Before the game, Arsene said:

I think for our team this moment has come. We are not any more a team that has to be considered to be young.

After yesterday's defeat I think the uncomfortable truth is that we are a team that has to be considered not good enough to mix it with the big boys. Chelsea didn't really break a sweat yesterday and they dismissed us with consummate ease.

You can say 'Well, how would Chelsea have coped with Anelka, Drogba and Ashley Cole missing?'. That is irrelevant. We were the ones who had to cope with some of our important players being out and we couldn't do it. I don't particularly have any time for Arsene's 'Everything went against us' either. I can almost guarantee if the Arshavin 'goal' had happened at the other end and Anelka had kicked the ball out of Almunia's hands he would be absolutely fuming if that had been given.

Of course he's right to say at 2-1 it would have been a different game but I think pointing the finger at the referee fudges the issue - which is basically that they're a better, stronger team than we are. And it hurts to say that. 

It was looking reasonably positive. We had lots of possession, we got in behind their full backs on a number of occasions but we couldn't find the final ball. Our forwards were busy but posed little danger to Chelsea's defence and it's hard to look beyond the fact that we didn't have much of a physical threat throughout the game. Crosses were meat and drink to Chelsea's centre-halves, I'm sure John Terry won't ever have nightmares about playing against Eduardo. 

Meanwhile, at the other end, our defensive frailties and inability to cope with Didier Drogba continued. The first goal came from a decent cross from Ashley Cole, he landed it between the two centre-halves and Drogba sidefooted it home. An instinctive striker's finish from a player in exceptionally good form. Annoying, but what was to come just a couple of minutes later was infuriating. We were undone by almost exactly the same ball. Again Cole was free to deliver it unchallenged into the box, this time Almunia was off his line, panicked, and Vermaelen sliced it into his own net. 

That we didn't learn from the first goal is a real sign this team has little or no defensive nous and the central defensive partnership did not cover themselves in glory in any way. It was poor all round.

The second half began with the rather curious replacement of Alex Song with Theo Walcott. Song had been one of our better players and was about the only bit of muscle we had in midfield. Theo's introduction helped push Ashley Cole back but little else. Wenger made changes early, bringing on Vela for Eduardo and then Rosicky for Nasri but nothing much changed. Lots of tippy-tappy, not much threat. Did Cech have a save to make in the whole game?

Late on Drogba added insult to injury with a decent free kick but Manuel Almunia ought to hang his head. It was obvious where Drogba was going to put it and for me the keeper should have saved that. Not that it would have made any real difference but still. Full time, 3-0, 11 points behind Chelsea and a lot of very depressed Arsenal fans. We got dismantled, at home, by a team who deserved their win.

Arsene post-game was classic 'It's not as bad as you think', saying the scoreline didn't reflect the game but it's hard to see where he's coming from. They had their chances and took them. We didn't even really have chances. Of course we missed van Persie, Bendtner and even perhaps Diaby, but the fact is the loss of three players turns this team into a very small outfit indeed (headline of the day goes to Goodplaya). 

I think we're too small, even with the previously mentioned players available. We lack physical presence and it does make a difference. Ask John Terry or William Gallas who they'd rather play against - Eduardo or Drogba, and you'll find them stumping for the Crozilian every time. When the intricate passing stuff doesn't come off then a bit of brute force is needed, a change of game plan. The Arsenal website doesn't have the height of the players but I'm guessing that out of the 16 outfield players in our squad yesterday only 2 were 6' or over - Song and Sylvester, who stayed on the bench.

Now, I'm not saying height is everything, but it's something. Football is a physical game and if you have no physical threat then surely you're at a disadvantage no matter how pacey and skillful you might be? Having a small team worked for Spain in Euro2008 but the quality of little guys they have is superior to the quality of the little guys we have - and international football is nowhere near as physical as the Premier League. If you walk onto a football pitch and see big, strong men it gives you something to think about. It's an area I think we have to address. With van Persie out till April, Song going away to the ACN in January only Diaby and Bendtner remain - and that we're now pinning hopes on a player who is fails to convince many and is perpetually injured, and a young striker who is still very much in the learning phase of his career is telling.

So, November ends and there won't be too many unhappy to see the back of it. The mood has changed, no question, and I was curious to see where we stood this time last year and whether or not things were much different.

End of November 2008: Played 15, Won 8, Drawn 2, Lost 5, conceded 19 goals

End of November 2009: Played 13, Won 8, Drawn 1, Lost 4, conceded 18 goals

For all the positivity it's not easy to suggest we've improved, is it? Especially defensively, which is where we all wanted to see things get better. The much lauded partnership between Gallas and Vermaelen hasn't stopped us shipping goals and you have to wonder if the goodwill towards them as a duo came from the fact their goals were so important early in the season and not their defensive solidity. You can't look at those stats and ignore the fact we're defensively worse - after 13 games last season we had conceded 15 to 18 this time around.

I'm not saying it's just down to the centre-halves, defending is something the whole team should be doing but we're just not good at it. We don't have a goalkeeper who provides the base of the spine we need him to, our midfielders switch off allowing service to strikers, and we're vulnerable from set-pieces. The issues from last season have not been addressed and we're suffering for it.

Now, on a more positive note after last November we went on an unbeaten run in the league which stretched to 20-odd matches. Yes, there were some awful 0-0 draws in there, but it's something we need to do again. For all their woes Liverpool, who we play in a couple of weeks, are just 2 points behind us and while I think they're a worse side than they were last year they have enough experience and ability to turn things around and to get themselves out of the run of poor form they're in.

