Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City

Arsenal failed to bring home the Carling Cup after a brilliant game at Wembley against Birmingham City. It means Arsenal's wait for a trophy will continue and all hopes of completing an unprecedented quadruple are over for the Arsenal. Arsenal never really got into the final and some of the players could be accused of not handling the pressure they were put under especially by the press. For the majority of these players it was their first final in professional football, but this was also the case for many of the Birmingham players. Birmingham scored the first goal after Johan Djourou failed to stay marking Zigic, but in all honesty the huge forward would of still won the header anyway. Arsenal replied quickly with a superbly taken goal by Robin Van Persie. It was a brilliant volley which gave the impressive Ben Foster absolutely no chance. At the time this appeared to be a turning point in the game, and Arsenal should of put the game to bed throughout the second half but Ben Foster was superb in goal for Birmingham. A glaring defensive error by Koscielny 2 minutes from the end presented Martins with an easy chance to score and win Birmingham the Carling Cup, much to the disappointment of the Arsenal players, fans and of course Arsene Wenger.

A great goal from the Dutchman

Birmingham began the game brightly and were very unlucky not to receive an early penalty after Szczesny brought down Lee Bowyer. It was given offside but the replays clearly showed Lee Bowyer was at least 2 yards onside due to Clichy's awful positioning. This was an awful decision by the linesman, but it kept the game at 0-0 and luckily for Szczesny kept him on the pitch. Arsenal were however later punished on a set piece as Zigic scored from a corner in the 28th minute. Johan Djourou was marking him but gave the huge striker far too much room and gave him an easy chance to score. Zigic should of scored a second not much later as he was one on one with Szczesny. He proved he is useless with his feet and hit the strike right at Szczesny who saved easily keeping Arsenal in the game. After this save Arsenal grew into the game with some brilliant passing moves. Jack Wilshere started a move from his own box which resulted in him striking a wonderful shot against the crossbar. This however led to a brilliant effort from Van Persie after Arshavin crossed for the Dutchman to fire home the equaliser. It was a well worked goal and a great finish from what looked like an impossible chance for Van Persie.

 The second half began with the Arsenal on the front foot but Birmingham still played well and Arsenal couldn't break through to score a second goal. Arsenal had quite a lot of chances but Foster denied the Arsenal attack brilliantly. Jack Wilshere continued to impress and was our star player, but Tomas Rosicky looked like a non-league player. In the last couple of seasons hes become awful and seemed lost every time the ball came to him and I believe Bendtner should of started ahead of him. Then disaster struck in the 89th minute after a catastrophic error from Koscielny and Szczesny. A harmless ball was played into the Arsenal box and Zigic won the header, Koscielny should of easily cleared the ball but failed to do so resulting in the ball landing at the feet of Martins who scored one of the easiest goals you'll ever see in a cup final. It was a huge mistake by Koscielny who should of just cleared the ball which would of taken the match into extra time. Szczesny was also at fault but I believe both of these players have the mental strength to come back from this and learn from their mistakes and become better players as a result.

A costly error from Arsenal.

 All in all it was a hugely disappointing game for Arsenal. They were favourites for the match and a trophy would have been a huge confidence builder for the young side who haven't experienced a trophy as of yet. Jack Wilshere was the main good point from an Arsenal perspective, and the rest of the team were nowhere near the level we know they are capable of. I believe the team will learn from this defeat and will now be desperate to win one or more of the remaining trophies we are left in. We still have a great chance in all three competitions and I'm sure the trophy drought will end soon for the gunners.

Carling Cup Final Preview: Is the trophy drought going to end?

Arsenal are taking on Birmingham City tomorrow afternoon at Wembley Stadium in the Carling Cup final. If Arsenal win the game it will be our first trophy since 2005 and will be a major step forward for the players and the club. The club captain Fabregas along with Walcott will miss the final due to injury but the Arsenal team should still have enough to beat Birmingham on Sunday. After all Andrey Arshavin will be one of the players coming into the starting XI, who on his day is one of the best players in England. Unlike previous seasons we now also have a solid spine to the team, which includes Szczesny, Djourou, Song, Nasri and Van Persie. These 5 players especially will be key on Sunday. Tomorrow will however still be a huge test for Arsene's team, and it will be a huge turning point in our season if we win but also if we lose. A win will spur us on towards winning more trophies and closing the gap on United, a loss however would be a huge blow for the side, but I believe Arsenal will end the trophy drought comfortably on Sunday.

Goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal and he is the exact type of player you want in your side in a cup final. He is full of confidence and his recent performances have been incredible.

Right Back
Bacary Sagna will start at right back keeping Eboue on the bench. He is an experienced and reliable defender who should cope with the pressure of a cup final well.

Centre Back's
Johan Djourou will partner Laurent Koscielny at the back for Arsenal. The duo have built a great partnership, but will need to defend well to deal with Zigic and Martins.

Left Back
Gael Clichy will continue at left back and is another experienced member of the side.

Defensive Midfield
Alex Song will play in the defensive midfield role for the Arsenal. He is a very important player and will need to have a good game tomorrow.

Centre Midfield
Jack Wilshere will start alongside Alex Song. He is only 19 and a cup final would be too much pressure for most youngsters. Jack isn't like most youngsters though and plays like he has been playing at the top level for years, and I'm sure he will be brilliant in the final.

Attacking Midfield
Samir Nasri will play in his favoured central role due to the Cesc Fabregas injury. He was superb in Cesc's position earlier in the season  and will hopefully continue tomorrow.

Right Wing
Nicklas Bendtner will start on the right wing for the Arsenal in the all important cup final. He has improved a lot recentely and has the confidence to play in a major cup final. He could finally make himself a favourite with the fans.

Centre Forward
Robin Van Persie will captain the side at Wembley tomorrow. He has been magnificent recentely and has the ability to destroy the Birmingham defence. He will be key tomorrow and if he plays like he has recentely we will win the match.

Left Wing
Andrey Arshavin will start on the left wing tomorrow afternoon. He has the potential to win the game on his own, but which Arshavin will turn up for the final tomorrow?

I believe this XI should easily have enough to beat Birmingham if we play well as a team. Obviously we are missing Fabregas but Arshavin isn't exactly a bad replacement. I am predicting a 2-0 victory for the Arsenal with goals from Bendtner and Van Persie.

Arsenal 1-0 Stoke Player Ratings

Arsenal defeated Stoke in an important match at the Emirates on Wednesday night. We won the match due to a Squillaci goal, but lost Fabregas and Walcott during the match to injury. This could be a big blow to Arsenal's attempt to win an unprecedented quadruple, but luckily Cesc looks like he will only miss the one match, however Theo may be out for much longer.

Wojciech Szczesny 7.5/10
The young keeper dealt well with the aerial assault from Stoke. A very assured and confident game for Szczesny.

Bacary Sagna 7/10
 A good game for the Frenchman, confident defending and going forward especially in the first half.

Sebastien Squillaci 7.5/10
For the first time Squillaci has had a good game for the Arsenal. Scored an important goal and even more surprisingly looked ok in defence.

Johan Djourou 7/10
Played well and dealt well with many crosses into the Arsenal penalty area.

