After the match he said, "Sunday's defeat is difficult to take but easy to explain because we were poor offensively and defensively. We delivered an off-the-mark performance and that is why we were well beaten. We gave Manchester United too much room, and we were naive."

So what is the implication of that last comment? Surely it has to be that although Wenger forgets nothing his team has learnt nothing. In between being thrashed 3-0 by Chelsea and going on an unbeaten run of 10 games the team crumbled against the first top level team it met.

How Bad?

My impression at the game itself was that this was a very bad performance. However I didn't want to write in anger, but carefully analyse what occurred. So I have carefully thought about it and I am convinced my first impression was right, and who am I to tell Wenger his wrong?

Put simply this was one of the worst Arsenal performances I have ever seen. Some fans want to console themselves with the argument that we had a lot of chances, well I don't want to take any ones dummy away, but 13 shots off target and only 3 on target is not good enough. Man U had three shots that went in and that's what counts. It's not ice skating with points for pretty patterns, besides there wasn't any pretty play, the team that scores the most goals wins. Yes it's stating the blindingly obvious, but some fans, and more importantly Arsene Wenger, still don't get it.

No numbers in the box

I don't blame Arshavin for not scoring or producing the killer pass, he did try, but when he got into the final third there was no support, therefore he could not get into a great position to shoot, and most times there was no one to pass to. It was not until the last ten minutes that Arsenal got numbers into the box, and surprise surprise it paid off. Indeed the last ten minutes exposed how poor Arsenal had been for the first 80.

Powder Puffs and Midgets

Every now and then Almunia lobbed a ball towards our nonexistent 10 ft striker upfield, now and then crosses sailed over a Man U penalty box devoid of Arsenal players. It was embarrassingly poor; the team was short of height and muscle up front, the powder puffs, Nasri, Rosicky and Arshavin were making no impact at all. Wenger's response was to send on another lightweight, Theo Walcott.

Not until 72 minutes did he put Bendtner on, and once again the team's performance stepped up. Not because Nik is brilliant, but because he gave the Man U defence an arial challenge, he could bring down Almunia's wild kicks and spread the ball around. But it was all too little too late.

I can't be bothered to discuss the defence, woeful will suffice, except for Clichy where the word is not strong enough. There is no reason to disagree with Arsene, he summed it up perfectly.

Turning point was Everton not Man U

So was this game the turning point? Probably not, I believe it was Everton. Everton showed that Arsenal cannot get behind a strong back line due to a lack of purpose built strikers. Yes the Gunners eventually drew, but it was a real struggle plus a bit of luck.

The next two games were wins, but everyone beats Bolton, the match against a poor Villa side was a better indication that decline was setting in. For gawd's sake even Liverpool won there.

Before Everton the Gunners won four and drew one losing none (13 out of 15 points), since Everton (including the game against the Toffees) it's won two, drawn two and lost one (8 of 15 points).

Why?

Two main reasons have caused Arsenal to hit the wall, one the prolonged absence of a striker, and two the temporary absence of Song. True the team outscored everyone without a striker, but a good idea has been taken too far. It works against mid table, or even lower, teams, it doesn't work against well organised defences like Chelsea, Man U, or even Villa away. It is also wearing for the front runners; Arshavin is out of season and out of energy.

The second issue is the absence of Song, the minute he went Arsenal lost momentum. The draws against Everton, Villa, and the loss at Stoke were evidence of that. I don't want to argue that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but football is a team game and the team has developed a shape around him. He has become the missing link, without him the team has struggled, going 2-0 down against Bolton, even though Arsenal eventually won, it was hardly a sign of Premiership brilliance.

Sure Song is back now, but the momentum was lost, the partnerships lost cohesion, perhaps the team lost some confidence. Momentum and confidence lost are not as easily replaced as they are built in the first place.

Is the downward trajectory reversible?

It's possible, but Chelsea is a hard place to start from, especially when you a have a defence as poor as Arsenal's, it's also a hard place for midgets to score. Arsenal are still in third place, and any kind of result will be essential at Stamford Bridge if Arsenal are not to start looking over their shoulder. After that a diet of bum of the week might prove to be more profitable.

This was a dreadful performance, worst of all the team lacked passion and commitment, but it is still too early to write the whole season off, that can wait for a while yet.

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