Following the howls of derision at Salford FC at full time on Sunday, where the mid table home team conceded a late Fergie time equaliser to bottom of the table Fulham, David Moists’ charges travel to the homeland of their support, London, tonight to put their Europa League qualification campaign back on track.

Having said that the Arsenal themselves have to wipe out the memory of the worst performance of the season so far at Anfield, even though that defeat was the first in the League since the 6-3 reverse to the Northern oilers back in mid December.

Thanks to the Baggies draw with the Southern oilers last night (are cracks appearing in The Specious one’s kingdom?) a win will take us back to the top of the table; further incentive if any were needed.

Our (totally un)worthy opponents have lost three of their last six and scraped two wins and a valiantly gained the aforementioned draw in their last dirty half dozen of games. Injury wise there’s no Jones, Fellaini or Jonny Evans so we face them more or less at full strength but potentially low on confidence.

Temporarily turning away from the unsavoury topic of the opposition and back to the good guys, we all know Theo, Rambo and Vermaelen are injured and Flamini unavailable, together with two more we didn’t expect to see anyway for differing reasons, Diaby and Källström.

A wild card in squad selection is Sanogo, who played 60 minutes for the stiffs last week, and is available even though I suspect it’s doubtful he will play any more than a bit part in the game if any at all.

Going by Moist’s very clever tactic of pumping cross after cross into the area for the giants Hernandez and Shrek to get on the end of, one hopes Wenger has made heading practice a priority for BFG and Kozzer.

Speaking to a ManUre fan of my acquaintance (Hounslow born and bred, of course) recently it was felt if you deny their midfield space, Carrick especially, they’d be unable to play and the front players would be starved of service.

The other facor is the arrival of Mata, nothing would encourage the eye gouger to congratulate himself on his ploy of selling a world class player to a team CSKA Fulham bus stop would no longer play this season.

With those options available and given the performances of the starting XI on Saturday team selection may not be as straight forward as in the past, however Wenger tends to send players who had a bad game out to make amends on the pitch so I am going with Wenger’s selection to be:

Personally I would have Tomáš Rockin’ Rosický in place of Arteta and maybe Podolski given a rare start so Özzy can come on later, although not necessarily as late as 65 minutes.

A hugely important factor in tonight’s performance is the help the crowd can give to the players from the off. Groans and squeals if a few early passes go astray will not help so we need the crowd to unite behind one common factor that will bind the home support together, namely this “person”:

An understated goal celebration.

Yes, this man and his deranged, eye-bulging rabid celebration after scoring against us at old Toilet, should remind us just what our opponents are all about and why I hate them so much.

What did he say when he sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver?

“I always listen to the little boy inside of me in these situations – when you have to make the harder decisions in life. What does he want? That boy was screaming for Man United.”

Of course the little boy inside would say that, yet what would this little boy have said?

Fast forward to 2011 and we get this from Bouchra’s husband:

“The bottom line is that I want to win trophies with Arsenal, not with anybody else. I know you can win trophies in many countries and in many ways, but I want to do that in our way and in an Arsenal shirt.

“I’m sure I could win things at another team in another country, but would it feel like our trophy, my trophy? I’m not sure it would. Anything we win here will come from the heart and that’s what I want.

So proof positive, the little boy inside has no heart and if any of the Surrey glory hunters are still with me at this point (and if so why are you still with me? Just bugger off already!)and accuse me of being bitter my answer is:

“Yes I am…next!”

Bitter, but happy to see the grey haired turncoat returning to the perma crock we knew so well from his extended spells on our treatment tables whenever we needed him to be fit. I suggest his Christmas time injury spell was due to a sulk-induced overly protruding lower lip.

Every kick he takes should be met by our disapproval coming in any form possible; I believe every gooner should make every second he is on our turf a painful experience.

What’s that I hear about crossing the lines of what’s banter or not? We all know which are the teams whose fans love to sing “that” song about Wenger and one of those are our opponents tonight.

A spiky, vociferous home support is what is needed to give the good guys that extra push; and making the away fans match day experience as miserable as possible is every gooners duty, go ahead and goad with whatever you can come up with, here are a few suggestions:

“Show us your oyster cards!”