Gael Clichy 7/10
Played well, once again ensuring his position as first choice left back over the young Kieran Gibbs.

Alex Song 7.5/10
Dominated the midfield and didn't give Stoke a chance to play the ball through the Arsenal midfield.

Jack Wilshere 7.5/10
The youngster gets better and better and has developed a truly superb partnership with Alex Song, which will develop into one of the world's best midfield pairings.

Cesc Fabregas 7/10
Wasn't on the pitch for long but was excellent until he got injured. Nearly provided the Arsenal with a couple of early goals.

Theo Walcott 7/10
Played well until he got injured and really should of scored early on twice.

Nicklas Bendtner 7.5/10
Led the line well and was a performance that will start to win the fans back.

Samir Nasri 6.5/10
Not his best game, but played quite well once moving into Cesc's position.

Substitutes

 Denilson 6.5/10
Kept possession well at the end of the match.  


Marouane Chamakh 6.5/10
Didn't really have to do much but also kept the ball well.

Andrey Arshvin 7/10
 Played well out on the left wing and will now start on Sunday due to the absence of Cesc and Theo.

Man of the match: Jack Wilshere
 Played really well especially once Cesc left and he run the midfield in his absence.

Arsenal 1-0 Stoke: Arsenal grind out a victory

Arsenal defeated Stoke City at the Emirates in a very tough match. Arsenal scored an early goal but Stoke never gave in and could of easily scored in the second half. The victory takes Arsenal within a point of Manchester United, and was the type of victory needed to win the Premier League. Squillaci of all people scored early on in the match to give us the lead. However the victory has came at a cost as Fabregas and Walcott both look to have got injured. Cesc appears to have been taken off as a precaution but Theo is deficiently out of this weekends final. This could prove to be a huge blow for our season and hopefully they will both return to action soon.

The opening goal.

 Arsenal started the game superbly with Theo Walcott nearly scoring two goals. Cesc and Samir particularly looked in the mood and were completely dominating Stoke. The goal came in the 8th minute most surprisingly from a set piece against Stoke. Our main worry coming into the game was the threat Stoke posed from set pieces, and it was a huge surprise to see Arsenal take the lead from a corner. The goalscorer was also Squillaci, this was maybe the first good moment of his Arsenal career. However Cesc Fabregas was subbed not soon after and appeared to have a hamstring injury. The good news was he managed to walk off and I believe he was taken off as a precaution. Andrey Arshavin replaced Cesc with Samir dropping into the midfield from the left wing. This seemed to have an effect on the team and we didn't look as dangerous going forward. Stoke didn't cause us any problems until the end of the 1st half where Szczesny saved superbly from John Carew.  He had hardly been tested but was still able to concentrate and save the powerful shot.

 The second half began with Stoke well and truly on the front foot. They believed they could get something out of the game and looked the better team. Stoke created a couple of chances throughout the second half and could of easily scored. However Shawcross missed a simple header much to the delight of the Arsenal fans who had booed him throughout, due to the Aaron Ramsey injury last year. In the last couple of minutes Arsenal kept the ball confidently and played out the stoppage time with ease.

 This was a huge victory for the Arsenal and could prove to be a very important match at the end of the season in the Premier League race. It was the sort of match we simply wouldn't of won last season, and Song and Co proved to be invaluable against a tough tackling Stoke side. Despite Stoke playing well in the second half we still deserved the victory and it is another step towards winning the Premier League at the end of the season.

The cost of still competing in all four competitions

Arsenal are still challenging for all four trophies and the fixtures are starting to mount up for the Gunners. We are competing in the Premier League, Champions League, Carling Cup and FA Cup. We haven't been in this situation before and it shows how much better the squad is this year over previous seasons. We should win the Carling Cup on Sunday leaving us with only 3 competitions left, even though it would only be 3 we would still have a large number of fixtures left. We have made a habit of drawing FA Cup matches and have a replay soon along with the Carling Cup Final, Premier League games and the return leg of the Barcelona game.

 We have five games in the next two weeks and every single game is vitally important to our season and how it ends. Realistically we should win the Carling Cup on Sunday and we should be still challenging for the Premier League in a couple of weeks as a win tonight would leave us just one point behind United. In my opinion we are capable of overtaking United as they have to face Chelsea twice and Liverpool as well, we have the easier fixtures and we should win the majority of our matches. We will need to be at our best however and hope that Chelsea rediscover some form also. However I believe the league will be decided when United come to the Emirates, with an Arsenal loss handing United the title and vice versa.

 The Champions League will also be very difficult but we do have the advantage of taking a one goal lead with us to the Nou Camp. If we are at best we should get the result we need especially with Puyol, Pique, Valdes and Xavi all potentially out of the tie. The FA Cup could also be decided with a game against United as a win will leave us as the favourites for the competition but first we need to defeat Leyton Orient in the replay at the Emirates.

 We are facing Stoke in a must win game this evening, however all of games from now on are must win if we want to win 2 or more trophies this season. We have the potential to win all four but I believe 2 trophies is the most likely result for our season.

Arsenal VS Stoke City Match Preview

Arsenal face Stoke City tomorrow evening at the Emirates Stadium. It is a key game in the Arsenal's season and is one we have to win to stay in the Premier League race. The match should of been played a while back but due to the bad weather it has been postponed until tomorrow. We have improved recentely against the so called tougher teams and we should be able to defeat Stoke. Despite the poor performance at the weekend the team is in great form and many of the players from the weekend won't be playing anyway. We do however have a couple of injuries, these are Robin Van Persie and Johan Djourou. Annoyingly these may well be our two best players at the moment and they have been in excellent form. We will have to face Stoke without them but they should be back for the Carling Cup Final on Sunday fortunately. I am now going to look at the Starting XI Wenger should use to defeat Stoke.

Goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny will return in goal to the relief of the Arsenal fans. He has been brilliant this season so far, and we look a far better team with him playing instead of the awful Almunia.

Defence
Right Back
Bacary Sagna will continue at right back. He has been playing well consistently and will hopefully continue to do so tomorrow evening.

Centre Back's
There is bad news on the centre back's as the key defender Johan Djourou is injured. This means that Squillaci will have to partner Koscielny at the back. They have never played well together but can hopefully start tomorrow against Stoke City. It will be a big test for the duo but they should have the physical strength to deal with Stoke.

Left Back
Gael Clichy will replace Kieran Gibbs at left back and will hopefully continue in the form he showed against Barcelona.

Midfield
Defensive Midfield
Alex Song will continue in the important defensive midfield role for Arsenal. He has been superb recentely and we will need him at his best against a team like Stoke

Centre Midfield
Jack Wilshere will return after being rested at the weekend. He has been one of our best players this season and will hopefully have another good game.

Attacking Midfield
The captain will return to run the midfield and hopefully take Arsenal to victory. He is far better than Tomas Rosicky and the rest of the team seem to love playing with Cesc Fabregas.

Attack
Right Wing
Theo Walcott will be back in the side hoping to torment the Stoke defence. His pace could be key especially as the Stoke defence isn't the quickest.

Centre Forward
I knew it couldn't last and Robin Van Persie is now injured. It is only going to keep him out of this game luckily but it is still a huge blow for the Gunners. I would play Nicklas Bendtner in his absence as Chamakh has been poor recentely and could do with the wake up call of Bendtner being picked ahead of him.

