Blog- One offside, two own goals and countless disappointed fans

My first blog begins with the question- was the Emirates built on an ancient Indian burial ground?

It's no excuse for a really poor defensive performance but any team who concede two own goals and one that was offside have a right to feel hard done by. 

Thus far, we have been issued 4 reds, 12 yellows and conceded 3 own goals. Yet people are  still very little black and white about it all. You would expect 4 reds and 3 own goals to come over the course of a season, not 5 games. This definitely had a some bearing on this awful run yet is rarely taken into account when criticizing the team.   

Unfortunately the game won't be remembered for Arteta's first Arsenal goal

That said, they say you make your own luck. If our players were a little more disciplined we would never have 4 reds. If we didn't deploy a shambles of a zonal marking system Alex Song found himself knocking the ball into the back of the net. If Gibbs had been preferred to the rusty looking Santos, Yakubu most probably wouldn't of found himself onside for Blackburn's first. Sadly, when supporting Arsenal its all about the "what ifs".

Moving away from lady luck,  Blackburn looked dangerous on the counter but it was our shocking defending from set pieces that cost us. Considering we usually train on a 7-a-side pitch and place huge emphasis on technical  ability rather than set pieces in training this doesn't not surprise me. Changes really are defiantly needed in that respect.

The result was a real shame after some positive performances against Swansea and Dortmund as I felt we were finally beginning to turn over a new leaf after being pretty dismal throughout 2011.

However Tuesday evening is a new game and a new start. Our next three games are all at home and must wins before we travel to the Luka Modric prison camp to play the yids. A week is a long time in football- lets hope the beginning of the season will be nothing more than a distant memory come Saturday evening!