Footy

Well, that was a fun weekend – I did absolutely nothing except stay in bed and watch TV, as to tell the truth I was very under the weather. Funny thing is Bree hardly left my side, and she was snuggling me almost the whole weekend – well when not in the garden or eating!

I feel somewhat to blame for the gunners' inept performance on Sunday – as unlike any other game this season I watched from my bed – without changing my shirt! Then again, I think it has been on the cards for the last couple of weeks, with well below par performances, by a lot of the players.

We started pretty well – dominating the ball and pressing Utd back. Thing is when we scored, rather than driving home the advantage we had, we took the foot off the pedal so to speak, and retreated to the square and backwards ball, which as was to be found a big mistake. I blame Mikel for this - as we have "managed games" this way for a long time. Zubi was far too sloppy with the ball even before his masterstroke of giving it to Mbeumo! Not only did this give Utd and goal and belief, it also helped to drop our own heads. Did we pick up our game after their goal – nope – in fact it was as if they ran out of ideas and energy?

Was I surprised Mikel made 4 substitutions early in the second half, after we had conceded a second? Not at all – he must have realised that the game was getting away from us big time – in fact I could only see one team scoring again and it wasn't us! The trouble is the changes did not really do a great deal – as we continued to play the same way. You could see the Riceman getting angry with his teammates, who continued with the sideways and backwards balls and the crowd looked shell shocked! When Merino got the goal to equalise, and everyone was celebrating like we had won the game I felt a slight worry – which proved to be true a mere few minutes after, with the wonder strike by Cunha sealing the game for Carrick's mob! We probably got exactly what we deserved. 2 points out of the last 9 is not a league winning run – so now once again as February approaches (a month that normally defines our season – well it has in the past) I am pretty sure that the jitters will play a part, if we don't put in a few good performances.

Until next time – stay safe!

Flash