Left Wing
Samir Nasri will start his first League game for a while. He has been in great form of late and will hopefully continue especially in the absence of Van Persie.

This is a very strong Arsenal side,that should be capable of beating Stoke. The defensive duo of Squillaci and Koscielny will have to be better than in the past to have any chance of winning though. I believe with Song and Szczesny also playing they will be ok and I'm predicting a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.

Arsenal 1-1 Leyton Orient Player Ratings

Arsenal drew 1-1 with Leyton Orient yesterday despite fielding a fairly strong side. We played well for the majority of the game but were once again let down by Manuel Almunia at the very end of the game.

Manuel Almunia 4/10
Let the side down at the end, as he really should have saved the shot. He simply doesn't deserve to be a professional footballer.

Bacary Sagna 7/10
A solid game from the French Defender.

Sebastien Squillaci 6.5/10
Not amazing but far better than his recent performances for the team.


Ignasi Miquel 7.5/10
 A very promising display from the young Spaniard. Looked confident and assured.


Kieran Gibbs 6/10
Not a brilliant game for the young left back. Made too many mistakes and will need to bounce back from this.


Alex Song 7.5/10
Dominated the midfield well and also contributed well going forward


Denilson 6/10
Poor showing from the Brazilian. Constantly gave the ball away making extra work for Alex Song.

Tomas Rosicky 7.5/10
Orchestrated the attack in the absence of Fabregas really well. Scored a good goal but should of had more than the one goal.

Nicklas Bendtner 5.5/10
Bendtner appeared to have gone back to his own ways yesterday. He never looked at all interested in the game.

Marouane Chamakh 5.5/10
Another disappointing game from the front man. Needs to pick up form quickly.

Andrey Arshavin 7.5/10
 A great game for the Russian. Was our best forward and very nearly clinched the game at the end.

Man of the Match: Alex Song
   Nothing special but was still our most consistent player on Sunday. He kept the ball away and dominated the middle of the park.

Leyton Orient 1-1 Arsenal: The Gunners let down by Almunia

A last minute equaliser, surprisingly due to Almunia.

Arsenal now face another match against Leyton Orient due to the 1-1 draw this evening. Arsenal were in control for the majority of the game, but Leyton Orient never gave up and scored a late equaliser to set up a fascinating replay at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal dominated possession and completed a record amount of passes this season. There were no goals in the first half but early in the second Rosicky opened the scoring. It was a well worked goal which resulted in a superb header from the Czech international. However at the very end of the match we were all let down once again by Manuel Almunia. The man is useless and is a liability for Arsenal. Wenger shouldn't of rotated Szczesny as he would have saved the shot without a doubt, after all goalkeepers can't really get that tired can they. Credit is due to Leyton Orient however as they defended well for the game and never gave up hope of an equalising goal.

 Arsene rotated the team heavily, with Alex Song the only player retaining his place from the Barcelona win. Chamakh started up front supported by Tomas Rosicky, and Denilson was given a rare start in Wilshere's position. Miquel made his debut for Arsenal at centre half and the Spaniard impressed throughout. He is only 18 and did very well for the majority of the game. Cesc and Samir were on the bench however if the game didn't go to plan. This game was always going to be very different to the Barcelona game, and this was clear throughout the game. We began the game keeping the ball really well but not really creating that much offensively. There appeared to be a lack of effort from the forwards especially Bendtner and Chamakh. Chamakh looked tired despite hardly playing recentely and he missed an easy opportunity midway through the first half. Half time arrived and the score was still 0-0 despite Arsenal having players like Arshavin playing against a league one side.

Rosicky scores his first goal for over a year.

 Wenger decided to stick with the same XI at the start of the second half despite not being ahead in the game and having Fabregas and Nasri on the bench. This seemed to be the correct decision as after a brilliant passing move Rosicky scored a great header to give Arsenal the lead. There were over 20 passes leading up to the goal and Arsenal deserved to be in the lead. Arsenal continued to dominate possession but weren't creating many chances, a worrying sign for the Arsenal fans. Leyton Orient weren't creating many chances either and the game seemed to be heading towards a 1-0 win for the Arsenal. The match wasn't that exciting for the rest of the second half until Andrey Arshavin broke through nearly sealing the victory for The Arsenal, but he hit the post to the disappointment of the Arsenal fans. Then disaster struck for Arsenal in the 89th minute as the Frenchman Jonathan Tehoue scored a dramatic equaliser. It was a brilliant run from the Frenchman but Manuel Almunia really should of saved the shot. Once again we were let down by the Spanish goalkeeper who simply doesn't deserve to be a professional footballer. The only plus point is that Szczesny is now clearly the number one and was rested today for more important games ahead.

Almunia lets everyone down once again.

 All in all it was a poor performance from the Arsenal, who now face a replay on March 2nd at the Emirates. This is a fixture Arsenal don't need but at least we are still challenging in all four competitions. Miquel showed he can be a top defender in his debut performance, whilst his fellow Spaniard Almunia showed once again why he shouldn't have ever become a footballer. Arsenal will need to be far better on Wednesday to beat Stoke in the Premier League but thankfully Manuel Almunia won't be in goal and the superb Szczesny will.

Arsenal VS Leyton Orient Match Preview

The FA Cup is back this weekend and tomorrow Arsenal will be taking the short trip to face Leyton Orient in the 5th round of the competition. It will be a very different game from playing the World's best side Barcelona on Wednesday, but hopefully the same outcome with Arsenal continuing to challenge for all four trophies. Arsenal are a class apart from Leyton Orient and should have no trouble in beating them tomorrow. However it won't be easy as it's away from the Emirates and it could easily end up the same as when we played Ipswich away from home in the Carling Cup. Arsene will rotate the players and I'd be surprised to see Cesc and Van Persie starting the game. I'm now going to look at the starting XI Wenger should chose for the game.

Goalkeeper
 Wojciech Szczesny is now clearly our first choice Keeper but he will probably be rested today. Unfortunately Manuel Almunia will replace him and hopefully he can put in a solid performance.

Defence
Right Back
I believe Emmanuel Eboue will keep his place despite Bacary returning from suspension. It is another good chance for Eboue in what shouldn't be too tough a game. Bacary will then return for the visit of Stoke in the Premier League and the Carling Cup final.

Centre Back's
Sebastien Squillaci will partner Laurent Koscielny at the back for the Arsenal. Djourou isn't fully fit and could do with a rest anyway. Laurent is in excellent form and hopefully Sebastien won't let the side down like in his previous games.

Left Back
Kieran Gibbs will get a rare start at left back. The youngster needs games and this will be a good opportunity for him to  impress. It will also give Clichy a well deserved rest.

Midfield
Defensive Midfield 
Denilson will probably replace Alex Song in the defensive midfield role. He has struggled recentely but needs games and Song could do with a rest.

Central Midfield
Jack Wilshere will partner Denilson in the midfield. He was superb against Barcelona but this will be an all together different test for the youngster.

Attacking Midfield
Tomas Rosicky will take Cesc's place in the attacking midfield role. He has been well below standard this season, but he is still a quality player who could dominate the Leyton Orient midfield.

