Buy A Right Back

There were so many disappointments in today's Arsenal match that I don't even know where to begin. From start to finish it felt like we were never in the contest. My list of major angst is as follows:

- Song couldn't help himself and got booked within 10 minutes. Song had to play 80 minutes in such a contested match and behave himself. From a defensive stand point he put the Arsenal in an immediate disadvantage. And he could have prevented the booking by just moving his feet, and shepparding the opposition away from goal. I don't think he understands that his man can't score if his back is turned to goal. And there's nothing wrong with having the opposition move negatively, backwards. That's what is called defense.

- When I saw that Djourou was starting at right back I wasn't surprised. Who else do we have? Oh, we have Koscielny. And he's much more agile and quick. But, no, let's play Djourou's lanky ass. That makes complete sense. And then Djourou got injured, and we saw that Miquel isn't quite ready, either. This is life without right and left backs. And I certainly hope Wenger is looking to buy. It's an emergency.

- I got into an argument with two dudes on Twitter about Arteta. These two thought he had a great game whilst I felt he was ineffective and absent throughout. Sure, he connected passes. Negative and lateral passes like Denilson. But that's it. I also felt that he didn't provide enough defensive support for Song. On the goal that we conceded Arteta was way too far up and Song had to run all the way back, actually overlapping Koscielny and then was left to challenge Balotelli. It must have been a 40 yard sprint. As Obama says, 'it's just math'. If Koscielny stays in his position and Arteta stays back as Song goes forward then Balotelli is stopped well before the 18-yard box and danger is averted or at least minimized. So, to me, Arteta didn't help Song enough and Koscielny wandered too much from his right back position.

- Theo. Where was Theo? let me know when you find him.

- Ramsey ran around a lot and I admire his effort. But he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off. There seemed to be a fracture of communication or gameplan between Ramsey, Arteta and Song. Often times out of position and ultimately out of sync. None of them linked up with Robin; therefore, there was no offensive threat starting through the middle and then no diving runs from the wings. It was as stagnant a showing as you can muster.

- Gervinho, with all that forehead, sure doesn't make very good decisions. It looked like Gervinho was shy of contact and uncertain on turns of whether he was going to dribble, pass, or shoot. And in this quagmire of thought he coughed up the ball or passed it away. I can remember one run where he beat Richards handedly and passed to Robin who scuffed a clear opportunity. You'd bet Robin would finish that 9/10 times. This was that one time it didn't happen. If Gervinho's decisions improve he'll be a real consistent threat but for now he's just a threat when he gets it right.

The biggest issue is not having fit, top class right and left backs. I think Wenger needs to buy at least one, but probably two. If he doesn't buy then I think he should promote some actual right and left backs and give them a go. I'd rather have reserve backs then to move a first team player into a position they are unfamiliar with. That seems to only work for Vermaelen. And I wouldn't try that with any other player. I feel that there is less risk of error from those who play in that position regularly. Again, just math, just consistency.

At the end of the day a 1-nil loss isn't the end of the world but it's not ideal. I can safely say we're out of the title race. You have to win matches like this versus jammy cunts to be champions. Wenger needs to seriously consider bringing in some back-up coverage in the left-right back area or promote. Also, play Benayoun/Rosicky over Arshavin and then sell him before window closes. Any money made in January needs to be invested immediately. But we've said that for ages now.

We'll see what happens and hope for some quick injury recoveries.

ArsenaLos