Disappointing But Deserved

After the elation felt in our F.A. Cup clash with Leeds, yesterday's loss to Swansea was utterly disappointing. It was a game which Swansea very much deserved to win because we were dismally poor, and it still stings the morning after.

Before the game I had been worried that it was going to be a tight, tense affair, and one which we might not win. But when the game began I thought I could modify my expectations. We started well and within five minutes were ahead through an excellent Robin Van Persie strike.

The finish was quality and we looked very solid and comfortable. Until the penalty decision.

At first I had a feeling it wasn't the best of decisions, but when I saw the replays it was clear we'd been hard done. That was a dive worthy of the Serie A, and the fact that it was gotten away with is a tad infuriating.
But in the end it didn't seriously affect the outcome of the match. After the goal Swansea started dominating possession and really running us off the park. That we only had 38.5% ball possession at halftime really tells it all.

The second half started decently and it looked as though Arsene's halftime talk had perhaps worked. But then we conceded again. The defending was poor and overall the team performance wasn't good at all.

Henry and Rosicky soon came on, a really positive move that helped our passing game a bit, and soon we were level through Theo Walcott. It was a good through ball from Djourou and an excellent finish from Theo, who really hadn't been having the best of games up to that point.

But in typical Arsenal defensive fashion Swansea immediately re-took the lead after another defensive error and if we're honest some not-exactly world class goalkeeping.

After that we tried to press for the equaliser, but it wasn't to be. The team performance was just poor. The passing wasn't good, the defenders looked scared whenever Swansea went forward, the the decision-making in the final third was not up to par. I felt Van Persie had a decent game, but he was isolated and couldn't really do much.

In the end we deserved to lose, but it was utterly disappointing. Something will need to change if we're to have a chance at the top 4, and indeed if we're to have a chance this weekend when Manchester Utd come to town.

It doesn't really feel as though the problem lies with the players that we have, but rather getting the most out of those players. Of course, having all these defensive injuries hasn't helped at all, but we could still compete and put in a lot more goals than we're doing now, and it's just not happening. We finally have more experience in the squad, so it needs to start showing.

You can tell from Arsene Wenger's post-match comments and his interview at the dot com that he's frustrated with the team, and I for one am hoping that this leads to some changes and a little kick in the rear that the team needs to pick up their game. Arsene knows what he's doing, and it seems that whenever we're in crisis he finds a way to pull us back out of it again. Here's hoping he'll do the same right now, because we sure need it. Till  next time,

Fab 4