Attack
Right Wing
Nicklas Bendtner will receive a rare start on the right hand side. Theo could do with a game off and it is a good chance for Nicklas to continue to win over the Arsenal faithful.

Centre Forward
Marouane Chamakh will receive his first start for a while against Leyton Orient. He needs to rediscover his from from the first half of the season to stand a chance of regaining a regular spot in the Arsenal XI.

Left Wing
Andrey Arshavin will start on the left for the Arsenal. He scored a superb goal on Wednesday and hopefully will produce something similar tomorrow.

This is still a really strong XI but also gives the star names the rest they need. If all doesn't go to plan Arsene will be able to call upon the likes of Cesc,Samir,Theo and Robin to save the day. I am however predicting a 3-0 victory for the Arsenal tomorrow evening.

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona Player Ratings

Arsenal defeated Barcelona in one of the biggest games of the season on Wednesday evening. Barcelona bossed the first half, but Arsenal took control in the second half with Jack Wilshere dominating the game. It was a big step in Arsenal's season and obviously a great experience for the youngsters especially Wilshere and Szczesny who was making his European debut.

Wocjech Szczesny 7.5/10
 The young keeper impressed on his European debut. There was nothing he could really do about Villa's goal, but he made many other important saves throughout the match.

Emmanuel Eboue 7/10
Surprisingly the Ivorian defender didn't let us down on the biggest night of his career. He was solid in defence and contributed a little going forward.

Johan Djourou 6.5/10
The Swiss defender wasn't at his best against Barcelona but still put in a fairly good performance especially when he was up against Pedro, Messi and Villa.


Laurent Koscielny 8.5/10
This was the performance that showed everyone what Wenger had seen in the young Frenchman who wasn't even playing top flight football two seasons ago. He was superb and we would of definitely lost without him. It is incredible how far he has came in the past two years.

Gael Clichy 7/10
The Frenchman defended well but was slightly at fault for the David Villa goal. He did however set up Van Persie's 1st goal with a brilliant pass.

Alex Song 6.5/10
Not Song's best game, he was booked early on and was then not his usual self for the rest of the game. It was a good decision to take him off for the attack minded Arshavin.

Jack Wilshere 8.5/10
Now the world knows how good the young Englishman actually is. In the second half he put in a mind blowing performance and dominated Xavi and Iniesta in the middle of the park. He had so much of the ball in the second half and rarely put a foot wrong. Without a doubt the game of his career.

Cesc Fabregas 7.5/10
Was poor in the first half but showed his leadership qualities in the second half. He played brilliantly in the second half and played a large part in Wilshere's impressive performance.

Theo Walcott 7/10
One of the better players in the first half. Run at Maxwell on a number of occasions but never had the final pass to break through the Barcelona defence.

Robin Van Persie 8/10
Not Robin's best game but he took his goal brilliantly. Missed many chances before hand but when the pressure was really on he finished superbly leaving Victor Valdes looking pretty stupid.

Samir Nasri 7/10
Was also poor in the first half, but when the pressure told at the end he produced the pass which resulted in Arshavin scoring the winner.

Substitutes


Andrey Arshavin 7.5/10
When the pressure was on Andrey showed his real talent with a brilliantly taken goal. This proves to the doubters how good he can be and once again he scored in a huge game.

A brilliant game for the Frenchman.

Nicklas Bendtner 6.5/10
Didn't really do much but the main thing was he didn't do anything wrong,

Man Of The Match: Laurent Koscielny 
The young defender came of age against Barcelona. Wenger saw his talent, and many doubted Laurent's ability throughout the season until the Barcelona game. He has now proved he is good enough and without a doubt it was the best game of his career.

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona

Arsenal defeated the best team in the world last night at the Emirates Stadium in a truly great game of football. Barcelona lived up to their status with a brilliant performance in the first half where to be honest Arsenal were a class apart and hardly got a touch of the ball. However the game changed completely in the second half, Arsenal looked far better than in the second half and started to dominate the midfield. Van Persie and Andrey Arshavin scored two of the biggest goals of their careers to give Arsenal a great chance of completing the victory at the Nou Camp.

 The match started with Barcelona on the front foot clearly dominating the game. Arsenal were struggling to close the Barcelona players down especially in the middle of the park where Xavi and Iniesta were in complete control. At the beginning the decision to start Samir Nasri appeared to affect the team as he didn't look full of energy and Barcelona had a lot of joy down the right hand side of the pitch. They continued to pile on the pressure and Messi broke through the defence only to miss what seemed a certain goal for the Argentine. Everyone expected Messi to score but he didn't much to the relief of the Arsenal faithful. Arsenal also missed some easy chances with Van Persie being the main culprit, we were made to pay however when David Villa scored a brilliant goal after cutting apart the Arsenal backline. It was a very good goal and one which Szczesny could do nothing about. Villa's goal came in the 26th minute and Barcelona really should have gone in at half time 3 or 4 goals up. Luckily this didn't happen, and despite being outplayed Arsenal were still in with a shout at half time.

 At half time Arsenal looked to be out of the game and even the majority of Arsenal fans believed we were going to finish the game 2 or 3 goals behind. However at the start of the second half Arsenal were already playing a lot better than in the first half. We were keeping possession and closing down Barcelona well when they had the ball. We were creating more chances but not taking them and this was the worry for the Arsenal fans. Wenger acted to change this boldly taking off the defensive minded Alex Song for the very attack minded Andrey Arshavin. This paid off in the end as Arsenal were now well and truly on the front foot and Van Persie scored a very clever goal in the 78th minute much to the surprise of the Barcelona keeper Valdes. It was one of the Dutchman's most important goals and at this point I believed Arsenal could and should go on to win the match. Then we scored a truly magnificent goal, one even Barcelona would struggle to score. There was some brilliant build up play from Cesc and Wilshere before Samir crossed brilliantly for the little Russian Arshavin to score beautifully. It was one of our best goals in recent years and also one of the most important.

Well and truly back on form.

All in all I believe we deserved the win due to the immense team spirit we showed to come back from a goal down against the best team of the generation. We could of easily crumbled and lost the game heavily but we continued to attack and eventually it paid off. Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny were outstanding, with Jack showing Xavi and Iniesta how it's done in the second half. We now take a 2-1 lead to the Nou Camp, this will be a bigger test but one we should be able to overcome.

5 Reasons Arsenal can beat Barcelona tonight

Arsenal are taking on Barcelona this evening in what looks to be a great game. Both teams play attractive football and this should lead to a brilliant game of football. Barcelona are understandably the favourites to win this match and the tie over the two legs. However all hope is not lost for Arsenal and here are five reasons why I believe we can beat Barcelona later tonight.


1) 
    The superb form of Robin Van Persie
 The flying Dutchman has been in incredible form since the turn of the year. He has led the line brilliantly for the Gunners and has been scoring goals for fun. He links up brilliantly with the creative Arsenal midfield, especially Cesc Fabregas. He will be key this evening and if he plays like he has in recent games he could win us the match by himself. Also Carlos Puyol, Barcelona's defensive leader is injured and Robin should look to take advantage of this. 


2)

Will Szczesny continue to impress?