We need to snap out of it and get things moving again. We have players who can win us games, December's fixtures are relatively kind, and despite the points gap it is only the end of November now. There's a long way to go in this season. Hand on heart I can't see us making up 8/11 points on Chelsea but who knows what can happen? 

What I do think though is that the manager has got to look at the issues that this side has in terms of our lack of physical power and our tendency to concede goals. How often do we concede to a team's first chance or only chance? Arsene wrote that off as an anomaly a few weeks back, I would suggest it's a bad habit and one we need to sort out quickly. 

A season that promised so much a few weeks ago is now depressingly familiar. It's not too late to turn it around, a few wins on the trot and everyone will be feeling a lot better about things, but when you've just been turned over at home like that, you would be unwise to ignore the lessons you've just been taught.

Good morning from a very wet and windy Dublin. I'm hoping this is the storm before the calm ... the calm, precise, clinical demolition of Chelsea today.

We know it's a huge game and how much is at stake when it comes to our league title challenge. We haven't had any update regarding the potential involvement of William Gallas so I'm just going to assume he can play. Trying to preview this game without him makes me a bit scared, I have to say. Assuming he does make I think the only choice the manager has to make is who will play at left back. During the week he said he had two options, Traore and Eboue.

I think the Ivorian will start. I just don't think Traore's got what it takes to play in a game like this yet and I think Eboue's experience and greater physical strength will tip the balance in his favour. I think the midfield three will be Song, Cesc and Denilson while the front three Arshavin, Eduardo and Nasri. It means we've got plenty on the bench if we need it too, Rosicky, Walcott and Vela all available if we need to change things.

While offensively this Arsenal team has been almost beyond compare this season I think if we want to win this game we're going to put in a seriously good defensive shift. And that's not just down to the back four coping with the very real threat of Anelka and Drogba, it's got to be a team effort. It means stopping the service to their front two, it means putting their back four under pressure when they've got it. The classic defend from the front thing.

We also need big performances from our big players. Song and Denilson in midfield should give Cesc a good platform to get forward more, Arshavin is a man for a big game. We've seen him score four against Liverpool, he scored away at Old Trafford and in the absence of van Persie we need him to be at his best. The heartache of his World Cup exit is irrelevant now and there should be no hint of that in his performance today.

Eduardo is a lethal finisher on his day but it wouldn't be unfair to say his form this season hasn't hit the level he, or Arsene Wenger, would have liked. Today is a big day for him. The forwards at the club have a month, more or less, to covince the manager that they have what it takes to get the goals van Persie would have got. He will probably struggle a bit playing centrally against two strong centre-halves like the cokelifter and Carvalho but over 90 minutes it's hard not to think he won't have a chance or two, he's got to be clinical today.

A win and we're 5 points back with a game in hand. Win the game in hand it's 2 points. And then, my friends, it is on. Defeat really is not an option today. Hopefully the atmosphere today is appropriate for a match this size. It should be red hot. Those of you lucky enough to be going can play a part, be the old 12th man and all that. Remember who is coming to play. Cole, Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Terry, Lampard, Cole, Terry, Drogba, Drogba, Drogba. Men who have kicked us and cheated us and dived and cheated and kicked and generally been as welcome in our lives as cock measles. 

Arsene said it's time for his team to show that they've got what it takes. He's challenged them to do the business - and if we really want to win this league then that's exactly what we have to do. No passengers today. Nothing less than 100% from every player because if that happens Chelsea are good enough and strong enough to exploit that weakness. I'm hopeful we can get a result. There's so much riding on this game and I hope, as well, that the players remember the pasting we got at home from them at the end of last season. That hurt and I want us to put that right today.

-----

Sunday round-up. Arsene is unhappy with the Dutch FA after their misdiagnosis of Robin van Persie's injury. I'd be interested to know what the procedure is there. They say 'X', do we not check or do we just take their word for it? Either way I don't think it's made a huge difference to how long Robin will be out for, a couple of weeks at best, but it's easy to understand the manager's displeasure. For me it also opens up the compensation issue - clubs should not have to suffer the financial cost of a paying a player injured on international duty. There should be a responsibility for the international FA to cover at least some of the wages. They can surely do this via insurance anyway and it's time this was sorted once and for all.

Ivan Gazidis says success that is built is better than success that is bought. At this moment in time I would be of the opinion that success that is bought is better than no success at all and until we've got trophies to show for our work then it might be advisable not to talk about things like this. I know where he's coming from and all but still ...

The Sunday Times talks to Thomas Vermalen:

Not counting a dead rubber with Manchester United at the end of last season, it is two years and 18 matches since Arsenal last kept a clean sheet in a meeting with a Big Four rival.

Not sure about that stat though. It's a bit like saying 'Not counting the double Arsenal won in 2002, the Gunners haven't done the double since 1998'. I have to say I'm not hugely confident we can keep a clean sheet today though. Let's just hope we score more.

The Guardian on Andrei Arshavin - nothing in there we haven't seen before really.

And that's about that. Time for the papers and to watch the rain until kick-off. Come on you Goooooners!

Morning, something of a bombshell to start with today - it seems Robin van Persie's injury is much worse than first diagnosed. The club released a statement this morning, saying:

Upon his return [from injury], the Arsenal medical team conducted a thorough review of his scans, his early injury management and the treatment he had received. Having scrutinised these in detail and assessed the response of his ankle, the Club’s medical team concluded that further investigation and opinion was required.

Advice was sought from the leading ankle specialist Mr Niek van Dijk, who confirmed that more extensive damage had been suffered than was first diagnosed.  In order to repair his ankle, Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam to reconstruct the ligaments.  The Club’s medical team anticipate that a full recovery will take between four and five months.

