Derby day delirium

Does it get much better than that? Apart from winning a trophy, I can't think of anything that could have been more enjoyable. Regardless of any pre-text or sub plot around the season, the North London Derby is always vital and the thought of losing is always unbearable. This match just had that extra edge on other derbies. It could even have been as drastic as Arsene Wenger being out of a job because of it had we lost.

Being critical and negative, it's easy and understandable to question why the team can't play like we did against Tottenham every week? However it's not a time to be critical. We just need to revel and enjoy the fact we pummelled our local rivals. If there was one game that the team were going to turn and give everything, we as fans would have chosen that game.

At 2-0 down, considering how abysmal the last two weeks had been, I expected the team to crumble and meekly surrender to a humiliating defeat. What followed was rousing, stunning and genuinely epic. Every player stood up to be counted and after going 2-0 down, no-one had a bad game. Everyone was fantastic and deserves a huge amount of credit. The challenge is to reproduce that level of performance regularly.

Even before going 2-0 down, we weren’t playing too badly, but being down and almost out made the team even more determined. There was an urgency and drive about the team that none of us had seen before. It was partially there in some of the big results we’ve had this season, such as winning 5-3 away at Chelsea, but what was running through the players on Sunday was something completely different.

There seemed to be a ‘win at all costs’ mentality. Those with the cannon on their chest understood what the North London Derby meant to everyone. They fed off the noise of the crowd and hauled themselves back into the game.

This spirit was typified by Bacary Sagna. The team could have felt sorry for themselves at 2-0 down, but when Mikel Arteta’s cross came into the box, Sagna attacked the ball superbly. No-one was getting in his way and ball was going to end up in the net. I mentioned it when we came back against Aston Villa in the cup; it makes such a difference when players take responsibility and make things happen themselves. Every Arsenal player did that on Sunday. Sagna looked back to his best, and having two regular full backs in the team made such a difference.

We started off looking quite open, but after going 2-0 down, the defence tightened up and were fantastic. Thomas Vermaelen looked back to his best and was dominant in the air, Laurent Koscielny was excellent again and Kieran Gibbs put in a fantastic shift.

Initially, it seemed the Sagna header would just be something for us to build on in the second half, but to equalise before half time lifted the crowd and was the biggest momentum swinger in the match. The team performance was superb, but in big games, you often need some individual brilliance. Robin van Persie said before the game that contract discussions won’t happen until the summer, so there isn’t much point in debating if he will or won’t sign a new one. We just have to hope he does because he is the best striker in the Premier League, bar none. His equaliser was stunning and also showed how he took responsibility as the captain to get us back into the derby.

It would have been easy for the team to sit back at the start of the second half having levelled the match and just try and calm the game down. However the adrenalin was pumping, the crowd were buzzing, the stadium was alive and the team roared forward.

Tomas Rosicky, who along with Song and Arteta, bossed the midfield and scored a richly deserved goal. We know that Rosicky isn’t as good as Fabregas or Nasri in terms of technical ability, however what he lacks slightly in that aspect, he makes up for in direct running and commitment. His charge forward just after half time and run into the six yard box was brilliantly timed, and his finish was deft.

We’ve missed goals from midfield this season, and if Rosicky can continue his form and contribute more goals for the rest of the season, we’ll have a great chance of staying in the top four.

Having taken the lead, I immediately thought we were going to throw the lead away somehow. My mind went back to the 4-4 against Spurs in 2008 and the 3-2 defeat at home last season. Mental strength is a phrase that is often overused by Arsene Wenger in his post-match interviews, but to not capitulate and go on to dominate the rest of the match as we did, really did show mental strength.

Theo Walcott was terrible in the first half. He looked so low on confidence. Had we not brought the game level, I think he’d have been substituted at half time. He stayed on, and his goals were extremely well taken. For the first goal, Walcott was on the edge of our penalty area when Rosicky played the ball over the top for van Persie to chase, yet Theo charged up in support and got on the end of the move. His control wasn’t great, but his finish was instinctive and superb.

As soon as he scored, he was like a different player. He was suddenly charging up and down the wing to win the ball and then his second goal was arguably better taken than his first one. The control was much better, and without thinking he dispatched the ball into the far corner. We have to keep Walcott’s confidence up, because whatever people think of him, he can be dangerous and can make a difference.

The fans were understandably on his back in the first half, but his response was typical of the whole team on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger was a man under a significant amount of pressure at the weekend, but he got his team selection spot on. The midfield trio were fantastic, and outplayed Tottenham’s midfield two. The front three interlinked well with the midfield three, and were tearing holes in the Spurs defence, particularly in the second half. Considering this is meant to be the worst Arsenal team in years, and the best Tottenham team in years, just on the evidence of Sunday, North London is definitely still, and will continue to be, red.

The key selection choices for Wenger were on the wings. Most probably expected Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho to start, but Walcott and Benayoun both justified their selection. The manager clearly prepared the team well, and got them in the right mind set for the derby. When 2-0 up, Spurs fans were chanting ‘Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay’. If he’s going to get his team to play like that every week, we might actually agree with Spurs fans on something. It was so refreshing to hear ‘One Arsene Wenger’ ring round the Emirates near the end of the match.

That leads me on to the atmosphere at the ground. The stadium was absolutely buzzing. All the fans rallied round and the majority stayed positive even when 2-0 down. As soon as Bacary Sagna scored, the stadium exploded and the fans were going to do everything possible to help turn the match around.

It was truly fantastic, and was proof of how fans can help the team in important games. When things are going badly, everyone at the club should deserve criticism. When we stuff five past Spurs, everyone deserves credit, and the fans are part of that. I think the atmosphere was even better than it was against Barcelona last season. It was epic. After Sunday, for one of the first times since leaving Highbury, the Emirates is beginning to really feel like home.

I can’t emphasise enough how well everyone played, and how much desire and character came pouring out of the team. It was a day that made everyone proud to be a Gooner. The players really understood what it meant to the fans, and everyone came together in a glorious goal scoring barmy Sunday afternoon. I was really pleased to see Carl Jenkinson come on. He’s a true Gooner who has made it into the first team, and he’ll have loved every minute of his substitute appearance.

Obviously we still face a massive challenge to stay in the top four, but if that win doesn’t give the team confidence, nothing will. Play like that every week, and we’ll have no problem in reaching the Champions League. Instead of worrying about the rest of the season, let’s spend this week with a massive smile and make sure that we ask Spurs fans for the time at five to every hour. North London is red.

Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 28 Feb 12

Tottenham's ascent leaves Arsenal with bitter lessons to learn

Foreboding is in the air at the Emirates with Arsène Wenger forced to play catch-up with their north London rivals

Usually around this time of year Arsenal supporters begin examining the fixture list to determine when they might celebrate a tradition that has become known as St Totteringham's Day. That is the point in the football calendar where it becomes arithmetically impossible for their local foes to finish above them in the league. Whatever they may be thinking as they head for the Emirates this weekend, however much foreboding fills the air, with unease about Arsène Wenger's thinking and Stan Kroenke's style of ownership back on the agenda, it is lost on nobody that St Totteringham's Day may be cancelled for the first time in Wenger's 16-year reign.

The last time Tottenham ended a Premiership campaign with the upper hand in north London, Arsenal endured a season when their manager, a proven winner who had turned the club around, fell dramatically from grace. It was 1995 and George Graham was sacked as a result of the bung scandal.

Arsenal finished in mid-table. Spurs did a little better, ending up seventh but still way behind Leeds, Nottingham Forest and the champions that season, Blackburn Rovers. A newborn baby then could have grown up to the age of consent and become a parent in the time since Tottenham last looked down on Arsenal.

Will anybody explain the significance of this development to Mr Kroenke on Sunday as he pays a rare visit to the home of his long-distance franchise? The visiting supporters have waited long enough for such a twist in neighbourly relations that they will be raring to mention it. Over the other side of the aisle in the directors' box, the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy can survey the scene with a sense of serenity he has seldom enjoyed since he began a painstaking, and often painful, game of catch-up.

Among the group who have represented England in the Champions League in recent seasons Tottenham's business model, with a home-grown, hands-on chairman who works closely with his manager and is involved in his club's affairs 365 days a year, is an anomaly. It is a throwback.

Tottenham are backed by the finance of Enic, the company controlled by the billionaire Joe Lewis, but in the running of the club, overseen by Levy, Tottenham remain based on a traditional operation. It is interesting that they are enjoying their most productive spell at a time when Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, under foreign ownership, are no longer set up to function in the same way.

Levy's stock has not always been so high. The experiment with a director of football concept was problematic. The constant changing of management (seven in his first seven years as chairman), with a few clangers such as Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos in the mix, did not give the best impression. But a series of excellent decisions more recently, starting with the moment he hired Harry Redknapp, has had a transformative effect.

Last summer he played the transfer window with a hard business nose and the dividends have been paying out on the pitch for Tottenham all season.

In playing hardball to keep Chelsea's hands off Luka Modric, arranging the loan for Emmanuel Adabayor, securing shrewd deals for players such as Brad Friedel and Scott Parker, Levy has backed his manager wholeheartedly.

In many ways it is reminiscent of the model Wenger enjoyed when Arsenal flourished. He had strong football men behind him who were as steeped in the English game as they were in business. David Dein and the late Danny Fiszman did not always see eye to eye but they worked tirelessly to provide Wenger with the support needed off the pitch. The board were close-knit and, in their own ways, as obsessed by it all as Wenger. They viewed financial matters as important only to serve sporting aspirations.