   We now have a Goalkeeper we can trust in Wojciech Szczesny  
The young Keeper has also been in brilliant form this season. He is an extremely confident player and will be making his European debut against Barcelona. This will not faze him at all and his confidence spreads to the young defence as well. Last year we had a certain Manuel Almunia playing in goal, and despite playing well for the 1st half of the 1st leg he let us down for the rest of the tie, and I have every confidence in Wojciech Szczesny to play well and give us a strong chance to win the tie. 


3)
  The Central defensive partnership of Djourou and Koscielny 
We also now have a strong defensive partnership which we didn't have last year. The duo have been in superb form as of late and have only conceded one Premier League goal since the turn of the year. Last year our Defence fell apart with Gallas getting injured, which resulted in Mikael Silvestre playing at the Nou Camp. He was never going to be able to deal with Messi and Co but Djourou and Koscielny have the ability to do so. 


4)

Can Theo continue to dominate Maxwell?

   Maxwell will be starting at left back for Barcelona
 Last season Maxwell simply couldn't deal with the blistering pace of Theo Walcott in both of the games. Unluckily for Barcelona he will be starting again due to the injury to Carlos Puyol forcing Abidal to start at centre half instead of left back. Arsenal should look to target Maxwell and the battle between Walcott and Maxwell will prove to be key for Arsenal. If Theo can use his pace like last season and not waste the chances he will be creating, Arsenal have a key weapon in their attack. 


5) 
 Barcelona only drew at the weekend to Sporting Gijon
 Despite Barcelona's great form so far this season they couldn't defeat Sporting Gijon who are only 16th in La Liga. The match finished 1-1 with David Villa equalising in the 80th minute for Barcelona. This will be a blow to Barcelona's confidence and shows they aren't always as good as they have looked this season.

Arsenal VS Barcelona Match Preview

Arsenal are taking on Barcelona tomorrow evening in the most important game of their season. Arsenal and Barcelona play the best style of football in the world and the match should be a thrilling encounter of two of the world's best teams. The main worry for Arsenal fans is of course Lionel Messi. I believe he is the best footballer of all time and has the potential to beat most teams by himself as he demonstrated last year with his 4 goals at the Nou Camp. However Arsenal are a far better side than they were last season, and of course we won't have Mikael Silvestre playing at the back. This will make a huge difference as he was never going to be able to cope with the attacking talents of the Catalan giants. I'm now going to look at the starting XI Arsenal should use for the huge match against Barcelona.

Goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal due to his recent impressive form. He is a far more confident player than Manuel Almunia who played last year and I have every confidence in Szczesny to perform in the biggest game of his career so far.

Defence
Right Back
Emmanuel Eboue will start at right back due to the suspension of Bacary Sagna. This is a big blow to Arsenal's hopes as Bacary is clearly the better player and Emmanuel will need to have one of his best ever games to deal with the likes of Pedro.

Centre Backs
Johan Djourou will once again partner Laurent Koscielny at the back for the Arsenal. The duo have been immense in recent weeks only conceding one premier league goal between them since the Wigan game. That goal was the Everton goal which was off course offside. These two defenders are both quick and intelligent and should be able to put up a good defence against Barcelona.

Left Back
Gael Clichy will start at left back being given the impossible task of containing Lionel Messi. He is our best left back and is our best hope of dealing with Messi. Luck will however have to be on the Frenchman's side to contain Messi.

Midfield
Defensive Midfielder
Alex Song will play in the crucial defensive midfield role for Arsenal. He has been a revelation in recent seasons. He will need to dominate the midfield and stop Xavi and Iniesta from getting too much of the ball.

Central Midfield
Jack Wilshere will play in central midfield. He is a magnificent player who didn't feature last year. He is as close as you can get to Iniesta and this is a great chance for him to show the world how good he actually is.

Attacking Midfield
Cesc Fabregas will take up the attacking midfield role against his home town club. If he plays like he has been recentely he has the ability to create many chances for the Arsenal forwards, and his performance is key for the Arsenal.

Attack
Right Wing
Theo Walcott will start on the right wing against Barcelona. He has been brilliant recentely and should be able to dominate the Barcelona left back Maxwell with his pace as he did last season in both legs.

Centre Forward
Robin Van Persie will lead the Arsenal attack tomorrow evening. He has been playing brilliantly and has the talent to score against Barcelona. He is a key player who we need to play well to defeat Barcelona.

Left Wing
Samir Nasri is in the squad and has declared himself to be fit on Twitter. I would select him if it isn't too much of a risk due to how brilliant he has been this season. If not Arshavin will start on the left wing.

Arsenal will all need to be at their best to stand a chance against Barcelona. It's not going to be easy for Arsenal but I'm going to predict a 2-1 Victory to give us a chance going to the Nou Camp.

Robin Van Persie can be the key to defeating Barcelona

Robin Van Persie has been in superb form since the start of the calender year, and is scoring goals for fun. He has been leading the line for Arsenal supported by Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin. Robin scored another two goals for the Arsenal against Wolves at the weekend to add to his growing tally for the season so far. Robin may even be a long shot for the golden boot even at this late stage of the season.

 Robin has always clearly had the talent to be a world class striker, but injuries have always held him back. In recent years he has always seemed to be injured but has now been on an injury free run since late December. He is in the form of his life and has already scored 12 goals in 12 starts in all competitions. If the flying Dutchman can continue in this form it will give Arsenal a huge boost when it comes to challenging for trophies on four fronts.  He has now scored 11 in his last 9 games and hopefully he can add to his tally on Wednesday evening against Barcelona.

 Robin can be the key to defeating Barcelona mainly due to his threat in front of goal. He is a proven goalscorer and links up brilliantly with the rest of the team and seems to have a special understanding with the captain Cesc Fabregas. This understanding between the two is enough by itself to take a team apart when the duo are on form and they will need to be to defeat Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium.When Robin Van Persie gets a chance he normally scores and is a proven finisher. I'm sure if Robin is given the chances by Cesc and Co on Wednesday that he can score 1 if not 2 especially against a Barcelona defence missing their leader Carlos Puyol.

Arsenal 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Player Ratings

Arsenal defeated Wolves yesterday with an all round strong performance. Johan Djourou returned, and had a brilliant game at the back, once again working well with Koscielny. The duo have only conceded 2 goals this season, one of which was clearly offside against Everton. Robin Van Persie also led the line brilliantly scoring two important goals to keep Arsenal in the title race and he is now in perfect form to face Barcelona on Wednesday Evening.

Wojciech Szczesny 7/10
  Another confident performance from the young keeper. Never really troubled as Wolves only had two shots throughout the whole game.

Bacary Sagna 7/10
 Assuring display from the Frenchman, going forward and in defence. Will be missed on Wednesday due to his one match ban, hopefully Eboue can put in a solid performance.

Johan Djourou 7.5/10
Looked confident throughout the game defending well when called upon. The defence looks considerably more stable with Johan at the back instead of Squillaci.

Laurent Koscielny 7/10
Once again Laurent had a good game. The partnership of Johan and Laurent looks to improve with every game and I have confidence in the duo for Wednesday night.

