Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

Okay... another rubbish result...Before the game I was pretty annoyed that Starhub weren't broadcasting the game live but in hindsight, maybe it was a whole lot better. From the highlights that i've seen, we played like snot. Really, really bad. Cesc is not being... Cesc and the 4-5-1 was a pretty useless formation against a Sunderland side who decided to congest the entire midfield. Leadbitter had a cracking goal and we got one back through Cesc in the 92nd minute... this boy has the spirit and i've said it before, he's Mr. Arsenal. There's been alot said over Cesc's relative anonymity this season and his performance on Saturday probably reinforced that belief. I believe it's the midfield problem again... the one that everyone was talking about over the summer... we need a goddamn defensive midfielder... a Flamini. Denilson doesn't cut the DM role. Cesc NEEDS someone for HIM to shine. He had Gilberto and Flamini when he came to prominence and shone brightly but now, without a tackler and a go-getter, Cesc looks lethargic and not ready.

I get a sense that the patience is running thin amongst the Arsenal faithful. To win a title you DON'T drop points against teams like Hull, Fulham and Sunderland. Those are bread-and-butter games that MUST be won in preparation for the dropping of points against the big teams. I don't know how many of you out there have checked out the fixture list but we've got Chelsea, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Manchester City all in the same month for the Prem- November. These are games that will cause us to drop points. There's no denying it. We needed to rack up the points before November's death fixture list. The team needs to get it's act together and start performing like we know they are capable of rather than simply talking the talk.

Look at Liverpool. Even though I dislike them, their game against City last night was class. I only watched the second half but it was the half that mattered. 3 goals in the half won the game for them. Pool want the title. Can Arsenal match them? Will we be able to dig into our reserves to bring out the quality to lift the title? I'm doubtful at this point but time will tell...

I guess the one consolation for the weekend was that Spurs lost :D