Firstly it's awful news for Robin who had been playing so well this season. I've mentioned before how unlucky he is with injuries and it seems the mirror he broke and salt he spilled and cracks on the pavement he stood on and the ladders he walked under are intent on disrupting his career in a big, big way. That it happened in a meaningless international friendly makes it all the more frustrating. All we can do is wish him a successful recovery, and as speedy one as possible. He speaks here about the injury, the placenta treatment and the rest.

For us we have to look at what it means. Our best striker is now out for more or less the rest of the season. The only player we have who can really play the same role, Nicklas Bendnter is out injured as well although expected back reasonably shortly. When he does get back you have to think it's a big chance for him but another injury to him or a run of poor form and we don't have an obvious replacement. I'm sure the papers will be full of speculation in the days ahead but you can't help thinking this is a problem that needs to be sorted with the chequebook in January.

That is unless one of the others really steps up and shows they can do it. As I said Bendtner is the obvious man to fill the gap, but there's Vela, Eduardo and even Theo Walcott who the manager says can be a top striker:

I believe he has all the assets to be a fantastic central player. I'm very conscious of that because of the quality and the timing of his runs.

However, there's still work to be done:

At the moment, his strengths are more central to the counter-attacking role than the distribution role. That's what he has to add to his game.

So while it might be a role he can perform in the future it seems unlikely he's going to be used there at the moment. And with the manager hinting he'll be starting from the bench so as to ease him back into competitive action after his injury then he's really not an option right now.

Ahead of tomorrow's game Arsene has laid down the gauntlet for his players to show that they're ready to challenge for the title, saying:

I think there is a period for any team to come out and show its strengths. I think for our team this moment has come. We are not any more a team that has to be considered to be young. We have the strengths and we want to show on Sunday that we want to beat them.

Winning will certainly show we've got the mettle, going into this game with defensive worries and issues, two of our main strikers missing and our physical threat reduced due to their absences. Defeat tomorrow is unthinkable and we need to be properly switched on. Which is why I found the comments attributed to Andrei Arshavin a bit worrying. He's quoted after Russia's World Cup play-off exit:

I am inconsolable and desolate at what has happened. My family keep telling me that I should forget it as soon as possible, that I should now switch to the club matters and the Champions League but that’s easier said than done.

Nothing revives me so far. When Arsene Wenger asked me what state I was in, I honestly told him that at the moment I just do not want to play football at all. He talked to me for a long time. He said, too, that I need to switch my attention. But I cannot do it yet.

Now, I like Andrei, he's a fantastic footballer when he's in the mood, and while I can understand him being disappointed Russia didn't qualify, he needs to get the fuck over and it and quickly. Arsenal pay his wages, we've got a huge game tomorrow and we need him 100% focussed on that, not moping around like a Smiths fans whose girlfriend actually is in a coma. 

The boss is confident he'll respond correctly and I really hope that's the case because if we're to beat Chelsea tomorrow then we need our best players to perform - and he is one of our best players. There's no time to feel sorry for yourself in professional sport, winners react and move on, they don't sit around grieving. Come on Arshavin, snap out of it.

Tomas Rosicky says we can't be afraid of Chelsea's physical threat and suggests we have to get stuck right into them. Yes please. I love when we get stuck in.

There's a great interview with Cesc in the Mail today - well worth a read and the esteem he holds some of the younger players in is obvious. He says:

Aaron Ramsey has really developed. Physically he is bigger and more powerful, as you could see when we played Liverpool in the Carling Cup. If I go to sleep I will wake up and find him in my place. No, it is true. Wilshere will be a top player, too, and when he gets a bit older they will move him into the middle. They just need a run of games to gain confidence and they will be a big part of Arsenal’s future. A future I hope to be part of.

Lots of great stuff in there as Arsenal big up their charity of the season, the Great Ormond Street hospital.

Still no news as to William Gallas's involvement tomorrow, you have to think they're giving him as much time as possible before making a decision. He'll want to play though, considering the opposition, but we'll have to just wait and see.

More on the game and possible line-ups tomorrow. Until then, have a good Saturday and watch out for Italians doing sliding tackles. They'll fuck you up.

Morning all, still not a lot happening despite the hugeness of the game on Sunday. Lots to come in the next few days though and we'll get a better idea of how injured we are, or aren't, closer to the time.

As it stands there's a big doubt over William Gallas whose eye is still so swollen he can't get his contact lenses in. Who knew Arshavin's head was so hard? It must be made of reinforced concrete. Fingers crossed Gallas recovers. I'm hopeful about Sunday but would be much less so at the thought of Sylvester, who appears to be the first replacement for either Gallas or Vermaelen, trying to prevent Drogba from carrying out his usual antics against us.

If he didn't make it you might wonder if the boss would move Alex Song back to centre-half. It'd mean he could play Denilson in the midfield holding role and despite losing Song from midfield it'd be probably be a more secure option overall than the alternative. All the same we'll keep fingers crossed Gallas makes it so he doesn't have that choice to make. 

The importance of the game is not in question. Undoubtedly our biggest game of the season and while I'm loath to say it's make or break there's no doubt a result for either side would have a big say in where the title ends up. If we lose it's 11 points and a game in hand. That's a lot of ground to make up and leaves little room for error for the rest of the season. Win and it's 5 points, win the game in hand and it's 2 and everything's looking much better. 

After last season this team needs a sustained title challenge, something which Cesc is aware of. He says:

The Premier League is the tournament I really want to win. In Spain, the Champions League is seen as superior to La Liga but here the Premier League is the pinnacle. Of course I believe we can win it. If not, there's no point in playing football. I play to win and that's what Arsenal fans want.

