True ....... with the humungus lump of Hanoverian granite alongside him ; Kos had to cover so much extra ground and be more aware ; without him his intensity levels have dropped away .

Just had a look at the league table. The top six (City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal) are the only sides in the division with a positive goal difference.

I suspect it has more to do with Mertesacker's organisational skills.

Tottenham v Arsenal

Both teams have quality players .

One team was organised , disciplined , direct , incisive and all singing from the same hymn sheet .

The other was busy , clueless , directionless , disorganised , hitting and hoping something might happen .

You have ten seconds to decide who was who .

I'd give him credit for a magnificent performance with Holding alongside in last years Cup Final he lifted his game to lift the young guy .

I'm not so sure he had the same effect on Kos .... maybe

BUT I think it pointless analysing the strengths and weaknesses of our squad .... we swap managers and play Spurs again in a month ..... we'd beat them .

We'd go forward they'd regress

What a peculiar attitude to adopt , all the fans are to blame and you aren't .... aren't you an Arsenal fan

It must be my fault. Čech a good game, Bellerin had Son in his pocket, Mustafi saved our bacon a number of times, Elneny did well as did Jack.We lost because Whereas Mkhitaryan and Özil had bad games, because the opposition didn't giver them any room and never let them settle, we lost because they started better in the second half and we were on the back foot.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half and blame the loss on AW's lack of tactical nous. It happens. We know he'll never change but some of the criticism of the team is ott.

To the person who recently took the p... out of me because I valued the fact Alexis was very rarely offside during his Arsenal career, I hope you really enjoyed Lacazette being offside 3 times in his short time on the field.

It was lazy and really annoyed me as it is a cheap turnover of possession. Still I am sure you enjoyed it because those little things don't seem to matter at our club.

Know what you mean.

Also the people on here who moaned that he constantly lost possession.

To date Sanchez should still be cards on to win our player of the season

This season? You've got to be joking? No chance.

Or play at The Emirates might do the trick too...

Lacazette is lacking confidence. His first chance was begging for a spectacular flying scissors kick... too early to write him off. I like to see him and Aubameyang upfront but we need to get the balance in midfield right to accommodate Özil and Mkhit, Jack and Ramsey.

Kiwi, don't tax my brain on a Sunday morning. I need to relax. I still cannot figure out which teams you are referring to

Exactly my thoughts about Laza's offsides. He could see the defensive line clearly, and yet he strayed offside. I say his heart is no longer in it. Oh, how quickly another player declines under Wenger. Another no-show after an explosive start is Kolasinac.

I hope Wenger is seriously contemplating calling it a day at Arsenal now. Please walk away, and let the team grow again.

I am a bit like Goonie who has not yet written off Lacazette but I am concerned. Half a season seems to destroy the confidence of most of our signings. Other examples Chambers, Chamakh, Mustafi, Holding, Grevinho, Jeffers.

There's only 1 player who has scored more goals and contributed more assists and that's Lacazette. Shall we pick him? It's a tongue in cheek suggestion but if the season ended now which player has made the biggest impact and our player of the year, it's not any of the defenders.

Let me guess Xhaka ?

I think Monreal has had a good season. Even Bellerin, Mustafi and Koscielny deserve it more than Sanchez. Čech too. Certainly Özil and Wilshere moving on to midfielders. Even Xhaka, who isn't as bad as you like to make out.

My American friends, couldn't tell you the difference between Arsenal and arson but EPL scorelines are now part of regular sports news and so when there is a result I sometimes get messages or if they come across something.

get down to your local restaurant G7 ; bit of sambal stingray with rice ; wash it down with a dozen cans of Pump Room Indian Pale Ale ...you'll be a new man tomorrow .... trust me .

Wenger doesn't like playing with two central forwards. Even when Lacazette came on Aubameyang was moved wide. Let me clarify that I'm not writing him off. I think there is a good player in there. But my guess, and it is just a guess, is that if Wenger is still Arsenal's manager next season, Lacazette will be looking to move on this summer.

I hope he stays. But if Wenger remains in post I reckon Lacazette could be looking to get away.

Just wonder how Ramsay took not playing despite scoring a hatrick in his last game. Welbeck got on the field so didn’t understand it. Unless he was injured & I missed it.

The midfield is static & does not interact at all. I don’t believe Xhaka Wilshire or Iwobi are good enough.

You did miss it. He had a groin injury.

We were simply outplayed in that second half.

Nothing will ever change whilst Wenger is in charge. Don’t even feel upset or depressed. It just is what it is. We are totally broken under this regime.

