So yesterday was a sack of arse. Evra didn’t get Frimponged, and Arsenal conceded 8 goals. On the plus side, Ashley Young did get 20 points in my fantasy league team and Arsenal scored 2 goals at Old Trafford in the league for the first time since 1984. There are silver linings everywhere, even in a dog shit. Dogs eat tin foil sometimes.

The team missing 8 players looked fragile and weak – like last seasons Carling Cup teams that couldn’t beat Ipswich or Leeds. Like an old man with no legs and no arms who refuses help walking to the shops. He’s got ‘great mental strength’ you see. Unfortunately for him, mental strength won’t get him to places that ordinarily arms and legs would. Arsenal have a fairly good first 11, beyond that they have nothing, no spare arms and no spare legs. And like the man with no arms and legs they’ve been left sitting in a puddle of their own piss whilst everyone just gets on with their seasons, occasionally looking back to pity us.

Of the missing players, Sagna and Vermaelen would walk into any team in the league at the moment. Gibbs is a promising young defender and looks solid and would easily get into most teams. Song and Wilshere wouldn’t be turned away by anyone, and are both now integral to Arsenals team. The jury’s still out on Diaby, but he’d have been an improvement on Rosicky yesterday even if he had of had an off day. Gervinho would have improved the team in place of Arshavin or Walcott as both of them were toss, and Frimpong would have Frimponged Evra, so, he would have definitely started in any team I picked.

The kids, Jenkinson and Coquelin, were fine to an extent – Coquelin didn’t put a foot wrong and in fact was the only player in Rooney’s first free kick to actually try and head the ball or close down. Rosicky didn’t look back and the rest of the wall looked like slack jawed dolphins waiting for a treat like a bunch of passionless dickheads. Jenkinson wasn’t so great but then he’s 19, inexperienced, up against Evra/Young/Rooney and totally exposed by the void of talent that is Theo Walcott. Walcott was probably right when he had a go at Jenkinson – the lad was out of position. The question Walcott needs to ask himself is why wasn’t he covering? Fullbacks and wingers overlap, the winger needs to be mindful of a break in the full back is committed – that Jenkinson said to Walcott “yeah, where were you, fuck off” is to the lads immense credit. Walcott is a senior member of the team now and instead of helping Jenkinson he just hid and dished out advice. I’ve never been a Walcott fan, but he showed himself up in a bad light yesterday. Jenkinson will learn, Walcott has had a fair few years and is obviously incapable – he didn’t even try and work back. He offered Jenkinson absolutely no protection all match. Half the time he wasn’t even in his position. That’s fine but he can’t go round telling other people how to play when he hasn’t got a fucking clue himself. The amount of times they doubled up on Jenkinson was horrendous and it was possible because Walcott was at the other end of the pitch tossing one off. I’m not surprised Jenkinson thought he needed to go forward and play for Walcott and ended up over committing – incidentally he did better in Walcotts position than Walcott did, showing the bollocks to create a goal for RVP. When Walcott gave away the penalty, most of you probably heard my anguished screams. A serious cabbage – Denilson got shipped to Brazil for doing that, hopefully they’ll just put Theo out of his misery.

Jenkinson was also let down by another experienced “senior” player in Djourou. Djourou played like a lame horse with shot legs who’d been blindfolded – the sending off occurred because he too failed to play football properly. He stepped up to play offside near the half way line and left Jenkinson 10 yards behind his man desperately trying to get back. He did and the impish little shit in red fell off balance with the contact. It was a clear yellow, and Jenkinson deserved to walk. It’s a shame for the lad though because he was the only player at the point still giving a shit and still running. There are things you can teach a footballer, positioning etc and a knowledge that comes with experience. Jenkinson will pick both of these up – and there are things that only come from the heart like passion, effort and commitment. Jenkinson showed all of these so I’m not worried about him at all.

Traore in comparison was a lazy sack of shit who spent the entire game chewing gum and practicing his balance on the touchline. It’s no wonder he gets farmed out every season and never picked even when we’ve only got the tea lady to play left back otherwise. News breaks this morning that he’s signing for QPR today. Good, he played yesterday like he had a foot out of the door, I hope Joey Barton gives him a kicking in training. The problem that leaves us with is we only have a single left back in Gibbs, a player made of cobwebs and magic. If we don’t sign a left back now before the window closes it will be prove beyond doubt that Wenger has had a breakdown. Fingers crossed?

