Times are tough and for those engrossed in football nothing is better than a solid win for your team.  Fans of the Big Four teams are somewhat spoilt.  We expect the best and usually get it.  We can look at fixture lists and see that we should really win the majority of them.  However, as of late Arsenal fans have been experiencing the inconsistency more akin to a mid-table team.

Make no mistake, last week’s rousing win over Manchester United was exactly what both the Arsenal team and fans needed.  The game was paramount to confidence and it seemed that the result would set us up for a solid run positive results.  Oh to be an Arsenal fan!

I would be lying if I for one felt that this weekend’s game against Aston Villa was to be a stroll in the park.  It seemed almost inevitable that the Man Utd victory was just building up the team so it could once again be knocked down.  There was this overwhelming nervousness there would be yet another false dawn for us to stomach, as it was duly delivered by a truly ruinous performance.

Niklas Bendtner is a player who appears to be out of his depth, consistently claiming that he is ready to fill Adebayor’s shoes, yet failing at every chance.  William Gallas goes from hero to zero on an all too frequent basis and has yet to truly inspire confidence.  Denilson is mercurial and makes hard work of a defensive role when asked.

At the end of the day, results like these have to come down to mental strength.  Maybe it was a case that the team felt that after the Man Utd result, that the job was done, we were back in it.  In fact, the match that matters most is the one that follows.  The squad seem oddly incapable of widespread focus and as a result are severely punished.  Momentum cannot be underestimated, both Liverpool and Chelsea benefit hugely from it, and Arsenal must attain it in order to challenge for the title.  As Wenger said, the Villa match was a perfect opportunity to gather momentum and further silence the doubters.  Unfortunately, those voices baying for Arsenal’s blood will once again resonate from the media.

Much of the blame has to fall upon both Gallas and Wenger.  As captain and manager the two need to instill a much tougher mentality in the side as well as belief, a quality that seems to fade in and out of the side.  As calm as Wenger may seem in post-match interviews, spouting identikit comments, you have to hope that behind the doors of the locker room he is reading his players the riot act.

The way in which goals are conceded just serve to compound our misery.  Bacary Sagna was down with a serious ankle injury for Villa’s first goal and Carlos Vela was taken out from behind on the edge of the area only for the referee to give nothing and see Villa race away for a second.  We had more to annoyed about with the second goal, as we could have got something out the game from the freekick that should have been awarded.

The inconsistency of referees in games is yet another feature that has become more prominent.  Denilson and Fabregas both received bookings, while Sidwell got a stern talking to for an equally bad challenge.  If referees want respect they need to make consistent decisions.

Sagna is now injured for a few weeks, luckily Toure can fill in for him with little trouble.  Cesc Fabregas is suspended for the match away at Manchester City, a must win.  But looking at his performances of late, the suspension could be a blessing in disguise.  After winning the Euros with Spain and being rushed into preseason he still looks like he’s feeling the heat and a match off should hopefully give him some much needed rest.

Looking at the table now, the title seems to be out of reach.  With Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea all winning we needed to keep the pace.  But remember, the season is long.  Last season Man Utd lost 5 games and drew 6 on their way to the title.  If we can get some momentum together with wins over Man City and Chelsea we can maybe get back on track.  Beating the rest of the Big Four is vital, and we proved against Man Utd that we can do that, even without our top two strikers.

The outlook may look bleak, but as fans it is up to us show belief, and frankly the crowd on Saturday were disrespectful, with some boos even echoing out from the crowd.  This squad is so close, a common phrase that I’m sure some of you are fed up of hearing, but if the team can muster up some momentum with consecutive victories over Man City and Chelsea, the future will look much brighter.