Written by Mean Lean on Thursday, 02 February 2012 14:22

I am feeling somewhat dejected today. Dejected and very frustrated.

The team that stepped out against Bolton were good enough to have beaten the home side handsomely. Arteta and Sagna returned to the team and they both added shape and stability to the side that fought back to beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

We started brightly and dominated the ball, our passing was quick and we were positive. It was the type of start that usually reassures me that we have a good chance to win the game. Unfortunately if you continue to be profligate in front of goal then you will not win games. Once again we need too many chances to score, van Persie apart, we are incredibly wasteful. We snatch at chances and have been doing that all season.

I loved the movement of the front three and they were causing Bolton all sorts of problems. van Persie was dropping off the front and that was leaving plenty of space for other players to run into. Robin played in Aaron Ramsey but instead of taking the chance on he prodded first time at the keeper. I do not want to criticise a young player like Ramsey who has so much right about his game at his age but he has a habit of taking shots far too early. Had he collected the pass into his stride, he could have rounded the keeper or slotted into the corner, anything other than poking the ball first time at the keeper when time is on your side. For the role Ramsey is playing and for the amount of chances he has had, he simply hasn't scored enough goals this season. I am not having a go at Aaron per se, I am just pointing out the obvious that a player of his quality in his position, he should be contributing far more to our goals for tally.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain once again looked dynamic, confident and dangerous. He is not only a dribbler or speed merchant, he has the eye for the pass and provided just that, a diagonal slipped ball into Theo Walcott who did what Ramsey didn't, he took it on and faced the keeper one on one but once again he hit the keeper. He has finished that same chance so many times in the past but this season, it just is not happening for Theo Walcott either. Against QPR at home he had a similar clear cut chance that he fluffed. Last season away to Newcastle and Tottenham he slotted them away with ease.

Walcott is in the team to score those chances, he is our wide striker who is supposed to score 15-20 goals a season and right now he is badly out of form. To be honest, minus a patch of form around the Chelsea and Norwich games, Theo has not been at his best level and in a season where he has stayed fit I, as I am sure he would have expected more of himself if not in performance then at least in goal scoring.

While Chamberlain and Walcott are different players and it is easy to jump on the bandwagon after a few games but the form and talent of the junior only increases the spotlight on Theo Walcott. I believe that once Walcott manages to finally take that step up to the next level then he will be a very effective and deadly player, unfortunately for us, that is not the case this season. Whether we see it from now until the end of the campaign, only time will tell.

Laurent Koscielny struggled to deal with his center forward for the first time in some time., David Ngog caused him all sorts of problems and the former Liverpool man should have scored when he got on the wrong side of the center back but his slotted shot shaved the wrong side of the post.

In the second half Robin van Persie was denied by a double dose of woodwork. Firstly his side footed effort from a Sagna cross bounced off the base of the post and later on a wonderful right footed chip across the keeper smacked off the crossbar just has it had done against Sunderland at the Emirates earlier in the season. Efforts like that deserve goals but for some reason the footballing gods are not giving them to him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a powerful snap shot that was tipped over, on top of a first half chance created by Robin but the pass meant that he had to stretch and his shot sailed over the top. It is incredible to think that he is only 18 years old. Without wishing to increase the hype on the kid, I think it is obvious to anyone who has watched the guy for more than 45 minutes that this kid is going to be special if he continues his growth as a player.

So when he was removed from the pitch for Thierry Henry I was a little stunned. Perhaps Wenger wanted to keep Walcott on as he is more of a striker and we needed a goal, that is plausible but based on form and impact on the game, the wrong player was removed in my opinion.

Thierry seems to be finding the pace of the games difficult right now and has done ever since he came back. The irony is that had he started the game then we could have well won the match. As we saw against Leeds United, he can finish, had he have been on the end of both Ramsey's or Walcott's first half chances then he would have put them away without any fuss.

Bolton took over in the latter stages and had chances to win the game themselves, on another day they could have been awarded a penalty when Mark Davies and Per Mertesacker came together in the penalty area. Justice was done though as the Bolton man dived ridiculously in the first half to get Thomas Vermaelen booked.

