Cronky

The usual strategy is one in - one out, but I think Ashley needs to make an exception here, given our situation. We need another striker regardless, and that's nothing to do with numbers. At the moment we have three players who should be seen as chasing the same position. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with the strategy, because every club needs to operate within some financial discipline. I'd criticise Pardew and those on the football side for not using it with more imagination over the summer - ie cashing in on over-rated players and bringing in under-rated ones.

Maybe he wanted a guarantee that he'd be playing down the middle instead of Torres. That might not be a joke. Hmm... If even Chelsea can't strike a deal, we're lumbered with him. And that's the way I feel now.

In my distant and somewhat modest playing days, everyone played 4-4-2, so my knowledge of the finer points of 4-3-3 is limited. However, the theoretical problem that occurs to me is who protects the full back. In 4-4-2, it's obvious. In 4-3-3, is it the job of the wide midfield player, or the wide attacking player, or are they expected to sort it out between them? Genuine question. It does look to me like far more often now, our full backs are being exposed one-on-one.

And because he's the most likely to attract a daft offer from someone like Chelsea, and we all know how MA feels about a big fat transfer profit. You mean like Carroll? A transfer that really pushed the club forward, all done in the teeth of opposition from the majority of fans? I don't think we should sell Ben Arfa, but a big fat transfer profit can really benefit a club.

Ashley sets the budget, but beyond that he doesn't get involved in choosing which players we hang on to or buy - as far as we know. You can either say he's being stingy or disciplined, but at some point someone does have to set a limit, and we've seen in recent years with Villa and QPR that it's quite possible to spend a lot of money and end up no further on. (Or even ourselves a few seasons back, come to think of it) Where I think the football people at our club have got it wrong is in two areas. Firstly in over-rating some of the existing squad, who IMO aren't quite as purple as they thought. Tiote is the prime example. The only two players that should have been ring-fenced were Krul and Ben Arfa. Anyone else should have been sold if a big enough offer had come in, and it does appear that we had some offers. It's by skilful trading - selling when someone is over-rated and buying players who are under-rated - that a club like ours can advance. Instead, Pardew and co's policy seemed to be - hang on to what we've got at all costs. The other area which looks to have misfired is the balance of the squad. We've ended up with three centre forwards and no secondary strikers, and too many anchor men in midfield rather than a player who can really get forward down the middle. It's not Ashley's fault that we brought in Bigi and Anita - good players both but not quite what we needed. He also mishandled the whole Ba / Cisse issue - a combination that is no closer to working. Ba has been allowed to dictate his terms for staying, which is very corrosive for team spirit. It feels like Pardew wanted to make the transition to a better footballing side that played through the midfield, but didn't bring in the particular players that were needed. We've ended up looking incoherent.

Krul 7 - not at fault. Simpson 5 - usual problems. Lacks initiative and radiates a lack of confidence. Colo 6 - Lack of pace shown up at times. Perch 6 - Did okay. Santon 4 - Mentally AWOL. Shame because there's a decent player there. Cisse 3 - Played out of position and it really, really showed. Marveaux 8 - Calm and creative. Our best player by a mile. Tiote 5 - Slows play down. Lost it too many times. Bigi 6 - Improved as the game went on. Still raw. Obertan 6 - Looks far more positive these days. Ba 7 - Used his strength well at times.

In the end, Arsenal do have better players, and it showed in the end. Cisse had a terrible game. His close control is poor, he can't tackle, pass, beat his man or cover back. All he can do is head and shoot - so what's he doing on the wing?

there's just no point in playing Cisse out wide.

Marveaux has been a class apart. A strange feeling of confidence comes over me when he has the ball. Arsenal seemed to think that they only had to turn up to get the three points.

Looking at the two midfields, I'm a bit worried.

I don't think he could have let Pardew's comments go without some sort of response. In his position, he's not going to let another manager get one over him. 'Perhaps Alan Pardew should get his own house in order' would have been a good reposte, but he's made himself look silly by going OTT.