They were visible in the stands every time Arsenal played, be it the main show, the reserves or the youths. They were the team behind the team.

When Kroenke dropped into Arsenal's AGM in October, at the end of a five-minute speech he joked: "You had better get used to seeing us. Because we will be around." His is a distinctive interpretation of "around". The last game he attended was almost four months ago.

In the American's absence Ivan Gazidis is the face of the current Arsenal board. The chief executive appears to have a difficult job in mediating between the business side and the sporting side and Wenger does not always seem in tune with his messages. While Gazidis has announced some good news with a price freeze for season-ticket holders, Wenger expressed sympathy for the costs loaded on to supporters in an environment where Arsenal struggle to keep up with the wealthiest. "We are far behind the top teams wages-wise but what is true is that our fans pay the price for it," he said. During the week stories emerged of a transfer war chest for the summer but Wenger knocked such stuff back as "not true".

Tottenham offer stability and unity behind the scenes at a time when Arsenal have issues in that area. With Alisher Usmanov hoovering up a few stray shares last week, the "cold war", as some fans have dubbed it, between the American and Uzbeki shareholders is an ongoing struggle. Until such time as it is resolved it is difficult to see Arsenal selling a clear vision for the future.

With former players queueing up to urge Wenger to revamp the team, Lee Dixon has described this as the "most important derby" his old manager has faced. More important than semi-finals? More important than winning the title at White Hart Lane? More important than his first derby match, which came when he had a mere five Premier League matches under his belt and needed to win over a sceptical public – and team – having arrived from Japan? Incidentally, consider how many of the team who won Wenger's first derby back in 1996, before he had really got hold of the team, would walk into the current side: Lukic, Dixon, Bould, Keown, Adams, Winterburn, Vieira, Platt, Merson, Bergkamp, Wright.

The current squad needs more surgery than did the one Wenger inherited. The marketplace makes that difficult. But at the very least the importance of a good summer has been amply demonstrated at both Spurs and Arsenal. Somehow Wenger and his board have to come t ogether and make a better fist of it next time.

Source: Amy Lawrence, The Guardian on 25 Feb 12

Arsenal's Theo Walcott turns the boos to a chorus of approval

Theo Walcott departed Arsenal's defeat of Tottenham with the home support chorusing his name but with an admission from his manager, Arsène Wenger, that he had considered substituting the winger as Arsenal trailed and he was the subject of abuse from his own fans.

The 22-year-old had laboured to make an impact through this derby's early exchanges and sections of the home crowd targeted him as a focus of their frustration.

Walcott, whose form has suffered over recent months, appeared to buckle under the pressure when, with his side 2-0 down, he was gripped by indecision when offered the chance to tear at goal and his lack of confidence was exposed by a weak attempt to liberate Robin van Persie instead.

Yet, from that mishmash of a performance, Walcott somehow recovered his poise, particularly after half-time, to register a brace of finishes reminiscent of his eye-catching hat-trick for England in Zagreb in September 2008. They were the winger's first Premier League goals at the Emirates Stadium since December 2010. "The crowd was starting to get on his back," said Wenger, "so you do wonder if you are doing him a favour by leaving him on.

"But I felt that he has the qualities we needed, that considering the rest of the team are hiding [among bodies in-field] he is a player who can be straight, direct and can go behind the defenders. Nobody else is like that. He is a very direct player and you know that sometimes he can miss a first touch but still, considering the balance of our team, I felt it was important to keep him in the side."

The performance and the smartly taken finishes across the Spurs goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, will have been noted by the interim England manager, Stuart Pearce, who was present here. Walcott has been used by Pearce as a central striker in the England Under-21s and he could yet be considered there for the seniors against Holland at some stage on Wednesday night given the withdrawals of Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent from the squad over the weekend.

"You have to get on with the game," said Walcott when asked about the vocal criticism from the stands. "When things are not going too well I can hold my hands up. I didn't have the greatest of first halves. But it just shows the character, not just mine but that of the team.

"It was about trying to forget about that and work hard in the second half and, if you do that, hopefully good things will come to you. It happened for me. Even so, coming off and looking at that result feels unreal."

Harry Redknapp, who had worked with the young Walcott during his spell with Southampton, was deflated in defeat but less surprised by the Arsenal winger's sudden transformation from boo-boy target to match winner. "That's football, isn't it?" said the Tottenham Hotspur manager.

"People are fickle. He's a good player, a player of real talent. I gave him his debut and he's a fantastic talent. His run for the third goal … was it the third goal? I've lost track of the goals, to be honest, but he ran 80 yards to get on the ball [from Van Persie]. Not many people could do that."

The Spurs manager suffered his own abuse, as did his assistant Joe Jordan, from some home fans behind the dug-out and appeared to single one out in discussions with a steward. "It was only one idiot," said Redknapp. "Just one guy, so it was nothing really."

Source: Dominic Fifield, The Guardian on 26 Feb 12

Theo Walcott leads astonishing Arsenal comeback to bury Tottenham

This was a north London derby in keeping with the season's scarcely credible story-lines. When you can have the institution that is Arsène Wenger questioned as never before in a swell of Arsenal supporter angst and Harry Redknapp walk free from the crown court and into the position of England manager-elect, what is a pulsating seven-goal thriller, in which one team clambers back from the grave and the other sleepwalks towards it?

Arsenal's campaign has been marked by wild scorelines, most recently the 4-0 Champions League reverse at Milan. The 8-2 at Manchester United cut them to the core. But this one was rather happier, starring in the same ballpark as the 5-3 win at Chelsea. Expect the unexpected.

Wenger sat slumped when Emmanuel Adebayor celebrated his 28th birthday with the penalty that put Tottenham 2-0 up against his former club. But it was the high point for the visitors, who departed with a dent to their pride and their aspirations to finish as London's top club.

This was a triumph to make the Arsenal support forget their misgivings. It contained Robin van Persie's latest stunning goal and a collector's item from the excellent Tomas Rosicky, his first in the Premier League for more than two years.

But it was Theo Walcott who epitomised the theme of transformation. The England winger endured a wretched first half, his touch heavy and his confidence appearing in pieces. He left the field to a standing ovation, having scored Arsenal's fourth and fifth goals with nervelessly executed finishes.

The Arsenal players milked the applause at full-time and there was talk from the dressing room that the seven-point gap to Tottenham could yet be clawed back. Wenger spoke of everything having been "perfect", apart from the opening five minutes when his team had ceded the advantage to Louis Saha's deflected shot on the counterattack. As is his wont these days, Wenger could not resist a pop at the naysayers, of which there are plenty connected to the club. "Arsenal is alive more than anyone thought before the game," he said.

Tottenham were rendered shell-shocked and their misery was compounded by Scott Parker's dismissal for a second bookable offence in the 87th minute, an ill-timed lunge at Thomas Vermaelen. He will be suspended for Sunday's visit from Manchester United. Parker did not complain and he even went back to say sorry to Vermaelen, reinforcing another motif. Tottenham's performance came to resemble an apology. "We buckled, which is not like us," Redknapp admitted.

The manager said he would have expected to win at 2-0 but at no point could he feel comfortable. His team's second came against the run of play, with Arsenal having responded positively to their nervous start, Van Persie dragging wide when given a second bite inside the area and Rosicky drawing a flying save from Brad Friedel with a flicked header.

The penalty was laced with controversy. Gareth Bale showed his strength to hold off Kieran Gibbs but, inside the area and with Wojciech Szczesny lured into a bolt from his line, the winger went down. It was difficult to see that a touch from Szczesny or any defender had prompted the tumble but, on the other hand, Bale may claim to have felt contact, whether he initiated it or not. Adebayor's composure from the spot was commendable.

Arsenal's revival was ignited when, after Van Persie had struck the post, Gibbs fed Mikel Arteta and his floated cross was headed home by Bacary Sagna. The home crowd completed their whirlwind first-half journey when Van Persie showcased his touch and technique to beat Friedel with a left-foot curler.

Redknapp and his assistant Joe Jordan clashed verbally with Arsenal fans behind the benches but it was Tottenham's players who needed the hard hats. Yossi Benayoun was denied by Friedel from Arteta's fine pass but moments later the stadium was plunged into frenzy when Rosicky timed his run to convert Sagna's cross.

The scene was cleared for Walcott. His first goal was a beautifully clipped effort after good work from Rosicky and Van Persie and it was as though a switch had been flicked. When Alex Song lofted a pass forward in the 68th minute, Walcott's touch was excellent, his low finish instinctive and unstoppable.

Asked whether the five-goal comeback had given Wenger hope ahead of the return against Milan on Tuesday week, he laughed. Arsenal, though, have demonstrated a taste for the outlandish.

Man of the match Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal)

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 26 Feb 12

Arsenal must make this the norm, Spurs the exception

Arsene Wenger’s stubborn resistance to the voice of the masses has been listed among his faults during Arsenal’s plunge into reduced circumstances this season.

Wenger has often appeared alone with his principles amid calls for changes in personnel, policy and even the manager himself in some cases as Arsenal’s stretch without a trophy extends to seven years.
Even those who argue against a change in Arsenal manager have voiced the view that the current Arsenal manager needs to change.

And yet that stubborn streak, that belief that what he is doing is right, was a compelling force for Arsenal’s good in a north London derby that took all logic and shook it until the bits dropped off.

