Let's leave aside all thoughts of how we'd have been happy enough with a point yesterday considering the players we had missing. We blew another big chance yesterday for one reason and one reason only - this Arsenal team does not know how to defend.

We could have been 3 or 4 down at half-time. Incredibly we found ourselves one up. Football is a strange game like that. Villa hit the woodwork three times. Firstly when Song allowed Sidwell to get ahead of him at a corner and the former Arsenal man's header hit the bar, bounced down off Denilson's head and away.

Then Nasri completely shirked his defensive responsibilities. Sylvester had been drawn into the middle, Milner was left alone in acres of space and his shot hit the post and very fortunately rebounded into the arms of Manuel Almunia. Curtis Davies hit a looping shot which hit the bar, Almunia then made a good save and only a fantastic block by William Gallas prevented the goal on the follow up, and Bacary Sagna made an incredible, acrobatic goal-line clearance to prevent a goal.

Yet we went in ahead. Denilson taking advantage of a Reo-Coker mistake to scurry in and slide it home between Friedel's legs. Even more amazingly we scored a quite brilliant goal to go 2-0 up. Diaby had the ball on our right, for once one of his little flicks came off, he played it to Eboue, the two of them charged towards goal, Eboue's little poke into Diaby's path was perfection and the finish was excellent. Right up there with the best goals of the season, in my opinion.

So, redefining the term 'against the run of play' we found ourselves 2-0 up at the home of our closest rivals. It might even have been 3-0 but Robin van Persie's shot hit the post - he really should have scored from there. Still, would it be too much to expect this Arsenal team to hang on? Yes, of course it would. They were given a lifeline back into the game when William Gallas brought down Agbonlahor with a stupid, stupid tackle. He may not have got much of the man but he made it easy for the penalty to be given. It was an amateurish attempt at a tackle, the angle was all wrong, and for our most experienced defender to give away a penalty like that was utterly infuriating.

Then, of course, you're watching the rest of the game knowing that this is a team that is capable of conceding at any moment. Villa piled on the pressure, we became more and more ragged and in the first minute of injury time they scored. Zat Knight was left all alone in the box and he slammed home a left foot shot to make it 2-2.

Looking at replays there were 4 Villa players and only 3 Arsenal defenders. That is shambolic. It shouldn't happen at Sunday League level let alone in the last couple of minutes of an important Premier League game. It comes down to organisation - there simply wasn't any and that's inexcusable. Our defence is probably the most experienced part of the team. We have Gallas, Toure and Sylvester and whatever you think about their abilities as defenders you cannot deny they are hugely experienced players.

Not one of them took any responsibility in terms of organising that defence or the players in front of them who are much more raw. That we were outnumbered in our own box in injury time while trying to hang on to a lead speaks volumes about this team and until we sort out our defence we are never going to win a thing. Often, you can paper over the cracks of a weak defence with outstanding attacking players but we don't have those either. In 19 league games this season we have conceded in 14 of them, a total of 23 goals. Not good enough.

Now, firstly you could say we need some better players. Kolo Toure looks about 10% of the player we used to know, Gallas's head is all over the place and he provided another costly moment, and Sylvester is just a bit shit, which is why United let him go. The only one to come out of that back four with any credit is Bacary Sagna who was absolutely heroic yesterday. A proper defender who must feel horribly let down by his colleagues today.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, we need better defensive coaching. While a good foundation is essential (and by that I mean the back four + keeper), even the best defence in the world will struggle if the rest of the team aren't doing their jobs. It was in Tony Adams' biography where he took Arsene aside during the 97/98 season and told him he felt Vieira and Petit weren't doing enough to protect the back four. Wenger had words with the two Frenchmen and we all know what happened at the end of that season.

The rest of the players cannot shirk their defensive responsibilities. Too many of them amble back, watching and hoping the defence will cope when they should be playing their part. Nasri's sheer ignorance of the fact that Milner was in space tells you that these players aren't properly aware of their jobs on the pitch.

Can anyone look at the defensive players we have and tell me that they wouldn't benefit hugely from the kind of drills that George Graham used to forge his famous back four? Maybe this isn't the kind of coaching Arsene Wenger does but maybe it's about time he started - or if he can't do it then get someone in who can.

