Arsenal cannot win without Fabregas

The preview also assumed that Arsenal would "give a goal away, they nearly always do" so they would need to score at least two. – "So can Arsenal score without him (Fabregas)?" The answer given was as long as "Rosicky and Hleb are sharp it shouldn’t be a problem." Well Hleb was injured and Rosicky played very poorly, Baptista looked lost for much of the game, but he did get up to pace by the end, he was also out of position on the left wing. So the midfield produced very little.

There can be little argument about the result, Arsenal didn’t deserve very much out of this, they got the tactics wrong and were second to the ball far too often. Of course a lot of fuss will be made about the heroics of Jagielka, but a dwarf with a broom could have done as well as no Arsenal player tested him for the first twenty minutes.

Surely a few speculative shots and crosses would have been a good idea? The broom would have been needed for the only shot over shoulder height and on target in the last thirty minutes (van Persie), it was the only save of any importance that Jagielka had to make in the last 30 minutes. Sheffield’s mid field and defence soaked up everything even before their goalmouth could be threatened.

There is no long list of shots on target here, no stories of loads of near misses, or unlucky rebounds, just lots of scuffs, slow reactions and miss hits. Sheffield had more shots on target (5) than the Gunners did (3). Yes Sheffield used some agricultural tactics, but that had little bearing on the result. Van Persie needs to keep calm and not let old pros like Morgan wind him up.

Warnock had out foxed Wenger, he sent out a team with nothing to lose and wound them, and the crowd, up into a fever. It was like a cup-tie, and Arsenal never adapted their tactics for that type of game played on a sodden pitch.

The midfield never got working, but not every player was poor, Senderos had a good game, and Gilberto plugged as many gaps in defence as he could. Kolo made the mistake that led to the goal but tried to make amends. Lehmann hardly helped matters, and indeed was guilty of several hash ups late on in addition to his doubtful judgement in the first half. It’s hard to judge Ali and RvP as very few chances were put their way. The team did keep trying to the end, but it just lacked the guile to change things. Without an Adebayor, Henry, or Walcott to come off the bench the team could not find a way through a ten-man defence.

Arsenal fans should avoid making scapegoats; the problem is not individuals, or lack of effort, but the fact that the squad cannot cope with so many injuries. Some players may not be up to the mark, others are very young, and others need time to settle in. The squad is work in progress, it cannot deliver in the present, maybe it can deliver in the future, but on that there can be no guarantees. Until the injured come back the inconsistency will continue, the loss of Adebayor was a real blow, the need to rest Fabregas compounded it.

Wenger can give up all talk of winning the Premiership now, a team that wins the Championship has to be able to go on a run. At present this squad hasn’t got a run in it, maybe when the injured players come back, but that will be too late. Indeed he will need to address how he can get third or fourth place as teams like Bolton and Liverpool have hit a rich vein of form.

Always look on the bright side.But don’t cut your throat yet, after all Chelsea have dropped four points in three games, compared to the Gunners dropping three. Like Chelsea we need our key defenders back. All teams will lose points in such a gruelling period.

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