There's always so much talk about how we've never won the Champions League and while it would obviously be an amazing trophy to win I always want us to win the league first. You might meet two or three decent teams along the way to a CL win and I don't know too many fans of top European clubs. I do, however, know lots of Chelsea, United, Liverpool and even Villa fans. Not to mention some Sp*rs supporters and winning the league allows you, as a fan, to bask in that glory for a whole year at the expense of those people. And isn't that what football is all about?!

I think the team's priority every season should be the domestic title, anything after that is a bonus. And there's a real danger of slipping up big time if you prioritise Europe. I think it happened to AC Milan a few seasons back. They were magic in Europe, because that was the trophy they were after, and pretty much rubbish in Italy. So much so they finished in the UEFA Cup places and if it can happen to Milan it can happen to anyone. Wasn't whatsisface from those blue cunts in charge too? Anyway, I'm sure the importance and significance of the game on Sunday is not lost on the players.

Dennis Bergkamp says he'd like to return to England as a coach:

I would like to train and work in England. Only not as head coach but as member of the staff, so I can work with the strikers.

The obvious problem with Dennis ever being a manager is his inability to fly anywhere, which would make like difficult, but the idea of him working with our group of strikers would be tantalising, to say the least. Not only could he teach them how score and how to create, he could teach them how to fling a sly elbow into Lee Bowyer's face, which is a talent sadly lacking in many of today's footballers.

And that's really about that for this morning so it's time to move on to this week's Arsecast. On this week's show I am delighted to welcome, for a good old chat, comedian, TV presenter and loads of other things too, but especially Arsenal fan, Dara O'Briain. 

Also in the mix Sylvester, some scientific analysis of Chelsea fans and your chance to win a Savile Rogue scarf as well as the winner of last week's Savile Rogue scarf (and remember, if you're doing to Crimbo shopping you can get 10% off purchases at Savile Rogue by using the code ARSEBLOG at check out before Dec 6th).

You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (25mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

Ok then, have yourselves a good Friday. More tomorrow.

This Sunday sees the biggest game of the season so far. Arsenal host leaders Chelsea and the stakes are high. Arsenal can cut the lead to just 5 points with a win and with a game in hand we could soon close the gap even further.

Not only that but the 4-1 home defeat at the end of last season still burns and the players and fans will want revenge. Arseblog, in association with Emirates Airline, is giving you the chance to go to the game. We've got a pair of tickets to give away and to enter simply answer the question below.

Emirates Airline has a great affinity with football and in addition to its sponsorship of Arsenal, is a proud sponsor of Hamburg, AC Milan, Olympiacos CFP and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as being an Official FIFA Partner.

Question: Who scored both Arsenal's goals in the 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge last season?

Send your answer to competition@arseblog.com (please click to the link to use the subject line) before midnight on Wednesday Nov 25th. The winner will be announced on Thursday's blog.

Emirates currently operates 98 return flights per week from the UK non-stop to Dubai offering convenient connections to an extensive global network stretching to over 100 destinations on six continents. For more information on Emirates’ sports portfolio, including tour packages to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, visit http://www.emirates.com/uk

Emirates is pleased to offer Arsenal members very special fares to over 100 destinations worldwide. For more information and to book, visit http://www.emirates.com/arsenalmembers

If Tuesday was the vomit pie then yesterday was the cherry shaped shit on top.

Spanked, and there is no other word for it, at home by Chelsea. Painful, humiliating and saddening. To be fair I thought we were unlucky to go in two down.

We started very positively, snapping into tackles, competing for everything and I remember thinking how it was a shame that it took a poor result in midweek to motivate the lads into that kind of performance. We made chances, we dominated possession, moved the ball well and probably should have scored. The best chance of all falling to Cesc before Abou Diaby came in, took it off his toes and scuttered it wide.

Then Phil Dowd bought yet another Drogba dive. Cesc was booked for telling the ref it was a dive, that's a new one on me, I have to say. But dive or not the free kick was given, Drogba floated it in and Alex got away from Sylvester and Toure to head home off the crossbar. Against the run of play, for sure, but not that surprising.

The second Chelsea goal came via Nicolas Anelka who span away from Nasri in midfield. Nasri's attempts to get back to him were half-hearted, to say the least, he brought it forward, cracked one from outside the area and while it certainly moved in the air Fabianksi was flat-footed and couldn't get near it.

If there was to be any way back an early goal in the second half was required. And there was one. Sadly it went to Chelsea. They broke down our right, Fabianski found himself in no-man's land and ultimately it went in off Toure who was desperately trying to clear it. Perhaps the young Pole has plenty of potential but this game on top of the FA Cup semi-final has done little but illustrate he's not ready for first team action yet. Some might describe the own goal as bad luck but it was more bad play than bad luck.

As you might imagine Arsenal heads went down. There was the incredible sight of Kolo Toure giving up on a ball which led to a Chelsea corner. Changes were made. Nicklas Bendtner came on for the hapless stroller Diaby who once again threw the chance he'd been given back in the manager's face. We know he's not a left midfielder but the least he could do is try. If Arsene isn't going to play him in central midfield, supposedly his position, then what is the point in keeping him? When is the last time anybody said 'Wow, Diaby had a good game today'?

A few minutes later Denilson came on for Song and Adebayor for Walcott. And then we scored. A Sagna cross from the right was powered home by Nicklas Bendtner's head. There's no doubt the boy is very good in the air, which is what makes Arsene's decision to play him from the left hand side so baffling. Get him in the middle and while we might not like it lump some crosses in, it's better than tippy-toeing around and back and sideways and all over the place. His 9th league goal this season is as many as Robin van Persie has scored.

