We’re all still sore from getting Orc-swiped at the weekend and there is a temptation to lash out at the players and the manager.

But probably the most significant names in Saturday’s defeat are those of people who weren’t even there: Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott. With them available we would probably have won that game.

The truth is, we have become so accustomed to losing key players for large chunks of the season at Arsenal that we barely even question it.

Yet question it we should. We should be shouting, screaming and demanding answers.

Such is the nature of football that all clubs face injuries from time to time. But only Arsenal has an attrition rate to rival the first week of the Somme.

Here’s the current EPL injury league table… and guess who’s top:

That table on its own wouldn’t matter so much – any team can have bad luck – were it not for the fact that we were first or second in the EPL Injury League table for the previous five seasons.

I have heard it said that our high-possession style of play increases the likelihood of our players getting injured (we have more of the ball and we move it quickly, inviting challenges which often come in late, taking the man not the ball).

Cobblers.

We’re not the only team in the Premier League that keeps the ball. We’re just the only team that likes to hog the top spot in the Injury Table. In any case, a disproportionate amount of our injuries seem to come from hamstring pulls and muscle issues rather than impact issues.

That tells me that there is something wrong with the way we train or the way our players are monitored by the medical team.

A year or so ago – following repeated criticism of the club’s medical record – journalists and bloggers were invited to Arsenal’s new “state-of-the-art” medical facility.

Even celebrated Arsenal observers like Arseblog came back from being wined and dined to write in glowing terms of how simply awesome the facilities were. And since then the rumblings of discontent about our injury record have mostly been silenced. As a PR exercise by the club it worked brilliantly.

The deafening silence surrounding the issue was disturbed only by the twanging of ligaments and the snapping of tendons as our players dropped like leaves in Autumn.

I don’t claim to have any knowledge of issues medical. I once went to casualty with what I told them was food poisoning only to be admitted for pneumonia.

But I do know that Arsenal’s permanent residency at the summit of the Injury League is an absolute scandal that needs addressing.

There are many reasons why we have underachieved in recent years, but our roll-call of the sick and the damned is surely up there among the very best of them.

I wouldn’t want to traduce the reputations of the medical team at Arsenal. I have no doubt that they are dedicated professionals and are as frustrated as we are that our players seem all to have been manufactured by Swarovski. But surely it’s time for another external evaluation of our training and medical methods?

The current record is simply indefensible and unsustainable.

Ivan, Arsène , Sir French Fries… Sort it out!

RockyLives

A trip to The Britania historically has always been a hard game but what we saw today was at the least very disappointing. When the keeper and a cameo from Oxlade-Chamberlain are your only players who had a good game several questions have to be asked.

Firstly what does it take to motivate a team that has every possible chance of winning the league, a team that a week ago thoroughly outplayed and dispensed with another relegation threatened team?

Stoke play a hard, mainly unattractive game but we knew that beforehand. Players are human beings, but for practically all of them to be out of sorts is mystifying.
Did Wenger pick the wrong formation?  It appeared at half time that it would be difficult to argue against that theory.

Substitutes were needed to add more urgency and pace to the team but we waited and waited. We were certainly not getting the benefit of being fouled against, and Stoke were growing in confidence.

Then, what appeared to be a dubious penalty was awarded and we were left chasing the game.

Ozil was finally introduced and then The Ox and finally Sanogo, who missed an absolute sitter in the final minutes.

If it hadn’t have been for several glaring misses by Crouch in particular together with some excellent saves from Szczesny the scoreline could have been worse.

Inconsistency when it really matters seems to be the problem, something we have seen time and time again yet our Away form this season has been second only to Spurs and I had thought that we had mastered the way to win ugly.

All is not lost but it makes everything that much harder with the forthcoming fixtures this month..

I think it is unfair to give player ratings but I don’t understand in this particular game why a young direct player like The Ox wasn’t brought on earlier or even started.

Another concern is Jack Wilshere. I am absolutely convinced that he is not 100% match fit and noticed on a number of occasions that he stood back instead of making a tackle .Am I right ?

I just hope they can regroup for the next match, for whichever way you look at it, this could possibly be a defining moment for our season .

Written by kelsey

Really hate to bring him up again, but remember my Uncle Earnest, well last week dark clouds descended when the revolting reptile materialized on the other end of the phone. Anyway, thing was, despite clearly having been on the sauce and tight as an owl, still managed to inform me that I was taking him out to eat on Friday night as he was staying with one of his “business chums” not too far away.

According to him, his lifetime ban of ever setting foot South of the Border has “expired”. Anyway, funny thing about Uncle Earnest is watching him at work with a Menu. In his 79 debauched years, no-one has ever known him order anything other than Soup, Steak and Apple Pie. That’s ok. The strange thing is, you’ll never meet anyone, anywhere, who spends more time pouring over a Menu. He takes forever, and yet the result is always the same. Then the whole bloody performance starts again when asked if he’d like a pudding. “Do you have Apple Pie?”. “I’m afraid not, Sir”. “Then may I see the Menu?”. Oh God, here we go again. Twenty minutes later, he hands the wretched thing back. “Nothing for me, thank you”.

This all ties in nicely with the idea of “what not to buy”, and as usual, my mind races to matters Arsenal. A few days ago The Morning Crew on here were discussing that both Persie and Balotelli may be on the radar, and I’m guessing one or two of the Natives may have certain reservations, which made me think about who we “don’t” want to sign. Now we hear that Arsene has been dining with Brave’s Agent, so the whole sordid business surfaces again.

I love few things more than a bit of transfer speculation, but am aware it’s not everyone’s bag, so I’ve come up with an inverted form. Who, or what sort, would you least like Arsene to buy?

For example, who was the last Scouser who managed to cope with the bright lights in the Metropolis. Can’t think of one, so they’re out.

Is there such a thing as a Footballing Intelligence Test, or is it the same as an IQ? Don’t know but I’d have thought players like Frimpong would have failed with low flying colours.

Any other traits we don’t like? Biting ears off other people seems to upset some. Not me, as it goes.

Is it ok to occasionally break the “Team Spirit Code” and sign a single minded, solitary, moody individual? The creative genius. The young McEnroe sort. I think it is. Enter Balotelli perhaps.

Oooh, forgot to mention. Uncle Earnest always travels with his vicious little Highland Terrier, Duncan. Complete bastard is Duncan, and hates my guts. Just stares at me, top lip curled back, muttering away under his breath in Gaelic. Makes me think of the kind of bloke we need in midfield really. Or not.

So who, or what sort, would you never want to see on The Arsenal Menu?

Written by MickyDidIt89