Get someone who can make us much less vulnerable from set-pieces because at the moment every time we try to defend a corner or a free kick my heart is in my mouth. Get someone who can make these players communicate properly, the lack of communication and organisation is a big part of why our defence is so poor. Villa's equaliser yesterday should be rock bottom for Arsene Wenger - he needs to look at that and think 'I've got a real problem here'.

Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is admitting you're wrong about something. At any level, under any circumstances, it's difficult to swallow your pride and ask for help but unless he does that then this team is going to continue to struggle. We simply do not know how to defend and despite the lessons we're being taught week in, week out we continue not to learn them. To me that means we need a new teacher, a better teacher.

You can talk about the spine of a team all you like but for me every successful side is built on having a solid defence. There was a time when Arsenal could score a goal and the opposition knew they were fucked. That bar some moment of magic or a mistake they were facing a back four who could take whatever was thrown at them all day long. Now, even if we were three up I wouldn't feel comfortable in a game.

Arsene Wenger is still talking about the title - he's deluded if he really believes we can win it. The simple fact is that we are in a big battle to stay in the top four this season. Talk of the title is little more than a pipe dream. Villa are ahead of us, Everton are closing behind us, that's where our focus must be. If we can finish higher than 4th this season, with this team, with its very obvious failings, then it will be a little miracle, in my opinion.

Arsenal cannot defend and every other team in this league knows it. Unless the manager takes steps to improve our squad and improve our coaching then I can't help but be really worried.

Morning all,

hope your day yesterday went swimmingly. We ate lots, drank some wine and beer, ate more, then ate some more. It was all good. A lie-in this morning to top it all off. Nice.

Now though we get back down to business. We have Villa today at 5.15 and it's a hugely important game. They're currently three points ahead of us and fighting for that 4th Champions League spot. A win for us today would obviously make things easier but losing would land us in some serious shit.

Arsene Wenger has spoken about how you can't take European football for granted. He said:

If you look at Europe not many teams have in the last 10 years been in every year. But in Europe this year AC Milan are in the Uefa Cup, they are not in the Champions League. Last year Bayern Munich played in the Uefa Cup, and they are not less prestigious clubs than any of the teams who play in the top four.

But they didn't die. In sport you have to accept that nothing is guaranteed. Only because we achieve it every year do people think it is guaranteed. It is not guaranteed, it is down to your performances.

All well and good when you look at it from a distance but when you make life more difficult for yourself by reducing the quality of your squad then you can't not expect fans to be anxious. When you have set such high standards then you get judged on those standards - when you fall below them then you have to expect criticism. I don't think anybody has ever suggested we have a divine right to be in the top four, only that we haven't quite used the resources available to us to ensure that it's not a real struggle like it appears to be this year.

Nevertheless, the manager still isn't ruling out the title. I can't fault his optimism or his ambition but at the moment I think we need to focus on a more realistic goal then see where we are in a couple of months. If we can still talk about the title at that stage, however vague the chances might be, then I think most people will be happy.

Villa are a good side, we know that. We were beaten 2-0 at the Grove and they'll know this is a great opportunity for them to make a real push for Europe. Martin O'Neill is a fantastic motivator and he's a great 'team' manager. By that I mean he is able to make the sum of the parts far greater than any individual but he's helped by having two or three very good players in his squad. Young and Agbonlahor are the jewels in his crown and we know only too well how they can hurt us.

For our part we've got to go there without two of our best players. Cesc, obviously, and Emmanuel Adebayor who will serve his one match suspension today. You assume Bendtner will come in and play the Adebayor role if he's fit, if not we might see Diaby play in the hole behind van Persie. That would leave us a rather uninspiring midfield but at the moment there's not much we can do about that.

I wouldn't mind seeing Aaron Ramsey get a start, to be honest, but for all his talk about the quality of his young players and 'internal solutions' the manager seems reluctant to use him in the Premier League right now. To me he's the closest thing we've got to Fabregas in the squad.

The importance of the game is not lost on the players. Samir Nasri says:

I think if we lose to Aston Villa we can say goodbye to our title chances — we have to go there and get a positive result.

I think that's true and more importantly it would make our Champions League chances even more difficult which, for me, is the main thing at the moment.

However, we showed against Liverpool on Sunday that if we put in the effort and the application we're not a soft touch by any means. But that level of performance has be there from the first whistle. To be honest, I think if we'd played with that kind of attitude in every game this season we wouldn't be worrying about losing a CL place, we'd be right in the thick of things at the top of the table. And I don't think it's too much to expect that players give everything for 90 minutes once or twice a week.

