Playa Ratings

1 - Almunia, 7

Despite plenty of Fulham attacks and half chances, I don't remember him having much to do other than look sound from crosses, which he largely was.

3 - Sagna, 6.5

Getting forward plenty at the moment but could work on his crossing. Seems to either just scoop it in or just put his foot in front of it and hope the pace already on the ball will do the trick.

22 - Clichy, 6

Short of confidence at the moment and as good a reason as there is not to boo: lacks nothing for effort but just doesn't trust himself to do things instinctively. There were some good moments in fairness, but like Sagna, the crossing can improve.

5 - Toure, 7

The rear end shows no sign of deflating but the sluggishness does seem to be less than it was. A tough test against Fulham, but he did OK.

10 - Gallas, 7

Ditto really. There was not too much arguing with Fulham's forward play but apart from a spell in the second half where I feared they were turning the screw, we never really looked like conceding. In the air we simply look far better organised. Not sure why, but we do.

2 - Diaby, 5.5

Poor frankly. The handbrake was on and what came so simply on Tuesday now took a whole lot of effort. Seems incapable of stringing a decent run of form together.

15 - Denilson, 6

Part of a midfield that just seemed overrun at times, despite Fulham playing 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1. Did OK and intercepted some things but this was not the stuff of Tuesday night.

12 - Vela, 6.5

Faded later on and was deservedly subbed. But looked lively on his first Premiership start initially and was stretching Fulham a fair bit. But like the others, shy in front of goal.

8 - Nasri, 7

Quieter in the second half when moved to the wings but did keep things ticking over nicely when behind RVP. One of the few players to harass Fulham, he was nice to watch, if not explosive.

11 - van Persie, 6

Paid to stick away chances and while he was unlucky to hit the post, the first half header and shot should really have ended up bulging the net.

26 - Bendtner [Sub], 6.5

Offered something different, which was welcome, but you do look at the likes of Johnson and wonder why Bendtner can't run like them.

27 - Eboué [Sub], 7

A good cameo, driving forward and taking on players.

23 - Arshavin, 7

Clearly still not fit and flits in and out of games at the moment. But uses the ball very neatly, set up great RVP chances and looks unafraid to shoot.

I LEFT the Emirates yesterday thinking one of four scenarios must have occurred:

a) We simply don’t try hard enough.
b) Our physical conditioning is abysmal.
c) Fulham are world beaters.
d) A combination of the above.

The latter seemed the most probable.

I readily accept it is only human nature to rouse oneself for our biggest challenges and to sometimes struggle to overcome life’s more mundane hurdles. To perform at 100%, 100% of the time is not human - it’s robotic.

But that said, I still can’t reconcile the yawning chasm between what we saw on Tuesday night and what we witnessed at the Emirates this weekend, last weekend and seemingly every other weekend.

How readily we reverted back to type - jockeying instead of tackling, stopping instead of going and hesitating rather than chancing.

At times late on Fulham, yes Fulham, made us look embarrassingly ordinary. Knackered after Roma? How on earth these precious souls will handle a trip to the Midlands with just a two day break, I don’t know. Had we played above ourselves on Tuesday one could more easily accept this dross.

But Roma was just a reflection of what we are very capable of delivering.

Instead, game after game, we are playing below ourselves.

So as we slip inexorably towards a diet of (if we’re lucky), the Europa League and the knock-on listless Sunday afternoon Premiership duals, for the first time a part of me pondered if the boos that rang out at the final whistle might actually not all be a bad thing.

Could they finally lift the team from this terrible slumber? Could they shake these guys to the core, strip them of some of their ego and cliched as it sounds, take us back to basics?

After all, it’s not as if management or players seem to have any ideas.

And make no mistake, it is now a dreadful run we’re on: points wise our last five games have been WORSE than winning two and losing three, our last 11 games have been WORSE than winning six and losing five. Some undefeated run.

But the answer, as I discovered over the course of one of those rare Saturday nights where Arsenal DID impinge on my overall mood, was no, booing is not the answer. For a start, as this Online Gooner piece suggests, my hunch is that those who boo are of impure hearts themselves.

If they sung with gusto from 2.55pm to the final whistle and then vented their frustrations, fine. But the suspicion remains that the booing is the loudest they have got all day.