 

If Wenger had a desire to pander as a populist, he would have bowed to the baying of the mob and substituted Theo Walcott to spare him the volume of criticism he was receiving from his own Arsenal fans as Spurs went 2-0 up in this magnificent exhibit for the Premier League.

Louis Saha’s deflected shot and Emmanuel Adebayor’s penalty, generously given by referee Mike Dean after Gareth Bale’s theatrical tumble in contact with Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, had elevated the frustration levels around Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal were not playing badly but it was the view of many of the paying public that Walcott was – and boy did they let him know it. The exclusion of the exciting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain threw Walcott’s struggles into greater relief but Wenger stood by his original selection.

He admitted later that occasionally you do a player a favour and remove him in the face of such treatment but Wenger stayed true to his belief that Walcott offered a serious threat.

And so it proved during an Arsenal comeback that carried such force that Spurs buckled quite spectacularly, shipping five goals in 28 minutes and threatening to lose even more emphatically than they eventually did.

Walcott, on the receiving end of some fairly X-rated abuse from some Arsenal fans in the first 45 minutes, added the final two flourishes in swift succession to finish off a comeback fashioned around goals from Bacary Sagna, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky.

It was such a transformation in fortunes that, when Walcott was replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain with nine minutes left, his name thundered around the stadium, accompanied by a standing ovation.

Fickle old football. And that fickle nature was scattered around like confetti with Walcott, Wenger and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp playing the central characters.

Seven days earlier, Spurs fans were united in ironic song at Stevenage as they pleaded “Arsene Wenger – We Want You To Stay” with Arsenal in desperate straits following a Champions League mauling at the hands of AC Milan and an FA Cup exit at Sunderland.

If Arsenal and Wenger were not quite on their knees going into this game they were certainly badly wounded. Rarely had Spurs looked so in command of north London’s football territory. And in Redknapp they had a manager who was almost assuming the role of “The People’s Choice” as the man most likely to succeed Fabio Capello as England coach.

Redknapp’s CV is no more dented by this loss than Arsenal’s problems have all disappeared as a result of 90 minutes – particularly a first half – that scrambled the senses of many observers.

At its conclusion Wenger announced: “Arsenal is more alive than anybody thought before this game.” There was certainly plenty of life on show in a performance that did not simply contain the attacking decoration that has been their trademark in the past – but also a character and resilience that saw them creating chances and applying pressure even when they were behind.

Arsenal’s season has contained some wild results such as an 8-2 defeat at Manchester United and a 5-3 win at Chelsea – add this to another madcap moment in this campaign. Wenger suddenly has his sights trained on fourth place once more but if this season has told us anything, it is that the evidence suggests Arsenal are the team that cannot be trusted completely.

There was so much to admire from the Gunners here. The fluid play, the support for Van Persie – although his most magical moment was all his own work, a precise finish that curled tantalisingly beyond Spurs keeper Brad Friedel to put Arsenal level just before half-time.

Fit-again Sagna gives balance and attacking threat as he scored once and was involved in creating one of Walcott’s goals, while Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen persisted long enough to ensure any lingering Spurs threat was snuffed out.

And yet all praise for Arsenal comes with a giant note of caution attached. It does not suit their purposes to play like this against Spurs if they are to retreat back to the timid at Liverpool next week.

For Spurs, it is a not time to throw the baby out with the bathwater on the strength of one desperate afternoon. A fairly horrendous defeat cannot undo so much good work done this season. Once wounds have been tended, they still lie seven points ahead of Arsenal in third place.

If Redknapp was angry at Spurs’s capitulation, he saved it for the dressing room. In his post-match inquest he was measured and tried to put the performance into context while giving Arsenal their full credit.

There were points of concern for Redknapp, however, especially in the manner they threatened to collapse even before actually doing so. The pace of their play has been a high point all season but here Arsenal carried all the tempo and momentum, which Spurs were unable to contain.

In the face of Arsenal’s vibrant attacks, captain Ledley King looked to be struggling in his fight to keep playing despite being unable to train. He laboured throughout and Redknapp admitted to his struggles later.

Spurs faded badly as Arsenal thrived and Scott Parker’s sending off, while an irrelevance here, may have serious implications when he misses Manchester United’s visit to White Hart Lane next week.

The midfield battle was lost so decisively that Redknapp made alterations at half-time with the scores level. Sandro and Rafael van der Vaart replaced Saha and Niko Kranjcar but the horse had bolted.

The game was up long before the end, allowing Arsenal’s players and supporters to revel in the luxury of such a commanding lead in the closing stages, using the humiliation of their neighbours as a healing force on those recent wounds.

The trick for Wenger and Arsenal is to somehow make sure results and performances such as this are not isolated incidents. The task for Redknapp and Spurs is to make sure they are.

Source: Phil McNulty, BBC Sport on 26 Feb 12

Arsenal frowns turned upside down

The front page of the match day programme for this always emotive fixture featured the headline 'Time for Heroes' and, belatedly, a handful of Arsene Wenger's players answered the call before a euphoric Emirates Stadium audience.

After the horrors of their thumping defeat against AC Milan in the Champions League and the equally depressing FA Cup exit at Sunderland in the last couple of weeks, this was the first time in more than a decade when Arsenal fans gathered for their annual home battle against Tottenham with pessimism pulsing through their veins.

That Arsenal's recent demise has coincided with an impressive rise for their long-time second rate neighbours has merely heightened the agony for Wenger's wavering disciples and on Sunday they reached a point where yet another defeat would simply not be tolerated.

It was not that Arsenal fans arrived at the Emirates Stadium wanting to see their team lose, in the hope that it would bring some much needed change of direction at their club. No, contemplating a loss against Spurs is not a prospect any true Gooner could contemplate, but many were ready to turn against their team before a ball had been kicked in this 150th league North London derby.

The mood of pessimism hovering over Wenger was confirmed as he looked to take the sting out of a potential revolt by appealing for the fans to stay behind his team, while Robin van Persie used his programme article to suggest Spurs are ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League because 'they have invested a lot of money in the last few years and that is reflected in their league position'. A far from subtle hint from the captain that investment is needed to put Arsenal back on track.

When Spurs then cashed in on Arsenal's defensive frailties to storm into a 2-0 lead after 34 frantic minutes, the Arsenal hordes were edging towards a point they have rarely been in Wenger's historic reign as their manager. While not quite in open revolt against their manager and his team, the anger amongst the Emirates choir was rising by the second.

It was not that this Arsenal performance had been as pitiful as those against AC Milan and Sunderland, as Tottenham's early advantage was somewhat fortunate in a first half that had seen the home side dominate possession and have the best of the chances. However, these supporters have had enough hard luck stories to last them a lifetime of late and they didn't want to be patronised by another.

Theo Walcott was on the receiving end of the most vitriolic abuse from the fans around the press box, though Wenger was not alone in escaping on a day when his defence again looked incapable of holding back any kind of tide that flowed in their direction.

Then, just as it seemed life could not get any more unbearable for Arsenal fans apparently facing up to the reality that the Wenger glory days were over for good, their misery came to a most sudden and glorious end.

Within 11 minutes of a game that could have finished off their campaign in miserable fashion, Arsenal scored three thrilling goals, as Bacary Sagna, Van Persie and Tomas Rosicky struck to transform this game and maybe the immediate future of this club and their manager.

Further goals from the previously maligned Walcott gave a disbelieving Arsenal public salvation that seemed out of reach just half an hour before, inspiring Wenger to hail his troops and insist he never lost any faith in their abilities.

"Arsenal is alive more than anyone believed prior to this game," claimed a defiant Wenger. "The drive of the team, the style we wanted to play and everything about this performance was perfect. Despite a bad start, we refused to lose this game and now we can feel it is still possible to finish ahead of Tottenham.

"If you look at our run in the league in recent months, it has not been bad and now we have to try and build on this performance and try to take this level of performance and spirit into our upcoming matches."

This was quite a collapse for a Tottenham side who have looked solid and superb for most of this season and just for once, Redknapp will take some of the blame for their defeat. Even when his side were 2-0 ahead, they were being overrun in midfield and he confirmed as much by throwing Sandro into his midfield at half-time.

Scott Parker may have been player of the season for Spurs, but he was unable to hold his attack-minded side together alone, with Sandro's arrival doing little to end the increasingly painful story for Spurs in the second half.

"I didn't even feel comfortable when we were 2-0 ahead," conceded a downbeat Redknapp, whose misery was completed when Scott Parker was sent off for a second yellow card three minutes from time. "We were getting overrun in midfield and that is why I decided to change the formation and put Sandro and Rafael van der Vaart on at half-time, but they had all the momentum by then.

"We buckled after they scored their first goal and it's not like us. Now we have to respond to this as we have Manchester United at home next week and it's a massive game for us. We are still well placed to finish third, despite this setback."

One day of glory amid a more widespread landscape of despair does not cure all ills, but after so much heartache, this was a day when Arsenal fans remembered how to smile once again.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Robin van Persie
When Arsenal appeared to be heading towards what would have been a fatal defeat, their captain did all he could to lift them and after two first half near misses, his stunning equaliser paved the way for victory.

WALCOTT WONDER
Was this the day Theo Walcott finally came of age as an Arsenal player? Berated by irate Arsenal fans as he turned in a typically erratic first half display, he left the field to a standing ovation after his two second half goals. "I considered taking him off as the fans were on his back in the first half, but Theo gave the perfect answer," stated Wenger. "I still believe in Theo."