Adebayor's only contributions after coming on were two hopeless dives. Fair enough, he managed to stay onside a couple of times but it's a measure of how often he's flagged off that it's even worth mentioning. He took one tumble, looking for a penalty and the ref rightly played on. The second time he had a good chance to score. His first touch was shit, he tried to con the ref into thinking Cech had pulled him down, again he didn't buy it and frankly he should have been booked for it.

It's easy to understand why there's not a great deal of goodwill around for Adebayor at the moment and the manager's criticism of Drogba rings somewhat hollow having seen Ade's antics yesterday.

So instead of it being 3-2 it became 4-1 as Chelsea broke upfield and after more comical defending it ended up in the back of the net from Malouda. 4-1. At home. To Chelsea. After a 3-1 defeat to United on Tuesday. Seven goals in two games against two of our biggest rivals.

I know we've gone 21 games unbeaten, I know we got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, or the 'last four in Europe' as Arsene likes to put it, but whatever came before the last two games doesn't make what happened in them OK.

Defensively this team is a shambles. We can see why Kolo Toure lost his place this season, I don't even want to get started on Sylvester who, even at his best, was an average player, Gibbs did well but is just 19 and Sagna is struggling as the one constant in a back four which seems to change every week. Add to that a goalkeeper who would make Massimo Taibi look good and it's always going to be tough.

Afterwards Arsene thought his side unlucky, and to an extent he's right. We did well in the first half and had we taken one of those chances it might have been different. Might. However, the records won't show that Arsenal were unlucky or that Drogba dived, only that Arsenal conceded four goals in the league for the third time this season.

Still, the manager says:

I don’t think the squad needs major investment. I believe we need to continue to improve. I’m not as doom-and-gloom as everybody wants to make it after a defeat and of course we play in a strong league against top quality opponents.

Of course we need to improve, Arsene. We got found out by United and that point was hammered home yesterday by Chelsea. We need a defence, we need a central midfielder who will allow Cesc to play to his maximum, we need some better players. It's really not very difficult.

I know there's the tendency to overreact after a defeat, any defeat, but this isn't reactionary. This is something I've been saying for a long time, it's stuff other people have been saying for just as long. To lose at home to Chelsea like that was embarrassing. To see Arsene struggling with tactics, playing players out of position, in a formation that was, at one point, dismissed as almost anti-football by him, is sad. It's like he doesn't know the best way to line up, which players to play where. He's trying to make up for the deficiencies in his squad with tactical changes and it's not working.

Under Arsene we were always at our best playing a 4-4-2. If one of your strikers was injured you played one of the others, but as a striker, not a winger. You played your best central midfielders in midfield and if you had to play a central player on the right, as happened every now and again (I remember Gilberto being shifted out there when Edu flourished, even Cesc early in his career), that was countered by having a Ljungberg or a Pires to play on the left.

There's too much confusion about the way we play, where the players should play, we're chopping and changing and it's creating poor performances. Even look at van Persie, asked to play on the left of a 4-5-1 against United, where he's not really very good, then asked today to play as a lone striker, a role to which he really is not suited at all. It's hard to see the logic in some of Arsene's recent decisions.

Still, the manager knows there's a problem, so the final word today can go to him. He sums it up quite well, saying:

In the games that mattered in the last three or four weeks, we could not win. That is what we have to analyse.

Amen to that. Our next game is at Old Trafford where, depending on what United do against Wigan on Wednesday, they could win the title with a point.

Something to look forward to, eh?

Morning all,

A few bits and pieces to be going on with this Sunday morning. In which I'm not hungover at all. Oh no. Not one bit.

Now, you know the way everyone, and by everyone I actually mean everyone in the whole entire world, even people who don't care about Arsenal or know about Arsenal or even know what football is, wants Arsene Wenger to buy more experienced players? Well, it turns out this is a bandwagon that can't be ignored and Jabba the Usmanov is all over the papers this morning urging the club to do the same thing.

He certainly doesn't say 'And here's a big bag of money to go and do it. It's a present from your favourite Uncle. Now come sit on my lap! *slurp slurp*', so I think we can write it off as just waffle. Meanwhile there's an interesting piece by Henry Winter about foreign owners, and Usmanov in particular With a more clear definition of what constitutes a 'fit and proper' person due to be revealed on Monday he writes:

Passing the fit and proper person test should not be a problem for Kroenke. Usmanov will have to answer plenty of questions.

If it was a 'fat and proper person' he'd be halfway there already. Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week. I do think we're in for a long, hot summer, not just in terms of the weather (I'm saying this in the vague hope we might actually get some hot weather in Ireland), nor in terms of the transfer business we won't be doing (vague hope, reverse jinx, blah blah), but in the Arsenal boardroom. 

There are many issues outstanding and I don't think they can go too much longer without being resolved. Lady Nina wants to sell her shares and buy a luxury mobile home to spend her holidays in and that 15%+ is going to be crucial in deciding the future of Arsenal Football Club. Despite Usmanov's substantial shareholding I'm sure there's still a reluctance on the Arsenal side, which now includes Kroenke, to deal with a man whose reputation, like his lawyers, has gone before him.

Anwyay, we'll see what happens. Elsewhere Amy Lawrence, on whom heavy money has been placed for the Bendtner Pants machinations (what a title for a film that would be), talks to Guus Hiddink who says of Arsenal:

They like to play with the style they play which is good to see, but maybe they might bring in one or two or three who can give even more power to the team. If they want to go for silverware they might have that conclusion.