I also realised that equally, as Gunnerblogger alludes to, that something else is at play. We may well be lazy, but it’s got to the stage where we have developed a perfectly understandable nervousness too, particularly in front of goal.

And it is a nervousness that booing will only make ten times worse.

So while I’d love to grab each of them by the neck and shake them some urgency into them, booing is clearly not the way.

Against Fulham, we were frigid in front of goal. Everything felt so forced, so unnatural.

Of course, there were chances. But whereas RVP was previously sticking them away, his radar is now off. Where would we be without his goals, people asked after Everton. Now they know.

The chances came and went, but rarely were they part of a sustained, coherent passage of play. Instead they formed small spells where we spluttered into life.

We were at our best at 4-5-1 with Nasri flitting around, joining things up and oiling what was otherwise a slightly clunky machine. Arshavin was more peripheral, though his contributions were often telling and it was only poor RVP finishing that denied the Russian two assists.

Fulham were enterprising right from the off and had (mostly half) chances which to my mind came about largely through decent attacking play rather than poor defensive organisation. It was in the middle of the park where we struggled. Denilson was OK initially, but you can often tell so much from Diaby’s first contribution. It was poor and things got little better.

Removing Vela for Bendtner felt right, but it did us little favours. Arshavin faded and Nasri, who at least played with some bottle, looked isolated on the right wing. Despite a comedic winning of a free-kick with his first touch, Eboue was very good when sent on as a more attacking version of Sagna.

But ultimately you simply can’t argue we had a never say die spirit.

Rarely, if ever, were we left wondering how a player had managed to win a ball. At the other end Andy Johnson worked tirelessly for the Cottagers - take note Bendtner.

I’m in the States for a wedding for the Burnley and Blackburn games and right now it feels like if I had to miss anything, us trying to score at home in the league for the first time in ages against Allardyce of all people does not feel like a bad moment to be absent.

Before then, it is West Brom, where you sense things will either get very bad or else we will enjoy a bit more freedom away from the Emirates crowd.

And that’s yer lot - thanks for reading, it’s been a long one. It’s moments like this that remind me why I write this blog - a privileged opportunity to have loads of people share my ecstasy and agony.

PS. Hundreds of you have already responded to the Goodplaya survey. It’s good fun, doesn’t take long and you could win a six month subscription to ArsenalTV online. Take the survey here.

AROUND 15 months ago I surveyed Goodplaya.com readers and 600 of you kindly replied, giving a fascinating snapshot into where the fans thought the club was in November 2007. I posted the results here.

A lot has happened since then and now I’m doing it again. And one lucky person who fills it in will win a free 6 month subscription to ArsenalTV online. If you already subscribe, you will get another six months added on for free.

You may have seen a few blogs offering ArsenalTV subscriptions over the last 24 hours. I’ll let you in on a secret: Basically, we’ve all been bribed. They’ve given each of us our own subscription and one to give away and in return we promote their brand, spanking new, free for everyone (this Saturday only), better than being at the match, morally more right than streaming it, matchday coverage that you can check out here.

I may be utterly shameless, but hey, at least I’m honest about it.

The survey won’t take long to fill in and as I said last year, I’m really interested in hearing the views of everyone - including those of you who don’t normally respond in the comments section. With a bit of luck you’ll actually find it vaguely interesting and it won’t take long.

Other than the prize, there is nothing remotely commercial about it and your details will not be passed to anyone, including ArsenalTV. It is purely Arsenalistic.

So to those of you who fill it in, thanks in advance.

The survey is now closed… Thanks to all those who took part. The results will appear/have appeared on the site.

OUR last three on the spin have been goalless.

Fulham have had six 0-0s in their last 25 league games.

If ever there were a game to come out of the blocks at breakneck speed and NOT wait until deep into the second half before really going for it, then surely this weekend must be it.

Playa Ratings

1 - Almunia, 8.5

One really, really important save to make and he made it.

3 - Sagna, 7.5

Getting forward a lot at the moment - arguably more than Clichy. That's quite an achievement for one who continues to be so defensively strong. His final ball needs working on but he's good for us right now.

5 - Toure, 7.5

The arse looks ready to pop but the play is becoming smoother and you have to say that defensively we're looking good right now.

10 - Gallas, 7.5

Ditto, though not about the bum. Reading the game well and not making the same once a game mistakes we were getting before.