ARSENAL VERDICT
There is a danger that this solitary heroic performance will paper over the cracks that remain in this Arsenal side, but the passion and commitment that has been lacking of late returned in abundance.

TOTTENHAM VERDICT
With a 2-0 lead established, Redknapp's men looked certain to wrap up the third place finish they have craved all season, but they now have to respond positively to this almighty setback.

Source: Kevin Palmer, ESPN Soccernet on 26 Feb 12

Defending becoming a forgotten art for Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal

The top Premier League sides are losing their discipline and ability to compete in Europe, as demonstrated by this season's high-scoring matches

After a fortnight that demonstrated English clubs' inability to control football matches in Europe, Arsenal's 5-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur was a perfect demonstration of the utterly anarchic football favoured by Premier League sides this season.

Arsenal won the game despite their defence looking extremely prone to quick breaks in the opening half hour. Equally, Tottenham raced into the lead and were then unable to retreat into a good defensive shape and withstand pressure. 5-2 was a freak scoreline – but so were 8-2, 1-6, 3-5, 3-3 and 1-5. All these results have come this season between the five English sides that have contested Champions League football in the past 12 months.

None of the top sides want to be submissive, to be seen as the underdog and play reactive football. That is the major difference between England and other major European leagues, where the food chain is more established. In Spain, barely any sides attempt to dominate possession against Real Madrid or Barcelona, and even Real know their place against Pep Guardiola's side. In Italy the game is played at a much slower tempo, and in Germany games between the bigger sides are generally tense, tactical and with counterattacking a key factor.

In England, everyone wants to play football. Arsenal went to Manchester United and played the "Arsenal way" despite having an inexperienced back four, a squad yet to reap the benefit of deadline day signings and a side exhausted after the midweek trip to Udinese. They conceded eight. United threw men forward in the derby defeat to Manchester City, even when down to 10 men and likely to be exposed on the counterattack. They conceded six. Chelsea played a suicidally high defensive line at home to Arsenal, when it was clear Arsenal's attackers would outpace their backline. They conceded five. There are other factors – injuries to key defensive players and some brilliantly inventive attacking play. But naivety has contributed, a refusal to change strategy to suit the situation.

Sunday's game broadly suits the pattern. Tottenham played deeper than usual, but the use of two central strikers indicated they were going to be direct and purposeful with their attacking. It worked well early on, with Emmanuel Adebayor and Louis Saha dragging the Arsenal centre-backs out of position and creating space for midfield runners, but Tottenham found themselves unable to compete in midfield, and invited more pressure than they could cope with.

On the other hand, despite Arsenal eventually winning the game comfortably, their early problems surely could have been avoided with a little more caution. Tottenham were only the second side this season to arrive at the Emirates and put two strikers high up the pitch. (The first was Fulham, who earned a point having gone ahead. Manchester United fielded Wayne Rooney behind Danny Welbeck, but Rooney generally battled with Alex Song rather than the centre-backs). Therefore, unusually at home, Arsenal didn't have a spare man in defence – but still pushed both full-backs high up the pitch, and left two against two at the back. They constantly looked uneasy when they lost the ball, when simply dropping Song or one of the full-backs deeper would have provided some cover.

A separate problem for each individual side is the lack of control they are able to exert upon matches. Control, an intangible quality that is impossible to measure, is the hallmark of every great side. It doesn't matter how a team seek to control a match – whether it is with long periods of possession or sensible defensive organisation, the best sides look comfortable when in the lead, rarely threatened and able to conserve energy ahead of their next fixture.

Yet Tottenham looked nervous when 2-0 up, allowing Arsenal chances to get back in the game. When Arsenal took a 3-2 lead, not even the most optimistic Arsenal fan had the confidence they would be able to kill the game – they had to go for the fourth and fifth goals to make sure. Conveniently, that was when they were at their most dangerous – Tottenham had to push up and leave space at the back for Theo Walcott to exploit. Like away at Chelsea, Arsenal could enjoy facing a side playing high up the pitch, yet putting little pressure on the man in possession.

It is this lack of control that is costing English teams in Europe. With a fluid Barcelona side the template for continental success, it's an inconvenient truth that English clubs perform better in Europe when they are defensive, organised and functional. Manchester United's Champions League win in 2008 coincided with their meanest defence in the Premier League era in terms of league goals conceded. Arsenal reached the final in 2006 with a run of 10 clean sheets, which seems unthinkable now. Liverpool's win in 2005 is inevitably remembered for the goalfest in the final, but that was completely at odds with their approach in the knockout rounds. Chelsea got to the semi-finals or further when José Mourinho, Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink were happy to defend, whereas Carlo Ancelotti couldn't get past the quarter-final when Chelsea were routinely putting seven goals past Premier League whipping boys, and defeating their title rivals.

It's not easy to change from a Premier League mentality to a European mindset, as English clubs have found out this season. Those used to a more patient approach are better equipped. Milan are not four goals better than Arsenal in terms of raw quality, but they had a clearer gameplan and knew how to attack Arsenal. Similarly, Chelsea's willingness to leave spaces for Napoli to counterattack into was bizarre. These matches sum up the lack of adaptability, the lack of control.

This is all anecdotal evidence, but the statistics support the theory that continental success comes at the expense of league excitement. When the Premier League enjoyed its best run in Europe, between 2004-05 and 2008-09, the goals per game average in the Premier League was down at around 2.5. In the previous five seasons, when England had no European Cup finalists, it was over 2.65. Since 2009, it has risen to 2.8.

Small margins, but it fits the pattern. To enjoy putting five past Spurs, Arsenal fans must be content with shipping four in Milan. Well, not quite, but there's a trade-off – and 4.9 goals per game in matches between the top five isn't indicative of great quality.

Source: Michael Cox, The Guardian on 27 Feb 12

Wenger's reaction to the Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur match

on the performance…
Arsenal are alive more than anybody thought before the game. Today we gave a performance that on the spirit side, the technical side, the drive of the whole team, on the style of the game we want to play everything was perfect despite a very bad start. I felt in the first five minutes Tottenham started well, after that it was all us for 85 minutes.

We were always on top of the game. We were 2-0 down but refused to lose the game and kept going no matter what happened. Once we were back to 2-2 you could see that if we maintained the pace, we would win the game. We had a good balance between offence and defence, between creativity and going into the space behind the defenders and good maturity.

We had a great spirit. I must say the way we want to play football depends on the pitch and this was the first time in three games that we played on a football pitch that is really a football pitch. That helps as well.

on Theo Walcott’s display…
The crowd was starting to get on his back and you wonder if [it won’t] do him a favour by leaving him on. But I felt that he has the qualities that, considering the rest of the team, are highly needed. He is a player who can be straight and go behind the defenders - nobody else is like that. He is a very direct player, he can sometimes miss a first touch but considering the balance of the team I thought it was important to keep him in the side.

on the defence…
I felt we were a bit nervous at the start and when we slowly became calmer the two centre backs were outstanding. They had an outstanding game today but I felt they started a bit nervy.

For the first goal we were caught on the counter attack and the second was not a penalty. We played against a team with Saha, Adebayor, Gareth Bale, Modric - you cannot dream they do not get any chance at all in the 90 minutes.

on finishing above Tottenham…
It is still possible. I felt even before the game that it was possible if we keep our consistency. Everyone in the Premier League can lose points. They have a difficult schedule, and we have a difficult schedule, but if we continue to play like that, why not?

on Tottenham’s substitutions…
They felt flooded in the middle of the park and couldn’t get to the ball. They tried to stop us from dominating the midfield but it didn’t stop us. I felt we were technically faster and superior in our passing.

on injuries to Rosicky and Vermaelen…
Unfortunately we had some bad news for Rosicky today, and Vermaelen as well. Vermaelen has an ankle problem, and Rosicky a back problem. I don’t think they will be available for Wednesday, whether they are available for Saturday is a big doubt.

Source: Arsenal.com on 26 Feb 12

26 February 2012: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur, Emirates Stadium

Brilliant. Superb. Wonderful. Jubilant. Joyful.

Think of the best word you know and add it to this list.

Because that is what it feels like to be an Arsenal fan right now.

The red-and-white hearts of North London have been tested this season. Their side’s at times indifferent form has been exacerbated by a fine campaign from their near neighbours in blue-and-white.

That is why 99 per cent of the Arsenal fans inside Emirates Stadium on Sunday would have taken a 1-0 win of any kind over their near-neighbours and old rivals. In fact, their side served up a five-goal comeback that will surely enter the annuls of North London history.

Five minutes before half-time they were trailing 2-0 in the most unfortunate circumstances – Louis Saha’s horribly-deflected opener and a hotly-disputed penalty dispatched by Emmanuel Adebayor.

However Arsenal were level by the whistle thanks to Bacary Sagna’s powerful header and Robin van Persie’s superb curler.

Parity was the least the hosts deserved, they had been the better side throughout but had been 'picked off' twice on the counter.

They would kick on after the break. The tireless Tomas Rosicky, superb on the day, poked home a third six minutes after the restart then Theo Walcott sent Emirates doolally with a brace inside three minutes.

Scott Parker’s late dismissal completed a dismal day for Tottenham. And, having matched Chelsea’s three-goal win over Bolton on Saturday, Arsenal returned to fourth place.

Few inside Emirates Stadium will have cared too much about that during this stunning, sensational 90 minutes.

However they might have been aware that the gap to third-placed Tottenham is down to a more manageable seven points.

