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Swansea played great football to deservedly take the points in a hard fought win over my beloved Arsenal who should be looking at themselves and wondering why they are dropping so many points this season against ‘lower’ teams in the division. The words ‘Simply Not Good Enough’ may have been popular after the game but to be fair on Swansea, who has only lost one game at home this season, but they showed how you can compete in the Premier League by playing ‘proper’ football after being promoted.

Fickle Fans

If we take a step back into the past and ask fans about how this game could pan out the popular response you’d get from most fans, either Arsenal or neutral, would be ‘Tough game, Swansea have been playing some good football and have been solid at home’. I agreed enough to worry about the fact we could drop points this weekend after Liverpool &Sp*rs failing to win so the fact we lost 3-2 hasn’t surprised me. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in this team, it means I’ve got complete respect for Swansea and the way they play football. They took the game to us and yes they got a ‘lucky’ penalty, but they exploited our defence and took advantage.

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Monday night’s match against Leeds United was all about the return of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, and the on-loan striker certainly made the most of the occasion with a sweetly struck winner to mark what many has branded “The Return of the King.” However, in his usual modest mood, Henry took time to praise two of Arsenal’s youngsters when he said the following about Nico Yennaris and Ignasi Miquel’s performances to Arsenal.com:

“Obviously I am going to grab some headlines and stuff like that but Nico Yennaris and Ignasi Miquel at the back, along with some of the other guys, played really well. I was at the end of a great move but as I said many times, it is all about the team. We went through and that is the most important thing.”

Keeping Tottenham winger at bay

Yennaris was not expecting to play in Arsenal’s Third Round encounter with Leeds United, but after yet another injury to a make-shift fullback, this time Francis Coquelin, he was thrown into the deep by Arsene Wenger. Despite playing well for Arsenal’s Reserves thus far this season, Yennaris was now up against a very lively Andros Townsend, who desperately tried to make life miserable for the young Englishman. However, the FA Cup debutant stood off the threat of Townsend’s pace and trickery with ease, and even made a few threatening forward runs to give the Leeds defence a busy night.

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12 minutes away from yet another frustrating FA Cup draw with Leeds United, Thierry Henry scored a timely winning goal to send the Emirates Stadium into raptures. The Arsenal legend's storybook return was the headline of an otherwise sterile encounter in which Simon Grayson's side almost earned themselves a creditable replay.

Lack Of Cutting Edge

As expected, Arsenal had the lion's share of possession. But they have been struggling to break sides down with increasing regularity this season, and this affliction persisted last night. Mikel Arteta continued his impressive form by dominating the middle of the pitch, but when the ball was worked towards the penalty area, moves often broke down - with a lacklustre Marouane Chamakh, an erratic Andrey Arshavin, and an enervated Aaron Ramsey all at fault.

There's no doubt that the absences of a rested Robin Van Persie, and an Africa-bound Gervinho exacerbated this, but Arsenal will have to find a viable alternative to break sides down who are content to play for a draw.

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Wenger’s proverbial handbrake was on full strength as 10-man Arsenal surrendered a 1-0 lead towards the end of an exciting match at Craven Cottage through a series of defensive mistakes as the severity of our full-back crisis hit home.

Zero End Product

Arsenal carved multiple chances in the first half, creating 9 shots on target, as Gervinho and Ramsey posed the Fulham defence many problems. The Ivorian’s already hugely criticised finishing was in the spotlight once again. As has been said many times, he is excellent at getting himself into a good position and as his 15 goals for Lille last season show, he does know where the net is. Arsenal fans are yet to see this side of him and one hopes Wenger is making him work heavily on it. He should have had a penalty in the first half after Senderos clipped his ankle but the referee, who was poor all night, waved away the half-hearted appeals.

On the other wing, Walcott had a night to forget. Without a natural full-back overlapping him he has become even more predictable and the increase in his crossing ability that he had shown a few weeks ago seems to have deserted him. His final ball left much to be desired all night. Hopefully Chamberlain can stake a claim against Leeds next Monday and make Wenger seriously consider rotating the two of them.

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The Arsenal were back in action at the Emirates, after a disappointing/frustrating home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the 27th of December.

Before kick off most of the talk on the terraces was about the return of Thierry Henry (subject to insurance). Whether it’s a good bit of business only time will tell, I just hope he has an effect on our strikers/forwards in training because the finishing at present is woeful.

Wenger made three changes to the starting line up bringing back Ramsey, Theo and for his first start since November 26th, Andrei Arshavin.

The Game

The first half was a very frustrating affair (I was having flashbacks to the Wolves game). Arsenal were controlling the play, but it was QPR who had the first shot on target after eleven minutes.

  1. Close But No Cigar - Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
  2. Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal: Learning to win ugly
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