Anyway, fingers crossed we can get our heads straight and get a performance today - because we'll need it if we're going to beat this Villa side.

In other news Cesc talks about his injury and despite being obviously upset about it is quite philosophical. It could have been worse with the doctor saying it might have been 9 months. Eeek.

Bacary Sagna has a little pop at the English press.

And that's about it. There's so much leftover we're going back to the Blogfather's house today for Christmas Dinner II - The Refattening.

Then the football. Come on Arsenal. More tomorrow.

So the season lurches from one exhilarating high to another crushing low with a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

We've been talking all week about how last week's win over United would count for nothing if we didn't get the right result yesterday and so it proved. Last week was just another false dawn. Are any of us really that surprised about what happened yesterday? The more optimistic amongst us hoped that the win over United would see the team turn a corner, gain confidence and kick on for the rest of the season. Those less so suggested it was merely a win that papered over the cracks until we got found out again.

The paper lasted seven days and the cracks were there for all to see. Against United we played with passion, desire, commitment, energy. Yesterday you would be hard pressed to say any Arsenal player showed any of those characteristics. We were lucky not go in at half time at least one behind, if not more. Villa had plenty of chances, causing our defence plenty of problems even without Carew, and when Mike Riley awarded them a penalty it looked like things would go downhill from there.

But Almunia pulled off a good save and Gallas showed the benefit of being around when a penalty kick is being taken. His quick reaction when he followed to help clear the rebound prevented a goal. It was good defending. Almunia made other saves from Young and the lively, troublesome Agbonlahor and having escaped the penalty and ridden our luck on the back of a poor first half you thought Arsenal might show up in the second.

It wasn't to be. Again we were bereft of ideas and craft when faced with a side who sit every man behind the ball. Lots of sideways passing, little triangles that went nowhere and more or less no threat to the Villa go whatsoever. Adebayor came on for Diaby and joined the hapless Bendtner up front (who was in turn replaced by Carlos Vela) but one scabby header that hit the post he did little himself. Cesc had a shot after some decent work by Theo (I think) but that was the sum total of our attacking threat. 

At the other end Villa had the pace and the power to bother us on the counter. The first goal came when Sagna was dispossessed (and injured) in midfield, Young whipped in a cross and with Agbonlahor waiting behind him Gael Clichy headed into his own net. For the second it looked like there might have been a foul on Vela on the edge of the Villa box, Laursen pumped it forward and Agbonlahor outpaced and outmuscled Gallas before driving home his shot. Poor defending and it's an area the manager has spoken about being weak yet has done precious little to fix.

There's no doubt in my mind that Villa thoroughly deserved that win. They didn't even play that well but we were so poor it would have been a miracle if we'd gotten anything out of the game. We made it easy for them and while most of us will accept a defeat if we know we've given 100% in the game that was collectively a truly awful team performance. Arsene spoke last week about how you need 11 leaders on the pitch. One might have made a difference yesterday. This team is rudderless, inconsistent and now, sadly, out of the title race for this season. We've lost four out of thirteen and with so far still to go in the campaign it's inconceivable that we can remain unbeaten from here on in.

There are some very real problems. Last week they got themselves up for a big match and performed excellently. This week the opposition wasn't quite so glamorous and the performance reflected that. It was the same against Hull, against Stoke, against Fulham and against Sunderland. Is it over-confidence? Arrogance? Laziness? It's not my job to find out, it's Arsene Wenger's, but you cannot deny the problem exists. 

Defensively we are a shambles. There's no solidity at the back and the centre of our defence is weak. We have conceded 15 goals in our 13 league games, 10 of those at home. The issues the manager identified have not been addressed and unless they are then we will remain a defensively suspect team. Apart from Djourou, who has not really been given a chance in the league this season, none of Gallas, Toure or Sylvester have performed well enough. When you have a soft centre you will get exposed and Gallas, Toure and Sylvester are soft. I won't say not good enough because that's too sweeping but not playing anywhere near well enough. 

I also wonder that if Gallas and Sylvester weren't French would Wenger be so forgiving of their poor form and slack defending. I fully accept that Kolo Toure has not been playing well but it was Gallas who was guilty of a string of poor performances and individual errors which costs us goals, yet Toure was dropped. What kind of message does that send? Gallas defended well for the most part yesterday, he prevented the rebound being scored, but was found out with a simple long ball over the top, 'defending' for which other centre-halves of recent times would have been crucified for. How long do you keep carrying someone?