Last season, Arsenal had led 2-0 and lost 3-2 in this fixture. A result that saw some suggest the powerbase in the north of the capital was changing.

This afternoon, Wenger’s men reversed that feat and went two goals better to prove they are still very much a force.

It was a reminder to always keep faith in your team.

The build-up to this derby had been unusual. Tottenham came into it as genuine title contenders and highly hopeful of finishing above their North London neighbours for the first time in 17 years.

For Arsenal, Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielny passed fitness tests to replace Johan Djourou and the injured Francis Coquelin. However Rosicky and Yossi Benayoun for Aaron Ramsey and Gervinho were tactical changes.

It was a little more artisan than artiste and suggested that Arsenal were preparing to roll up their sleeves.

After the most unfortunate of starts, that is exactly what they would do.

The game had barely settled before Tottenham went ahead after four minutes.

As they did so often in the first half, Tottenham spread the ball wide to Adebayor on the left. His presence drew the Arsenal defence and he sent Saha running free down the middle.

Vermaelen came back to cover but the Frenchman let fly from the edge of the area. The effort hit the Belgian’s legs and looped high over the wrong-footed, sprawling Wojciech Szczesny.

When your luck is out, your luck is out.

Arsenal sought a leveller immediately. They had two half-shouts for a penalty when Gibbs went down and Parker appeared to handle. In this case, the two halves did not make a whole.

Then Sagna raced down the right and his cross eventually found Van Persie. The Dutchman’s first shot was blocked but the return fell to him and he fired just beyond the far post.

By the midway point, Arsenal had wrestled control of the game and were pressing forwards.

Van Persie’s low, long-range shot whistled just wide. From the corner, Rosicky nudged a near-post header towards the far corner only for Brad Freidel to produce a wonderful tip over.

However Arsenal’s ambition always meant they might be picked off. In the 24th minute they were nearly counter-punched to the canvas.

Adebayor chased down Gibbs, who tried to shepherd the ball back to Szczesny. The keeper’s clearance fell to Kyle Walker who rifled his effort just over the bar.

It did not stop Arsenal attacking.

Parker clipped Van Persie just outside the area but Arteta drove his free-kick straight into the wall.

However, Tottenham still seemed to have space when they did go forward. In the 34th minute, Luka Modric sent Gareth Bale through the middle. He managed to hold off Gibbs and knocked the ball past Szczesny before going over in the box.

Referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot and, though the keeper went the right way, Adebayor squeezed his penalty into the corner.

The scoreline betrayed the game. Arsenal had been asking most of the questions but that had allowed the visitors too much space through the middle.

Tottenham were too good to refuse it.

Wenger’s men desperately needed something before the interval. In fact they would get more than they asked for.

In the 40th minute, Van Persie swivelled a low cross-shot against the far post. The ball went out to the left and was eventually returned by Arteta. Sagna attacked the cross like a centre forward to power a header past Freidel.

Suddenly there was doubt in the Tottenham defence. Three minutes later they allowed Van Persie to get the ball on his left foot just outside the area.

It was a fatal mistake.

The Dutchman curled home his 29th goal of the season into the top corner and it was surely one of his best.

It was all Arsenal going into the break. The flow of this passionate end-to-end game has been that way anyway – even if the score had fluctuated wildly.

Two changes at the break suggested Redknapp was more concerned by the first 45 minutes than Wenger.

Sandro replaced Nico Kranjcar and Rafael Van der Vaart replaced Saha.

The changes made no immediate difference. Arsenal had finished the first half in rampant mood and it was the same straight after the restart.

Arteta found the excellent Benayoun in the area and the Israeli tried to slide a shot towards the corner. The stretching Friedel fingertipped the ball past the upright.

Then, in the 51st minute, Arsenal grabbed the lead for the first time. Sagna went overlapping down the right and sent in a low cross towards the near post. Rosicky had shown wonderful desire to reach the ball and deserved to touch home his first league goal of the campaign.

Throughout the game, the decibel level at Emirates had touched the top of the scale. As the Czech international wheeled away, the noise was phenomenal.

This was no ordinary derby.

Having taken the lead, Arsenal lost a little urgency. However they were still in control and, just before the hour, the tireless Rosicky slid a ball into the path of Walcott on the right.

With the angle narrowing, he fired a low cross-shot inches beyond the far post.

The Englishman had been quiet thus far but, just past the hour, his game would catch fire.

In the 65th minute Van Persie pulled the Tottenham defence to the left in a similar manner to Adebayor way back when in the first half.

It left Walcott in space on the right and, when the captain found him, his chipped finish was immaculate.

Three minutes later, Song sent a lofted ball down the right-hand channel to release the winger once more. This time he steadied himself and cracked home a fifth.

The Emirates was in ecstacy.

With the game won, Arsenal eased off and Tottenham fought for pride. Bale’s cross-shot was the closest they came and Parker’s second yellow was inevitable after his went through on Thomas Vermaelen.

Wenger even brought on Carl Jenkinson at the end. It was the full back’s first appearance in more than three months due to a back injury.

But, more importantly, as a life-long Arsenal fan, the young full back knew exactly what this victory meant.

A great day to be a Gunner.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 26 Feb 12

Champions League or bust

It’s been one of those weeks; one of those weeks that we’ve had too many times as Arsenal fans in recent seasons. In terms of winning a trophy, the season is over. As much as I like to dream that it might happen, it’s serious unlikely that we’ll win 5-0 at home to AC Milan. Even if we were 5-0 up at home to AC Milan, we’d probably find a way to concede a goal and go out on away goals.

Anyway, there can be no miracle in the FA Cup. With the other teams that had gone out, it looked to be a great chance to win some silverware. However once again we followed a bad defeat with another one. It has become a worrying trait of Arsenal in general, not just this in this season, that we lose two keys games in a row. Plus they haven’t just been tight games that we’ve narrowly lost, we haven’t really looked like winning either of them.

Now we’re out of the FA Cup and effectively out of the Champions League, all we have left is the league, and the fight for the top four. People laughed when Arsene Wenger said that finishing fourth is like a trophy. Obviously it isn’t the same, however given the way modern football is, financially it is as important, if not more so, to finish in the top four. I don’t particularly like that it is, but it’s the way the current game is, so we have to make sure we finish there. Even if we do make the Champions League, it will be hard for any Arsenal fan to justify this season as being a success. However it wouldn’t be a complete failure. Missing out on Champions League football would be.

The past week has raised a large number of questions from fans, mainly towards the manager, about the state of the club and about a change of policy. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and has an idea about what the club should do to move forward, as we’ve clearly been going backwards, but there’s not much we can do about it mid-season. Clearly the club have made mistakes in the last few transfer windows, but if we want to see the club move forward, we need to be in the Champions League next season.

Without it, we won’t be able to attract better quality players and compete with others financially. There is money there from previous sales that we should use, but the extra Champions League windfall will help with wages, not just with transfer fees. Whoever is the manager in the summer will need to sort out the playing squad, because as much as those in the positions of power at Arsenal might want to say we’re in a good situation, without a successful team on the pitch, a football club is not successful.

They’ll also need the lure of the Champions League to help with that revolution of the playing squad.

I will never call for Arsene Wenger to be sacked. It might just be me being sentimental as he’s the only Arsenal manager I’ve really experienced in charge of the club, or me being scared of what Arsenal might be like without him, but I can’t bring myself to join the growing numbers who want a different manager. However I do want our manager to change his ways. As far as I’m concerned, his youth project has failed. However he should be the first to be given the chance to turn our fortunes around and to overhaul the squad in the summer. Before that, he has to galvanize those in the squad at the moment to make the top four. If we don’t finish there in May, I think it might be time for a change.

When the day comes that Wenger leaves, and if that is soon, I’m beginning to think that the most tragic, but best, way for him to go will be for him to go of his own accord. It would be a sad if it reached the point that managing the club became too much for him to deal with, but with some of the animosity around from some, I wouldn’t blame him for walking away. I’m desperate for Wenger to turn it around as if any manager is going to improve this Arsenal team, I want it to be Arsene Wenger.

As with Wednesday’s mauling in Milan, the defeat at Sunderland wasn’t entirely Wenger’s fault. We have had some cruel luck in the last week, with three centre backs, one central midfielder and a midfielder/makeshift left back all getting injured. The pitches at the Stadium of Light and the San Siro were bad, but we should still have been able to deal with them. The first Sunderland goal was deflected, and the second was a horrible piece of luck for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had at least show commitment to chase back when Sunderland counter attacked. However ultimately, the problem once again was that we couldn’t break down an organised defence and create chances.

It is all very well singling out individual players and saying they aren’t good enough, but collectively the team has not been good enough in the last two games. They fought well to win at Sunderland last week, but haven’t done so since then. Players have to take responsibility and not have to be relying on others.

Our recent failures are made more frustrating because we know the team are capable of playing well and showing character. That’s one of the key problems, we’ve only seen it in fleeting glances. Saturday’s defeat was horribly predictable, as we now don’t expect the players to be able to deal with tough situations. Those in the squad for the rest of the season have to mature quickly and fight for the club, and fight for their futures as Arsenal players.

The reality is that Arsenal aren’t a club in crisis; we’re a club that aren’t moving forward, aren’t keeping up with modern football, and are nowhere near as good as we used to be on the pitch. It is immensely painful that we won’t win a trophy this season, but we are currently in the top four. Finishing in that position, the one where we need to be to enable us to make the necessary changes in the summer, is in our hands.