She goes on to say in the light of Arshavin's arrival:

Buying experience goes against Wenger's grain but when he comes to analyse the season in the summer, he cannot possibly fail to notice what a ­difference it makes.

I'm sure he'll notice it, it's just whether he does anything about it that's the worry. I can't say I'm too enamoured by the idea (slightly tongue in cheek it might be) of buying Didier Drogba though. It's bad enough trying to cope with Sylvester in an Arsenal shirt, the idea of Drogba in red and white would make my breakfast come back up, if I'd had any.

The People reports that Arsene has turned down the chance to manage Man City. What a chance. Pffff.

Oh, and lest we forget there's the small matter of the game against Chelsea this afternoon. I think third place is beyond us to be honest but it would be nice to garner some revenge for that horrible afternoon at Wembley just a few of weeks ago. 

We beat them at Stamford Bridge and it would be nice to do the double over them again. It's another chance to 'welcome' back Cuntley Cunt and a win today would go some way to restoring our pride which was hurt so badly by United this week.

The team news is that Andrei Arshavin looks set to miss the game, maybe he'll have recovered from his flu to take part, so the squad is the same one as midweek. I suspect he'll probably mix it up a little bit. Diaby might play because being tall is one of the things you need against Chelsea but who he picks and where he picks them is becoming increasingly difficult to predict.

There's little or no tension going into this game, which is a shame considering the opponents and the time of the season we're playing them at. Who will react better from their Champions League exit? Who wants this game more? We'll see later this afternoon.

A full report on the match and more tomorrow. Have a good Sunday folks. 

As you might imagine I'm starting this morning with an enormous *boilk*.

There's only one way to deal with a result like that and it's to drink heavily. Well, there's another way which involves a rampaging orgy of violence against anything in blue but experience has taught me that drinking is the best option.

So a disappointing day in the end after it had started so brightly. Despite Arsene's team selection raising a few eyebrows pre-game I thought we began well, passed it around nicely and looked comfortable. The Wembley pitch raised comments in the pub early on, there was one moment at the start of the game when Theo was going down the right hand side and the ball was hopping and jumping like it was rolling over a series of speed bumps.

I think the manager was absolutely right to call it a 'disaster'. A billion pound stadium with a pitch like that is nothing short of embarrassing. But while it deserves criticism the pitch was the same for both teams, something Arsene stressed, and can't be used as any kind of excuse. Maybe it suited Chelsea a bit more as they like the ball in the air a bit more than we do but we didn't lose because of it.

We might have been behind before we scored when Lukasz Fabianski made a carbon copy of the mistake last week against Wigan. With two defenders around Drogba he came miles out of his area to try and head it clear. Instead Drogba got their first, headed it goalwards and thankfully Kieran Gibbs made a carbon copy of his clearance against Wigan to prevent the goal. It was a danger sign from the Polish keeper. You hoped it would be a once off but he seemed rattled from the off and it would prove costly later on.

But after the early scare Theo Walcott opened the scoring when Adebayor played in the overlapping Gibbs down our left. His cross evaded all the Chelsea defenders and Theo sidefooted home with the help of a deflection off Cuntley Cunt's hand. 1-0 Arsenal and I had hoped we might press Chelsea a bit more but the goal galvanised them.

Malouda had a shot from the right hand side which fizzed underneath Fabianski, more heart in mouth stuff from the goalkeeper and Chelsea began to boss the game a bit. We couldn't get going at really. They equalised after about half an hour. A long ball over the top to a clearly offside Malouda saw Eboue show him inside onto his right foot but his finish beat Fabianski at the near post. Poor goalkeeping again.

We were rocking a bit and when Diaby was dispossessed in our area by Anelka we were lucky his shot came back off the post. Half time couldn't come soon enough.

The second half really wasn't much better from an Arsenal point of view. We huffed and puffed but could not get into the game at all. Diaby and Denilson, brought in to replace Nasri and Song, were nowhere near as effective as their counterparts were against Villarreal. When two of your central midfielders can't do basic stuff like retain possession or make a simple pass then you're always going to struggle.

Chelsea probably should have had a penalty when Sylvester handled the ball in the area, I don't think anyone would have complained if it were given. At the same time we should have had a penalty when Malouda clearly shoved Cesc (I think) over as the ball was going out of play. Again the referee didn't give it.

He seemed to give most everything Chelsea's way in the second half. John Terry fell over his own feet and he gave a free kick against us. It certainly frustrated the Arsenal players and Denilson can count himself very, very lucky not to be given a red card after he pushed Martin Atkinson in the chest at the award of yet another Chelsea free kick.

Arshavin replaced van Persie on about 70 minutes, Bendtner came on for the ineffective Adebayor, and then Chelsea scored the winner. A hopeful punt up field from Lampard saw Sylvester out-muscled by Drogba. There's no shame in that, he's out-muscled practically every defender in Europe over the last few years, but Sylvester gave up and that's unforgivable really. He just stopped.

Now, he might have seen the green streak of lightning that was Lukasz Fabianski coming out of his goal and thought 'What the fuck is he doing out there?', but he should have kept going. The goal was made as easy as pie for Drogba by Fabianski though. Why on earth he was out there is anyone's guess. It was piss-poor goalkeeping and while you don't want to point the finger of blame the reality is that he was culpable for both their goals.

All the same he's a young and relatively inexperienced keeper, you have to hope he learns from this and learns quickly. Let's not forget Almunia, who most fans would feel comfortable with now, was hardly Mr Reliable in his first years with the club. You might say we wouldn't have lost with Almunia, as I did afterwards, but even if he were fit Almunia wouldn't have played yesterday. Fabianski is the cup keeper.