Gael Clichy 7/10
Gael had another good game yesterday. He is becoming far more consistent and will have to continue to improve to defend against Lionel Messi

Alex Song 7.5/10
Dominated the Wolves midfield, regaining possession for the Arsenal on many occasions. He will be key on Wednesday evening.

Jack Wilshere 8/10
A brilliant performance from the young midfielder. Linked up well with Fabregas and Song and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet.

Cesc Fabregas 8/10
Played really well creating many chances for the forwards. Got an assist but also deserved a goal.

Theo Walcott 7.5/10
A solid game for the winger, should of got on the score sheet though and wasted a couple of easy chances.

Robin Van Persie 8.5/10
Led the line brilliantly and is in the form of his life. He is scoring consistently now and may be a late runner for the golden boot.

Andrey Arshavin 7.5/10
The little Russian played well creating many chances. Was wasteful at times though, but he is definitely back on form to face Barcelona.

Substitutes 
Marouane Chamakh 6.5/10
Came on towards the end and didn't do himself many favours. Looked half the player Van Persie was and he will still be on the bench for the Barcelona game.

Denilson 6.5/10
Hardly did anything as he didn't feature for long. Lacked energy despite coming from the bench and needs to improve.

Nicklas Bendtner 7/10
Came on and linked up well with the midfield and Walcott.

Man of the match: Robin Van Persie


 All in all a promising display from the Gunners, giving them more confidence to face Barcelona on Wednesday.

Arsenal 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Robin Van Persie runs the show again

Arsenal defeated Wolves 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon. It was a solid and assured performance from the Gunners which in all honesty could of been 5 or 6 nil. Arsenal created chance after chance but were mainly denied by the excellent Wolves keeper Hennessey. Robin Van Persie scored the two goals to secure victory and was unlucky not to get another hat trick. A major plus point for Arsenal was that nobody got injured and Johan Djourou played all 90 minutes proving he is ready to line up against Barcelona on Wednesday.

 Arsenal started the game brightly despite the random hailstones falling at the Emirates. We looked assured in possession with Jack Wilshere and Cesc Fabregas dominating the game in the middle of the park. Wilshere himself nearly got through on goal but was fouled by Berra. This resulted in Van Persie blasting a free kick over. However In the 16th minute Robin Van Persie scored an excellent volley after a clever pass from the captain Fabregas. This had been coming from the start of the match as Arsenal could have easily been two goals up by this point. The Arsenal midfield continued to dominate and the Arsenal defence weren't being caused any problems by Wolverhampton Wanderers. Arsenal should really have increased the lead in the first half but it wasn't to be after some great last ditch defending from Wolves and some poor finishing from the Arsenal.

 Once again Arsenal went in at half time looking in control, and the players must of been confident of securing the victory. This however was the exact position we were in last week and we all know what happened then. Today though we had Johan Djourou and Alex Song playing the whole 90 minutes. This made a huge difference as we look a far better team with the duo in the side and on form. Arsenal continued to dominate and Van Persie scored a second in the 56th minute.  Fabregas once again created the goal with a brilliant pass to Theo who stormed through and gave Robin an easy chance to put Arsenal two goals up. The flying Dutchman finished easily with a powerful left footed strike. Arsene is obviously well aware we are playing Barcelona on Wednesday. Due to the dominating position we were in he managed to rest Robin Van Persie and Andrey Arshavin and subbed them off in the 72th minute replacing them with Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh. Later on in 77th minute Wilshere was taken off for Denilson after a great performance from the England international. The rest of the game didn't really contain any exciting moments apart from when Theo should have scored a third for the gunners.

 All in all a strong performance from Arsenal once again showing their title credentials. We looked strong in defence and strong going forward with Van Persie playing superbly again. If we can repeat this performance against Barcelona on Wednesday, we will be in with a good chance of beating them and let's hope we can.

Arsenal VS Wolverhampton Wanderers Match Preview

Arsenal are taking on Wolves at 3pm tomorrow in a crucial game at the Emirates Stadium. We need a win to get back on track after the disappointing visit to St James Park last Saturday. Last week Wolves did us a huge favour by defeating Manchester United last Saturday to stop United from extending the gap which now only is four points. We should beat Wolves despite their brilliant showing last week at Wolves, due to the fact the game is at home and this should really help Arsenal. Man United will be taking on Man City at 12:45pm, in a mouth watering Premier League game. If City were to win this match and we were to beat Wolves we would be only a point behind United in the title race and this would be a great position to be in at this point in the season.

 There has been some brilliant news on the injury front for the Arsenal. Johan Djourou's injury isn't as bad as everyone first feared and he will be available to feature against Wolves. Cesc and Robin have also recovered from 'sickness' and according to Wenger 'Cesc and Van Persie will both be playing'. This means Wenger won't be resting his star players for the Barcelona game, this is good news as the Wolves match is just as important. I'm now going to look at the starting XI Wenger should pick to defeat Wolves tomorrow.

Goalkeeper
  Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal despite conceding four at the weekend. He is in superb form at the moment and Arsenal finally appear to have a Keeper they can rely on.

Defence
 Right Back
Bacary Sagna will keep his place at right back. He has been in good form recentely and won't be rested to face Barcelona as he is banned for that match anyway.

Centre Back's
 Johan Djourou should partner Laurent Koscielny at the back. The duo have been in magnificent form, and even though Johan is fit he may be rested for the Barcelona game. I would however stick with him as the Wolves attack would love to go up against Sebastien Squillaci.

Left Back
I believe Kieran Gibbs will start at left back. The youngster needs games and this would be a good opportunity for him. Gael will probably be rested so he can be in prime condition to play against Lionel Messi on Wednesday.

Midfield
Defensive Midfield
 Alex Song will return to hold together the Arsenal midfield. We clearly missed him against Newcastle and he will be invaluable against Wolves.

Centre Midfield
Jack Wilshere will return from England duty to line up in his preferred role in the Arsenal midfield. He has been in glorious form and should dominate the Wolves midfield on Saturday.

Attacking Midfield
Cesc Fabregas has recovered from his supposed illness to face Wolves. He was clearly rested from International duty so he can be in perfect condition to face Wolves and Barcelona.

Attack
Right Wing
Theo Walcott will start on the right hand side hopefully continuing on from his solid International performance against Denmark.

Centre Forward
Robin Van Persie has also recovered from illness to start against Wolves. Similarly to Cesc he was also withdrawn from the Holland game to be ready for the tough games ahead.

Left Wing
Andrey Arshavin will start on the left, in his final chance to secure a starting place against Barcelona on Wednesday. Hopefully he can continue his return to the form we all know he is capable of.

Arsenal should have enough to defeat Wolves, but will need to be far stronger mentally than they were at the weekend. The return of Alex Song is key and the fact that Johan Djourou should play for the whole match. We are far better with them in the team and I'm predicting a 3-1 victory for the gunners.

Jack Wilshere impresses in his full England debut

An Impressive Debut.

Jack Wilshere started the friendly alongside Frank Lampard against Denmark and put in a solid and reliable performance. He only played 45 minutes of the game but this was enough to show he deserves a place in the England side, and Arsene Wenger probably had an agreement with Capello for the youngster to only play 45 minutes of the match. Fabio had said before the game that Jack would be playing in a defensive role. This however wasn't really the case as he played in a traditional central midfield position, alongside Lampard and got forward well on occasions, as well as some brilliant tackles when he tracked back to help out the defence.

