Arsenal 0 – 1 West Ham United

0 – 1 Zamora (45)

Re-arrange this set of words to come up with a well-known phrase: ‘Arse’, ‘Banjo’, ‘A’, ‘Cannnot’, ‘Forwards’, ‘Arsenal’, ‘With’, ‘Cows’, ‘A’ and ‘Hit’.

Thirty shots on goal. No goals. Visitors have four shots on goal. One goal. There is something seriously wrong if the players cannot score a goal from such a large number of attempts on target. You can put whatever gloss on it that you like; their ‘keeper played well or you can make whatever excuses about injuries – and there is some merit in this argument – but at the end of the day, you cannot rely on two players for all of your goals. Midfielders, Defenders and Attackers all have, not should, have to score if a team is to be successful. And at the moment, the Arsenal players are relinquishing that responsibility.

Arsene commented yesterday that the Ice Skunk’s investment was not a takeover and that in five or six years time, the Club would not need anyone’s money because the internal resources, i.e. the youth policy, will enable them to compete as equals to others who have money to burn. If the players carry on at this rate then in five or six years time we will be celebrating getting into the InterToto Cup.

Right that is the knee-jerk reaction out of the way. Lets look at the game itself. First mistake – one forward. Why would you replace two strikers who are struggling to score with a midfielder whose last Premiership goal was pre-decimalisation? Those who claim that Freddie is a better support striker than Baptista or Aliadiere got their answer today. That is not to blame Freddie on his own for this loss; merely observation that the change in formation and personnel did nothing to alter the outcome. The second mistake was leaving Diaby on the bench. Goal at Villa, sterling work at Goodison, left wing at Anfield, bench today. Why? What on earth does the guy have to do to get a place in the centre. If AW was serious about a 4-5-1 formation, have the centre of the midfield buttoned down, two wide-men leaving your central midfielder to attack at will.

The positive from this afternoon is that the performance was considerably better by all accounts, than the one witnessed at Anfield last week. TV highlights are notoriously unreliable as a guide but I have to confess that listening to the game this afternoon, it was a relief to be destroying several outbuildings in Mi Suegra’s garden – an observation that the strike of the sledgehammer indicated pent-up anger and frustration was not too wide of the mark.

There were numerous chances; a dozen on target, nearly double that amount off. And therein lies the rub. It is unrealistic to expect every shot to be on target yet to have so many and not score is not just wasteful, it is careless. And for this, the players need to stand up and be counted. Once they get on the pitch, forget the bench; no-one there can direct their shots into the back of the net. We can make all the excuses in the World for them, ie recognising their talent, yet if they cannot put the ball into the net, their talent counts for nought.

The greatest concern though is for their confidence. With each game, the failure to score enough to win chips away at their mental reserves further. In those so young this is a difficult asset to regain control of. This is a time for the senior pro’s to step up to the plate and find the back of the net; to find the leadership on the pitch to bolster the inexperienced, to give them guidance. Moreover, it is vital that they reverse this decline for there is a direct correlation between their confidence and ours. The longer this run goes on, the less they have (and we have) in their ability to take fourth place.

An Everton defeat on Monday could see Bolton turn up on Saturday in fourth place if Newcastle beat us. To be honest, the way I feel right now, I’ll take a point on Monday and treat it as a victory.