Throwing on Nasri with five minutes to go did nothing and Chelsea won the game, then celebrated as if they'd won the cup. Dancing circles and spraying champagne - just a touch premature, I think. I hope.

Afterwards Arsene bemoaned the 'cheap' goals, saying:

The disappointment of the day is that we gave two cheap goals away, and in a game of that level it has a bad outcome, especially with seven minutes to go.

There's more in the link about his thinking regarding to the line-up but I think he'll feel he made a mistake with his team selection today. After his best ever game Song was 'rested'. I know we have a lot of games coming up but he's 21 years of age, not some aging veteran. Diaby and Denilson were poor replacements for he and Nasri and the big talking point was the fact he left Andrei Arshavin on the bench.

I've can only think he had a little knock, or he wanted to introduce him later in the game when his freshness might cause more problems to Chelsea's heavy legs but when he came on he hardly got a kick. I know Arshavin updates his own personal website quite often, it'd be interesting to hear what he has to say about it, because whatever way you look at it the decision to leave him out was very strange.

I don't think that the manager looked at the semi-final of the FA Cup and thought he'd prioritise the league game against Liverpool or anything like that.

I believe he put out a team he thought could win the game, mindful of our punishing schedule. He got it wrong, and maybe some of us wouldn't have as much confidence in the players he chose yesterday, but I don't hold any truck with the idea that the game wasn't important enough for him to play his best players. I can understand him wanting to combat the physicality of Chelsea with Diaby but I'd have kept Song in the team alongside Cesc.

We did worry that our defensive absences might cause us problems going into this game. We looked at a very makeshift back four and bit our nails. It's disappointing, but not that surprising, that the weaknesses there cost us the game.

All the same it's water under the bridge now. Painful and all as it is we can't dwell on it. I won't lie, I thought the FA Cup was our best chance of silverware this season, but with it no longer an option we have to concentrate on the games ahead.

We've got a chance for revenge when we play Chelsea at home in the league but before that we have a whole host of games to get through. The task now for the manager is to get the players focussed and to put the disappointment behind them. There can be no feeling sorry for themselves. It's gutting to get so close to the cup final but that's football and it can be merciless at times.

If there's any wallowing in self-pity then the rest of our season is going to implode. We have to react, dust ourselves off and move on. That doesn't just include the players but the fans too. The feelgood factor going into this game was fantastic, there was great confidence and belief in the players. Two goalkeeping mistakes against Chelsea shouldn't obliterate that either. The team is going to need the fans in the games ahead.

When legs get tired and the schedule starts to take its toll our support might just help, so let's not get too carried away with the misery. Of course it's poxy to lose, especially to those cunts, of course we can see how Arsene might have picked a different team, but there's nothing we can do about it now. What's important are the games ahead, starting with the Mugsmashers on Tuesday.

Till tomorrow.

Well it's a beautiful day for a semi-final and I had a dream about it last night. Arsenal were playing in white on a big dusty pitch. Philippe Senderos was playing at the back and as the ball came across he slipped on a patch of car oil allowing Casiraghi (remember him?) to get in on goal. But just as the Chelsea man was about to shoot Senderos extended his left leg by about eight feet, hooked the ball away and started a counter-attack.

The ball ended up in the Chelsea area with Adebayor who went around the goalkeeper, scored and 1-0 was enough for the Arsenal in the end. At the very least I'm hoping the Adebayor goal comes true, the rest would also be cool. Footballers with Inspector Gadget type skills would be very handy indeed. 

She wore, she wore, she wore a yellow ribbon ....

The team news that we have at the moment is that Sagna is out, he hasn't recovered from his illness enough to be considered, while Kieran Gibbs will have a late fitness test. He's obviously borderline but pictures from yesterday showed him training with the squad so fingers crossed he can make it. We know the option if he isn't passed fit so there's no point going over that again.

At the other end of the pitch the manager will bring Arshavin into the team but for whom remains to be seen. Nasri wasn't particularly effective from an attacking point of view against Villarreal but he did good work in protecting Gibbs and that might play on the manager's mind. So we might see one of Adebayor or van Persie on the bench with Arshavin just behind.

She wore a yellow ribbon in the merry month of May... 

Whatever team he picks though they're going to have to work really hard and perform well to go through. Chelsea are a very good team and, it should not be forgotten, a pack of complete and utter cunts. We need our big players to have big games.

Now is when we see the value of having someone like Arshavin, whose experience and quality will show today, I'm sure. Now is when Cesc's return becomes so hugely important and with a couple of games under his belt now to get himself sharp again it's time for him to deliver a big game.

And when, I asked her why she wore that ribbon... 

It's hugely exciting and it's only 10am now. Its going to be nailbiting stuff later on, no doubt about it. There are those who will say there's a score to be settled. The last time we played Chelsea in a cup competition was the day of the Carling Cup final. A game we took the lead in but which ended badly for us. Two Drogba goals and a bit of a melee at the end saw red cards flashed all over the place. Cuntley Cunt, who didn't even play that day, danced around in a t-shirt with a winners medal as if he had anything to do with it.

So while Cesc says this game isn't about revenge for the players, there can't be an Arsenal fan at Wembley or anywhere else today who doesn't have that in the back of their minds. Do I want revenge? Oh yes, yes I do. Sweet, delicious, juicy revenge. I wants it.  

Ray Parlour reckons Petr Cech could be the Chelsea weak link and the keeper has certainly not been in the best of form recently. It'd be just typical of him to have a stormer today though. In fact, I can say with absolute certainty that there's no way Cech will make even the slightest mistake. No a chance. 

She said its for the Arsenal and we're going to Wembley...