The result is incredibly disappointing and there is no doubt that we should have won but we have to do better in front of goal but I do not agree with many that we didn't play well. I thought our team looked very strong, especially in the first half hour of the game.

Mikel Arteta showed how much of a miss he has been with a dominating performance. He fights for 90 minutes when he doesn't have the ball and caresses the ball around the pitch when he does. Sagna is not even match fit yet but already makes us a much better side with his powerful forward runs and his excellent defensive reading of the game. He could and perhaps should have had an assist on his return but for the bloody post.

Had one of van Persie's efforts gone in along with one of Ramsey, Walcott or Chamberlain's attempts then we would be talking about a positive display. That is the margin we are playing with right now.

To state the obvious, winning games is about scoring more than the opposition. It doesn't matter if you create 30 chances and have 75% possession. If you don't score then you don't win and while our defence has been under scrutiny this season I believe that it is the other end of the pitch that has been our greatest concern this season.

I am looking forward to Gervinho and Chamberlain playing either side of van Persie but that does not directly add goals to our team, if anything I would have imagined that Walcott would have been a crucial part to our team because of his goals.

While we are all bitterly disappointed with the result and indeed our league position I don't think it is a fair reflection of the game to suggest that we were poor. Our finishing was poor but our performance was encouraging. But as I said, work needs to be done in doing the most important part of the game.

If we are to find any crumbs of comfort, if you can call it that, then it is that Chelsea haven't driven further forward after they also managed a draw this midweek.

We badly need to turn around our fortunes and start a winning run. We have proved that we are capable of doing that, the challenge now comes from doing it under pressure.

Man of the match: Robin van Persie

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Comments (16)

• 02-Feb-2012 14:47 | | sedick  - impotent arsenal
  

  we depend toomuch on rvp to score goals. we won against aston villa by mere fluke goals. all these are matters foe reflexion

• 02-Feb-2012 15:06 | | furiousb
  

  if walcott wasn't english would he still be in the prem there hav been so many speedstars lik/beta dan him who neva made it (odonkwo,babagida) i dont think his case would be any beta so i think its beta to cash-in while all the hype stil is or his case would be lk bendter who could have been sold for 8mil. now arsenal would be lucky to get 4mil for him

• 02-Feb-2012 15:38 | | Vuja De
  

  I completely agree with your write up, Mean Lean.
  
  The only midfield player that we have who knows how to score,
  and has a proven track record of doing so, is Diaby. I can't wait for
  him to be available for selection again.

• 02-Feb-2012 15:44 | | sam
  

  arsene is becoming a real life inspecor clussot.
  walcott is the one that should have gone on loan, miyaichi is a real winger

• 02-Feb-2012 16:20 | | Danish Gooner  - Wanger !!
  

  Mean Lean,you are the biggest excuse merchant in the blogosphere to suggest we werent poor yesterday makes you look like a complete numpty.Wanger is cack and have been for several years,he havnt realized that Mourinho revolusitonized the PL more then he did himself,he is a self serving,egomaniac and control freak and extremely arrogant.We will not win another trophy with him and his croonies aboard.Playing cack like Theo in an established world renowned club like Arsenal is borderline treason not to mention the rest of the hopeless inept players.When Whisky nose got a hiding from Mourinho he realized something had to change in tactics as well as attitude gone were the days where you could get away with losing 6 to 8 games but did Wanger realize it of course he didnt,he was so arrogant and heeded no warning instead he pushed on with his Frankenstein project and now he looks like a complete tosser in most fans eyes.