Midfield was woeful yesterday. Cesc is playing as poorly as I have ever seen him play, Nasri goes from the sublime to the opposite of sublime, Theo flits in and out of games and when faced with that kind of system has no space to get behind defences where he causes the most damage, Denilson still isn't ready in my opinion, and Diaby was more or less anonymous.

Up front Bendtner didn't have a lot to work with, Villa are a good defensive side, but the way he strolls about the pitch is maddening and the way the ball seems to bounce off him at completely random angles when he tries to control it puts me in mind of a hungover Sunday League player at times.

Yet this was the same group of players that did so well and beat United. It's so, so frustrating.  

Afterwards Arsene said:

You have to accept that the game is played by human beings and sometimes physically they have a drop. It is very difficult for us to have a rational explanation about what happened today. I believe that the team want it but it was just like a few other times this year where it is unexplainable why we don’t really play at our 100% potential.

Physically that team had a week off after the United game. There is no reason why they should have had a drop. They should have been full of confidence, full of energy, yet they were half-arsed, sluggish and, at times, disinterested. Where was the urgency? Where was the fight?

I think it's obvious this team lacks a leader. Again I'm not being critical of Gallas just for the sake of being critical but he's not a leader. He might try but it's just not in his nature. I think that's obvious and then you have to start looking at the manager who persists with him as captain. Is there a natural leader in the team? I've talked up Cesc for the captaincy and I think he'd enjoy it but maybe now is not the right time.

We're a quiet team. There's nobody talking, egging people on, shouting, encouraging. We go out, 'play our football' but if that doesn't work we are stymied. We miss a Flamini type character, not only for the way he played football (and I think we really miss that at the moment) but for his relentless drive and unwillingness to be beaten. Some of them appeared to just give up yesterday, went through the motions and that's not right.

The manager has to address these issues and the only way of doing it now is with the chequebook. We have to splutter through until January, hoping that the Arsenal that is motivated and capable turns up for the matches, and then buy. He needs to buy at least one centre half and at least one central midfielder. Not prodigies, not teen-sensations, not players with 'great potential', but players who can come in, bring quality and experience, and improve the side. Ideally one of those players could provide the leadership the team so badly needs.

I know we have lots of good young players coming through but the cream will rise to the top anyway. Let's not forget Cesc broke into the Arsenal team when we had Vieira, Parlour, Edu and Gilberto in his way. Proper men, experienced quality footballers and to perpetuate this fallacy that buying a player will somehow prevent a talented youngster making his mark does the manager no service.

It's hard to know what to feel about this group of players. One week they're fantastic, the next week they're beyond dreadful. They build us up then knock us down again. The bottom line though is that this team has weaknesses that are apparent to me and practically every Arsenal fan. We lack quality in defence and in midfield and there's a mental weakness that has to be corrected, otherwise this is going to be a very long and very trying season.

Till tomorrow. 

Ouch. Not hangover, football injury. Got a kick on the outside of my right foot playing 5-a-side last night and this morning I can't put any weight on it at all. I can hobble around using my heel but that's about it. And it's fucking painful, stupid foot. Reckon I have to go to the hostibal to get an x-ray. Gah. It was fine last night though, which is the weird thing.

Anyway, back to matters somewhat more important, Arsenal play Aston Villa today at the Grove. The team news it that both Adebayor and Almunia are in the squad. Almunia has recovered completely so is likely to start while the boss says he hasn't decided whether or not to play Adebayor. There'll be one young Dane cursing the recovery powers of the Togonian.

Whichever striker he picks I think we'll see the same formation as against United last week. We've really said all there is to say about how we need to play, about how irrelevant last week would become if we didn't follow it up with the right result today, so let's just hope we get the Arsenal of last week and not the Arsenal that faced Stoke. We want the Dr Jekyll Arsenal and not the Mr Hyde one. I think. Whichever one of them was the good one. And by good one I'm talking about the mean-spirited, ruthless one.

Arsene Wenger reckons seven or eight of Tuesday's Carling Cup team will play for Arsenal in the Premier League. He says:

If you look at the team that played in the Carling Cup Final two years ago our midfield was Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Diaby. That was the midfield that started against Man United. We have a good idea of the potential development of the players. That’s why I believe seven or eight will play.

