Written by Mean Lean on Monday, 23 May 2011 06:08

So that is it, the season is done and dusted, over, finito.

From jockeying in the pack for the title a few weeks ago to slamming down to fourth with a Champions League qualifier to look forward to, the season certainly couldn't have ended much worse from the good position that we were in.

After our defeat last week against Aston Villa it meant that third place was no longer in our hands so as long as Manchester City matched or bettered our result then an automatic Champions League place would disappear from our grasp.

Interesting team line up from Arsene. Chamakh started his first game since time began while Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin started from the bench.

I actually thought that Chamakh gave the team another dimension and he showed the high work rate that we saw from him earlier in the season. Van Persie was given the licence to roam and create and link with Samir Nasri.

Gibbs had a header at the far post well saved and a few others including a Nasri header came close but as has been the case in recent weeks, our defence was breathed on and we conceded. Kieran Gibbs was caught way out of position and Zamora had the time and space to waltz inside the Arsenal penalty area and square the ball to former Gunners midfielder Steven Sidwell to fire through the legs of Szczesny from close range.

Three minutes later it was all square and once again it was Robin Van Persie. Nine goals in consecutive away matches, 19 goals in 24 games this season and equalling the record from Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring 19 goals from January to May. However you juggle those figures they always total phenomenal. Abou Diaby's contribution to the goal must not be overlooked as he turned away from his man played a one-two with Chamakh then found Van Persie's run with a sharp flat pass. Van Persie's first touch was sublime, and his finish was clinical.

Unfortunately we haven't seen our trademark back to front goals enough during this horrible end of season.

It should have been the goal to help us push on in the second half regardless of the City result but we got worse. Before the hour mark Greening crossed to Zamora to head in at the near post sandwiched by Djourou and Vermaelen, neither defender really putting sufficient pressure on the forward.

We continued to miss chances. Nasri had a free kick well saved and Chamakh should have tucked away Mark Schwarzer's spill but nudged the ball wide.

Arsene made some second half changes, Kieran Gibbs clearly coming from the Abou Diaby school of fitness suffered yet another injury. Eboue, Walcott and Arshavin replaced Gibbs, Ramsey and Diaby.

A minute from time Theo Walcott drove in from the right and dragged a right footed shot into the far corner for a last gasp equaliser.

By that point I was more interested in cheering Birmingham City's relegation from the top tier. Who knows maybe without Birmingham in our season we can go through a second half of a season without Birmingham pushing the Arsenal self implosion detonator that they have enjoyed over the last few years.

And that is just about that. Our points total and games played goes back to zero, Arsene Wenger has plenty of work to do over the summer. It has been a truly awful end to a promising season.

Let the introspection and rumour milll begin.

Szczesny (6)
Sagna (6)
Djourou (5)
Vermaelen (7)
Gibbs (5)
Diaby (6)
Wilshere (6.5)
Ramsey (5.5)
Chamakh (7)
Van persie (7)
Nasri (6.5)

Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions

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Comments (9)

• 23-May-2011 13:32 | | James  - defence
  

  The reason why MU have won the title again is VDS and two two defenders in Vidid and Ferdinand. You compare the gunners in these positions.There is no comparison at all.
  I am afraid if Wenger doesnt get a quality goalie and ecellent central defenders,the gunners better foregt about the title next season .

• 23-May-2011 13:51 | | A Gooner among others
  

  Interesting to see that no one is blaming Vermaelen for the two goals conceded. For the second one I don't know, but for the first one he didn't come back quickly enough.
  Don't get me wrong, I love Vermaelen ! I'm just saying that had it been Denilson ...
  The same could be said of Ramsey who tried a ridiculous backheel and lost the ball that led to the first goal : Had it been Denilson...
  
  As for Gibbs, well there's a lot of work to do on him.
  Maybe a loan spell would do him some good.
  
  And no James we did not lose the title because of our defence. We lost it because when we had the ball we were absolutely toothless and we gave it away in the worst possible positions making it difficult for our defenders to do anything.

• 23-May-2011 14:49 | | Andy  - Midfield
  

  I've heard Man Utd are in for De Rossi of Roma. Wouldn't he be perfect for us!

• 23-May-2011 16:31 | | Wenger Boy
  

  So that's the last post of the official season eh ML? Well I for one am looking forward to developing some sort of appetite for writing about Arsenal again.
  
  My pre and mid-season enthusiasm has been slowly and painfully drained from my body and my limp and lifeless hands have been unable to hit enough keys to construct an entire article.
  