• 02-Feb-2012 16:34 | | mj
  

  Theo does miss chances and he is frustrating, but hees the only player we have who can go in behind the defence. 90 percent of his runs go for nothing since our build up play is too slow this season without fabregas and nasri. Walcott is an easy target for fans.. I'm not saying hees world class or anything but he does give us something different. If our build up play is so slow then that means were not really taling advantage of theo at all. Ok he missed an easy chance yesterday but the run in itself was good. I know hees not a fan favourite anymore, but hees not as bad as some fans make him sound

• 02-Feb-2012 17:26 | | brdgunner  - Poor
  

  I thought we played badly last night. To me we looked like 7th playing 14th or wherever they are. Simply not good enough

• 02-Feb-2012 18:17 | | Gino92
  

  I didn't think we play very well last night. We had too many misplaced passes, too many backward and sideway passes that ended up nowhere, and we were generally too slow in the build-up. Bolton is a team we should have beaten handsomely, even in their own backyard. I am afraid that Song us slowly catching the Ramsey disease, holding on to the ball far too long (thus putting our attackers in an offside position) and misplacing passes. He is no longer the same Song that was bossing the midfield both offensively and defensively just a few short months ago. We badly missed a certain Spaniard last night to unlock the Bolton defense thru the middle. The closest player to Fabregas that we have currently available is Rosicky. I love Ramsey's stamina and energy but I still believe that Rosicky is a far better quality and should be starting ahead of Ramsey. I just hope that Wenger sees that too, the sooner the better. As we currently lack a creative midfielder, we are trying hard to run most of our plays through the wings and we have become too predictable, especially Walcott. Gervinho could dribble past a couple of defenders and even the keeper, but he then runs out of ideas what to do with the ball and makes horrible decisions. Walcott hugs the touch line too much and usually runs out of room. Like you said ML, aside from a few games, he hasn't been very good at all this season. The only player that we have had in the past 5 years that can take on 2 or 3 players, beat them easily and make a great pass consistently was Alex Hleb, the "magician". To this date, it still pisses me off that he chose to leave us for Barcelona. What a waste of supertalent!!!
  
  I hope Wenger gives Thierry Henry his first start this weekend and bring Walcott on as a sub with about 25 minutes to go. I am pretty confident that Henry will put away some of these early chances that we tend to create every game but fail to execute. The big question is, does Wenger trust Henry enough to take that chance?

• 02-Feb-2012 19:19 | | redboy
  

  Even a team that was in the c/ship 18 mouths ago are above us and have been for most of the season.We have gone from playing the best footy in the league to just boring tippy tappy shit please move on wenger i cant take any more of this crap.WERGER OUT NOW.

• 02-Feb-2012 20:16 | | pika
  

  dont forget that this "established world renowned club" you talk about is his own making ....
  
  now go drink your tuborg

• 02-Feb-2012 20:18 | | pika
  

  i cant take any more of this crap.
  
  
  then take some pills and go to sleep for a few years and when the club starts winning titles again you can always join back.
  
  seriously ? you cant take it anymore? lol..how old are you ?

• 03-Feb-2012 02:41 | | prince dan jc
  

  to be frank with ourselfs, walcotte should still be loan out for now and let players that are ready to score goals get on pitch...........

• 03-Feb-2012 14:37 | | Spectrum
  

  Well Mean Lean, that's telling you ! And you think MY style is too direct and "un Arsenal." Of course, I'm much too tactful to put it like Danish Gooner has. But now you can appreciate more the meaning of perspective, can' t you ?
  " ******************"

• 05-Feb-2012 12:09 | | Spectrum
  

  Golum ( pika ) - Oh so Wenger is 125 years old is he ? I didn't realise that we weren' t a world renowned club before he arrived in 1996. I should have known you're always right.
  
  " ******************"

• 05-Feb-2012 13:24 | | pika
  

  no we werent a world known club before wenger ...i doubt ajax barca and the rest took notice of how arsenal played football back then ...pmsl....
  
  what was there to see anyway ? alcoholics bashing eachother for the 1-0 ? lol..you call that football? maybe so in your backward mentality ...not mine..
  
  now beat liverpool tommorw and i will forgive all the cr@p you say about arsenal

• 16-Feb-2012 13:44 | | Mike  - Henry
  

  You guys are all star struck, Henry has been a flop. The Milan game was a perfect example where he hid......he was hiding behind the defenders hoping for mistakes rather than attacking the ball. I have watched stars lose there way before and Henry u fortunately is now one of them. entire Henry before you end up looking a real mug!!!!!!

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