo. Rosicky, Arshavin and Nasri, all available.
Yet all of them couldn't find the magic today.
Eduardo did the job to the best he knew how. Robin took a few games to get the hang of it and he learnt the position well. Dudu just got thrown into it today and it was clear he wasn't accustomed to the positions he had to get into and lacked the ability to bring the rest of the players into the game. It is no fault of his. I believe, that with time, he'll get it.
In the meantime though, while Robin is placenta-ing, we might have a situation at hand.
The other position is the defensive midfield one which Song currently owns. That's another problem in January.
Looking at the team sheet today, it looked to be set up for an absolute stormer. Eduardo was up front with Nasri and Rosicky flanking. Seriously. I can't recall Samir and Tomas playing on either flanks before. Fabregas was in the heart of midfield with Ramsey starting and Song behind them. It looked so juicy on the attacking front.
I guess one of the problems could be the lack of communication up front. The players train together a lot but it's pretty different on the pitch. The on-pitch understanding has to be spot on when applying Arsenal's playing style. The player's movement and the interchanging of positions have to be very exact. When the regulars are missing the players coming in for them weren't able to string it all together.
At least they couldn't tonight.
The opening minutes were optimistic though. Rosicky's shot from a determined Fabregas cross was a fantastic one but it was met by a fantastic save. Apart from that, I don't remember any other time we came that close. After that Rosicky faded quite a bit and I forgot he was even on the pitch.
I'm actually pretty glad a bad game like this did not end up in a draw. Sure we lose 3 points instead of 2, but when a loss comes, it really forces everyone to sit down and think hard about it. A draw gives them consolation which I think is rubbish. Screw unbeaten runs. I'm only interested in winning streaks. If it takes one loss like this to get it all together then by all means.
And we all knew the day when the free scoring will screech to a halt. I'm sure no one expected it so soon after Fabregas declared his fear.
Meh.
Credit to Sunderland. They did well and deserved to win. Steve Bruce is an impressive manager. To be able to put together a team consisting of that many new players and be successful thus far is no mean feat. I don't need to cite Man City do I? 2-1 and they fucked it up in seconds. It was pretty funny. In the post before I said I'll put my $ on them drawing again. True enough, it happened. Their equalisers sure come at the most painful moments. I kinda thought we got rid of 2 hexes - one of drawing uncontrollably, and the tendency to concede right after scoring. And we shipped 2 players off to them. hah. I kinda watched the game for Adebayor. He's still the same lazy wuse who probably will only work hard when playing Arsenal, and then just wait for free headers in the box to score.
I hope I don't have to eat my words after this. I'd prefer a loss and then a run of many many wins to 5 draws in a row. I realised we play Chelsea next who are in top form.
2 losses in a row ain't what I have in mind. The team has Liege midweek to regroup. I don't want a horror show next week.
A Little Drunken Madness @ 1:25 AM
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