  Congrats for keeping everything going during our sad decline. There is still much to be optimistic about as I'm sure you'll agree but unfortunately these qualities are hidden deep beneath layers and layers of obvious shortcomings and predictable outcomes.
  
  Despite it all we are nearly there but I seriously think that some major work on our mentality and organisation needs to be done this summer or else we will only be able win something next year with a large slice of luck, which as we all know cannot be counted on. Especially not at this club.
  
  If we can eradicate this need for luck, through consistency and application, we can truly put the destiny of this club in our hands. The only way to do that is through developing a collective sense of responsibility and togetherness that can pull the team through. This exact set of players - no changes - with that mentality throughout would have come a hell of a lot closer to winning big this season.
  
  Hell, we came pretty close without it.
  
  The talent is there but unfortunately, in our case, that seems to be the easy part. We have arguably the best footballers but only the fourth best team in the country. Let's hope we can change that this summer.

• 23-May-2011 20:58 | | MeanLean
  

  Great post Wenger Boy, I agree entirely with what you said.
  
  Clearly the foundations are there, young foundations at that. We have the talent to get ourselves into a title race with a month or two to go. You don't get to that position without a) having a top class manager and b) having talented players.
  
  As you said we are probably the most talented team in the league but mentally we are nowhere near the level that we should be.
  
  You have to wonder if that is personnel or age. Our victory against the Mancs the other week was with the youngest team for two years in the Premier League so they haven't reached their full maturity as yet.
  
  This summer changes will be made, experience and hopefully the right characters will be brought into the club.
  
  As long as we keep the players we want to keep (Cesc, Nasri) or at least one of them then we can build on what we have.
  
  As doomy as it all seems right now. The right work done to this team and we can reach where we all want to be.

• 24-May-2011 03:49 | | Man United Killer  - Jokes
  

  Your jokes make me laugh..as always..."top class manager..top quality team"..haha..you just made my day..again..with your daily Wenger FC loyalty comment.

• 24-May-2011 06:10 | | MeanLean
  

  Name two current Premier League managers who have won more since Wenger's arrival?
  
  If you cannot do that then that answers my question

• 24-May-2011 09:29 | | Waterboy
  

  Love your posts ML! Always positive, which is refreshing, especially amongst the fickle and fair-weather fans and journos, which seemed to jump on board in the days of Henry and Vieira.
  
  In my view, Wenger's concepts of buying young kids and developing them into a title winning team and not drowning the club in debt inorder to recruit already established stars, is visionary in my opinion, particularly when you consider these facets in conjunction with Wenger's technical coaching skills.
  
  That said Wenger's decision to move away from his previously successful 442 structure and failure to recruit young players with similar physical attributes and natural inclinations to his previously successful teams has made it difficult for Arsene to add additional premierships to his list of achievement.
  
  That said there is always opportunities for Wenger to turn things around and in all honesty fourth placed in a premier league flush with financial doping is not too bad in my book!

• 24-May-2011 11:54 | | richie
  

  Naturally I also agree WB but then I don't mind being labled an AKB!
  The post from Arseblog that ML added as a link sums up our current situation perfectly. No way I can better it.
  
  This now feels like a cross channel ferry with an engine problem, we've left Calais we're 3/4 of the way home, the white cliffs are clearly visable and Dover port is straight ahead, but we can't quite see the harbour lights. Some of those on board want to change direction and head for the port of London Tilbery (not even knowing if the tides in or out). Some believe the we should change the capitain and return to where we started from. Many of us still think we should plough on down the same route we've taken before and make ajustments as we sight the port, with the same captain. And there's the dilema.
  
  We know that there are things that need addressing, but we are not all in favour of either jumping ship, changing captain or even changing course. I can't jump on the press and blog bandwaggon. Most of them ain't ever run a news paper stand never mind a football club.
  
  Many of us believe there are jurno's and pundits that put an anti Arsenal position forward, and they seem bent on creating a problem at our club even when there's not one. Therefore I can't respect their points of view now. They are all bizzy saying we should have Hiddink and buy Cahill. Villas Boas is the man because his defensive record is better than Mourinho's. (All that after one good season at porto and who would want to go back to playing that way?).
  
  Changes are needed! But I don't wanna throw the baby out with the bath water. Personally I love the ship so I'll repeat what I've said before, until the day comes that I can name someone I think can do a better job than our current ships captain I'll still stay loyal.
  
  (Please note I said untill "I can name"- not the press who want to sell papers not the pundits who want to sensationalise to keep their jobs and not the blogphere that is over 90% full of Sh**)

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