22 - Clichy, 7.5

A real confidence player and in the second half he seemed to find it again after a few frustrating weeks. Began to bomb forward once more, really overlap and go for everything.

2 - Diaby, 8

Offered real balance in midfield and looked up for it from the very first moments.

15 - Denilson, 8

Flaminiesque. Nipped in and stole everything and crucially did not have to be the creative force either.

27 - Eboué, 7

Ran hard, tried, got into the box, accelerated past his man and almost completely stayed away from the idiocy. Fluffed his big chance, which if you look at his goalscoring record was no big surprise.

26 - Bendtner, 7

Caused trouble out on the left and continually stretched Roma. He doesn't have the control or technique of Henry or Bergkamp, but they missed chances too. Tried much harder than Saturday.

8 - Nasri, 8

Floated around, was hard to pick up, used the ball well and fed players in neatly. Still think he can do more, but a good audition for the off the striker role in a 4-5-1.

11 - van Persie, 8

Great movement, created the penalty, got up and scored it clinically. Very hard to track and did not suffer as a lone front man.

17 - Song [Sub], 7

In no way offers what Diaby does but at least his energy levels were up on usual.

12 - Vela [Sub], 7

A little to learn defensively, but going forward offered us something new and we continued to stretch Roma right until the end.

16 - Ramsey [Sub], 7

I called this sub five minutes before it happened, which I was pretty impressed with. And he did well, scuttling about and generally knowing where the goal was.

On paper Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner, Eboue and Nasri may not look like a midfield for the ages. But in practice they showed just what can be achieved with effort, pressure, tempo - call it what you will.

It’s never a bad thing if at the end of the night you’re ruing chances to extend your lead.

And it’s a very Arsenal thing for us to resort into debates about how bad the opposition were.

His goalscoring record pointed to a miss. But at least he was trying.
They weren’t great but that’s because from the off we tore into them. And for 90 minutes we sustained it.

It could - should - have been more than 1-0. But 1-0 is still a great result. It means they have to beat us by two goals or on penalties.

You look for heroes on night’s such as these, but in reality everyone shone from back to front. They played like Arsenal players.

The galling thing is that it was so different to last Saturday and so many times this season.

Being slightly more up for the big occasion is excusable human nature but the gulf between what we have seen in the space of four days is not really acceptable if we’re honest.

The defence was faultless, apart from half of it not being there at the start of the second half. Even when Motta did come close it was from a brilliant turn, run and shot taken without breaking stride. And Almunia pulled out the kind of crucial save he has long been criticised of not making.

In midfield it occurred to me that really Song’s game doesn’t do Denilson many favours and Denilson’s game doesn’t do Song many favours. An on-song Diaby who drove us forward coupled with a Flaminiesque performance from Denilson ensured proper balance.

The best thing about Eboue and Bendtner is that there were no theatrics, no histrionics and no sloping around not really trying.

When none of those things happen glaring misses become far more acceptable in my book.

The crowd was interesting last night. They responded to the team’s bright start and were vociferous throughout the first half, at the start of the second a few misplaced passes coupled with his miss risked bringing out the Bendtner baiters who revel in nothing more than having a go at him. Their groans were audible, as was the more general dissatisfaction every time anyone passed a ball astray.

But in the end they were drowned out by the vast majority who recognised the odd error as nothing more than a minor kink in an otherwise excellent performance.

The team-crowd dynamic is an interesting one: they have a duty to raise us by trying hard and we have a duty to respond in kind. It was great to see players and fans back on the same sheet last night.

That’s just about your lot for now. If nothing else I dearly hope this inspires us to really go, go, go for that Champions League place. There is something so special about the tournament after Christmas and watching half-time highlights on the big screen of United v Inter is just so much better than doing the same for their city rivals against Copenhagen.

PERHAPS we’ve been treating the last three weeks as a warm-up for Roma: keep it tight, don’t concede and hope you nick one.

That’s me trying to be positive by the way.

In fairness, Almunia looked very good again on Saturday, Gallas looks probably as good as he had as an Arsenal player, Sagna is very strong and generally speaking the defence is functioning properly. Sure, the rough edges are still there on Kolo and Clichy is well below his early season barnstorming.

But the two goals conceded in seven league games has been no fluke.