Jack's signed shirt.

 I personally believe Jack had a good debut as he fitted into the midfield brilliantly, especially when you consider that he is still only 19. He didn't make any mistakes and only gave the ball away on two occasions. He looked enthusiastic, full of energy and definitely a player for the future. Jack clearly enjoyed his debut, and he felt himself that he played well and showcased his talents to the world.

 However the English press have been at it again. Despite a good England victory the team have been criticised in the press and Jack Wilshere has been criticised for not putting in a magnificent performable. The player is only 19 years old and to be making your international debut and being a regular in the Premier League the boy clearly has class and is a brilliant player for his age. But once again the British press criticised a young England player's performance with one national newspaper giving him just 5 out of 10. This is very surprising as it was clear he played well and should be impressed with what he has achieved for his age. Many journalists decided instead to praise a young Danish player Eriksen. He had a good game but is nowhere near the level of Jack Wilshere. Are Ajax still in the Champions League? Had anyone really heard of him before last night? The answer to both of these is no and Martin Samuel's article in the Daily Mail seems pretty poor. Jack played in a deeper role for the sake of the team, he managed to play there due to his commitment and talent. I can assure you that Eriksen will never reach the level Jack already has at 19 years of age.

A round up of today's Arsenal news

The main news today is the huge relief that Johan Djourou hasn't suffered a serious injury and could even return on Saturday to feature against Wolves. The Swiss physio has said that, ' Johan Djourou's knee injury is clearly not as bad as first feared. The player suffered very painful bruising on the knee but, if the healing process runs as it should, Djourou could probably begin training in less than one week.' This is brilliant news for the Arsenal faithful as the Defence has been relying on Johan's superb performances in the last couple of months. Koscielny and Djourou have developed a vital partnership at the back, and this has made me far more confident as an Arsenal fan especially when we will have to face Messi and Co.

 There has also been brilliant news today about the future of our captain Cesc Fabregas. Barcelona's director of football has quashed any rumours of the Spaniard returning home in the Summer. He said today that, 'Right now, everything is dead regarding a transfer.' This appears to mean Cesc will be staying at the Emirates in the short term but I wouldn't believe at all what Sannlehi has said today. They've said in the past so much about transfer rumours and then gone and done the opposite. I believe Cesc will end up at the Nou Camp in the future but not for a couple of seasons yet. He is committed to the Arsenal and to winning trophies with the club. If he moved now he would be no more than a bench warmer for Barcelona. He knows himself that Iniesta and Xavi will be picked over him and he should wait until Xavi is older and he can then take his place. 

 Tonight Jack Wilshere is making his debut for England against Denmark. This is a chance for the country and the world to see how good Jack Wilshere actually is and I'm sure he will shine. He isn't a world class talent he is a world class player already as he has proven this season with Arsenal. Hopefully he will continue his marvellous form against the Dane's and teach Nicklas Bendtner a few lessons. 

Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere set to feature for England

England are facing Denmark in Copenhagen on Wednesday night. Surprisingly two Arsenal players are set to feature for the national team and it is a great chance for both Theo and Jack. This doesn't happen often and both Arsenal and Wenger are criticised for not developing players for the national side. These criticisms will be stopping soon however as Walcott and Wilshere are set to become regulars for England and Kieran Gibbs is likely to be Ashley Cole's deputy in future teams.

Jack is set to make his first start for England.

 Fabio Capello has said that he wants Wilshere to play in a holding midfield role against Denmark. Arsene has said this wouldn't be a problem for young Wilshere at all as he has the talent to play anywhere in the midfield. Currently at Arsenal he has been playing in quite a deep midfield role anyway and I'm sure Jack will impress wherever he plays for England. He is likely to feature with Lampard in the midfield but in the future he is likely to develop a partnership with Jack Rodwell. Jack has the talent to feature for England for many years to come and on current form is a far better choice than Gareth Barry for the holding midfield role in the England team. After all Jack is only 19, and he is already a regular in the Premier Leauge for a side challenging for the title and is therefore good enough to play for his country.

Another hat trick from Theo?

 Theo Walcott has had a very mixed international career so far. He was amazingly picked for the 2006 world cup side without playing for Arsenal before hand. Even more surprisingly Fabio left him out of the 2010 side, picking the likes of Wright-Phillips instead. He has now realised his mistake and Theo looks set to play regularly on the right wing for England from now on. He has had his best season for Arsenal this season and will be hoping to take this onto the International stage. If he can have a couple of good games for England, he will become a certain starter on the right wing.

 Tomorrow night will be a good sign for both Jack and Theo to show what they can do in what should be an easy friendly against Denmark. Hopefully the duo will return to Arsenal injury free and then feature against Wolves at the weekend. Nicklas Bendtner will be playing against England and hopefully he won't get injured either. If Arsenal pick up any more injuries during the international friendlies it could be devastating for our season with the players we already have injured. Cesc and Robin have both pulled out of the international games citing illness. I don't believe they are ill, but that Wenger doesn't want them getting injured. Spain and Holland fans may not be pleased but as Arsenal fans it is good news they will be ready for the important games ahead.

Will Johan Djourou be back in time for the Barcelona games?

Johan Djourou picked up a knee injury against Newcastle on Saturday, and Squillaci proved he isn't a capable replacement for the Swiss defender. It is unknown as of yet how bad the knee injury is with various reports from different parts of the media. There are reports that the Swiss FA believe he has suffered knee ligament damage and this could be damaging to Arsenal's season as it may mean Djourou will be out for the rest of the season. The centre back has built an excellent partnership with the Frenchman Laurent Koscielny and this has led to many clean sheets in recent matches. The pair look confident together and it spreads confidence throughout the rest of the team knowing they can rely on the centre back's. However with Djourou now joining Vermaelen on the sidelines we are left with two centre backs. Squillaci and Koscielny have played together many times this season and we have lost the majority of the games when the pair start at the back. This is the dilemma now facing Wenger as tough games against Barcelona are approaching and we only have two central defenders available to play.

 We can only hope as Arsenal fan's that Djourou's injury isn't as bad as some people are saying and he will recover in time to face Barcelona. After all he has said on Twitter himself, "Hello. Thanks for the support. I was hit on my knee on Saturday as you saw it. I'm feeling better. For more infos check Arsenal.com Cheers" This appears to be a good sign for Arsenal fans and may be a sign that he may recover in time to play Barcelona. Wenger will have no option if Djourou hasn't recovered for the Barcelona game, than to pair Squillaci and Koscielny in defence. This isn't a great prospect for Arsenal and will be a worry for the Arsenal fans. This is mainly due to the duo's poor form when playing together, and the fact that they'll be dealing with the likes of Messi, Villa and Iniesta.

 I personally feel that Johan was taken off at the weekend as a precautionary measure. After all we were 4-0 up and no one thought we were going to throw the game away from that position. Wenger probably believed that we would win comfortably and that it was better to take Johan off to make sure he didn't aggravate his injury. If Johan's injury is serious, Wenger will be hoping that Vermaelen recovers quickly because otherwise his decision not to buy a centre half will look like a big mistake. I think Djourou will be back in time for the first Barcelona game and Vermaelen for the second. If this is the case there is no defensive crisis, but if the duo don't recover quickly Arsenal's season could be over in a matter of weeks. If they return quickly to the centre of defence, Arsenal will be very confident of beating Barcelona and catching United in the title race.

