Arsenal 1 - 1 Fulham: Two points dropped in flat Arsenal performance

So the winning streak comes to an end. I suppose our luck was bound to run out eventually. It's just very disappointing that it came at home against a side who scored less goals collectively than just one of our players.

Thankfully, the reasons why we didn't win were pretty obvious and not too complicated.

Simply, the performance lacked energy. It could be that our mid-week excurtions took a lot out of us physically and mentally, and I'm sure this will be Wenger post-match excuse. Whatever the reason, there was no energy from the players. Off the ball, they didn't pressure Fulham and with it, they were too slow with their passing and movement. This resulted in a slow-tempo game with few chances, which Fulham were too comfortable in.

With such a low tempo, chances weren't going to be created and without chances, van Persie - or dare I suggest anyone else - wasn't going to score.

At the same time, there was quite a large luck factor involved. Van Persie had a shot cleared off the line and Schwarzer had to pull out a couple of wonder saves to keep Fulham in it. We also could've had a penalty, but it wasn't given.

Really, had we been sharper in front of goal the game would've been won regardless if our performance left a bit to be desired.

The goal we conceded was pretty poor. When Murphy got the ball, he was just left there to pick out a pass. Our no-energy performance was summed up in that moment, as everyone just stood off him. Riise made the run, and Murphy picked him out. Vermaelen came across but scuffed his clearance into his own goal. It was something of a jammy own goal, but still sloppy.

It took us a while to equalise, and even with the momentum we didn't look like scoring. We didn't look like carving Fulham open and getting that winning goal. Again, indicative of the lack of energy in our performance today.

Let's not get carried away
We can't sit here and praise the team effort in mid-week, and then criticise the team for being flat just three days afterwards. I know I come off as criticising the team but it's more of an observation than anything else.

A draw is disappointing, but not the end of the world. It's not a step backwards. It's not an indication of decline or a lack of quality. Compare it to the Marseille game a month or so ago, which came after the Chelsea game, where we drew 0-0. We were absolutely fine afterwards.

I think that once the team recovers a bit more, we'll see the sort of performance we've been seeing recently.

Really, the only issue the result and performance highlights is that we may need to rotate a bit more to prevent further flat performances, which, given our squad depth, may or may not be possible.

So yeah, it's a marathon, not a race. A Champions League spot is still very much on.

Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny - 6. Bar one save, was untested.

Per Mertesacker - 6. A performance without much incidence.

Thomas Vermaelen - 6. A mixed performance. He scored the equaliser, but wasn't that great defensively. He tried to agressively win the ball back, but often found himself stranded up the pitch. The own goal was a result of a poor clearance. He showed good character to score the goal, but this rating would be lower without it.

Johan Djourou - 7. Looked like he had been playing right back his whole career. Made some good tackles and excellent clearances from set-peices.

Andre Santos - 7. A strong showing, though not without the usual hair moments.

One of those rare ocassions where the full backs out-performed the centre backs. The defence was rarely troubled, but individual errors resulted in a goal.

Alex Song - 6. One of those to suffer from fatigue. Solid, but not spectacular.

Mikel Arteta - 6. Clearly looked tired, as he was quite often slow to get to the ball at times.

Aaron Ramsey - 6. Tried too hard to make things happen; making a few needless turn and hollywood passes. It's nice that he's actually trying, but sometimes you just need to play things simple to get the best results.

The midfield clearly suffered from fatigue, having worked so hard against Dortmund. The usual discipline and energy to help both defence and attack wasn't there today.

Theo Walcott - 8. Excellent tonight, and by far Arsenal's best player. With the ball, he beat his man several times and played some excellent crosses - one of which set-up the goal. Without it, he was disicplined and delligent. Top stuff.

Andrey Arshavin - 5. Well, what do I save? Just didn't look interested.

Robin van Persie - 7. Didn't have much luck in front of goal, but you can't fault his effort. Produced some excellent skills and touches, and kept trying to get a goal.

Only two attackers showed up tonight, and they both tried their best with what they were given.

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Abou Diaby - 6. Showed some nice touches, but then also showed some typical poor decision making.

Gervinho - 7. Provided some much needed energy and directness when he came on.