And while our attack has been rubbish of late, I don’t think the emphasis on defending is to blame. Whereas a couple of months ago we had chaos when defending corners, now we have coherence.

It is, as I’ve said so many times before, the centre of midfield where we are so bereft. You can cope with one less than excellent player in the middle (we have in the past), but relying on two for any significant length of time won’t work and isn’t working.

And with all due respect to the people who will point to whatever stats about Song and Denilson, I’m not interested in stats. Whether a player completes 80% or 90% of passes matters little. What matters is what we see with our eyes: whether they pick the right ball and whether it is rolled neatly into the path of a teammate or shunted straight at his wrong foot. The same goes for tackles: how many are made matters less than whether or not we see with our own eyes our midfield being run rings round.

I’m not blaming them, just simply saying they are not good enough at the moment.

Some of you will think I’m on cloud cuckoo land when I make my next point but I genuinely believe that if we can buy two quality central midfielders, we could win the league next season.

Of course, that’s easier said than done and it’s far easier to sell top players than to buy them.

But ask yourself what has changed personnel wise from last season (when we came so very close) and our midfield is it really. Our squad is so young that nobody can now really be considered to be in decline. On the plus side, experience has been gained as has talent on the wings and in attack: only Hleb has left, while Nasri, Vela and now Arshavin have arrived. Granted, we probably need to fix the defence long term too.

Against Sunderland, we looked miles away from being the title winners I think we can become.

To borrow a phrase from Tony Blair, we’re at our best when we’re at our boldest.

We’re at our best when Gael Clichy is haring up the left-wing and leaving himself occasionally exposed, instead of sitting back and playing the safe game we saw against Sunderland.

We are at our best when Adebayor is hunting down every ball, not when it is only at the fourth time of asking that one of our forwards realises the Sunderland keeper has not picked up the ball and is wasting time by keeping it at our feet. That would never have happened a year ago.

Watching us against Sunderland was reminiscent of trying to cook a stir-fry on a low heat. We never cranked up the gas, rarely hunted them down and failed to force them into panic clearances.

So to Clichy I say bomb forward like you used to and to Song and Denilson I say scrap for everything. The great thing about scrapping is that anyone can do it, regardless of ability. Take Cesc. Never in a million years a natural scrapper and yet he always goes for anything. To Nasri I say take responsibility, be the main man. And to Bendtner I say run like Adebayor used to. There was far too much jockeying to be seen at the Emirates on Saturday. Pires and Henry earned the right to occasionally coast. This lot haven’t.

It should be said that we were not disastrous.

We had much the better of it and had the chances to score. It’s just galling to see how that lack of quality in midfield and that lack of application is hampering us so badly.

I’d better touch on Arshavin too. He looked full of quality and shorn of fitness. One thing that occurred to me is that if he is to play on the wings, we shouldn’t expect too much of a defensive contribution for a little while.

I also thought Ramsey deserved a go ahead of Eboue. Hierarchies are fine when the people at the top of them deserve to be there. But in this case I don’t see it and you just knew he’d never bring on the youngster ahead of the more established Eboue. Sod the fact one has an excellent attitude and the other’s stinks the place out.

Arsene has been moaning about Sunderland’s tactics and frankly it’s undignified. They were hardly the worst offenders and we only had ourselves to blame. But it’s fascinating to see how the top four after United have struggled so badly at home this season. And it’s not just confined to the top sides. White Hart Lane witnessed 80 goals in 19 league games this season (4.2 a game). This year it is 20 in 13 - just 1.5.

I’ll finish this lengthy post by touching on Denilson’s quotes of last Friday in which he claimed he was his own worst critic. Clearly, he has never met my mate Richard.

WE simply don’t try hard enough.

I simply don’t believe that at the end of a game those guys ache like they should. I don’t believe that they emerge with the same scars on their bodies as the Everton and Villa players who fight for everything.

Today the handbrake wasn’t so much on as pulled right up. Sure, we had the chances to win it when RVP clipped wide in the first half and Vela dragged a shot past the post in the second.

But we never went for it. We never flew into tackles and we lacked any sense of urgency. That we got to half-time at 0-0 seemed barely to bother us. We have scored a pathetic one first half goal in seven league games.

At the heart of our problem is the central midfield whose poverty is like a cancer on our entire team.