After the week we’ve hand, we could do with the next match being one where three points could come more easily. However it’s the North London derby. It will be a really difficult match, because as much as it pains me to admit it, Spurs are playing very well this season and deserve to be where they are in the league. However if the Arsenal players can’t get themselves pumped up and be prepared to do everything to win this game, frankly they don’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt again. If we win, Wenger will be afforded time by some supporters as there is no greater pressure reliever for an Arsenal manager or team, than a win against Tottenham. If we lose, the howls against Wenger will only get louder, and we’ll also lose ground in the race for the top four.

We’re not in a crisis, however losing to Tottenham will make it feel like we are.

Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 19 Feb 12

Arsenal's appeal shown to be based on playing style and traditions

While Stan Kroenke has been surveying from the west the increasingly discordant scenes at the club he owns, and Arsène Wenger has looked increasingly weary at the home of modern football, the commercial team expensively assembled at the Emirates by the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has been looking east.

Expansive research conducted by the operation to help capitalise on the crucial point in 2014 when long-term sponsorship, naming rights and kit deals with Emirates and Nike expire will play an unlikely role in the selection of the next Arsenal manager if and when Wenger departs.

Global research into Arsenal's brand and appeal surprised even club insiders with the extent to which their traditions of conducting their business in the right way on and off the pitch and playing attractive football were core elements of their appeal – even above short-term success. That is true both of the global fanbase that Arsenal are trying to reach under their new American owner, with last year's Asian tour to be followed this summer by a trip to Africa, and the commercial partners they hope to attract at a significant premium to their current long-term deals.

Ten-year contracts signed with Nike and Emirates before leaving Highbury were necessary to fund the move but Manchester United and Liverpool have extended their lead over Arsenal in commercial terms.

Gazidis has long trumpeted the "Arsenal way" as an integral element of the club's appeal and that is why he is unlikely to turn to a short‑term fix which may do long-term damage to that brand – such as José Mourinho or any of the go-to men of European football such as Guus Hiddink.

Instead Barcelona's Pep Guardiola, if he could be tempted away from Camp Nou, or – more riskily – Brendan Rodgers at Swansea, are seen as better bets to safeguard the club's values and keep momentum under new financial fair play rules that Gazidis hopes will dramatically favour Arsenal over their rivals.

It would help, of course, if any new manager could also put right a trend that is in danger of becoming another less welcome tradition – that of an empty trophy cabinet at the end of the season. All the analysis, surveys and defining brand characteristics in the world will not help if Arsenal cannot maintain a seat at European football's top table.

Source: Owen Gibson, The Guardian on 24 Feb 12

Arsène Wenger, like Arsenal wins over Tottenham, cannot go on forever

The Arsenal manager knows there is now more than just pride at stake when the north London rivals meet

Arsène Wenger was at a low ebb on Friday. His heavy cold embodied the subdued mood at a faltering club about to meet Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. In modern times, the fixture has often been about pride alone, but the days are gone when the visitors sought something so small as a mere, isolated win over Arsenal.

Tottenham, third in the table, will have hopes of maintaining or extending the 10-point lead over them. Whether they achieve that or not, the scrutiny of Wenger and his employers will continue. Supporters understand the value of prudence but also believe that the virtue is being taken too far.

The "Arsène Knows" sign could have been decommissioned a long time ago. While fans may resist vilifying him in the near future, he is the cause of as much frustration as Stan Kroenke, the American who holds the majority stake in the club. The latter may attend the encounter with Tottenham, even if the mood in the Emirates has an undertow of animosity towards the owners as well as the visitors.

Followers of Arsenal have, all the same, just begun to express dissent. They may still be glad of possessing costly season tickets that start at almost £1,000 considering that there is a waiting list of 40,000. Nonetheless, those who can attend the games do not feel so very privileged any more.

Their tone still tends to be quizzical rather than mutinous towards Wenger but that could be changing. "Everyone will mention him and Sir Alex Ferguson," said Andrew Mangan, editor of arseblog.com, "but Ferguson is there because he has kept on winning things." It seems that a knack for disappointment has been honed at Arsenal.

Defeat in last season's League Cup final did not seem so very astonishing despite the fact that opponents Birmingham City had taken the silverware on the way to relegation. It sometimes feels that Arsenal are dogged in their capacity to fall short. Whatever is said of the League Cup, it could have stopped the constant references to Arsenal lacking a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.

On that occasion the side first survived the final against a dominant Manchester United before prevailing in a shoot-out. The sense that this is now a distant event is underpinned by the realisation that the match was staged at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

There is no seething mob confronting Wenger even now and while he should be spared that after all the wonders once accomplished, a scepticism is on the rise that can undermine a manager in its own fashion.

"The idea of him staying forever isn't as obvious as it was," says Mangan, before attempting to understand Wenger's circumstances and intentions. "Is it wilfulness or stubbornness or is there something going on in the background that he is covering up? It would be sad if it ended in acrimony."

Wenger could regard himself as unlucky when, for instance, his side reached the final of the Champions League, only to appreciate that the game was a lost cause because the opponents were a Barcelona lineup hailed as among the greatest teams in history.

That was a day when Arsenal were hopelessly disadvantaged, but there are accusations that the club also confounds itself. Wenger is poised when justifying his situation. Only Blackburn and Wigan have a worse defensive record in away games in the Premier League. The Arsenal manager's response is not so very comforting for fans.

"We conceded eight at Man United and four at the beginning of the season at Blackburn," he said. "So overall I feel since then we have stabilised our defence." Followers of the club would wonder why such debacles had even been feasible. The loss of four goals without reply to Milan in the first leg of the last 16 tie in Champions League did not suggest that all ills have been cured.

The quick-witted Wenger also referred to the fact that his club had at least got to the knockout phase, leaving everyone to ponder the Manchester clubs who are out of the competition and busy instead in the Europa League. Who can blame him? Opportunities for oneupmanship do not come often enough for Arsenal.

He has been criticised by people such as the former Arsenal manager George Graham. Wenger can cite ill-fortune as in the serious injury to the centre-half Per Mertesacker, who was bought in the summer. Then again, he is probably not as great a loss as that suffered by United when Nemanja Vidic's season was ended by cruciate damage.

The Frenchman tries to ignore the remarks of Graham and others. "I fight for what I can master," Wenger said. "It's a waste of energy and of time to speak about people who have opinions. They are entitled to have an opinion, that I respect. It does not mean this person is necessarily right. We live in a world where you have to accept that. I can completely live with that. That is not the most important for me. The most important for me is that we turn up with a good performance on Sunday."

It is part of the punishment of a manager in difficulties that everything he has ever done becomes open to re-examination. Wenger was asked, for example, if he might not have signed the excellent Gareth Bale who went to Tottenham instead. "We had full-backs at the time. We had Clichy, we had Cole. After we were more keen on [Theo] Walcott, Walcott was a lot of money."

Arsenal did pay Southampton £5m for him in 2006, with Tottenham stumping up the same amount for Bale when too he arrived, also from Southampton, a year later. Wenger also praised the fact that Redknapp has taken the former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City.

"He's done well," Wenger remarked of Redknapp. "Having said that, if the player was allowed to play as well against Man City, maybe they would have a more realistic approach. I was always against the case that you can loan the player and he cannot play against you. He should be allowed to play against you as well."

It was an odd argument since Arsenal have no contractual connection at all to Adebayor and perhaps it reflected unease in Wenger over his general situation on the approach to the north London derby. The often ironic Wenger was almost emotional about the test to come this weekend.

"It's vital for us," he said of the scene anticipated at the Emirates. "Arsenal v Tottenham is a passionate game," he said, "you expect that. It's only a passionate game if your fans stand behind you and give absolutely everything like the players will do."

He will prize the devotion of those onlookers as well as the sacrifices made to afford the season tickets, but it was notable to hear Wenger take such a populist stance. He often seems above the fray. On this occasion, the emotion that simmers within Wenger will almost certainly surge to the surface in a game that will go some way to determining Arsenal's season.

Source: Kevin McCarra, The Guardian on 24 Feb 12

Will English clubs' Champions League failure be a passing phase?

Chelsea and Arsenal's expected failure to reach the Champions League last eight could mark a low ebb in English football

The vultures are beginning to circle over the stumbling, disorganised remnants of Premier League participation in Europe's major club competition, waiting for the moment when life can be pronounced extinct and the bones of a once thriving enterprise can be picked clean, probably prior to being danced over.

In case you haven't heard, should Arsenal and Chelsea fail to overcome their first-leg deficits against Italian opponents when the Champions League resumes next month, English football will not have a side in the last eight for the first time since its formation 1996. Sixteen years is a long time, especially when English clubs have reached the final on no fewer than eight occasions in that period, and even if the actual success rate (three European Cups) was slightly disappointing the rest of Europe seems totally delighted now that the Premier League is in danger of losing its superior smirk.

Never mind that Chelsea and Arsenal still have microscopically small chances of making progress. The rest of Europe has just seen Chelsea and Arsenal in action, and judgment need not wait until elimination becomes a mathematical certainty. By Champions League standards, indeed by the standards of previous English attempts on Europe's summit, these are two poor sides. One can only imagine a certain amount of confusion exists in continental Europe as to how Chelsea and Arsenal ended up as the last two English representatives. If the last two are that bad, does it follow that Manchester City and Manchester United are even worse?