“Is he still the chosen one?”

“Europa cup, you’re having a laugh!”

Send them back to Caterham, Redhill and Carshalton heads bowed in defeat.

We need a big show from the crowd and the team need you tonight more than ever.

UTA !

By ChärybdÏß1966 (on Twitter @charybdis1966)

It’s becoming a familiar pattern, isn’t it?

Stage One: the team is over-achieving in a way we never imagined at the start of the season; we supporters are beginning to dream; we face a “big test” against a good team; we get thrashed.

At which point we segue into Stage Two: the manager says that “what we do on the pitch now is what matters”; the fans are miserable; some are very angry; scapegoats are identified and pilloried; the media writes us off again.

This week’s scapegoats seem to be primarily Arteta, Ozil and, as always, Arsene Wenger.

Personally I think people are judging Arteta and Ozil too harshly. Mikel has not been playing well for a few games but the rush to write him off as being over the hill is premature.  All players (regardless of age) go through bad phases and to consign last year’s player of the season to the scrapheap for three bad performances – one of which was a disastrous effort from the whole team – is unfair.

As for Mesut, he was poor against Liverpool, but no worse than several other players including Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and the likes of Rosicky and Podolski when they came on.

Which is not to say I don’t understand the anger and the desire to point fingers. But the defeat happened: we were awful and Liverpool played as well as they can play.

It’s one game, three points lost and a result that will only attain a greater significance if we let it. If we win our next three league games, this defeat will be quickly forgotten.

We can start on Wednesday against Manchester United by demonstrating that we are capable of putting it behind us.

But how do we avoid this sort of situation and performance happening again?

To me the answer is obvious: we have a wonderful blueprint for what the squad needs to do to be successful between now and the end of May.

Better still, it’s a blueprint that has already been tried and tested by the manager and by most of the players currently in our first team squad.

I refer to the way we played last season after losing in the league game at the N17 Public Convenience.

After that defeat – when our defence was all too easily pulled apart by Totteringham and we were ridiculed by dumber and dumberer on Match of the Day – we refocused and went on to win eight and draw two of our remaining 10 games – a run that powered us into the Champions League spots against all expectation.

I remember those games well. Very few were easy victories. In most games we ground out results by being hard to beat. We started every game with the mentality of “let’s not concede soft goals, then see what happens.”

It was incredibly effective and the platform of confidence it gave the squad has been there for all to see this season.

Contrast that with how we approached the game at Anfield on Saturday. If we had taken to the field thinking “OK, Liverpool are flying at the moment and are at home: they’re going to come at us hard so let’s make sure we are really tight at the back and take the wind out of their sails for the first 20 minutes,” we would not have had the debacle we all witnessed.

For a start the first goal would not have happened because Sagna would not have been miles up the field channeling his inner Theo when Liverpool broke; in which case The BFG would not have had to fill in at right back and find himself in a speed race with Luis Suarez; and if that hadn’t happened he would not have had to foul Suarez, there would have been no free kick and that ugly bloke would never have got his porcelain bonce on the ball in our six yard box.

Instead we started that game as if we thought we were Manchester City: “we won’t worry about defending – we’ll just showboat a bit and we’ll probably score five or six.”

We got what we deserved.

It’s like we started to believe that because we’re top of the table we’re so absolutely fabulous that we don’t need to concern ourselves with the boring, workaday bits of the job.

The table doesn’t lie, but sometimes it tells jokes. And on the evidence of Saturday, us being the best team in the country is straight out of Les Dawson’s pocket book.

Now it’s time to put aside any ideas of grandeur and start thinking like we did in the last 10 games of last season.

Constant hard work; relentless pressing of the opposition when they have the ball; total concentration; playing for your team and your team mates… we have done all of this and more before so we can do it again. We know how to do it.

If Arsene Wenger and Steve Bould can put the players back into that mindset we’ll be fine.

And I want to see it starting on Wednesday against ManUre. Despite Saturday’s humiliation I do not want to see us charging at United like the Seventh Cavalry.