The manager is hoping the new Wembley pitch will be up to scratch. I don't think I've seen enough games taking place there to make any judgement on the pitch but I've read that it's not great and cuts up quite badly. When you compare it to the old Wembley surface it's easy to see why Wenger has concerns. There was nothing quite like the old pitch. I remember, having watched games on TV there, being taken to see England v Ireland by my Dad some time in the late 70s/early 80s and I can still remember the greenosity of the grass to this day. Magic.

Anyway, enough of this nervous waffle. There's a whole day to get through before the game kicks off. I know we've got problems at the back but I think the team is attacking as well as it had done all season and there's so much quality available today - RVP, Ade, Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri, Cesc, Bendtner, Eduardo and even Vela. There were times you looked at the team this season and wondered quite where the goals were going to come from, not today.

Time to stand up and be counted boys. It's the FA Cup semi-final. I don't care what anyone says about how the cup has fallen in stature, I love the competition, it has provided fantastic memories for Arsenal fans down the years, let's hope today is another one of those days. COME ON YOU REEEEEEEEDS.

Wembley, Wembley, We're the famous Arsenal and we're going Wembley.

Up the Arse today! More tomorrow. 

Morning all.

The games are coming thick and fast and we're struggling to cope - particularly at the back. The team news that emerged yesterday is that Kieran Gibbs is struggling to be fit for the Chelsea game after picking up a groin injury against Villarreal. Bacary Sagna is also struggling to be fit after his illness.

Should they both miss out our defensive options are somewhat limited. The only way I can see us line up is for Alex Song to move back into the defence and play alongside Kolo Toure with Sylvester moving to left back.

It would be a shame to move Song from the midfield just when he's found his feet but I can't see any other way around it. If Sagna is fit then he could play left back, leaving Eboue on the right hand side and Song in midfield. So we'll have to wait and see what the boss says later today.

Regarding other defenders he estimated Johan Djourou could be back in two weeks, which is great news if true, but I'm somewhat troubled by the news about Gael Clichy. The official site says:

Clichy is in the middle of a two-and-a-half week period of rest. Only then will the Frenchman start his rehab in earnest.

So does that mean he's got another week or so of rest, then some rehab? And how long will the rehab be? We need all hands on deck at the moment so to lose anyone for longer than expected would be a blow.

Blog update: According to AW, who spoke to France Football, Clichy has a stress fracture of a vertebra, hence the need for complete rest. How quickly he recovers is anyone's guess really.

Cesc has been speaking about the upcoming games, which sees us play United at least three times, Chelsea twice, Liverpool once as well as league games against Portsmouth, Boro and Stoke. He says:

Arsenal, we are not scared of anyone and the way we play shows that. We might not have the same experience as United or Chelsea but I am not concerned about that. I don’t mind at all.

And that's the mindset the whole team has to have. Of course United have more experience, they're a great team as they've proved down the years, but we've beaten them once this season, no reason why we can't do it again. The same goes for Chelsea, they're hugely experienced and have a squad full of top class players (and, let it not go unsaid, top class cunts too). But we've beaten them, and at a time in the season when we had little going right for us, so there's every reason to be confident ahead of tomorrow's semi-final.

On lifting silverware, Cesc says:

It would be the best thing that ever happened to me to lift a trophy in an Arsenal shirt. It’s a dream for me but we still need to work really hard to finally get there. For sure it would be a disappointment if we do not get to the Final or win. What we have achieved is good but the Semi-Final is not good enough; we want to be in the Final.

Theo Walcott says teams will be scared to play us now. They'll certainly be a lot more cautious than they might have been a few months back but if we're not scared of them then I don't think they'll be scared of us.

Still, we're in a much better position than we were, a position Cesc said we'd be 'praying' to be in just three months ago, another indication of how quickly things change in football. But let's not go OTT just yet. We haven't won anything, we've done brilliantly to get where we are, it's fantastic to see how the team and certain players have improved, but ultimately it comes down to who's lifting a trophy at the end of the season.

Last time around we played fantastically well for 4/5ths of the season, fell apart near the end, won nothing and disappointment was crushing. Similarly we might play well for the last 1/3rd of the season and if we don't win anything again it will be just as hard to take, I think. Sorry for all the fractions this early in the morning but you know what I mean.

Anyway, all the focus has to be on Chelsea tomorrow. How typical that this morning stories have emerged that Emmanuel Adebayor is a target for Carlo Ancelotti, the man linked with the Chelsea manager's job next season. How utterly see-through and pathetic. There should be a word for this kind of tactic and the word should be Kenyonesque.

"Oh, what a Kenyonesque story that is the paper today" or "His attempts to unsettle the player before a big game were positively Kenyonesque".

You know, as much as we can look at the Chelsea squad and point to various players and think 'Cunt', 'Horrible patchy-haired cunt', 'Diving cunt', 'Lying little swerving off the road, money-grabbing duplicitous, mendacious, classless, stupid, cheat on his foxy wife with a minger, utter, utter, utter cunt', there's something about Peter Kenyon that makes you want to beat Chelsea even more.

A truly reprehensible man and one of the best moments of my life was seeing him at the Champions League final in Paris, him swanning about with a delegation of officials, and me calling him a 'cunt' as loudly as I could. He pretended not to hear me, but he heard me. Oh, he heard me.

So more team news and squad news and possible formation news tomorrow. Now though, it's time for the Arsecast. On this week's show I chat to the man from East Lower about Villarreal, the upcoming games, the improvement of Alex Song and more. As well as that there's some funk with Sylvester, poetry from Tony Adams, Talkshite Radio and more.

You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (22mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

Right then, that'll have to do for today. More tomorrow.