Yes, I’m trying my best to keep a positive spin on things. A 4-0 loss at Old Trafford was very flattering …. to us! If it wasn’t for Lehmann’s performance, we could have seen a 6 or 7-0 easily. We were so dreadful yesterday that we made someone like Darren Fletcher look good! He scored twice, and with a goal from Nani and another from Rooney, our worst showing of the year was over. Our performance was shocking, the only explanation is that Wenger has a master plan, where we try our best to lose and look like shit to give them a false sense of security and over confidence plus the added bonus of more games to play! Like I said, I’m trying my best to keep a positive spin.

From United’s side, its the best I’ve seen them play in many years, while we were at our worst. Nani and Anderson were showing why the cost more than 30 million, and like I said earlier, even Fletcher managed to look like a star. From our side, Hoyte and Traore showed that they still need some more time, and were exposed very easily from the flanks. Gallas was out of it, Gilberto is a lost cause, and even Fabregas was really bad. To make things worse, Eboue got a straight red for a silly challenge. But to me the most disappointing thing was that Adebayor came into the game in the second half as a sub, which meant his 2008 scoring streak is officially over. Still going in the league, but in reality it is over. Saying that Lehmann was our man of the match and we lost 4-0 basically sums up our game.

Seriously though, a 4-0 loss against our main rivals is always bitter, but to be totally honest, it’s not all bad. The FA Cup, for all its historical significance, is less of a priority compared to both the league and the Champions League. This season more than ever, we cannot risk having our think squad stretched to the maximum by competing in all fronts. Many fans think we should go for all silverware regardless, and I would agree usually, but this year is an exception. Our team is very young and very inexperienced, and we are actually competing for the premiership title, which is beyond all expectations. We are only 12 games away from getting there, and for our squad, this is definitely our priority! In a couple of years when our players are in the 25-28 age range, and we have fit players, we should have no problem in competing in all competitions.

In my opinion, even the Champions League this year is not a priority. I don’t think we can beat Milan, and even if we do, I don’t think we can beat Madrid or Barcelona this year. Going to the next round would be a wonderful bonus, and we should be grateful if we do, but not getting there is not the end of the world either. We have to be pragmatic about our season. Our best chance is the league, and we should do everything possible to win it.

We all saw how the 2000/01 season ended in misery. We ALMOST won on all fronts, but ended up as league runner ups, FA Cup runner ups, and Champions League quarter finalists, which was our best showing in Europe at the time. This season we can really focus on the league and make the most out of it.

Yesterday’s game, along with the Spurs beer cup game will hopefully only be blips that are forgotten if we actually go ahead and win the league.

Goals from Eduardo and Bendtner saw us brush aside Burnley in a comfortable(ish) 2-0 win at Turf Moor to qualify to the next round of the FA Cup.

The game started well with both sides creating chances. Burnley made their intentions clear in the first 5 mins when the ball was headed off the bar. They were there to play football instead of have 11 players defending or trying to rough things up. In our first real attack, Toure flicked the ball forward, and Eduardo ran through and finished again very coolly. It went back and forth after that, with Burnley playing some good football.

Burnley ended up with more corners than we did, and they had 6 shots on target to our 8. These stats show that it wasn’t as easy as many expected it to be. This doesn’t mean it was a tough game by any means, it just wasn’t that easy.

In the second half, Burnley had a player sent off for a late tackle on Gilberto. To be fair I think the red was harsh. Yes, it was late, but it wasn’t malicious and was one footed, definitely a yellow card. Anyway, a few mins after that, Bendtner finished off a great passing move with Eduardo giving him the final pass in the perfect spot.

The Eduardo / Bendtner partnership looks very promising. They both run their socks off, always involved, and seem to have a nice understanding creating some nice chances with fancy one two passing. Senderos had a good game back, while the same can’t be said about Traore, Diaby, Eboue, or Gilberto. They all had a below average game, Diaby especially, who was great when the ball was in his feet, but absolute crap whenever he tried to get it to someone else’s feet. You know what else was absolute crap? That pitch. Ridiculous! Almost as bad as Chelsea’s from last year.

The one revelation from the game has to be that Eduardo is in fact human! He missed an easy chance! I think this was his first miss of the season. It was a bit reassuring to see that he is a mere mortal.