Is Twitter a good thing for football?

Over the past couple of years, Twitter has become one of the biggest websites in the world. It is a great way to follow celebrities and of course footballers, and especially Arsenal players. Many of Arsenal's players are on the social networking site and it is a great way for the players to communicate with the fans. Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny are the two Arsenal players who use Twitter the most, but other plays such as the captain Fabregas and Robin Van Persie are also on the social networking site. Despite all the good aspects of Twitter, there are disadvantages to it as the former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel found out recentely. He used the site to criticise Howard Webb and posted a picture of Webb in a Man United shirt. The FA didn't find this at all funny and he was fined as a result. This is the main danger of the site as when players feel decisions go against them they can be on twitter within minutes of the match when emotions are still running high. 

Cesc and Denilson deny the newspaper stories. 

 This season has seen many Arsenal players join Twitter, with the older players such as Van Persie being encouraged to join by the younger players like Wilshere. It has proved to be a great insight into the players life's and some of the banter between the players is brilliant. It also enables the players to get news out to the fans as quick as possible and let's them let the fans know the truth behind some stories that appear in the papers. A good example of this is when Denilson's comments were translated incorrectly by the English tabloids, saying that he didn't think Fabregas was a good enough captain. The players soon denied this with messages on their twitter pages and then a photo of the pair was posted as well, to prove there hadn't been a falling out between the duo. 

Andrey caught out by the captain.  Twitter is also great for players updating the fans on whether they're injured and how long they will be out for. When a quote comes directly from the player not a newspaper it's more believable and more than likely the truth. Many of the players also let slip whether they're playing or not before matches. Johan Djourou does this quite a bit letting the fans know if he is starting before anyone else finds out. There are also many funny tweets and pictures uploaded by the players. This is normally done by Fabregas with this picture of Andrey being a prime example.

 The main thing Twitter enables the Arsenal players to do is to give their opinions to the fans and their views on the games they've played in. This can be a great thing but it has it's downsides as well. Players can be on Twitter within minutes of the match finishing on their mobile phones. Straight after the game, emotions will obviously be running high and players don't really think of the consequences when tweeting about a poor refereeing decision or another controversial aspect of the game. The prime example of this is Ryan Babel who criticised  Howard Webb and got fined as a result. However in recent weeks some of the Arsenal's players tweets have been under scrutiny with many newspapers picking up on the controversial tweets, especially by Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny. One of Wojciech's 'controversial' tweets was after a Manchester United game, " How can you not get frustrated with decisions like that going ALWAYS Man Utds way?! Its a clear pen and sending off". The press got hold of this and the young keeper responded by tweeting, "I don't understand why some of you get frustrated with me for saying this. The decition was shocking! FACT! What a goal for WBA btw!", and then the day after, "If someone doesn't want to know what I think about football then go and follow Katie Price. I write to true Arsenal supporters :)". This was Wojciech simply saying his opinion which I believe all footballers should be entitled to. It is different to the Babel situation as it is his opinion and he didn't directly abuse the referee. 

 Jack Wilshere was clearly frustated after the poor showing at Newcastle yesterday and his tweet soon after the game confirmed this. "Inconsistent refereing needs to stop.its killing the game.if Diaby goes..whats the difference between that and Nolan on our keeper!?? #joke". This was later removed by the Arsenal star as I guess he believed he was going to get into trouble over it. He may still get fined by the FA but it will be stupid if the young Englishman is. He is simply expressing his opinion which everyone should be entitled to. 

 In my opinion Twitter is a good thing for the game and especially for the fans. It is a brilliant way for the players to communicate directly with the fans. It is also proving to be extremely popular with over 200,000 people following Wilshere's tweets. It allows the fans to keep up with what the players are up to and is far easier for the players than having interviews with newspapers to share their opinions on the game. However the players do need to be careful with what they tweet especially over refereeing decisions. I also hope players aren't banned from the site as if they are the fans are losing a great method of communication with the players. Arsene Wenger also backs the idea of his players being on Twitter as long as they don't get themselves into trouble. 

A list of the players on Twitter:

Alex Song 

Bacary Sagna

Jack Wilshere

Wojciech Szczesny

Cesc Fabregas

Jay Emmanuel Thomas

Benik Afobe

Emmanuel Frimpong

Craig Eastmond

Johan Djourou

Sanchez Watt

Denilson

Henri Lansbury

Robin Van Persie

Samir Nasri

Arsenal 4-4 Newcastle United Player Ratings

A game of two halves at St James Park, which turned out to be the game of the season so far. Arsenal were superb in the first half and awful in the second.

Wojciech Szczesny 7.5/10
 An impressive game for the young keeper. Despite conceding 4 goals he wasn't at fault for any and made some crucial saves which stopped Newcastle from defeating Arsenal.

Bacary Sagna 5.5/10
 Like most of the team, was good in the first half both defensively and offensively. Was caught out a couple of times in the second half too far forward.

Laurent Koscielny 6/10
Also played well in the first half but did concede 2 penalties in the second half. Only one of them was a penalty and didn't look as good as playing with Squillaci

Johan Djourou 7.5/10
Defended well in the first half and scored a good header in the first half. He got injured early in the second half  and Arsenal went downhill from there.

Gael Clichy 5/10
Very similar game to Bacary Sagna. Solid in the first half and then poor in the second. Was caught too far forward and he exposed the centre halves on many occasions.

Abou Diaby 4/10
 Played well until he totally lost the plot after a bad tackle from Joey Barton. He got sent off as a result and this affected the team badly.

Jack Wilshere 6.5/10
 Looked impressive in the first half but didn't defend well when the team needed him to late in the second half.  After the Diaby sending off he needed to play more defensively but wasn't able to do this well.

Cesc Fabregas 6/10
A poor performance from the captain. Struggled to have any influence on the game in both the first and second half.

Theo Walcott 7/10
 Scored an early goal and set up another. He did waste possession a couple of times and could of tracked back more to help out the defence.

Robin Van Persie 7.5/10
 Was superb in the first half scoring two great goals. Had no impact in the second half apart from a goal that was ruled just offside.

Andrey Arshavin 6.5/10
 Played well early in the game but got worse as the game went on. Wasted possession and didn't help out defensively when he was needed.

Substitutes 


 Sebastien Squillaci 3.5/10
 As soon as the Frenchman came on the defence looked shaky and he was a big factor in Arsenal not getting the win. Hopefully Johan isn't badly injured and Sebastien won't have to play many games.

Tomas Rosicky 5/10
Was brought on to replace the ineffective Arshavin. He was even more ineffective and was poor defensively in the closing stages.

Emmanuel Eboue 5/10
Was brought on to defend the lead as he is meant to be a better defender than Theo Walcott. Made a couple of mistakes and gave the ball away.

Man of the match: Wojciech Szczesny 
 Nobody really deserves the motm award but Szczesny played well and wasn't at fault for any of the four Newcastle goals.