I sit here attempting to write a two-sided discussion about tonight’s ‘events’, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult.  We were awful, there are no two ways of putting it and there is no way of disguising the fact.

If you asked me to point out any key Arsenal chances, I couldn’t.  We didn’t have a single clear-cut opportunity on goal except for a Gervinho one on one that you always fancied the keeper for.

Norwich are in my opinion one of the two worst teams in the league alongside Reading and to not win this game is inexcusable.  Not a single player played particularly well although it has to be said apart from the goal the defence had very little to do.

The bad thing

20 minutes into the game it was looking like we might have a difficult time breaking Norwich down, they were very organised defensively and we’ve always struggled against teams like that.

Despite this I had the feeling that Norwich did not have the ability to score a proper goal against us, this proved to be the case.  Tettey’s long-range shot was poorly parried by Mannone (who is looking less and less like a suitable deputy to Szczesny), and Grant Holt was allowed to nip in and score.

Many people will point to Andre Santos lack of playing the offside as the problem with this goal but this isn’t the only issue.  When Tettey hit the initial shot there were three Arsenal player in the area immediately around him and not one of them did a decent job of closing him down.

The only excuse

The only thing I can look towards, as a reason for why we looked so ineffective is that the majority of our players were on international duty last week.

However, if this is the case then isn’t it up to Wenger to make the call if he thinks that some of the lads aren’t physically ready for the game?

A couple of glimpses of hope

I left this game with two thoughts clinging to my mind.  Firstly, at least Jack’s back, seeing him on the bench sent shivers down my spine and although it was always unlikely that he would play, just the sight of him fit and raring to go was enough to perk me up a bit.

Secondly, we finally saw the Wonderkid Serge Gnabry hit the Premier League stage.  Although he didn’t get long to showcase his talent, Serge still looked bright and comfortable on the ball and certainly has the ability to become a first team regular in the coming seasons.

Picking ourselves up

As Arsenal fans we have come to accept whether we like it or not that every season a rubbish team will beat us.  Whether it’s Norwich, Wigan, Hull, Fulham or Blackburn, it comes at least once every year.

But we can’t let this one game turn into a month or two of misery, having a game so soon on Wednesday night is a perfect chance to put this performance to the back the teams minds and get back to winning ways.

A win against Schalke will all but guarantee us a spot in the Champions League knockout stage once again and send a wave of anticipation through the club.  As much as I’m struggling for positivity after today, there’s always the next game to turn things around.

We can’t hide

Despite my wish to forget this game ever happened, I feel it is important not to.  Throughout the media before the Arsenal Man city game, pundits were declaring it the acid test of our title winning credentials.

This isn’t the case, it’s the games like todays that will prove our ability to start winning silverware again.  The season we stop losing silly games to poor football sides, that will be the season that Arsenal becomes truly great again.

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