I include Denilson and Song in the players who lack urgency but I don’t blame them for not being good enough. The blame for that lies with the manager as does the fact a player with the attitude of Eboue is at the club.

It just can’t be right.

The frustrating thing is that the catastrophe of midfield was so predictable back in August. And the fact we don’t try hard enough is just unbelievable.

Playa Ratings

21 - Fabianski, 7

Did everything he had to do perfectly well. Not that he had a lot to do.

3 - Sagna, 8

Hard as nails. Won seemingly everything and kept bombing forward, sprinting onto nice little flicks.

40 - Gibbs;, 8

Very assured game from Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy's love child. Looked confident in defence and got his head up when on the ball, spraying some nice passes. And of course he bombed forward and whipped a few tasty balls in.

5 - Toure, 7

Looked very untroubled and late on it was good to see him burst in front of his man and win the ball like Kolo used to.

10 - Gallas, 7

Looks sharp at the moment.

15 - Denilson, 7

Fine. Some decent moments but nothing spectacular.

17 - Song, 7

Similar to Denilson, perfectly decent without dominating the midfield quite as much as it felt like we dominated elsewhere. But it's a really tiny complaint.

8 - Nasri, 7

Neat and confident without being spectacular. As an intelligent player he offers us much needed balance. His peroxide hair do has something of the Elstree 13 year-old boy circa 1995 about it.

12 - Vela, 8

I don't think I quite noticed how well he played as while I thought he'd been pretty good, others I've spoken to post game were purring. Great cross for Eduardo's goal and offered us real width and trickery.

26 - Bendtner, 7.5

Missed a few sitters. The one that hit the post was woeful, while another couple were just really well saved. But scored a very decent second at a crucial moment and as I said in the main piece, caused havoc.

9 - Eduardo, 10

The perfect return.

11 - van Persie [Sub], 7.5

Sharp and scored with his chocolate leg.

16 - Ramsey [Sub], 6.5

Fine if unspectacular substitute appearance.

28 - Bischoff; [Sub], 6.5

I know I'm being unduly harsh, but he still looks like someone Arsene has pulled out of a boozer on the Holloway Road and vowed to turn into a professional footballer. Did OK.

A return that was both touching and brilliant

AT the final whistle he could have very easily strode into the centre of the pitch and lapped up the adulation of the Emirates. Instead, Eduardo rose to his feet, blended into the general throng of substitutes and headed down the tunnel.

It was the unfussy act of an unfussy player who had let his football do the talking.

He was back with a performance beyond what any of us could have dared hope for.

There were the two goals, a penalty following a delightful header reversed across the keeper after he had fed Vela. But more than that there was a performance that offered real hope that maybe he wouldn’t be one of those players like Gazza or Alan Smith who return from serious injury 98% as good as they were, but missing that final something.

In fact Eduardo was arguably better than he’d ever been for us. His eye for a pass appeared honed, and his dribbling sharper. The nose for goal remained.

This was by far and away our best performance for some time. Yes, it was only Cardiff. But make no mistake: we were more than capable of playing poorly against them and we didn’t. In a nutshell, we always looked like scoring and they never did. And whereas for weeks we have looked scared of the goal, last night we had in our side a player at his best in front of it.

With Nasri and Vela on the wings we were rampant and Arsene was quite right to go so attacking in a game such as this. There were far too many chances for me to tell you about. Suffice to say we (Bendtner) badly screwed up one or two and their keeper was in inspired form.

A word on Bendtner: his quotes have clearly been taken out of context. And while it’s frustrating when he screws up something apparently simple, the fact is we need to stop expecting our forwards to be as technically immaculate as Henry or Bergkamp.

Bendtner netted at an important time with a very decent header and caused havoc all night.

He is also working harder than he was.

Cardiff did nothing by the way.

Paradoxically they brought with them some of football’s best supporters and some of the game’s worst supporters.

Those who sang all night were a credit to their club. Those who caused havoc on the tube and scrapped in the streets were not.

This was the first time in yonks that we’d gone into the last ten minutes of a game two goals up. Other than the League Cup, I make the last time United at home and it was no surprise that was hardly the most relaxing of affairs. I’d actually forgotten that sensation of a game being dead with 20 minutes still to play.

There is not a lot more to say really. The hope is this can be the start of something.

