Arsenal need more than 15 shots on goal before they can score!

The heading of our last posting unfortunately proved very prophetic! Will West Ham do the double over Arsenal?

We thought not but then again we should have allowed hard data to reveal what every opposing team knows this season. Arsenal need more than 15 shots on goal before they can score!

Our resident season ticket holder on the South Stand (Row 5) of the Emirates took his seat for the Hammers game in anticipation of a bumper win. Here are his hands on impressions and thoughts.

It’s the same old song…….Arsenal dominate but they lose.

Was I wrong or was I wrong!!!!!

We played reasonably well on Saturday against West Ham but very early on you could see that we were lacking in confidence in front of goal. Gilberto was back fit, which made the balance of the team a lot better than the previous weekend at Liverpool.

We started the game very well pressing in the middle of the park not allowing West Ham to settle. A host of chances were missed starting off by Cesk in the first couple of minutes, then all the midfielders followed suit. Hleb passing – to an opponent - instead of trying to score, Freddy uncharacteristically missed when clean through with the keeper, Adebayor shot over after a cut back from, Eboue, Rosicky went close from long range.

Arsenal continued to dominate but the Hammers grow in confidence in our failure to score. Right on Half time Lucas Neil played a long diagonal ball to Zamora who took it early catching Jens out of position. We need to start defending a lot better in those sorts of situations. Toure GET CLOSER and ATTACK THE BALL. Lehmann STAY ON YOUR LINE…..

We were behind again with the first shot on goal by the opposition.

Some exceptional goalkeeping from Robert Green and some poor finishing by the Arsenal meant it was not possible for us to come from behind on this occasion and save the game.

The last team to win at Highbury is the first to win at the Emirates.

We have a problem this season with our finishing being poor from midfield and my biggest worry is that I do not see how AW is going to improve that.

Strange team selection at Newcastle.

This was our worst performance in a long time. Newcastle stuck men behind the ball and we did not have the inventiveness to get behind them on a regular basis.

Strange decision by AW to start with Diaby as a second striker, at the moment it looks like he is trying to find a place for him in the starting line up for next season. Or it smells of desperation! Arsene do not put squares pegs in round holes please.

Hleb is a man badly out of form and I think he would benefit from a couple of weeks rest. Not as bad as the West Ham game in this one but went missing for large periods.

Adebayor looks toothless up front; he needs Henry to create space in order to be effective. Baptista and Ali again ineffective when they came on, AW seems to be losing his faith in the beast.

At least we didn’t concede on this one!

Doom merchants to the for!

We wish to remind all those doom merchants again, that there are a lot of things right about Arsenal. AW has assembled a young and very gifted squad which will be around for the next ten years.

As analysed before ( Arsenal's transfer targets) AW needs to add, at the most, three experienced players to supplement the current squad: a goalkeeper (if Lehmann leaves), a pacy winger and a forward. And we mean experienced. Not young players who have to ask permission from their parents to play in evening kick off games..

When the inadequacies of the team are rectified Arsenal will challenge once again for the title and will keep on challenging for years as the young players mature.

So don’t despair. Be patient and you will be rewarded.