Not necessarily. City in particular were both inexperienced and unlucky enough to find themselves in a highly competitive group, not to mention handicapped by recalcitrant substitutes. But City were never going to win the Champions League this year, even Roberto Mancini would tell you that. They never had the same amount of wind in their sails that Tottenham Hotspur had last season, and though they would have liked to make it out of their qualification group, they would inevitably have found the going tough in the latter stages at a time when all their concentration needs to be on their bid to secure a first domestic title in 44 years.

A fact much harder to face is that United were never going to win the Champions League this year either. Reaching two of the last three finals counts for nothing when you have been so thoroughly outplayed by the same team in each, and though all at Old Trafford would strenuously deny it, the possibility exists that confidence, perhaps at some subconscious level, was irreparably damaged by the two crushing Barcelona defeats. It is hard to think of other reasons why a team of United's experience and pedigree should come up short against the likes of Basel and Benfica, and a number of supporters are consoling themselves with the thought that as long as Barcelona are still at large there is little point in fighting all the way to the final anyway. That is an understandable reaction, though a somewhat flattering one. Barcelona are far from the only team in Europe who now look quite uncatchable to English sides. Real Madrid, Milan and Bayern Munich, if not a few others, all look capable of beating United at the moment, and by extension anyone else from the Premier League.

So English football, or at least the product produced by mostly foreign players and managers from the English Premier League, is not as strong as it used to be. The evidence is clear. We appear to be a footballing nation in decline, except that one year may not be representative of the overall situation. There was an English team in the final last season after all, and two more reached the last eight. The question now is how strong Premier League teams are going to be in the Champions League next year. Maybe Chelsea or Arsenal or even both will miss out, and on recent evidence that may be no bad thing. But who will replace them? Spurs are in prime position, though it is difficult to say who will be managing Spurs next season.

It will be a pity, from a club point of view, should Harry Redknapp accept the England position, because as Sir Alex Ferguson says, he has put together a very attractive team at White Hart Lane. Without the England distraction Spurs would ordinarily have been looking forward to using the experience gained last season and having a real go at the Champions League, a prospect that seems infinitely preferable to having Redknapp attempt to persuade Paul Scholes out of retirement for a World Cup qualifier in Moldova. It is up to Redknapp to decide what is the grander destiny, but anyone neutral in the matter would not take long to conclude that Spurs have a far greater capacity for attacking, exciting football than England, and there is no guarantee that the next manager will be able to maintain the club's momentum.

In terms of renewing the English challenge in Europe then, there is already a question mark over Spurs. There is a question over Liverpool too, because they may not be able to qualify. There is some doubt over whether Liverpool would cause many problems for the big names of Europe when they keep ceding points to the likes of Fulham, Norwich City and Swansea City, though the recent elimination of the two Manchester clubs from the two domestic cups gave a better indication of what they are capable of when the occasion arises. Liverpool have always shown great stickability in Europe – their 2005 triumph was not just a miracle in Istanbul, they were written off at almost every stage preceding the final – and few English clubs have ever proved more adept at the art of winning over two legs. Yet unless their league form improves they will have to wait another year, and anything can happen in that time period.

The only other breakthrough contenders, unless Martin O'Neill is about to whisk Sunderland all the way into the top four, are Newcastle United. Stranger things have happened, though not many, and with due respect to Alan Pardew's achievements the reality appears to be that the two Manchester clubs and Spurs will take the top three positions, leaving Chelsea and Arsenal to fight over fourth spot. Only in the event of complete collapse from both will anyone else get a look-in, and though Chelsea and Arsenal look as if they may have some more collapsing to do, it will be a surprise if both manage to mess up the rest of the season badly enough to miss out.

That's not a very encouraging picture, is it? United, Chelsea and Arsenal have failed to scare Europe this season and have given little indication that things are going to be much better next time round. City might be all right, depending on how well things go for the rest of this season, but are short of Champions League experience and are beginning to be hampered by the financial fair play rules. Spurs could be just about the best bet, but must be wishing Carlo Ancelotti was still available for a seamless takeover should Redknapp say goodbye.

The bottom line is that it is hard to see Chelsea or Arsenal improving significantly in Europe next season. Both seem to be due a major shakeup. United also seem to be battling on rather than blazing any new trails of glory, and though it could be argued a major shakeup at Old Trafford is long overdue, the owners and long-serving manager seem content with the present conservative policy. United could easily improve on this season's performance in Europe – it is hard to see them doing any worse – but they have not progressed in recent years as much as other top sides in the Champions League. City and Spurs both have plenty of room for improvement, but plenty of scope for all manner of unexpected things to go wrong. While it would be great to predict that English clubs will be back with a bang in Europe next year, the reality is that it could be another whimper.

Source: Paul Wilson, The Guardian on 22 Feb 12

How much longer can Arsène Wenger be offered the benefit of the doubt?

The Arsenal manager is providing the evidence that even the greatest can lose their way, inexplicably and irretrievably

Arsène Wenger's achievements are so monumental it is not an easy thing to find ourselves at the point when we have to acknowledge, however reluctantly, he is straying dangerously close to fully fledged fantasy if he seriously believes restoring true greatness to Arsenal is going to be anything but a dauntingly long-term project.

The evidence was overwhelming even before their ordeal at the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza and the latest directionless effort at Sunderland that, once again, takes them out of trophy contention and makes it felt even more absurd that Wenger had begun the week expressing his belief that they had realistic aspirations of outdoing Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid and all the rest to win the Champions League.

Nobody had taken it particularly seriously because, put bluntly, we assumed a man of this calibre was surely more in touch with reality and, if not, what happened at San Siro ("not a football match but a massacre," as La Repubblica put it) made the point with the force of a sledgehammer.

After that, if Wenger's judgment is skewed enough to believe it was simply one bad night, rather than the cumulative effects of a decline that has gone on longer than most Arsenal fans would care to remember, then maybe what we are looking at here is compelling evidence that even the greatest football men can lose their way, inexplicably and irretrievably.

This is not said lightly in an age when football's blame culture and unending demand for scapegoats can be incredibly wearing and Wenger has already revolutionised Arsenal to the point that, even now, it feels almost sacrilege to question his suitability for what needs to happen next. Yet how much longer can we offer the benefit of the doubt when it is so plainly obvious that much of the old magic is no longer there? The decline is year on year and when the man in charge appears to believe it needs only some fine-tuning it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain a legitimate defence.

Already this season we have seen open mutiny at the Emirates Stadium and the most voluble abuse Wenger has ever encountered from his own crowd. This frustration has been building since they won their last trophy seven years ago, and who can say it will get any better soon when they will surely lose their outstanding player, Robin van Persie, at the end of the season?

Wenger has already seen most of his better players picked off by predators. Inferior replacements have been brought in and you know things are bad when Sir Alex Ferguson starts referring to him with the kind of 19th-hole chumminess that could make you think they were Rotary Club buddies rather than embittered adversaries of old. Ferguson and Wenger could once have fallen out over a game of Pooh Sticks but, seriously, why would anyone at Manchester United be overly concerned now about the manager of such an ordinary team, 17 points off Manchester City at the top of the league?

The truth is Arsenal are in fourth position despite recording only one league victory of real substance all season. That was the 5-3 at Chelsea in October, when they came across a side enduring their own slump. Otherwise they have lost every single time against the other four other clubs with aspirations of challenging for the top positions. A good barometer of a team's competitive spirit can usually be found in their away form and Arsenal, on their travels, have conceded more goals than every other team bar two of the sides in the bottom four, Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic. In truth, fourth place flatters Arsenal.

What we have now is a team regarded as such a soft touch that, before a ball had even been kicked at San Siro, the former Milan coaches Carlo Ancelotti and Arrigo Sacchi, with four Europeans Cups between them, could casually dismiss Wenger's men in a click of the fingers, and nobody saw it as the slightest bit impudent. Dennis Bergkamp, Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira have all weighed in from the Invincibles era. These are serial winners, as perplexed as the rest of us. Roy Keane, an old foe now on television duty, was still shaking his head as he boarded his flight from Malpensa airport on Thursday. This team, he said, were going nowhere fast. "The worst Arsenal side in 10 years," Sacchi volunteered.

This is why nobody can really blame Van Persie if, at 28, he wants to join a team that represent more than the elegant frustration Arsenal have become. This could be the first season under Wenger that they fail to qualify for the Champions League and will almost certainly be the only time in his tenure they finish below Spurs, currently 10 points better off. The deterioration has been nothing short of staggering and you have to wonder whether Wenger, already planning for next season, is in danger of joining the list of football greats who stayed too long.

Source: Daniel Taylor, The Guardian on 18 Feb 12

Sunderland's Kieran Richardson puts seal on Arsenal's week of misery

It seemed somehow appropriate that Jimmy Montgomery's first day as Sunderland's special ambassador should end in a spot of FA Cup glory. It is 39 years since his double reflex save at Wembley ensured that Ian Porterfield's goal was sufficient to beat Leeds United and bring the trophy back to Wearside but, inspired by Martin O'Neill's dynamic management, Montgomery's old club have silverware in their sights once more.

Barring a Champions League miracle it looks as if Arsenal will not be winning anything again this season. Indeed it was perhaps not purely because of the plummeting February temperature that, at the end, Arsène Wenger partially covered his face with the protective, zipped-up collar of his managerial duvet coat.

As if listening to cheeky chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning" from jubilant Sunderland fans was not bad enough, Arsenal's manager had to endure the experience of seeing his disappointingly flat side deservedly lose to a team who, until O'Neill's transformative arrival, were dallying with relegation.