But in the meantime it was just great to see Eduardo again.

I CAN barely believe it’s almost a week since I last updated.

I could have done a few posts, but frankly not a lot has happened and all you would have got was me getting more and more angry with Eboue.

My first idea was a post titled “the early booking seemed harsh” where I lamented how despite very harshly going into the book for his first foul of the game (and a nothing one at that) nowhere near goal, Gael Clichy didn’t complain, got on with things and didn’t commit another foul.

A nice contrast with Eboue.

Then I got really annoyed at an interview with Eboue that I saw post the Ivory Coast game in Turkey. His red card shame against Spurs apparently completely forgotten, he gave us the line about how things were bad but were now good because people had emailed to say sorry for what happened against Wigan.

If you were one of those people, you’re an idiot frankly. I’m not saying boo him but for the love of everything, don’t apologise to him.

Then, finally, I think we had both Arsene and Eboue describing his second booking at the Lane as “normal”.

Normal? What the hell is normal about kicking at a guy off the ball when you’ve already been booked?

So as you can see, I’ve simply grown increasingly annoyed.

It’s Cardiff tomorrow night and as if we needed any further incentive, if we beat them and then beat Burnley we have either Sheffield United (them again) or Hull at the Emirates for a place in the semi-final at Wembley.

By any standards, our draws have been kind and frankly anything other than a Wembley visit would near enough constitute as big an FA Cup failing as we’ve had in 13 years under Arsene.

There is not a lot to be said about tomorrow other than that if we think getting them back to our place was the hard part of the job, we’ll be in for a nasty surprise.

The team news is dominated really by Eduardo.

There are the run of the mill substitutions that one sees every game and then you get the odd one that lingers for years in the memory.

I vividly recall Merson returning against Milan after his drugs absence, Wright appearing for the first time in months and the last time ever at Highbury against Everton in 1998, Arsene pointedly withdrawing Winterburn on his final Highbury day two years later and Dennis coming on for Reyes against Wigan in 2006.

Exactly 51 weeks after that fateful day at St Andrews, any kind of cameo appearance by Eduardo from the bench tomorrow night will be equally memorable.

Playa Ratings

1 - Almunia, 9

A good low save early on, a nice one from Palacios, safe handling and a great late save that rescued a point.

3 - Sagna, 8.5

It was no surprise to see the catch him panting late on during a brief break in play. Covered an incredible amount of ground – basically playing right-back and right-midfield for an hour and as well as staying strong defensively, he still found time to bomb forward occasionally to win corners and relieve pressure. Contrast his calm, restrained reaction to that early foul given against him with Eboue’s hysterics. Chalk and cheese.

22 - Clichy, 7

Lennon is tricky and at times the Clich toiled. Seemed to get booked for his first foul in an innocuous position, which seemed a little harsh. But stuck to his task and put his head in there where it hurt to deny Bent late on. The sight of John Terry bleeding like that would have had SKY issuing commemorative plates.

5 - Toure, 6

OK, if jittery at times. Didn’t feel convincing when balls came into the box.

10 - Gallas, 8.5

At his imperious best, particularly late on. Read the game so well, snuffed out danger and was very solid in his tackling. Benefits from not being captain I think.

15 - Denilson, 4.5

With the exception of between something like the 83rd and 88th minutes (when he won a few tackles and generally did OK), the Brazilian was highly disappointing. Never seemed to be in the right place, was too easily overrun and lost it far too easily too. So many balls were based on hope more than expectation. Failings typified by late Spurs chance where Denilson seemed to be running back in slow motion.

17 - Song, 7.5

Was dominated by the Spurs midfield early on, but did well in the second half. Dropped deep, seemed to be in the right place most of the time and was physically strong. Kept running, kept tackling and made the odd tactically sensible foul.

27 - Eboué, 4.5

Words fail me. Probably looked more dangerous than I’ve ever seen him early on. Then imploded.

8 - Nasri, 6

Too quiet for long periods, particularly when it was 11 v 11. Was also too weak on the ball on occasion. Got into the game later on and in fairness, he largely did his defensive duties.

11 - van Persie, 7

Flashed one wide in the second half and nearly latched onto a couple of through balls but was generally starved of service.

