The Case for the Defence is Flimsy at Best....

Trying to make sense of games like the one last night is always going to be a conflicting experience, you're view or opinion is not unrelated to your pre-match expectations, how you expect football to be played, how the game pans out and what you believe constitutes a great game. Looking around the blogs today it seems that there is a fair share of mixed reaction from disappointment to just plain enjoyment of the madness that is a 4-4 result.

Prior to the match at Anfield I think the majority of Arsenal fans would have looked at team with a defence that contained just 2 first choice members of a back 5 (one still unfit and one just uncertain) and missing both first choice strikers with some trepidation. Combined with the fact that our record at Anfield over the 40 years of supporting Arsenal is littered with thumpings and poor results, it would not leave us optimistic especially as Liverpool had the weekend off and needed the win far more than we did. Bearing that all in mind I think I would have taken a point before the game...

I'll also say that I was hoping for a good performance against a side with so much to play for but once the game starts those pre-match thoughts disappear and you tend to view the game based on how events unfold. On that score, there are two trains of thought, we were either quite fortunate to get a point by scoring some great counter attack goals or we threw 2 points away by being unable to defend a 1-0, 3-2 or 4-3 (with a few minutes to go) lead. For me it's somewhere inbetween and a draw was certainly a fair result at the end of 90 (+6???) minutes.

The other talking point about 4-4 games is whether they are "classics" or "great" or just "error riddled goal fests"! If your Alan Hansen or one of the other cynical media folk it always seems to be about the "poor defending" and, to be fair, there was plenty of that on show last night. But hey, let's celebrate the joy of a game like that for the entertainment it provided, even comedy defending has its own moments and so we should get Silvestre his own pair of big shoes and red nose. Let's enjoy the moment Arshavin announced himself in true style to the Premier League..

No the only really bad thing about last night is the fact that the one man smiling after it would have been Old Red Nose himself and I can never like that...