If O'Neill's central defensive partnership of John O'Shea and Michael Turner did an outstanding job of keeping Robin van Persie and company quiet, a counter-attacking Sunderland also impressed in possession.

Lee Cattermole proved arguably the evening's key figure in a holding central midfield role which took considerable pressure off his defence while James McClean's left-wing forays worried Arsenal.

A chill wind whipping off the river Wear proved so capricious that ball control assumed a whole new meaning. With the heavy pitch beginning to cut up the conditions were hardly ideal for a fast-tiring Arsenal side badly in need of restoring some morale-boosting fluency to their play following last Wedenesday's Champions League ignominy in Milan.

When Francis Coquelin, drafted in at left-back for the day, swiftly hobbled off with a hamstring injury it seemed that fortune was continuing to frown on Wenger's currently accident-prone defence.

With Sébastien Squillaci joining Johan Djourou in central defence, Thomas Vermaelen relocated to his less preferred left-back role where he frequently looked uneasy in the face of Sebastian Larsson, Sunderland's former Arsenal right-winger.

Across on the left, McClean regularly had the beating of Bacary Sagna and the young Irishman's runs and crosses at times provoked consternation among the visiting backline.

Although Stéphane Sessègnon was nominally deployed as Sunderland's lone striker Craig Gardner made frequent, defender-confounding late dashes into the penalty area from the heart of O'Neill's midfield quintet. With Cattermole, recovered from a hamstring strain, in such authoritative form Gardner was free to serve at times as a secondary counterattacking striker.

It was Djourou's foul on Gardner that precipitated the free-kick from which Sunderland took the lead. Larsson swung the ball in and Vermaelen's attempt at a headed clearance fell at the feet of Kieran Richardson.

O'Neill's left-back was unattended in acres of space but, even so, his handsome left-foot shot appeared poised to fly fractionally wide until it was deflected off Squillaci and into the bottom corner.

Wenger slumped deep into his padded seat in the away dugout. The row of stony-faced backroom staff lined up alongside a manager by now huddling into the protective folds of his coat as if it were a comfort blanket reflected an increasingly downbeat north London mood.

Visiting demeanours were hardly enhanced when Howard Webb refused Van Persie a penalty in the wake of a perceived foul from O'Shea after the Dutchman had collected Alex Song's clever reverse pass. Webb, though, adjudged that O'Shea had got the ball before bringing down Van Persie.

Earlier Gardner's challenge on Van Persie had earned a free-kick just outside the area, floated wide by Mikel Arteta, but Simon Mignolet's sole key save of the match involved him brilliantly tipping a shot from Gervinho, newly returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, to safety.

As the second half unravelled and the clock ticked remorselessly down, Wenger was forced into a double substitution. Squillaci, clutching a groin, and a limping Aaron Ramsey trudged off, heads bowed, and were replaced by Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott.

Some of Van Persie's off-the-ball attacking movement was superb but the service he received proved less so and during an odd pause in play the striker's body language suggested he was a little fed up.

It was time for some of the much-vaunted leadership hitherto conspicuous by its absence and Van Persie duly decided to try galvanising his colleagues. When Arteta indicated he would be taking a free-kick, Arsenal's captain overruled him taking the set play himself and, in a cameo emblematic of Wenger's woes, saw it deflected wide.

Luck similarly deserted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when, attempting to help out defensively, he merely succeeded in inadvertently nudging the ball into his own net.

Sunderland's second goal began with Arteta's slip which permitted Sessèngon to race almost halfway down the pitch before slipping a pass to Larsson. Although the Swede's shot rebounded off a post, the back-tracking Oxlade-Chamberlain proved powerless to prevent the ball entering the net.

It proved the cue for the finally confident home supporters to break into one of their favourite ditties. "Are you watching," they sang. "Are you watching Newcastle?"

Source: Louise Taylor, The Guardian on 18 Feb 12

Wenger's reaction to the Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal match

on the team’s display…
We put in a committed performance and gave absolutely everything that was left in our legs. It was a very difficult game. We had a very unfortunate schedule because we played away in the Champions League then straight away [we played] away again on some very difficult pitches.

We fought hard today. I felt we were a bit unlucky because there was a 100 per cent penalty for us that Mr Webb missed and then the first shot [for Sunderland] was a goal.

Then we had to chase the game and take every gamble and we were caught on the counter for the second goal. We had a lot of possession but didn’t create a lot, which was down to fantastic defending from Sunderland.

on dealing with criticism…
We have to take the critics on board, stay together and face them. There is only one response in our job; stay united, fight and focus on the next game.

on ending the season without silverware…
It is too early to say where it leaves us and what we will do. Let’s focus on the next game in the championship and fight, even if there is a small possibility [of progressing], in the Champions League. We have a big game next Saturday, we lost three players today and we are starting to get very short.

on the next steps…
At the moment it is best to let people talk, criticise, analyse and destroy and on our side it is important to show internal strength and resilience and come out with a strong performance in our next game.

on injuries…
Squillaci was injured. Coquelin is injured. Ramsey is injured.

Source: Arsenal.com on 18 Feb 12

18 February 2012: Sunderland 2-0 Arsenal, Stadium of Light

Arsenal are out of the FA Cup.

Arsène Wenger's side went down 2-0 at Sunderland thanks to Kieran Richardson's cross-shot just before the break and an own goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 13 minutes from full-time.

There were elements ill-fortune over both. The first found the corner thanks to deflection and the second was stumbled over the line by the backtracking Arsenal midfielder. But few could deny that Sunderland were still worthy winners on the day.

The visitors played a full part in a full-bloodied cup tie but they could not summon a victory to banish the memory of that midweek defeat in Milan.

Barring an incredible fightback in the second leg on March 6, Arsenal's season is now all about the Premier League.

Wenger had promised to freshen up his side after the defeat in Italy. In the end, he made five changes - some enforced, some not.

Lukasz Fabianski, Francis Coquelin, Johan Djourou, Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain all came in Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky.

It has been an arduous week already and the Arsenal manager clearly thought his side needed an injection of energy.

Sunderland's crowd was significantly down on the previous week's Premier League game but the visiting contingent was virtually the same. The Arsenal supporters had taken advantage of £5 coach trips laid on by the Club.

As they have all season, Wenger's team travelled with a healthly vocal backing.

And their team gave them something to shout about it in opening stages.

Until Coquelin hobbled off, the visitors were vibrant. However the nearest they came to goal was when Arteta whipped a free-kick just wide.

But in the seventh minute, Arsenal lost a defender for the third successive game. Coquelin pulled up close to the same spot on which Per Mertesacker had crumpled into a heap a week earlier. The Frenchman's game was over and Sebastien Squillaci came on for his first game since Fulham on January 2.

The change sucked the early impetus out of Arsenal and Sunderland started to pressurise. Stephane Sessignon went through and curled an effort just wide of the far post then Fabianski did well to hold on to James McClean's driven cross.

The home crowd began to sense a goal as the game went end-to-end. But although Sunderland were on top, Arsenal would have their moments.

Just before the half-hour, Robin van Persie released Gervinho. The Ivorian, who was the visitors' brightest attacking outlet so far, jinked himself so space and rifled in a shot that Simon Mignolet did well to push over the bar.

In the 32^nd minute, Arsenal thought they might have had a penalty when Song's perceptive pass released Van Persie in the area momentarily. Replays suggested John O'Shea had got his toe to the ball before he brought down the Dutch striker.

It seemed that Arsenal had forced their way back to parity in a cup tie that was starting to simmer. However they would end the half badly.

Five minutes before half-time, Djourou hauled down Craig Gardner and, though Vermaelen cleared Larsson's free-kick, Richardson returned the ball with interest.

Typical of Arsenal's fortune right now, the full-back's effort would have drifted wide but for a deflection off Vermaelen's arm. In fact, it found the far corner.

Arsenal were rattled and Sunderland sensed a second. They nearly got it when Larsson's deep cross was nodded back at far post by Jack Colback and McClean prodded the ball into the sidenetting.

Sunderland started the second half in similar fashion. Sagna took out McClean just outside the area and Larsson planted his free-kick on to the top of the net.

Ramsey had stayed out during the break, presumably to test out a knock. Clearly the result was negative as the Welshman limped off within 10 minutes of the restart. Rosicky came on.

Squillaci was wincing when Walcott replaced him at the same time. Song dropped into central defence while the Englishman went up front with Van Persie tucked in behind.

This was cup football and Wenger had set up his side to go for it. The changes would help their cause.

Arsenal suddenly looked to have a better balance and pushed forward. Van Persie whipped a low free-kick just wide as the visitors started to pen back the home side as they had done a week ago. However they were having trouble prising open a stubborn Sunderland defence.

Vermaelen's cross was inches too high for Van Persie then the Belgian's header was plucked out of the air by Mignolet.

Arsenal's increasing ambition left them open to the counter and Sunderland profited 13 minutes from time.

Sessignon shrugged off Arteta to force the breakaway. The Frenchman prodded a pass to Larsson on the right. His shot bounced off the inside of the post, ran across the goalline and the backtracking Oxlade-Chamberlain inadvertently scuffed the ball over the line.

As with the first goal, there was an element of bad luck. But it seems that is just Arsenal's lot at the moment.

Rosicky drove forward to set up Van Persie but the Dutchman hoisted his shot too high. In the final minute, Arteta cracked an effort just over the bar.

But Sunderland had more than done enough on the day.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 18 Feb 12