Let’s start with a safety first approach, gradually take control of midfield then wait for the goalscoring chances that will inevitably follow.

It’s not as if we don’t know how to do it.

Of course, following the defeat at the Tiny Totts last year Arsene made some selection changes,  including dropping Szczesny and Vermaelen.

Perhaps he’ll do the same this time round, although it’s less likely because (a) we are limited by injuries and (b) the players who failed so badly on Saturday have all being doing well for the most part.

Roll on Wednesday. We need to get back in the saddle…

RockyLives

Liverpool 5  Arsenal 1

Skrtel (1 & 10)

Sterling (17 & 52)

Sturridge (20)

Arteta (69 pen)

Stats:

Shots On 12 v 6

Shots Off 9 v 1

Corners. 6 v 6

Possession (%) 43 v 57

Passing Accuracy (%) 79 v 87

Managers thoughts:-

……. on whether he was shocked by that result…

What is important is that we respond to the result, especially that we respond with a different performance because our performance overall was poor today – on the concentration level and on the pace. Our defensive stability was very poor, we looked always vulnerable defensively. Congratulations to Liverpool, they were the better team today and we were very poor today. Only our fans were good for 90 minutes, that’s all.

……on explaining the first 20 minutes…

We conceded two early goals on set pieces and then we are always in a position where you have to come out but we knew that you need to be better focused in that kind of level. Overall our performance was just not good enough. Maybe it’s better if I don’t talk too much, go home and respond well on Wednesday night because I include myself in that performance. It raises the questions that we have to answer on Wednesday night.

…… on the run of games coming up testing the teams credentials…

Yes I understand with you completely but it’s not about what people say, it’s how we respond that matters. I can completely understand that people will raise questions. We only have one way to respond answer that – which is on Wednesday night.

…..on whether Arsenal can still win the title…

Of course because, no matter what happens, it will be mathematically possible. It’s always what you make of the defeats that decides your future and tonight we have a lot to answer for and a lot of answers to find.

….. on taking positives from the response after the City defeat…

It was a similar situation against City, Saturday morning, 12.45 and early goals. We have to analyse well what happened, why it happened but we didn’t look sharp physically as well.

…… on taking 20 points from 24 after the City game…

If we do that in the next games it’s OK but let’s respond well on Wednesday night. We are of course very disappointed today but [we must not] lose our confidence and our belief that we can still do it.

….. on Wilshere’s fitness…

He didn’t look more short than any other player on the pitch. At half-time I could have taken a lot of people off. I just think the whole team failed to turn up with the right performance.

….. on whether they missed Flamini…

Flamini played at Man City. I think overall it’s just our team performance on the day was poor.

Players thoughts:

Szscesny – that was f**king embarrassing. Apologies to anyone who sat through 90 minutes of that game.

Mertersacker – sorry guys, this a bad day for the whole team. Now we have to stand together in defeat and get our heads sorted again.

Giroud – was a really poor performance from me today. We have to face our responsibilities and bounce back v United. So disappointed but keep the head up!

Player Ratings:-

Szscesny – actually made some good saves. Not too much he could do on the goals. Felt sorry for him 7

Sagna – was one of the few who tried throughout the 90 minutes 5

Mertersacker – one of the few times this season his pace has been exposed 3

Koscielny – was more tea lady than boss. Even he couldn’t keep up with Sturridge and Sterling 5

Monreal – was so scared of getting done for pace that he backed off far too much 3

Arteta – pretty woeful first half and should’ve been doing more to rally the team. Better 2nd half and scored the pen 4

Wilshere – another who was awful for the first 45. At least showed some spirit in the second half 4

Özil – was missing for most of the game. Not one who’s needed when the chips are down. Is he a luxury we can’t afford? No, but still poor 3

Ox – only one who tried to harass the opposition and was our best outfield player by a mile. Won the penalty 7

Cazorla – nothing came off for him. One of many who disappeared at 2 down 4

Giroud – wasn’t given a sniff really, but his touch was way off when played to feet and kept running into traffic 3

Subs:-

Gibbs – tried hard and got into some useful positions 5

Rosicky – didn’t see much of him when he came on 4

Podolski – another sub who was disappointing 4

Away Fans – MOTM – players didn’t deserve them yesterday. In some ways I wish it was at home so they could feel exactly how pissed off we were 10

Things that stood out for me were:-

* How poorly our senior players responded to going 2-0 down. We were still in the game at that point and a more experienced team would’ve sat in for 10-15 minutes and settled the ship, then come out swinging for the rest of the game.

