Middlesbrough Never Did Collapse...

A disappointing one-all draw today, but one that I feared was coming. Looking at our previous results against 'Boro and seeing our current form I really felt before the game that this was going to be a draw, and so it proved.

The team never really looked up for the game today. Although we started brightly and had some of our old flair back at times, such as when Van Persie narrowly missed the target, we just were never in it after our goal. Middlesbrough soon equalised and the team looked flat afterwards.

I was positively baffled as to why Arsene Wenger refused to make a change after about the 60th minute. It was clear to me that we weren't getting anywhere and we weren't creating enough, and finally with ten minutes to go Bendtner was put on, but it didn't end up making any difference.

After the game Arsene Wenger said he was hesitant to make too many changes because he expected Middlesbrough to tire and open up. I too expected them to collapse and around the 70th minute it looked like they were doing just that, but alas, they held their shape and held onto a draw. They never did collapse.

So where does the result leave us? Liverpool went on to draw at home to Hull, so we didn't lose any ground on them, but Aston Villa won their match 4-2 meaning we are now one point behind them in fifth (incidentally with the exact same GF and GA record). It's really starting to look like a repeat of the 2005-06 season where we were around fourth or fifth in the league all year but made it to the Champions League final.

I think we have to accept now that we aren't going to win the league unless all the three teams ahead of us suffer a massive collapse and we somehow put more than three wins in a row together. We are horribly inconsistent right now and we simply must beat Liverpool next week to even stay in touch with the top.

So it was an expected and only slightly damaging draw today, if very disappointing. We could have won it but Middlesbrough stuck to their game and didn't give up. Maybe we can learn a lesson or two from them...

Don't forget, you can get now all the Fab 4 Arsenal news and views sent direct to your mobile phone for free, Click Here for details. Until next time,

Fab 4