Player Ratings -

Lehmann - 6 - Not much to do to be honest
Sagna - 7 - Solid as usual
Toure - 7 - Nice assist for the first goal and did well overall
Senderos - 7 - OK first half, very good second half. Good game to come back, not too much pressure, good for confidence.
Traore - 4 - Very poor game. Was out of position most of the time he was on the pitch. The main reason Senderos had an ‘OK’ first half was that he was going back and forth covering the left side that Traore left exposed. Again, if you had a choice about which game you’re going to have a 1 off shit game, this would be the perfect one.
Eboue - 5 - I’m a big fan of Eboue. I think he gets more criticism from fans than he deserves. That said, he had a poor game. Did well until he got near the box, then just kept the ball waiting for 2 defenders to surround him.
Denilson - 6 - Had a quiet game. Tried to make something from his time on the pitch with 3 shots that were off target, but never too threatening.
Gilberto - 5 - His first half was ridiculously poor. Looked like he was just kicking the ball randomly at times, improved in the second.
Diaby - 4 - It would’ve been a 3 if his pass for Eduardo in the second half didn’t go through. Nothing went right for him today. He always strikes me as a player who tries to impress rather than win the game. He is much better than he showed today.
Eduardo - 9 - A very cool finish and a great assist for Bendtner’s goal. He also had 2 or 3 other chances and was always threatening.
Bendtner - 9 - The boy was immense today. Took his goal very well, and was involved constantly in creating chances and defending when needed. I think he had the ball more than any other player on the pitch. I just hope he still has enough in the tank for the Carling Cup game after this performance.

Man of the match - Bendtner.

A very interesting 3rd round FA Cup Saturday indeed. A good number of upsets today saw a few top flight teams crash out of the cup by lower division teams -

• Blackburn were humiliated in front of their home crowd with a 1 - 4 loss to Coventry, who are currently in 17th place in the Championship.
• Bolton also lost at home 0 - 1 against Sheffield United, who are 16th in the Championship.
• Everton took it one step further and lost 0 - 1 at home against Oldham, who are 13th in League One!
• Birmingham matched Everton in losing to a League One team but at least they lost away to 14th placed Huddersfield.

In other significant games, Wigan beat Sunderland 3-0, Boro came back to beat Bristol City 2-1, Chelsea scraped through with an own goal 1-0 win again QPR, while West Ham and Man City ended 0-0. Man United beat Aston Villa 2-0.

Spurs continue to let in goals at home with Robinson proving his England #1 status with a 2-2 draw against Reading. Two mistakes from Robinson allowing two goals from Stephen Hunt, while Berbatov continues his recent goal streak, which coincidentally came just before the transfer window opened up. His agent must’ve reminded him about the transfers and he must be desperate to leave as usual. He’s practically begging to be signed up by any team that “matches his ambition”, so I reckon that means any decent in any league as long as he leaves Spurs. Smart lad.

The draw means 1 more game for Spurs. The replay is scheduled for the 15th. But they also have a league game against Chelsea on the 14th. Our Carling Cup games against them are on the 9th and the 22nd. I hope they can reschedule so that both games be played between ours.

And now to our game against Burnley tomorrow.

Burnley are currently 12th in the Championship. They are winless in their last 6 games, with 4 of them being defeats. Their last win at home was in October, and they actually only won twice at home this season in 13 games.

Our team selection is limited for the game, either because of injuries or resting players. Seems that Adebayor, Hleb, and Van Persie are out injured, while Theo will face a fitness test to check his shoulder. Flamini is suspended. Fabregas, Gallas , Almunia, and Clichy will be rested.

Lehmann will start, along with Toure and Eboue who are set to leave after this game to the African Cup of Nations. I would assume Song could also feature after his solid performance in the Carling Cup against Blackburn and since he won’t be available for the coming Carling Cup ties. Bendtner’s ban ends which means he will probably start too.

Diarra, Diaby, and Denilson will all hope to be playing. My guess is that Denilson is assured as a starter. He has been a real professional compared to the other two and hasn’t complained one bit about not playing or whatever. He should be rewarded with a starting role. I would give Diaby the second available position since Diarra has been acting like an 8 year old demanding to start in the team less than 6 months since he signed.

Toure’s partner will be either Senderos or Djourou, who just came back from his loan spell at Birmingham. Both are capable of fulfilling this role with no problem.

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My guess for our formation is -

Just for fun, Beckham training at Arsenal -

Also, the transfer window is officially open, which can only mean one thing …. Fabregas to Madrid/Barcelona rumours. Yet again these rumours resurfaced, and his response is the best proof of why he is an Arsenal legend -

“Everybody already knows it makes me happy that a team like Real Madrid wants me. It is a great compliment,” said Fabregas.

“But now I am at Arsenal and I want to win the Premier League. Right now, I would die for Arsenal.”