25 - Adebayor, 6

Had looked OK until his injury and while he failed to properly challenge for Eboue's first ball across goal, he certainly did for Clichy's and Eboue's second one. Didn't hold the ball up well above.

26 - Bendtner [Sub], 6.5

The ball didn’t stick to him enough on the whole. But got better late on and saw Cudicini turn one very decent effort over the bar.

40 - Gibbs; [Sub], 6.5

What a time for your premiership debut: three minutes left and down to ten men at 0-0 in a north London derby at Spurs. But looked comfortable enough and could not be blamed for allowing Modric to get in the late shot.

IN the eyes of Arsenal’s PR machine I imagine this was the weekend Emmanuel Eboue was supposed to be rehabilitated.

There was a visit to a local school, a “we want to beat Spurs for the fans” call to arms that took top billing on the official web site, a declaration of fitness and a fawning Guardian interview to accompany the educational visit.

All very nice and underlying all of it was the spin that what happened against Wigan was because the fans were basically too stupid to realise he was out of position and had been rushed back too quickly with no back story to what happened.

Since that Wigan incident (where I was not a booer), we have had the above line pumped at us at every opportunity.

Even the thinnest adherence to the alternative view – that Eboue had been a shirking, diving, ill disciplined, semi-unhinged embarrassment for two years – was never acknowledged by club, player or national press.

So we were subjected to a rehabilitation that completely glossed over the real reasons why what happened happened.

Which made the events at White Hart Lane almost inevitable.

Incredibly, that same absurd PR continues to insult our intelligence after the game, with an apology tied in with the absurd suggestion he didn’t deserve to be sent-off.

You worry that so many people have told him none of it’s his fault that he actually believes it.

I’m not going to sit here and tear into the player. Frankly it’s gone way beyond that. No doubt he has certain personal issues that may affect him and those should be respected.

But what can now not be doubted, even by his biggest defenders, is his complete unsuitability to play for Arsenal.

He badly, badly let down everyone yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong, he’d started brilliantly. By far and away our best player early on, popping up everywhere, driving forward, getting dangerous low balls in and even on the spot to knock one in after the whistle had gone.

Then he capitulated. The Sagna challenge that led to the foul may have been a foul and may not have been.

Who knows. Who cares.

To end up (correctly) booked over an incident so minor beggared belief.

The dissent that continued was probably intended to demonstrate the commitment he has been accused of lacking. How tragically misplaced it was.

When the red came it was as if Modric were taking candy from a baby. A simple, deliberate trip by the Spurs man, followed by the inevitable reaction and the second yellow. Even Eboue’s attempt to play the gentleman and escape a second booking was woefully over-acted.

It cost us badly – our chances of winning the game must have lengthened considerably in that moment.

Frankly, team-mates and manager must shoulder some of the blame. Team-mates for not defusing a ticking bomb and manager for indulging him through so much woefulness and putting him out there in the first place.

The game was one that Spurs largely dominated but we looked more dangerous. Eboue’s goal was touch and go. Adebayor probably didn’t deliberately trip Woodgate but his gargantuan legs undoubtedly stopped the England man from clearing the ball.

Earlier, the otherwise impeccable Gallas was fortunate to escape when in attempting to clear the ball, he only took Keane’s leg.

They had plenty of dangerous balls into the box, Almunia made a decent low save and up the other end Adebayor almost converted Clichy’s cross across goal and Eboue’s not dissimilar effort also failed to attract a touch. Talking of the Clich, I thought he came across brilliantly in the Times on Saturday. He was completely honest and made no attempt to cover up his own failings.

In the fifteen or so minutes before the red card and for a lengthy period after it, the paucity of our midfield was repeatedly exposed. Denilson was having a stinker, second best in every tackle, way of target with every pass. Song, in fairness, got better and better from a slow start and finished the game very strongly. Until the latter stages, Nasri was very, very quiet.

When the red did come, it said a lot about Eboue that we just carried on as if he were there. Not until well into the second half did RVP drop back into midfield.

It was all Tottenham after the break, but the stats showing they had had ten goal attempts to our one was grossly misleading. In their period of second half domination, only Robbie Keane’s header truly threatened.

Looking back, it was no surprise to see us up our level in the last quarter of the game. At 0-0 and with 11 v 11 you imagine we’d have roared forward in search of a winner, particularly given the strength of our bench, which was boosted by Arshavin and very happily, Eduardo.

