At least we're still unbeaten right?

It's never dull as a gooner is it. I mean seriously. I was thinking same old story, then we won it in the 98th minute so I was thinking same old story (just a different story). Then we all know what happened next and same old story again. It's funny really, would the result have been that different had it been 0-0? The reaction? Who knows. There's no time to dwell on what might have been now or what could still be. With United playing tomorrow and a match against the Spudlets on Wednesday who knows what could happen. Regardless of what we can win or what we can't lets just win our matches anyway.

Where the hell do you start with that? The boss said we had problems creating chances and I think it's fair to say I agree with that. The atmosphere certainly didn't help, I've been lucky enough to visit the Emirates on a matchday and the atmosphere can be piss-poor most of the time. I've stood up to sing and people have looked at me thinking I was some kind of crazy foreign tourist who's having a fit or something. There's a difference between being a supporter and being a nob-head. Unfortunately, it is the latter which seems to make up the general population of the Emirates. Too often in recent times have we seen the crowd get on the teams back rather than get behind them and be the fabled '12th man'. I know that when you're a new fan you have the child-like expectation that the team 'should win', but there's a difference between acting like a spoilt child and acting like a nob who only goes to the big matches. They might not want to see us play Huddersfield, but I bloody well did.

Anyways, enough Gooner-bashing. As always, the highlights are here on Arsenalist (@arsenalist) and I suppose it's time to see who was hot and who was not. Szczesny wasn't really kept that busy, a few catches from set-pieces and a save or two. He looked decent although he wasn't really tested until the end of the match. Dived the right way for the penalty and I was for some reason quietly confident he would keep it out but credit to Dirk Kuyt, it was sweetly-struck and the 'keeper had no chance. Still good to have him back.

Gael Clichy played. I remember him passing to Samir Nasri a few times and clearing a ball in our area. That's it. That is actually it. Now I think about it, I'm wondering where he was on quite a few Liverpool attacks. That's not an indictment necessarily, but 47% of their attacks came down our left. Not a great night for Gael then. Koscielny and Djourou were decent, coped alright with Carroll and Suarez who luckily didn't get that much service. There seemed to be a lack of communication though, they often both went for the same ball and sometimes lost their markers at set-pieces. Let's hope that was just a side-effect of Djourou's rustiness as they prepare to face Monkey-man and the Beanstalk on Wednesday. As for Eboue; classic Eboue really. Got forward well, clumsy defending. Lucas was always looking for it and almost stopped to impede Eboue and make the contact, but the Ivorian should have stayed on his feet as Ray Wilkins would have gladly told him.

The midfield then, Abou Diaby was better than usual. He may be one-pace, but it was a nice pace today, he was driving and looking to get things moving in a box-to-boxy kind of role. A bit lax defensively though. Could stayed with Suarez a few times. Jack Wilshere has played 40+ games this season and it's starting to show as he looked jaded and not really Wilshere-ish. That doesn't mean that he wasn't giving his all, just that his all wasn't quite as much as it usually is. Fabregas was very much the same, not sure what it was, but he was one of a few players who had a quiet day at the office. Made his little runs and passes, some came off, most didn't. Some say he just doesn't care about the Arsenal; who was it who drove on and won the penalty late on then? Wilshere came off for Bendtner who was shifted out wide. As always with Bendtner, when he was brought on things happened, waste of talent out wide though. We put 44 crosses into the box, an RVP and a Nicky B have more chance of meeting one of them than an RVP on his own. Alex Song also came on in place of Abou Diaby after around 80 minutes. Surprising one. I would have preferred Chamakh to come on as we were chasing a win, or even a Ramsey-esque player who can move through the gears, drive on, pass, shoot and is a better attacker in general. No offence to Song who certainly tried to add going forward, but a holding-midfielder isn't what we needed.

Theo Walcott was way too fast for Fabio Aurelio who did his hamstring after 20 minutes of chasing. Won quite a few corners, got a swerving shot in. Lively at the start, less so as the game went on. Another Theo Walcott wouldn't go amiss, we need more pace. (Ryo Miyaichi?) Samir Nasri was much the same as Fabregas, quiet game same, few passes and maybe a shot or two. Nice flick to set RVP through. That's about it. Andrei Arshavin came on for Theo, made a bit of a difference, a bit of running that was welcome. He's certainly changed as a player this season. Tried to make a difference. RVP had a goal ruled out after he was marginally offside, a few good deliveries from set pieces, a few that weren't so good. Another one who didn't have a brilliant day at the office.

I've already linked to the bosses reaction, but if reading isn't your thing then feel free to have a look at his post-match interview, his post-match press-conference and also Johan Djourou post-match.


In other news, Arsenal Ladies beat Chelsea Ladies 1-0 in the first ever WSL match, but went out of the Champions League after losing their semi-final against Lyon 5-2 on aggregate. We do have some good news though, Jack Wilshere won the PFA Young Player of the Year award.Jack also featured alongside Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna in the PFA team of the Year as did Hale End product Cashley Cole. Two updates from YoungGuns as well, a loanees watch with Ryo Miyaichi  grabbing two goals and two assists for Feyenoord and Francis Coquelin scoring his first professional goal for Lorient proving to be the highlights. Arsenal also kicked off their Dallas Cup campaign with a 5-1 victory after going behind following a shaky start.