Relief, but still worrying

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
06 Mar	3:00 PM	P	Burnley (H)	3	1	Win

A difficult week comes to an end with a win that puts us within even more touching distance of that coveted top spot. Smart enough and got the job done, I'll give you that, but I didn't really know how to put it into words as the final whistle rang at the Emirates, to the relief of all concerned.

And, I don't know about you, but if the defence and goalkeeper carry on such form, we will not win bugger all.

Now, the sooner the management realise this, and the sooner the players buck up their ideas, the more healthy it will be for everyone involved with Arsenal. The way Burnley's Leon Cort was allowed to send a header over a static Arsenal back four, for David Nugent to cheekily lob a scrambling Almunia was the kind of defending akin of the sort we used to encounter on a primary school playground.

It's alright scoring goals for fun, which, on the whole, we do. But, when it comes to the crunch, this is the sort of mistake that may make us come unstuck. Take the match coming up against Porto, for example, and you realise exactly what I mean can potentially hit us with such errors.

Still, at 2-1, and with Walcott having hit one right in the face of his overtly harsh critics throughout the week, defensive uncertainty reigned. With chance after chance gone begging, you just knew there was one more chance in it for the visitors.

And, indeed there was, with Steven Thompson contriving to smash over the bar six yards out with minutes to go. Again, comical set piece defending overall. Again, Almunia doing his utmost best to prove that he is simply not good enough at this level, never mind at Arsenal.

Sounds harsh, I know. We should be delighted with another win that keeps the run going, hopeful that, in time, we gain the advantage. But instead, I make it sound like disaster had struck. It hasn't, but it is important to anticipate the problems, as Wenger always states. Committed and cautious, Burnley showed that there really are no easy matches in this league, belying their record of one away point all season.

With this supposedly the easiest of apparently easy contests in our run-in, there will be plenty to mull over prior to Porto's visit and the remaining Premier League encounters.

Not just defensively, mind you.

You wonder just how the score ever got to 1-1 in the 50th minute On Saturday, with Nicklas Bendtner the main culprit; missing some gilt-edged chances that a seventeen year-old academy right back on crack would've tucked away. Chance after chance, it is simply inexplicable that someone of his age, size, and calibre can demonstrate such lack of poise and application with the goal at his mercy several times over.

Frankly, I am getting tired of this guy, who, despite some resemblance of a purple patch having scored in the last two prior to this, looks like he may just be the definitive weak link that proves our downfall, often shirking the responsibility of his role by getting dragged on the wings and with a goals scored to chances ratio that even I wouldn't be proud of (and I am useless up front). The very fact that he is up as our main striker, terrifically juxtaposed to Rooney of Manchester United or Drogba of Chelsea and you see exactly what I mean.

Having already mentioned him, a big shout out to Theo Walcott, who has come in for a fair bit of stick recently from all sorts of directions, particularly from so-called football legends. Yes, Theo has been frustrating for large parts of this season. But what I find particularly baffling is that ex-players like Chris Waddle do not even appreciate that he has also been frustrated by a series of niggling injuries suffered throughout this term, thus halting his progress, and producing this hot-and-cold outlook. A run in the team and a well-taken goal on Saturday to boost his confidence will do him a world of good, as it will for us, desperately needing his pace and endeavour in the coming weeks.

Overall, despite wasting an endless number of chances, and despite making it difficult for ourselves in the second half, we must be grateful for the squad's reaction on the pitch following last week's events, whilst also hopeful that Cesc's withdrawal prior to the break is merely a precaution as had initially been stated.

The players certainly showed their class by donning "Get well soon, Aaron" before kick-off.

The promise of "Let's do it for Aaron" has been reverberating around everyone involved with Arsenal over the past week. Well, we got away with it on Saturday, but on that evidence, we can certainly "do more for Aaron".

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