Marouane Chamakh - 6. Actually did pretty well when he came, and may have had a goal too.

could have won this game

Shame we didn't win. We had enough chances to go 2-1

shoulda won this game , we always seem to do better in the second half , i wonder what wenger says in the dressing room? wish i could sneak a camera in there

we were too slow on the ball in first half

We just didn't put the ball in the back of the net. Honestly, we had plenty of chances:

Ramsey's first shot that was superbly saved by Schwarzer
Ramsey's missed effort from inside the box after Walcott's great run
RVP's shot that went miles into the air while he was in the box
RVP's shot that was saved off the line by Bair
Djourou's header that was fantastically saved by Schwarzer
The handball that wasn't called, even though it was a clear penalty imo
The other penalty on RVP that wasn't called

This is just what I remember. We had 20 shots with only less than half of them ( 9 ), on target. We had plenty of chances to go ahead, but we didn't take them

Back to old Arsenal losing to ourselves. Fulham did nothing all game and we ended up chasing the game to our own errors. Gervinho should of come on earlier as Arshavin offered very little. Ramsey was poor and should of scored at least once. Diaby looked good when he came on but we dribbled too much in the midfield lost possession and put ourselves under pressure.

simple answer. gervinho is important player for us and yes arshavin is finished!

I thought all of our substitutes did a great job, and we totally controlled the game. Unfortunately, Fulham appear to have saved up all of their good luck they didn't use in the Spurs game for this one...

Crap match

played at such a slow pace in the 1st half.

Gervinho and Diaby changed the game. should have been on around 60th min

Arshavin, i cant justify his performance with any excuse.

Vermaelen was unlucky with the OG, but Riise should have never been allowed to come forward like that.

Djourou was excellent imo, Theo and Santos likewise.

Rest average.

Players were knackered can't fault the effort.

Arshavin and Diaby were poor should have produced far more.

Theo was quality and Gervinho should have started.

If Arshavin is the man to replace Gervinho when he goes to the african cup then am worried.
He looks sloppy and unmotivated....he just can't be arsed playing for us anymore.

im worried about that as well

Ryo is too young to take over at LW, Oxlade can be tried.

Benayoun would be the best choice

We really need someonelse to replace Gervinho when he leaves. Arshavin was just useless and looked totally unmotivated.

Anyone reading my tweets will see my opinions/frustrations. That's all.

My patience with Shazza has almost been depleted, a few sparse drops left

Walcott was MOTM today, ran the right flank ragged and provided an assist for the goal

No clue what was going on with Ramsey, perhaps a bit too eager to impress?

Gervinho starting to live up to his price tag, becoming indispensable for Arsenal

Mert and Verm solid as ever, with the former unlucky with the OG

Djourou performed admirably at RB and Santos, likewise, was satisfactory in his position

Szczesny had nothing to do for most of the game

Wenger makes just 2 changes to the team from Wednesday night, then blames exhaustion for fulham draw. Ridiculous

We have to consider the luck factor in this game, too. Fulham would not have scored had it not been for Vermaelen's poor clearance, and we made just enough chances to win the game.

On another day, Wenger's decision not to rotate the side would've been justifed. It's just one of those thigns that can go either way.

I'm sure that had we rotated and not won, Wenger would've gotten stick for rotating the side. So he can't win in this situation.

Besides, I'd argue that we'd have been just as flat with Frimpong, Rosicky and Benayoun in midfield.

I would just say we would have done better if Gervinho was on 10 mins earlier along with chamakh and diaby

10 – Fouls called against Arsenal by Mike Dean
9 – Fouls called against Fulham by Mike Dean
1 – Fouls on arteta not called that led to a Fulham goal
7 – Fouls called against Arsenal that were not called against Fulham for the same infraction
9 – Consecutive Premier League matches since Arsenal won a game refereed by Mike Dean
100 – Percent chance someone will say “we can’t blame Dean because …” despite the fact that Dean let Fulham foul Arteta in the build up to the goal and was frustratingly inconsistent

:L

beatrixasdfghjk. wrote:10 – Fouls called against Arsenal by Mike Dean
9 – Fouls called against Fulham by Mike Dean
1 – Fouls on arteta not called that led to a Fulham goal
7 – Fouls called against Arsenal that were not called against Fulham for the same infraction
9 – Consecutive Premier League matches since Arsenal won a game refereed by Mike Dean
100 – Percent chance someone will say “we can’t blame Dean because …” despite the fact that Dean let Fulham foul Arteta in the build up to the goal and was frustratingly inconsistent

:L

Oh and THAT foul was the reason why Riise found himself in our box?

Glad to see Chamakh get some time and look motivated. Diaby too. The end of the end of the little Russian.

Djourou was superb defensively throughout this game. And he was up against 2 experienced international players such as Riise and Dempsey.

Walcott switched off for a second to let Riise run through for the goal. In fact, he didn't switch off, he followed him, but he didn't make an attempt to stop him.

Would be nice to see Djourou play like his best form from last season again.