The goal came from a movement when Ba was out on the wing and Cisse in the centre. Possibly significant.

Just seen a programme about him, and it brought home to me a particular skill that he often uses when he has a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. In that situation many players give it a blast. A good player will go round the keeper or chip the ball over his body when the keeper spreads himself in front of him. But Messi has the ability to sort of scoop the ball four or five feet in the air, without breaking stride and whilst still running at full pelt. The keeper ends up with no chance at all. Perhaps it's not a skill that's completely unique to him, but it's effortless and something he can produce at will. Incredible player.

Merry Christmas y'all. An angel just told me we're going to win something this year. Honest.

Give the guy due credit. It looks like, once again, he's put the club before himself. In a major way, this time. If Shola had decided to go, Pardew wouldn't have been able to stop him.

You can't say he didn't earn it. I'd start with the team that finished the QPR game. It looks the most effective unit we can muster at the moment. Bring Sammy on as a sub.

We have to take into account the fact that Ba and Cisse were competing for the main striker role, and Ba has won that battle. In fact, he won it before a ball had been kicked this season, with Pardew going out of his way to please him so he wouldn't walk. So Cisse has had two psychological blows to overcome - firstly that of being number 2, and secondly the feeling that's it's all been unfair. If confidence plays a big part in finishing, it's no wonder that he's not at his best, even when the chances come along (which of course isn't as often, given his change of role).

I agree. Santon was the only starting player that really seemed to be getting forward with intent and confidence. We had too many players hanging back, making themselves available for a backward or sideways pass so that we kept possession, rather than running forward into space. Perhaps some of that was a lack of faith in the man in possession being able to play a ball that eliminated defenders, which is why we should be playing Marveaux. Although we often retained possession well, the build up was far too slow to cause problems. The whole atmophere in the team changed when Shola came on. Whatever his limitations, he's always looking for the ball and always looking to take responsibility. Things can be going badly, but he retains the belief that the next time he gets the ball, he's going to produce, and so it happened.

Supermac should know all about dressing room rifts. He was usually at the centre of them. His only evidence seems to be an incident between Jonas and Cabaye. I suspect there is a problem in the dressing room, around Ba. He seems quite a domineering character and Colo doesn't look the most assertive of captains. I don't buy this general French - Spanish rift though.

It's quite amazing how a club can spend so much money and yet look so bad. It just shows the value of building a settled side. I was surprised that Hoilett was on the bench. He's quite a talent IMO, but it looks like he's wasted there.

He came here, he scored a shedload of goals, and then he gets displaced from his position by a player who has threatened to leave if he doesn't get the role that he wants. Psychologically, that's a difficult blow to overcome and today it looked like it had really got to him. He did as well as he could in that role and still (rightly) got taken off.

It's the first time he's really shown his frustration, and to me that's a worry. He struggled again in that wide position, and altogether he struck a forlorn figure out there.

Game of two sort-of-halves. We kept it on the deck for the first hour and didn't look like scoring because we didn't have the players. Shola came on, we played it long, and though it didn't look pretty, we got the ball into the dangerous areas, and we at least played with a bit of aggression. I don't know why, when we're playing at home against a team in the relegation zone, we play with two DMs - three if you count Anita.

Think he hasn't been too bad when he's been on the ball tbh. Unfortunately the majority of the time it's been too far out left. Yeah, he hasn't been too bad (other than those free kicks), but generally, I'm not a massive fan of his playing style, he has a questionable first touch, and often slows the game right down. Admittedly he has the odd clever pass in him, as we saw with the pass to Cisse. At the top of each of their games, I'd have Cisse over Ba easily. Cisse started well today, but faded as the half went on. I thought the second free kick by Ba was very annoying. It was out of his range. It should have been a cross by Anita, with Ba contesting in the centre. One of those times in football where you wish captains had more authority to stop that kind of egotistical decision.

Usual issues. Build up too slow, and too much coming from the wings rather than the centre. The opposition know what's coming. Marveaux for Perch would be my call. Get more creativity down the centre.