But being a man down it was far tougher to dominate, even if Song, RVP and Bendtner all managed decent efforts. Then deep into stoppage time we left ourselves unbelievably exposed from a corner.

It was left to Sagna and Gibbs (who had replaced the bleeding from his head Clichy) to fend off four attackers. It was no surprise they failed to and that Modric found himself with a one on one.

In that moment, the misguided notion that Manuel Almunia never makes crucial saves was finally demolished once and for all. It was a stunning stop.

To be honest, for long periods I thought we were going to lose it. What with the sending-off, Spurs nemesis Adebayor hobbling off and a performance that for long periods didn’t feel quite enough backs against the wall, it certainly felt like the run might well end.

Perhaps if Spurs were not cack (they are), it may have done. But that said, we did fight, we did keep going and we improved the longer it went on and probably merited a point.

Table wise, things are not great and the odds of Sam Allardyce not doing us a favour an hardly have been huge. But that said, we now enter a new phase of our season where from seven league games, we really should be looking to notch up a lot of points.

And even with Adebayor out of the Roma game, we do now have an abundance forwards to throw on when chasing a game.

GREAT to see football getting it’s priorities right as ever of late.

There has been outrage over an ITV techie forgetting to flick a switch to move the ads when Everton v Liverpool went to extra-time. Never ones to miss a passing bandwagon and realising that on this occasion they were not to blame, the FA have decided to conduct affairs in public and have demanded a full explanation for what happened.

Here it the explanation: someone forgot to flick a switch.

It was shambolic but it was also a one off accident and it did nothing to undermine the integrity of football itself.

Then we’ve had simmering accusations that allowing a little time leeway on a transfer where all three parties (club, club and player) were in agreement, is somehow creating a sham.

I can’t help think incidents such as penalties given for handballs outside the box when the technology clearly exists to get such decisions correct are far more damaging to the sport’s credibility. Not looking at anyone in particular Villa.

Or even better than that, the farce at Anfield last Sunday. Lampard rightly called for refs to consult their assistants on tackles such as his. Even better would be to say that if the ref ever wants to issue a straight red, the fourth official must OK it after viewing a video replay first. They are such game changing decisions that they merit having a little time taken over - not that sending Lampard straight off prevented a disruptive melee anyway.

As it is, Lampard has had the card rescinded - but the fact Chelsea were wrongly a man down for so long stands.

The Bosingwa situation is beyond parody. The linesman who missed his lunge has been removed from the Premier League list. It was a terrible howler, though job demotion on one error seems a little harsh.

Either way, in demoting him, they have admitted Bosingwa was guilty of the offence. And yet apparently because the linesman spotted it but wrongly did nothing, no further action can be taken. Talk about wronging a wrong.

Anyway, enough of that rant. It’s Spurs this weekend and while for many people derby days represent the highlight of the season, for us it’s becoming a horrible countdown until the day that unbeaten league record finally goes.

I make it nine and a bit years since we lost to them in the league and just that solitary defeat in 25 league encounters under Arsene. Against any opposition that would be a great record.

Against our deadliest local rivals it’s a tremendous tribute to the way he has motivated his sides and ensured the importance that the fans attach to this game has been appreciated by players who have not grown up in North London.

Whatever happens, I think the game marks the closing of a phase of our season. When it resumes after the international break we should have Arshavin and Eduardo involved. We will face a run of seven league games (Sunderland, Fulham, Blackburn, City at home and WBA, Newcastle and Wigan away) where 21 points from 21 has to be the realistic aim.

The Champions League will be just around the corner and we will also know who we will have to beat to ensure our first visit to Wembley - for the FA Cup semi-final, with the draw for the quarter finals taking place before the Cardiff replay.

How on earth Spurs scraped a point in the fixture at the Emirates is beyond me. It came courtesy of a moment from Bentley that was better than everything else he’s done this season combined, Manuel Almunia’s biggest cock-up in two years, an inexplicable Clichy slip, a scorcher on his wrong foot from Jenas and a long ranger that was either going to fly wide or be comfortably saved until it spun up off a defender, smacked the post and fell perfectly for Lennon.

Yes, we were poor. But I still can’t fathom how it happened.

Let’s hope for better this weekend.