Hello all,

UPDATE: Chelsea drew 1-1 with West Ham, we are now no further behind in the race than before, however we are 5th, End of UPDATE

Another 2 points dropped in the league and the title is looking further and further away. By some extraordinary stroke of luck, Liverpool and Manchester United both drew their games, so we will be only a further point behind in the league assuming Chelsea win. Realistically we will have to beat Liverpool next week to have any chance, and probably then win at least 4 or 5 games consecutively. And even then we may not be any closer. So whilst the title is still a possibility, its a remote one. 

Overall the game against Boro was pretty crap. There was an abundance of lethargy and contentness to defend. Aside from Clichy, there really was absolutely no motivation in the side, whatsoever. This game was unfortunately reminiscent of our other bad results this season, players turning up and just expecting the 3 points to be in the bag. Complaceny has got to be one of the biggest contributing factors to our shocker of a season thus far. From this complaceny stemmed our next problem, a complete lack of effort. We contstanlt gave away the ball in easy areas and had the majority of our passes intercepted. Diaby in particular was guilty of feeding the opposition with a host of chances for the counter-attack as he threw away possesion in the final third. With the combination of this lack of precision and the feeling that we would win this one easily, it was not hard for us to draw. Both the goals scored were extremely weak, in an extremely uneventful match. Ours came from some shocking defending from Boro, as Fabregas whipped a corner in, Adebayor didn't have to move, let alone jump to head the ball down and into the back of the net. And from here it looked like we might just go on and score another, but we failed to capitalise on some chances and Boro got an easy goal of their own. Once again it was down to some bad defending. However not on  the part of Clichy, who was cornered and tried to clear the ball, but the Boro player got a blockand was able to cross.The commentators were blaming itall on Clichy, which I thought was a little harsh considering the small chance of a player getting a block on the clearance. Where the bad defending came in was as the cross flew in, none of our players in the box made any effort to try and get to the ball first and Aliadiere was able to head it past Almunia. After this goal there wasn't much of any note in the remainder of the half, and the second half was much the same until about the last 15 minutes when our players finally realised they may not win this one. However, under constant pressure Boro defended well and came away with the draw. And this really is our problem of the entire season, why on earth does it take us so long to finally mount some pressure. Against Villa, we waited until we were a goal down to pile on the pressure, against Boro, we waited until the last 15 minutes. Honestly, if we could just be rearing to go right from the off, we would have no trouble winning games. It's ridiculous, every game is the same, for the first ten or fifteen minutes, our players camp in our own half and allow the other team to jsut attack at will. We MUST be ready to play immediately. And unless we get this problem sorted we are going to struggle winning anything this season. So we're not out of things yet, but we may as well be if we continue to play as appallingly as that.

Have a  good day and keep the faith,

Asian Arsenal.

Hello all,

So tomorrow we head off to the Midlands for yet another must-win game. And I think that is how we have to take this season really if we want to have any chance of winning. Just take it one game at a time, one win after the other hopefully. But this game is definitely one that we have to win. We have dropped far too many points against weaker clubs this season and that has to stop. Going by form, this shouldn't be a diufficult match, Boro have picked up just 1 point in their last two games, and we have gathered all 6. Hopefully tomorrow's performance will be slightly more inspired than the one against Wigan, however, in our current position, a win will suffice.

After the loss to Porto in midweek, we should be getting 4 or 5 players back. Hopefully all of them are fit to play because we will still need to play well, even if Boro are just 5 points from relegation. That is the one thing that we must not remind ourselves of. We CANNOT allow ourselves to play complacent football just because we're playing against a weaker team. It must be 100% from the off, and hopefully this is what we'll get. As long as we play motivated, enthusiastic football, we will win, comfortably. So hopefully Fabregas will be fit so he can extend his undefeated run as captain. I expect/hope Wenger will opt for a 4-4-2 formation, it really is our strongest although it is a little risky in an away game. But as I said we have to be focussed and attack-minded, so a 4-4-2 is necessary. So on that, I think the team will look like this: 

                                                      Almunia

          Sagna(if fit)               Silvestre                Djourou                 Clichy

          Ramsey                     Denilson                Cesc                Diaby/Vela

                                           van Persie             Adebayor

I really have no idea what Wenger will do for the wings, because, quite franky, we're fucked in those areas. It looks like we may be lining up 4 central midfielders across the middle of the pitch. Still no news as far as I'm aware on Gallas, so hopefully we Djourou will come in to central defence. Toure is out again unfortunately with his calf. Samir Nasri is also due back in two weeks apparently, so this means we will effectively we without any wingers whatsoever for the Liverpool game. But me may well have Eduardo back for that game after his warm-up with the reserves on the 16th of December. I think though, even with the lack of power on the flanks, we should have too much for Boro and should be looking at a 3rd straight win, something we've been without for a while. I think probably Boro 1 - Arsenal 3.

News from the other camp then, and it looks like they will probably try and push Aliadiere up on the flanks as he is their key player. They are fortunately without both their usual full-backs, which should give our make-shift flanks some chance. Afonso Alves and Stewart Downing are probably the other players to look out for, but I can't really see them posing too much of a threat. While this should be an easily winnable game, both Boro and us have had thorough incosistency in our seasons so there is the chance that this could go either way, and for Arsenal to prove they really have turned the corner, I think we need 6 points out of 6 for the next two games. So hopefully the run of form for both clubs continues and we can look ahead to the game against Liverpool with a 4th straight win in our sights.  

Oh and one last thing. The champions league draw for the next round will be held on December 19, and I am actually happy now that we finished 2nd. We can be drawn against Roma, Panathinaikos, Barcelona, Bayern or Juventus. And if we had finished first we could be facing Inter, Sporting Lisbon, Athletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Villareal or Lyon. So as long as don't draw Barca we should be fine.

Enjoy the game and keep the faith, 

Asian Arsenal.