Gunners Shot Down

When the text came through from Dad saying "Got 2 tickets to the game on Wednesday" my face lit up. The math class I was "So" interested in went from "Amazing" to even better. Nothing excites me more than going to watch the Arsenal in a mid - week Champions League fixture. However tonight was not a performance worthy of watching. The usual pack of crisps and a lucozade was purchased from the mighty Jackson's food and wine, the evening looked promising.

Huntelaar celebrating after and emphatic finish

Certain performances from our players tonight were not worthy of beating any team in the Champions League this year. After last week's embarrassment at Carrow Road we'd hope to see an A* performance. Well boy it certainly wasn't.

Firstly, Santos' positioning was appalling. He let his man run in behind onto the ball from the Shalke midfield many a time. Their second goal came from this example. For a man who got arrested for being so quick he never seemed to get back quick enough.

But the game did bring in some positives. Our midfield looked well organised, disciplined and composed. There were tackles flying in left, right and center and were winning those 50/50 balls. Coquelin stole the show tonight. Without him Schalke could have scored plenty more, making the journey home from The Emirates worse than it was. He was everywhere. Supporting the attacks, helping the defence and breaking down their play.

The name Gervinho has been a large talking point, in and around the Stadium and many of my blogs. Firstly, it never helps when you are playing totally out of position. Gervinho is not that target man upfront that we look for with long balls over the top and into feet. I still dont believe he's settled in to life in England. His scoring record since he arrived has be mediocre, his inability to take on a player still hasn't improved and he lacks a huge amount of confidence. From tonights performance Gervinho might as well have played for Schalke or even represented the Ivory Coast Olympic diving team.

At 0-0 with twenty minutes to go. I turned to Dad and said "I think its time for fresh legs". Ten minutes later on comes Giroud, soon followed by Gnabry and Arshavin. Ten minutes just isn't enough time for a player to make an impact on the game and change it. Twenty minutes or more is when you start to look for some more ideas. These little factors affect our game. Wenger needs to stop being so stubborn and admit that the tactics he has given to the players are not working and that he needs to swap things round.

Its strange that us as football fans, with little knowledge of the game can see these small and big weaknesses to our team. Whereas the people in charge with more football knowledge than anyone are too scared to admit that what they have done was wrong and that things need to change.

I must admit that I did enjoy the Schalke fans celebrate. The craziest fans I have seen in a while. Whereas the Emirates is another story. Something like 2 songs were sung tonight at the game. This needs to change so we can cheer the team on and get them playing like invincibles.

Up the Gunners

Keep the Faith

Arsene Wagner