I’ve already mentioned Djourou, who for the first goal didn’t even want to head the ball. Where was the desire? Where was the belief and need to absolutely go through Welbeck like he wasn’t there, heading the ball into space? Instead he lifted his arms in front of his face and cried. The missed penalty summed our senior players up – a bollockless set of lazy shits. If Djourou had of tried defending, if Robin Van Persie had of scored the penalty, if Walcott had of helped Jenkinson on the right, if Rosicky had of looked back and given a shit when they scored their free kick instead of walking away without even looking, if Walcott handn’t of conceded a penalty… we wouldn’t have conceded 8 goals, we might even have got a result. In tough times, missing 8 players or not, you want the senior players to stand up and be counted. Not run off and hide. Of the youngsters, only Jenkinson really didn’t much wrong in getting sent off and as I’ve tried to reason, Djourou and Walcott need to take a large dose of that responsibility.

Our form guide since the Carling Cup final is DDDWDDWDDLWLLDDLL which is an anagram of BOTTLING TOSSERS. Until the Arsenal players group together, decide not to be lazy, decide not to be morons then it doesn’t matter if you have Gary Cahill coming in, or Kaka or any other player – the results will continue to go down the toilet. Even Gary Cahill, who most of you assure me is the answer to all of Arsenals problems, conceded 3 goals at the weekend because like poor Carl Jenkinson he was surrounded by muppets.

Anyway Wenger said yesterday: “I am very open to signing players if we find players who can strengthen the team. We have a lot of people working on that”. If? IF?? FUCKING IF? I could name quite a few players that wouldn’t have lost 8-2, even Stoke won’t be humiliated like that this season. But, on a level I think I understand what Wenger means and it’s what I’ve been saying for a long time – the footballers at AFC are becoming lazy dipshits, who don’t try, and who don’t care. Obvious exceptions like Wilshere and Frimpong aside, no one at the club seems to give a shit – that’s an appalling attitude to have and it’s not a culture or ethos that will be changed at all by buying players. We need to get our fucking heads up before we drown.

Kieran (@kieran_delaney)

So, you’ll already know I am perennially optimistic. Take a look at the squad – lacking, certainly, but sewn with pockets of excitement, talent and an exciting future. I can be optimistic about the squad as it is, despite being dissapointed that we’re so lacking – I have a genuine belief that one or two additions to the squad could make us title winners – we have a good starting 11 right now, but nothing past that. The bench is empty, metaphorically, and we need fresh, experienced blood. We need to address deficiencies certainly, but in some cases the game on Saturday was a game that filled me with hope.

I am able to see the bright sides of Saturdays performance – at the back we were solid, TV5 was fantastic, Sagna was solid in an unfamiliar position and Jenkinson was great – threatening when required yet solid at the back. Considering our back four consisted of two league debutants, we were spectacular at the back. Now consider a third league debut immediately in front of them, Arsenal aquitted themselves fantastically well. Considering 2 of those players are back ups and a third was in the wrong position it bodes well for the future, defensively.

How many times have you seen a corner being lined up and had that sinking feeling that this is the goal the opposition will score? Not on Saturday, set pieces were no problem. There is a robustness to the team in set pieces that is unfamiliar and very welcome – it’s that change that we’ve all been begging for. Make no mistake, there are few teams in the league that will try and exploit the perceived aerial weaknesses in Arsenals game more than a Liverpool team with a solitary Andy Caroll up front – and we dealt with them all.

The game largely passed Nasri and Ramsey by, no doubt due the overwhelming presence of five Liverpool midfielders – however a special mention must go to Frimpong. That he was given a standing ovation despite being sent off tells you everything you need to know. He was solid in the tackle, clever in the pass, had a shot from distance that could have changed the game and generally ran the Arsenal team. He got sent off for a second yellow and despite the first being incredibly harsh, the challenge that saw him walk could easily have been a red, so we can’t have too many complaints. Remember when Jack started out in the Arsenal team and got sent off? He learned. I expect Frimpong will to. It’s a mouth watering prospect, as my Liverpool supporting collegue said this morning “£20m+ for Henderson looks like an awful deal when you see a player like Frimpong – if he hadn’t of been sent off he’d have been MOTM”. Quite.

In goal, with Wojciech Szczeny, Arsenal have one of the best keepers in the league. Commanding, strong, solid decision making and great reflexes – as in the Carling Cup final he will make mistakes, but those mistakes will be more than made up for with his presence in goal settling the team and the saves he makes. Any mistakes will become rarer to.

In some respects the result was flattering to Liverpool – the first goal was just that awful slice of luck that you always get served to you when your down. Face in a puddle, life always shits on your head. Miquel actually had the beating of an offside Saurez, expertly shepherding the ball away from him, only to see his clearance shank horribly of Ramsey into the goal. One down and shit happens.

