Take that la' - Part II

So, our second game against the bindippers this season, another victory, and another three goals scored. Our continuing string of good results against the other members of the big four continues, and although it wasn't particularly pretty, and despite some issues that I will be discussing further down, we were comfortable and deserving winners.

With the enforced absence of Fabregas due to suspension, Arsene set out a game plan to contain Liverpool with a narrow four in midfield, and play on the break. Whilst no one could argue that Liverpool had the lion's share of posession, they did precious little with it, and our stand in Manuel Aluminium had practically nothing to do in the first half, and wasn't really at fault for their only goal in the second.

The same could not have been said for Jerzy "I used to be a keeper, honest" Dudek, who had a bit of a mare and proved why even the slightly dodgy Pepe Reina is preferred. He should have done better with both Rosicky's second and Henry's solo strike, and I think Reina would have saved one or the other.

There were many shouts, not least from Alan Hansen (ex Liverpool) and Alan Shearer (professional twat) that Liverpool should have had a penalty, as after Xabi Alonso began his dive in the first half, he was brushed by Gilberto's knee. Absolute bollocks. Alonso did not leave his leg in to get caught, it wasn't clever forward play, he dived in an attempt to cheat the ref, and whilst a booking may have been harsh seeing as contact was technically made, it was never a penalty.

We scored three well crafted counter attacking goals, with the first, a fantastic first time strike from Rosicky following neat interchanges between himself and Hleb, being the pick of the bunch. I'm not going to bang on about what we did or how we did it particularly, suffice to say that we were not terribly impressive but played to a game plan and got the result, because I'm going to be the glass is half empty miser that I am and address some issues I have with a certain player.

I want to address Gilberto. There has been, for some time now, the belief that if you criticise Gilberto you either don't go to games, don't understand what he brings to the team, or simply don't understand football. It has become almost sacriligious to make any sort of negative comment about him, and particularly this season where he's started knocking in goals.

Gilberto is our most defensive minded midfield player. He sees a lot of the ball, he organises the midfield (or at least should do) and, along with Cesc, dictates the direction and pace of our play.

Unfortunately, Gilberto gives away the ball, whether through an inability to pass five yards to an Arsenal player, or through his insistence on dicking around on the ball so that he gets caught in posession, more than any other player in our team. Against Liverpool this was brough to the fore simply by the amount of time he had on the ball. Maybe it was due to Cesc not being there, and Gilberto feeling like he had to have more of an impact on the game, but it wasn't like he was trying fifty yeard passes and failing, he was failing in moving the ball ten yards sqaure to an Arsenal player whilst under no pressure. He was also at fault for Liverpool's goal, leaving Kuyt unmarked and moving towards the ball for no apparent reason. His tendency to lose concentration is at odds with his position as vice-Captain, which is, in my opinion, more a of a statement on his seniority than his leadership qualities.

I do not deny that Gilberto does an important job for us; he does it well and it is a job that is an absolute necessity to the game we play. We must, however, be able to find another player who can do that job whilst not giving the ball away at every opportunity. The away tie at Porto is probably the best example this season, in a game where posession was of paramount importance, and his complacency was as much a threat as Ricardo Quaresma. Case in point, the fifteen minutes after Liverpool scored their goal witnessed our midfield being unable to hold onto the ball and a lack of composure at centre mid, which is surely Gilberto's responsibility.

I cannot wait for Diaby to be back in full training (he had his first session last week) and start giving Gilberto some competition for a place that he seems to think he has a right to.

My second gripe is Emmanuel Eboue. I've been noting his severly lacking defensive performances for some time now, but that's now being outshone by his simply embarrasing gamesmanship. Hoyte is a better player defensively, and Lauren is surely a shoe in when he gets back to full fitness. In the long run I hope Kerrea Gilbert gets brought back from Cardiff and given a shot, because I rate him above both Eboue and Hoyte.

Right, rant over. A great result for us, if not a great performance. Bindippers again on Tuesday night.

In other news the soon to depart Arturo Lupoli scored a hat trick for Derby, Anthony Stokes is on the brink of a move to either Charlton or Sunders, and Nicklas Bendtner broke his ankle on the battlefield they call a pitch at St Andrews, probably ruling him out for the season and giving him little chance of securing the fourth striker berth at Arsenal next season.

And we've just drawn Bolton in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Of course we fucking have.