Beyond Song and Djourou, who have a measure of Premier League experience, perhaps the one closest to making the breakthrough is Aaron Ramsey and the boss says there's no better place for him to be than at Arsenal Football Club. He says:

I believe he has something special. He has the work-rate, he has the spirit and he has good vision. He has all the physical and tactical ingredients to become a great midfielder. He still needs to develop his technique but he has what is needed to become a top-level player.

In the bits and pieces we've seen of him so far he's been impressive. He set up Adebayor's second goal at Blackburn, he set up Bendtner with a back heel against Sheffield United and he does seem to have an eye for the crafty little pass in and around the box. That's something that could well be vital as we come up against teams who like to get men behind the ball. His long passing is good too and he seems to have a mean free-kick on him. I'm tipping him to be semi-regular in the Premier League by the end of the season.

You can see some video of Wenger talking about the young players in The Sun today. 

Lukasz Fabianski's agent says other clubs have been asking him about the Polish stopper but says Fabianski is enjoying his time at Arsenal and is working 'step-by-step' to become Arsenal's number 1. If he does make it I can't imagine there'll ever be a dull game. Still, his emergence and progress is a good thing. Competition is vital, especially in the keeper's position. We saw how Lehmann responded when his place was under threat, Almunia performed excellently when he knew Jens was ready to back in at any time, and the duel between Fab and Al should keep them both on their toes.

There was good news about Eduardo who should be ready to play in about 'two or three' weeks, according to Arsene Wenger. I'd imagine they'd be a few reserves games under his belt before he's reintroduced to first team action though, so if we start to see him in the squad around Christmas time then that'd be about right. 

Right, that's about it. I've got to go get my foot looked at. Fingers crossed we get the right performance and result. Till tomorrow. 

Good Friday to you all.

It's kinda quiet even though we've got a big game against Villa tomorrow. I suppose we can start with team news. There will be fitness tests for Almunia and Adebayor, which is a bit of surprise. Almunia is still recovering from the kick in the face he got from Michael Carrick but Adebayor seems have recovered a bit quicker than expected from the ankle injury he got against Stoke.

With so many big games coming up this month I can't see the manager taking any risks if he isn't 100% though. We're still without the injured Eboue and the suspended Robin van Persie. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the same team that started against United. Villa are a decent side although their recent form hasn't been brilliant.

In John Carew they have a player we know all about. From that goal he scored for Valencia to the shocking challenge on Hleb in last year's game at Villa Park he's one of those whose father you wish had just had one more wank in his lifetime before he got Mrs Carew up the spout. If he plays, there are doubts because of injury, then it'll be a test for Sylvester and Gallas. In Ashley Young and Agbonlahor they've got quality too and they're very solid at the back.

Last weekend's win over Manchester United lifted the spirits and showed what this team is capable of. However, the worries over their consistency remain so a good performance and three points against Villa is vital to show that a corner has been turned. The pressure's back on but if we play with the same commitment and energy as we did against United then we're more than capable of winning the game.

Abou Diaby looks set to continue and he calls Patrick Vieira his role model. In reality the similarities between them are mostly physical. Diaby seems much more comfortable in a more advanced, attacking role and he's yet to show that he can come close to what Vieira did in central midfield. Still, if that's who he's holding himself up against then at least he's learning from a great player.

Youngster Abu 'Wakemeupbeforeyou' Ogogo has joined Barnet on a one month loan deal while William Gallas says he's a good captain.

Any beyond that there's not much news. As usual Saturday morning will be busy with the various bits and pieces that come out of the manager's press conference but for now we'll move on with the Arsecast and it's Arsecast number 100. Holy moly, that's a lot of Arsecast.

On this week's momentous show I chat with Goonerholic, one of the only people old enough to remember Arsecast 1, about the Carling Cup, the United game and tomorrow's game against Villa. As well as that there's The man in the bar, Eboue, Adebayor, Arsene Wenger Hawkins and more.

There's also the chance to win yourself a Savile Rogue scarf, unquestionably the finest football scarf known to man. Just listen and answer the question. Winner announced on next week's show, plus Savile Rogue will give you a 10% discount on any purchase if you use the code ARSEBLOG at checkout. 

You can subscribe to the Arsecast 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 (18mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Ok, enjoy the 'cast, have yourselves a fine stress free Friday and I'll talk to you tomorrow.