Post-match Rant: AFC v West Ham

Hi,

I thought I'd capture the stress/emotion of losing 2 pts so quietly and easily to bottom dwelling, West Ham. Up 2-nil and instead of bringing 3 pts back to the Emirates the Arsenal bagged one. This is unacceptable; more importantly this is not the result Champions get on the road in derby matches. So what the hell happened?

I think we witnessed the dropping of Mannone. Almunia has plenty of gaffs but Vito's great save but failed parry away from the goal and instead to the center for a Hammers' tap-in gets him dropped. This is very basic stuff. Push the ball wide if you can't catch it. The penalty conceded by Song was soft as a baby's blanket and Mannone can't really be faulted for that concession. It's a shame but I think Almunia is back in the fold.

Long periods of possession yielded nothing. This isn't anything new to the fans of the Arsenal. We are treated to mass possession most weeks, and it has become expected that we'll get one or two goals. Today, Arsenal got two goals and called it a day. Instead of pushing for a third, many of our movements were too horizontal without any imagination. Rosicky missing today's match was evident as so many footballs went through Song, Eboue and Diaby instead of our talisman and captain, Fabregas. I feel a major reason why the third goal never game is because Cesc went long periods without the ball and others took over his distribution duty at a fraction of his quality.

Eboue was everywhere he wasn't supposed to be. I think the boy needs specific training on staying in his position, or at the very least on his side of the pitch. Many will say he has freedom to roam, which is fine if you are Messi but he understands space and has the quality to not clog up space for others. Eboue clogged up Arshavin's dribbling and passing lanes so much it is no surprise that he was unable to feed Robin up front. Eboue drifted into Song and Diaby's space just as well and often got in the way, filling open space with his black hole touch and indecision. There was immediate improvement on the left wing as Bendtner came in to give Eboue some respite; in short, B52 stayed on the left wing, staying wide and opening the center up so Cesc, Song and Diaby could move forward and distribute.

Many will slate Diaby but he wasn't bad today. Diaby does very well in possession and can spot a pass at times but where he falters is in his effort. Late in the match while Arsenal were up 2-1 I could see Diaby lightly jogging back from his central position. For those of you who play in the central mid position you know that jogging back slowly is unacceptable. It's no wonder that Song poked at the ball and slightly touched Cole for the penalty when his legs were tired of covering for Diaby. For all of his quality Diaby's work rate and effort is so poor that he is a liability. I am happy that Nasri will be challenging him for that starting XI role, and may the best player win.

At the end of the day, the team work rate effort was poor after being up 2-nil. I feel that if the team collectively picked it up a gear by pressuring every West Ham player, defending hard and forcing errant dribbles and passes than Arsenal would have got a result. This comes down to individual players wanting to work hard for 90 minutes. The only thing I can think is that Wenger needs to think about what players are up for it, from start to finish with enough quality to get wins not draws. I think, as a fan, I just want to see players bleed Arsenal red and leave the pitch completely exhausted. If the result is unfavorable at least I know they tried and died on the pitch. It's not much to ask for.

Arsene has a lot to think about. It must have been hard for him to select Mannone over a fit Almunia but moving forward Mannone's inexperienced error will make selecting Almunia an easy task. With Nasri likely starting this week versus Liverpool and Diaby back to his old lazy self it seems the obvious choice to select Samir again once match fit. So with tough decisions made and 2 pts thrown away it's onward and upward. Not use in dwelling on today's result, so here's to hoping the lads learn that the match is played for 90 minutes and the work rate must be at its highest at all times.

ArsenaLOS