* The hole in midfield. I don’t want to pick on individuals but the drop in level of Arteta from last season compared to this is a big worry. Playing Özil and Wilshere alongside did not help. JW cannot do the same level of work Ramsey does, and that’s what we are missing to give us the right balance.

* The lack of pace was a problem but it’s not every week we play the likes of Sterling and Sturridge. We still need to add some though both in attack and DM.

* We have been pretty average for a few weeks now and can’t seem to put a full 90 minute shift in. The starts have been awful too. Is it fatigue, injuries, complacency? I’m not sure.

* This was only 1 game, and as frustrating as it was to watch, it still only equates to 3 points. The players need to come out firing on Wednesday and who better to hammer than Man U. The first goal is going to be vital. We are still 2nd after City’s shocker yesterday and only 1 point behind the leaders. I’d have taken this in August, so still all to play for, as long as we don’t play like we did yesterday ever again!

Written by FatGingerGooner

Short answer, not a lot.

But wait, wait… don’t put your coat and hat back on just yet.

There are intriguing snippets to be taken from the surprisingly entertaining face-off between the financially doped Mancunians and the financially doped Chavtonians.

They don’t tell us enough to say with certainty that our hopes of a first Premier League title since 2004 are greater or lower, but they provide hints:

• The Chavs stopped Manchester City scoring for the first time in a bazillion home games. Fair play to the odious West Londoners and their pipsqueak manager. But here’s the thing: our defensive record is almost identical to the Chavs’ this season. They have let in 20 goals, we have let in 21. Therefore when we next play Man City our defense should do just as well as the Chavs did. Yes, I know, we were holed six times below the waterline last time we faced the light blue oilers but I’m happy to wrap myself in what, in philosophy terms, is known as a “logical fallacy”: Chelsea stopped Man City scoring; we are as good defensively as Chelsea; therefore we will stop Man City scoring. Simples (as Plato might have said)

• Man City’s bubble has been burst. The media have been falling over themselves to anoint Citeh as the Champions-in-waiting, regardless of the fact that a certain other team sits above them in the table. Such is the nature of journalism that the more a thing is repeated, the more it becomes inflated. The concept of Citeh as an unstoppable juggernaut had taken hold in Fleet Street and on the armchairs of the BBC and Sky TV. This defeat will bring everyone back to down to earth a little – and will also make Citeh’s future opponents more aware that they are beatable. This can only be to our advantage.

• The Chavs triumphed partly through solid defense and partly by exploiting Citeh’s weaknesses at the back. When we played at Middle Oilsands we were also very effective at exploiting Citeh’s defensive vulnerability – but we forgot about the other bit (the defending). We weren’t helped by some highly suspicious decisions from the officials. But nevertheless, we should have every reason to feel confident when we next take on the Citizens.

• Manuel Pelligrini is not the Messiah, just a very naughty boy with deep pockets. Nice enough bloke and all that, but not in the same class as Arsene Wenger.

• Despite the result, does anyone think Citeh are now out of the title race? No, I didn’t think so. And that’s a fact worth bearing in mind next time we face a setback. It’s easy to look from the outside and see how a bad day at the office is just a bad day at the office. But when it’s YOUR bad day and YOUR office it’s easy for it to feel like the end of the world. We will not win every game between now and the season’s end – but nor will anyone else. So when we slip up please let’s keep the hysterics to a minimum.

One other thing is also abundantly clear. When you look at these two super rich clubs and their international Bond villain owners slugging it out just for the right to hang on to our coat tails, you realise that there is no better thing in this world than to be an Arsenal man (or woman… or trans gender person…).

RockyLives