After the debacle of Craven Cottage, last night’s game was just what the doctor ordered. Arsenal had a 2 goal advantage going in the game so getting to the group stages was not an issue, the question was what kind of performance would we get from the Arsenal?

It was obvious from the beginning that Fc Twente was resigned to their fate, they showed no indication to go forward and kept passing the ball around in their own half. Twente had 63.6% possession yet 60.1% of the game was in their half.

We played well, not the rampant or sublime performance as many seem to think but much better than Saturday. There was a lot good to take away from the game, and some improvements to make, so let’s crack on.

Nasri is well worth his fee.

The accusation levelled at Nasri being lightweight is a little bit true, but he seems to be able to hold on to the ball in a similar fashion to Hleb. The difference is Nasri is willing to take a shot at goal and seems quite capable of scoring. His 2 goals so far has been important goals for the team. Scoring when we need a goal not at the end of a rout.

Van Persie needs to find his shooting boots

The amount of time v Persie spent in sick bay seemed to have robbed him of his aim. He has not been able to find the back of the net so far this season, but his 28th minute miss just shows how bad his shooting has been so. In a word Atrocious.

Denilson is not the answer

We’ve gone over this before, what I saw last night was typical of the Brazillian. In addition to him not being a defensive minded midfielder, he also has the propensity to make the wrong decision, wrong turn, or make try the harder pass instead of the simple one.

Denilson may become a great player in the future, but that will only happen when his decision making improves.

We allow teams to much time in the middle

On thing that irked me last night, and for a while now is this. Even if we don’t have a holding or defensive midfielder, the least we can do is pressure the ball. Give the opposition less time, hassle them, harry them, but no. What we do is back off the ball, almost like we don’t want to get possession of said ball.

Thinking about it made me realise that that is essentially what Flamini gave to the team, he would always be there trying to retain possession. Do we really need a defensive midfielder to do that? Why can’t it be done as a team?

Eboue playing can be a good thing. . . sometimes

It’s not impossible, he just need to sort his head out. Confidence is everything, sometimes he looks scared, other times he scares the opposition. How hard is it for him to cut the theatrics and get on with it?

Similarly to Drogba when he does this he looks the business, with his pace and power he can easily be an asset to the team. The problem is you never know which Eboue you’re going to get.

That’s my observations, what was yours?