Henry Class Camouflages Frailties, Spoilt Fans..

Thierry Henry scored a brace of sublime quality to ensure Arsenal overcame a stubborn Wigan side at the JJB Stadium.

The irrepressible Frenchman was in ruthless mood and proved the difference between the two sides. Wigan fought hard but for all their determination and work rate the Latics failed to compensate for the gulf in class between the two sides.

Robin Van Persie scored early in the first half, the young Dutchman's 5th goal in 6 games. Henry added to Van Persie's strike midway through the first half with a typically effortless finish following a flowing move, to make it 2-0 and seemingly Arsenal were in for a comfortable afternoon.

The game was not over due to a combination of poor Arsenal defending and Wigan's quality and decisiveness on the ball, which was able to still be effective because of an excellent attitude and approach to the game. Many teams would at 2-0 down, have let their heads go down. Wigan are made of sterner stuff.

The impressive Jason Roberts caused Arsenal problems with his pace, strength & direct running. His strike partner Henri Camara executed a diving header to perfection shortly after Henry's swept finish to reduce their arrears.

Henry then scored a beautifully taken free kick, via the post, from all of 30 yards to make it 3-1 Arsenal. Wigan again showed their inability to accept defeat, an excellent quality to have, one essential to up and coming clubs, when Jimmy Bullard fired in from long range.

Arsenal didn't have the best of afternoons from a defensive point of view. Campbell wasn't anywhere near his imperious best and was troubled by Robert's pace & strength. Toure was unsure as to how much he should cover for Cygan and was pulled out of position too much because of a lack of understanding and communication. Cygan was poor, although he was playing in an unfamiliar position and was suffering form a lack of first team sharpness.

However, Arsenal travelled a long way, in poor weather conditions, against a very physical side, second in the league, on merit and justifiably full of confidence, on a surface where it was difficult to impose their natural game and if anything favoured the oppositions direct style.

Ultimately we came away with a win. To be title challengers we SHOULD win this type of game.

However some criticism has gone too far. Cygan has been the subject of particularly harsh criticism and Arsene's tactical awareness has been questioned.

This is too much.

Cygan did not have a good game. No excuses for that and I would welcome Wenger to give Emmanuel Eboue a chance at left back when he is fit. Cygan was played out of position and lacked match practice, however even taking that into account he was poor. Agreed.

So were Sol, Kolo and Gilberto. We have things to work on, fair enough.

However, the fact remains we won the game, I cannot understand people questioning Wenger and the players. They weren't at their electric best, however the bottom line is that we won the game. I agree that you cannot stand still and to be happy to be second best would be a recipe for disaster. Equally Wenger cannot rest on his laurels and expect previous success to save him from criticism.

However, some perspective would be nice. We went through a season unbeaten, that will not happen again in your lifetime. Before and after this incredible feat we set countless records, and without doubt played the best football this country has ever seen. We have been lucky enough to witness our club taking football to a new level.

Instead of criticising and moaning that we didn't score 4 and win by a hatful, acting like spoilt brats, let's get behind the team and support them in the best way possible.