They were always going to score a second against a tiring ten man Arsenal who were chasing the game – thank god it was fantasy league forward Suarez. I felt awful picking him, but I guess I was vindicated.

Arsenals problems were up front however. Van Persie was off the pace, and with no midfield to speak of with Nasri in Manchester already and Ramsey chasing shadows, Walcott was just not in the game. Two passes in the first 45 minutes outlined his performance – toss. Arshavin was hungrier and got far more involved, tracking back and eventually fashioning our best chance winning the ball in the area (a touch unfairly) and squaring for Van Persie whos shot struck Reina’s leg. Luck would have seen the ball go in, but Arsenal don’t have any luck at the moment. Unfortunately for Arshavin his distribution and passing were woeful. It’s a shame, because he showed everything on Saturday that he lacked at times last season – principally a hunger to be involved.

We created virtually nothing and that was frustrating, because without a cutting edge of any kind, we just wallowed and invited Liverpool onto us.

If Oxo-Chambers and Miyaichi are as good as Arsene keeps saying, why didn’t he throw them on? We’d created nothing, we were down to ten men and we were one nil down. Throw both of them on and let them prove something, shit or bust. Instead we went defensive, removing an attacker for Lansbury to replace the sent off Frimpong. We just wanted to see the game out in damage limitation mode.

And that is Arsenals problem right now.

Kieran Delaney @kieran_delaney

So. 2-0 to Liverpool. With the tweets flying about yesterday, some knew it was coming. I for one was confident we would win, but losing that match, unfortunately, was not surprising.

The starting XI was: Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Sagna, Frimpong, Ramsey, Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott, van Persie, with a bench of Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh, Miyaichi, Lansbury, Miquel, Bendtner.

Not a bad starting XI, but have a look at that bench! Lots of talent, no doubt, but not a lot of experience.

The big news was that Nasri was starting, and everyone wanted to know the sort of reception he’d get from the crowd, what with the whole twitter and Man City brouhaha. Also, with Cesc gone, it was also a chance to see how we’d cope, and which of the players are ready to step into his shoes.

We started off nervously, misplacing passes here and there, but so did Liverpool. But after a few minutes spent settling in, the chances came. Mainly for Liverpool in the beginning, with Szczesny literally being a beast, and dare I say it, we kinda defended alright to start with. Then Koscielny went down. Back spasms apparently. Couldn’t continue, so had to come off. He even had to be assisted down the tunnel, as he could not walk unaided. Coming on in his place was Miguel Ignasi. Making his Premier League debut. Not the most ideal of circumstances to be making your Premier League debut, but you have to take it as it comes, and I thought he did well!

I still thought we’d be fine at the stage. Hell, it was only 15 minutes in, and we’d largely restricted Liverpool. No real signs of danger. Except from card-happy referee, Mark Clattenburg, who ensured that Frimpong’s over-energetic self earned him a booking, with only about 7/8 minutes on the clock. Yes, Frimpong should not have squared up to the Liverpool player, but it shouldn’t have been a yellow. I remember tweeting at the time that if he wasn’t careful, he’s pick up a Red. He started off a bit rubbishly, but as the match went on, he got better and better.

Chances here and there in the first half, but neither team could find the back of the net. There was the mega-save from a Carroll header by Szczesny, and the odd save here and there. Raina wasn’t tested as much, as out moves seemed to break down in the final third. There was a fabulous effort from long range from Frimpong, but it was saved by Reina! Not too long afterwards, there was a brilliant run by Nasri, all the way from our half, but his effort was wide! Really good to see that the crowd were pretty much behind Nasri today, applauding him and willing him on. And he put a shift in, so good play by all concerned. But I really cannot remember any other chances. So honours even at half time. No complaints.

No changes from either side at half time, but Liverpool started the second half brighter. Robin did have a chance, after Arshavin bullied his way in the 6-yard box, but Robin’s effort was saved. Back and forth, back and forth. No goals. And then the signs of danger became full-blown danger, as Frimpong finally picked up his red. With 20 minutes to go. He had it coming, unfortunately. After his shaky start, he got more and more in the game, and he was almost faultless! The fault, ofcourse, being his umm, over-enthusiasm! He picked up his second yellow for a late challenge, and he was lucky it wasn’t a straight red. He definitely one of the bright spots of this season, even though the season hasn’t really got going! But he needs to watch it, though. I worry it won’t be his only Red card of the season. But he’s a bright kid, I’m sure he’ll learn from it. He’s DEEEEENCH, afterall! (Gosh, CANNOT believe I just did that…)

But seeing as things were pretty much even at that stage, the Red card naturally tipped the scales in Liverpool’s direction. They could have had a field day! But King Szczesny, the guy we could have ‘killed’, had Arsene bitten the bullet last season, came to our rescue! He made some top saves today, that you couldn’t help but feel especially bad for him, that we didn’t end up with a clean sheet. I bet if we weren’t down to 10, we probably would have. Szczesny is going to be our No. 1 (or 13) for a long long time! Have I mentioned that he’s brilliant?

