Stadium of Plight

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
21 Nov	3:00 PM	P	Sunderland (A)	0	1	Lost

After losing 1-0 to Sunderland on Saturday, Arsenal fell eight points behind league leaders Chelsea in what could be one of the most costly defeats of the season.

It was always going to be a big game, I had said to myself before the game, that this game even more so than the Manchester United loss would show people what kind of title challenge Arsenal could pose. It was always going to be a tough match, coming back off internationals, injuries to cope with and an away game against a potential top 6 side, now you could rue our luck as Chelsea and Manchester United both play at home and meet Wolves and Everton. No matter what else happened with the rivals, Arsenal needed to go out and get three points, which would have sent out a very impressive message but alas it wasn't to be and however disappointing the performance was, it is not the end of the world.

Sunderland and the Stadium of Light will be a difficult team and place to go and beat, no matter when you play them, be it after Internationals or just during a normal Premiership week, so to be honest a draw would have been a decent result. While it is a big setback as Arsène Wenger said after the game, it is not the end of what we've been trying to achieve, what it does do is place a big emphasis on two matches, next weekend against Chelsea and the game in hand versus Bolton, get two wins out of two there, obviously a big ask but two wins and Arsenal are suddenly back in the mixer.

Chelsea do look strong at the moment but you cannot excuse the abysmal display from an already poor team in Wolves, and while the media may be waxing lyrical about the league leaders, had they gone to Sunderland on Saturday without Drogba and Lampard would there be so much hyperbole about them. One thing is for sure though, when Arsenal and Chelsea meet next weekend, that will be the biggest indicator of the season of where Arsenal can finish this season, and for the sake of the title race everyone should be backing Arsenal.

It is amazing how quickly the media turns though, two weeks ago after two consecutive 4-1 victories against Wolves and Standard Liege, everyone was talking, in their surprised tone of voice, about how Arsenal could actually be involved in this title race, one defeat and suddenly Arsenal's top four place is in doubt. I would urge the supporters to keep the faith and back the team, because a win next week against Chelsea will be such a massive boost, both in the table and in the mentality, it could propel us back into form.

A lot was made this week about injuries, ok, so Arsenal do seem over-run with them but taking a look at the starting line up at Sunderland, it did not look weak. Maybe the out and out striker with Eduardo is not as strong as it could be, but Rosicky, Nasri, Fabregas, Ramsey and Song who was once again outstanding, then the bench had Arshavin and a returning Walcott and Denilson, if that is not strength in depth, then I don't know what is. Now after the loss, it will be all about how much Arsenal miss Robin van Persie, but while he was definitely a man in form, Saturday was just a plain bad performance, had we been at full speed, we would have won, I have no doubt about that.

There are plenty of excuses Arsène Wenger could use to paint over this weekend but they would be just that, excuses. Internationals may be a pain, injuries may be particularly bad at the moment and the rivals may have had easier games but Arsenal just weren't Arsenal this weekend, while it was a disappointing game it is not the end of the world, Arsenal until next weekend against Chelsea, are still in the title race, there is still two thirds of the season left.

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