Periods of great quality and desire but poor defending and no luck in fornt of goal sums up our season

Champions League football has been pretty much guaranteed and there were plenty of positives to take from a game which we dominated after Fabregas' arrival. However despite all of the obvious optimism which is fully merited, there must also be some perspective on our resilience.

The main positives were that we played with spirit, huge quality and desire and our effort could not be faulted. In the second half we were extremely unlucky with a few chances and were very creative without being clinical enough.. But that just sums up our season doesn't it?!

Diaby was great in the middle of the park and he can be a big player for us, but he is not as important as Cesc who was conducting things very effectively. Eboue turned in a much improved performance as did Toure and Hleb. Adebayor worked hard and his 'stickability' as Stuart Pearce woudl say is second to none.

But we are still giving away cheap goals and letting the opposition score first too often (16th time this season we have been behind and come back to get something from the game). Can you imagine if we defended as well as Chelsea, I know the way they play means everyone in the team has to defend (which can make them look less dynamic and almost rigid at times) but their resilience cannot be knocked.

Another key question for Arsene is.. What is our best formation? We ended up playing a 4-5-1 with Cesc, Diaby and Gilberto in the middle of the park and it worked well with some good interlinking of positions and breaks at pace but when Henry and Van Persie are fit will we return to a 4-4-2? Are we defensively good enough away from home to play a 4-4-2?

Wenger still hasn't quite got the hang of substitutions yet and you have to wonder if Malbranque and Jenas would have played the one - two that lead to their equaliser if Hleb had been on the field, he certainly wouldn't have been waiting in the box for a cross that was never coming like Senderos!

All in all a cause for optimism with an excellent second half display but some deeper rooted problems in the defence and continuity in the team selection are key and if we can become a little more consitient then there's no reason to suggest we can't go up a level next year and mount a title challenge.

Diaby in for Ljungberg, 3rd Possible

It's been a while. I wish I could say I have been somewhere exotic or interesting but that is simply not the case! Just been working like a bastard..

Tonight's team news is that Diaby is back in the line up in what looks to be a 4-5-1 with Adebayor up front on his own.

Line up: Lehmann, Eboue, Clichy, Gallas, Toure, Hleb, Rosicky, Diaby, Gilberto, Cesc, Adebayor. Subs: Almunia, Senderos, Baptista, Denilson, Djourou

Rosicky, Diaby and Cesc will be charged with being creative and I fancy Diaby to make good his misses of the weekend by netting tonight. Arsene must see something in him in an attacking sense to keep putting him up there.

A win tonight will go a long way to securing 4th and possiby even sneaking 3rd which would be a very good result all in all. The fact our season started so early along with the new pitch has resulted in a long injury list and meant we have struggled as some of the youngsters have done very well, but shown some immaturity at big moments.

A warm summer evening will be just the job for Arsene's army and I am feeling pretty optimistic prior to the game.

Does anyone know a site where I can see a free live stream of the game tonight?

Up the Gunners!

Lack of experience and not lack of quality the answer, Hammers preview

It's strange that 2 weeks ago we were about to wrap up third with a win over Everton and move onto next season with a sense of optimism knowing that the younger players have shown improvement and that we have generally played well but lacked a cutting edge in certain games.

However a fit Henry and Van Persie and maybe a free scoring winger, who could even be Rosicky, would just about see us as title challengers again.

After the last minute defeat at Everton and drubbing by Liverpool all of a sudden we are in danger of being caught for 4th, Wenger has lost it and we need loads of big name world class signings.

It's funny how things can change isn't it!!

Some people lose all perspective when you are successful or not. I think that the gap between the top club and second for example is very small. Sometimes the luck isn't with you, as it has been with Utd this season and not so much with Chelsea.

We need experience, when we went unbeaten we had Campbell, Cole, Lauren, Vieira, Bergkamp, Pires who were all experienced internationals who had played together for a few years and knew that they could score at any minute. There were partnerships and a continuity to the side and there was belief in the system.

This season we have showed some immaturity in games but if AW isn't going to buy older players then the only thing that will allow us to gain that experience is games. We have been unlucky with injuries so the continuity hasn't been there, however, as pointed out by Goodplaya Fabregas, Adebayor, Van Persie, Walcott, Djourou, Clichy are all better than this time last year and so we are definitely heading in the right direction.

We lost 6-1 at Old Trafford and came back pretty strongly from that so I just can't understand this uproar.

Anyway, onto today's game.. Tevez must be the key man for the Hammers and they will be up for it given the run they have been on and are under pressure to stay with Charlton.

However with Rosicky to return to the starting line up and hopefully Ljungberg to start up front over Baptista I think we will be too good for them.

Expect a backlash from Anfield and a much improved performance. Adebayor to score at least one and us to be thinking optimistically by the end of the day again!