Despite it all, he could not nothing about their first goal. *Sigh*. It was an own goal. Shouldn’t have counted though, as one of the Liverpool players was offside before Ignasi’s clearance bounced in off of Ramsey’s chest. But as they say with these things, it was “marginal”. That goal came about 12 minutes from time. We’d made our second substitution not long before, Lansbury coming on for Arshavin, who was unfortunately ineffective, with misplaced passes, and mistimed kicks! Would the real Andrei Arshavin please stand up? We need the real you back, Andrei. Honestly. Our final substitution came after the goal, with Bendtner replacing Theo, who’d had an anonymous game. Jose Enrique handled him quite well.  I hoped and prayed we’d get the equaliser, but we just couldn’t. Couldn’t find the right pass, the ball was falling right for us, nothing was working. The second goal wasn’t far off, and it even had an air of inevitability about it. Who scored, again? Oh yeah, Suarez. *sigh*. Definitely game over then, if it wasn’t already after the first goal. Then full-time. Our awful start to the season just got worse.

It was a bit of a strange match, this. Strange in the sense that it wasn’t your typical Arsenal home game. Liverpool actually had more of the possession! Our passing game was not on point. I don’t know the stats, but I bet Liverpool had more completed passes than us. I guess it was generally a tentative match, with a lot of unsure performances (apart from Frimpong who was all guns blazing, and Vermaelen who was his usual impeccable self).

The question has got to be how long can it last? It partly depends on what happens the rest of the window, but honestly,  I’m not holding my breath. We NEED to strengthen, but I’ve got to be prepared for the fact that it might not happen. And I’m not liking what might happen if we don’t. Things aren’t great right now, we all can see that. I bet (hope) Arsene sees it too. So I’ll try not to dwell on them, as there are actually positives we can focus on. Like how good a player Frimpong is going to be this season. Like how brilfantastamazing Vermaelen is! Yes, I had to create a new word! Excuse the cliche, but he totally had Carroll in his back pocket! I’ve got so much confidence seeing his name on the team sheet, and I’m sure the team do too. Miguel did quite well on his debut, I’d say. Apart from the own goal cock-up, which was just one of those things, he handled the ocassion well. He’s got good composure on the ball, but I’d rather he didn’t get thrown in the deep end like that too often. But well done, Iggy. Well done. I could be totally wide off the mark, but I think generally (at least while we still had 11 on the pitch!), we defended fairly well today. Yes, there were scary moments when we let Liverpool through, but I don’t remember being worried when Liverpool were in a dangerous position, that we’d sudddenly lay an egg and gift them a goal. I felt more confident in the defence, more than usual. Maybe that’s the Vermaelen effect, I don’t know, but I certainly felt so today. Our attack was a bit blunt today, unfortunately. Half chances here and there, but we didn’t quite have enough today.

It’s hard to tell how damaging today’s loss was/is, because it’s way too early. But it is proof that we need to strengthen. Also with the three players we’ll be missing next game, against United- Gervinho, Song and Frimpong, it’ll be an even weaker team playing, so we really should not expect any miracles. But Arsene could surprise us (haha) and sign two world-class non-teenage players during the week, and we’ll all of a sudden have a much better outlook! But don’t hold your breath! It’s Arsenal, we don’t do easy, especially when it comes to transfers.

Just to wrap up, I hope Koscielny gets better soon, as he really looked bad when he came off. And we’re travelling to Udinese mid-week. There’s no way we’re getting knocked out of the Champions League, is there? I’ll give up on football if it happens! Also, there’s no need to despair. Yet. We’re only 2 games into the season, and whatever happens against United next weekend won’t change much. We are struggling at the moment, but the good thing about struggles, is they don’t last forever! It’ll end soon, I promise. The window is still open. van Persie is still fit. BacMan is still world-class. Tommy V is still a beast. We don’t need a goalkeeper. Youngsters are stepping up. There’s still hope. We’ll be fine, just wait and see.