Gooner Talk

Almunia (7) – Brought back into the starting XI for a big match and showed why he’s probably Arsenal’s best ‘keeper at the moment. Despite some early rustiness, the Spaniard worked his way into the match and made some good stops – most notably from Bentley’s free kick.

Sagna (8)- Defensively solid but attacking-wise absolute first class. Provided two assists for RvP’s two goals. Very impressive.

Gallas (7) – Did his job well, made some good interceptions and blocks.

Vermaelen (9)- People were expecting the Verminator to struggle against 6 ft 7 Peter Crouch – it was the complete opposite. Vermaelen dominated the England striker in the air and didn’t let him have a sniff at goal, arguably MotM.

Clichy (8) – Similar to Sagna, kept Bentley quiet throughout the game. Seems back to his best.

Fabregas (8) – Unbelievable goal! Led by example and kept on going. The lad has such a good engine on him.

Song (7) -Good performance, made a couple of niggly fouls but other than that played well.

Diaby (6) - Had a poor game overall. Wasn’t helped by the home fans who were on his back for the whole 90 minutes.

Bendtner (7) – Quite impressive before being taken off injured, had a few worthwhile efforts at goal .

van Persie (9) – Two goals from a goal-poaching genius. Good link-up play and great finishing.

Arshavin (7) – Not his best game. However, he didn’t do much wrong and contributed to the cause when needed.

Subs:

Eduardo (7) - Missed a 1 on 1 with Gomes after he tried to place it to the right of the ‘keeper. Similar to RvP with his build-up play and quick feet. Decent performance.

Ramsey (6) – Not enough time to make an impact.

Eboue (6) – Didn’t get much of the ball.

Disagree with my player ratings? Leave your own in the comments section below!

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Patrick Vieira returns to the Emirates Stadium this weekend — as a mural on the side of the arena!

The former Gunners skipper, who currently plays for Inter Milan, will be depicted on a mural with legends Reg Lewis, Lee Dixon and Joe Mercer, as Arsenal continue their ‘Arsenalisation’ process of the stadium.

The mural is going directly above the away entrance and will be in place for Saturday’s North London Derby against Spurs!

You can read our other reports on the Arsenalisation here and here.

It is always a bit dodgy writing something so close to the end of the game, emotions are still running high and there is a tendency to say something a little stupid. However, the doom-mongers are out in force after we let slip a two goal lead away at West Ham, it could have been worse though, we could have lost.

We were due a slip up after the smash and grab job we did at Craven Cottage though.

The fans are right to be disappointed, it brings back some horrible memories of last season that we thought were just that… memories, I don’t know what it is but if one thing is for sure, we were not helped out one jot by refereeing decisions.

Although we didn’t play badly, we never really hit our stride and that may just be what cost us the three points. At 2-0 up everyone was expecting a rout and after recent results, rightly so, however we never dealt that killer blow or raised the intensity to completely take West Ham out the equation.

Today was not a disaster by any means though, Tottenham lost at home to Stoke, United were beaten by Liverpool so damage was limited and we still managed to leapfrog Spurs which is always a bonus. Indeed it is almost like some fans have reacted like we have lost the title already, bemoaning players like Diaby, Mannone and even Arshavin – he didn’t have his best game but picking on a player of his class is nigh on stupidity.

Give West Ham their dues, they deserved that draw and many other teams would have been beaten by them at Upton Park today, when have we ever gone there and got an easy three points? I have always not enjoyed playing them, they always give us problems and on quite a few occasions we have come out of the game on the end of a defeat.

I don’t catch on to the logic of blaming players though, I suppose we could also blame Fabregas for that shot that swerved just wide of the post? If that had gone in it would have been game over and job done. Why don’t we blame Eboue why we are at it? He was on the pitch after all, its customary to have a moan at him.

If you blame anyone for the draw earlier you need to grow up and grow a set because it was just one of those games that drifts away, a great side would have won that game yes, but this side is not a great side, it is a very good one. Some people have blamed Alex Song for the defeat, he had a stormer of the game and made one mistake that I noticed, he is the most improved player on the pitch by far in my book but as soon as he slips up people are getting on his back again.

So far this season we have already seen that any side can beat a top side in this league and as the season goes on we will see a lot of upsets, so far we have had Sunderland beating Liverpool, Spurs beating Liverpool, Burnley beating United, Wigan beating Chelsea; all we have done is drawn away to West Ham. You see what I’m getting at? It could have been worse.

What we need to do now is learn from today, the players need to show that they won’t make the same mistakes again and make up for the draw by beating Tottenham next Saturday because that is going to be a massive game for both sides.

Next up is Liverpool in midweek and it will be interesting to see who will be starting, eyes will be on Almunia, Bendtner and possibly Eduardo with Jack Wilshere also looking to make his mark.

Thats it for this week but feel free to have a go at me in the comments, keep it respectful though. What do you make of the draws this week and the games coming up?

More next week