So you are actually sticking with this sub-George-Bush-Jnr rhetoric, as if a) any disagreement about any particular aspect is contributing to what you perceive to be the problem (even though no-one effing disagrees about the actual problem) and b) the board give a rats arse what you are I think.

You sound like a stupid american redneck teenager. Sure, can disagree (and we frequently do - as its the point of an online forum), but how dare you turn this into a 'them and us' moral crusade about who is the better fan. Go take a long walk off something short.

Worth pointing out that until Mustafi's injury last season, they two of them formed an excellent partnership. The main issue is of course that our other centre backs are too poor to allow Koscielny to rest his chronic injury when needed. The guy has played too many games where he is clearly in pain and lacking in mobility, and at other times, when rested, has shown that he is still capable of great performances if used properly.

A partner who isn't a bit of headless chicken and better rotation and Kos is still an asset for us. If we play him every bloody week when medically we shouldn't, we can't expect much more. Not sure what happened in the transfer window. We wanted to buy a centre half, we were in on a few, and then at the last minute we are told that there wasn't the transfer budget. How the hell can there not be the transfer budget?

3-1 (or at a push 4-2) would have been accurate reflection of the game. We've been on the sharp end of a number of Taylor cock-ups in the past, but I only saw a couple of possible missed spurs bookings to attacking players cynically stopping counter attacks that I could even attempt to criticise. The linesmen made a couple of mistakes that stopped Aubameyang going through with chances, but even those were super super tight calls. The ref was good and had no impact on the result at all.

You've hit the nail on the head Darren. I've said it before, people here go on about buying certain players. But it's pointless. We could sign anyone and for as long as Wenger is manager it won't make a blind bit of difference. Whoever the players are, and I include Messi in that point. The squad isn't perfect and if a new manager came in, I'd want and expect him to recruit some new players. But while Wenger is running the show, the main advantage in transfer gossip and speculation that we'll sign a player or two is fan titillation. It gets everyone excited that it might make a difference. However, it won't.

We are well rid of Alexis, he has not improved Man U but he has created more chaos in there attack.

I said after the Chelsea cup game that someone had to take Lacazette aside and discuss his off sides and positioning.

He badly needs some one to one coaching as do a number of our players but of course AW doesn't believe in it.

Go symphon some petrol from a *%^@*** motor and sniff it all day if you want to live In a fantasy land you prat.

Kevin Whitcher writing with a certain amount of assurance that Wenger could be leaving this summer in his editorial.

Ancellotti was at yesterday's game lending credibility to what Kevin said previously that he was attending many of our games this season but I just can't see Wenger going this summer. A scenario I could see is that they announce he will leave at the end of his contract this summer but that would leave us enduring a season from hell next year with uncertain players, a manager carefree who knows he's leaving and still an imbalanced side.

Whilst the evidence continues to point to the contrary I can't see how Wenger will leave in the summer and this pain will continue

That explains it. We still have a number of players who can't string a run of games together. Years ago we discussed on here whether it was our training , the grass or what seemed to contribute to these problems. No solution evident but disappointing.

Nail on head. I can't even be bothered to discuss X player and what they do or don't offer, tactics, formations, the manager, coaches etc. anymore, they are just tiny irrelevances in the bigger picture that won't make a blind bit of difference until something big changes.

Wenger should leave by "mutual consent" this summer and Ancelotti should come in for a couple of seasons while we rebuild some of the structures of the club that are far too reliant on Wenger. If we need to get embarrassed in the tin pot cup final and dumped out of the EL for that to happen then so be it.

I hope I didn't give the impression that I want Koscielny booted out or anything. He's been an outstanding defender for the club and is still very good. Perhaps it is simply a coincidence but his best years were those when he had Mertesacker alongside him. I don't think that can be denied, even though Mustafi looked really good when he first joined and a more than decent partnership with Koscielny looked possible.

My own personal view is that Mertesacker played a significant role in Koscielny's development into a top player. I accept I can't prove that, but nobody can prove I'm wrong either. So I stand by my thoughts about what may have caused Koscielny's apparent decline over the last eighteen months or so. (1) His injury problems, and I accept your point about him not getting enough rest. (2) At 32, he is getting on a bit now and with his injury record I don't expect him to have the longevity that we've seen with the likes of Terry and Ferdinand. (3) He misses the calming influence and organisational know-how of Mertesacker.

Before his legs totally went, Mertesacker at least knew where to stand, so Koscielny was clearer about what he had to do. Mustafi, though much more mobile, is positionally a loose cannon and is often not where he should be. Mertesacker, to his credit, knows the game is up and is retiring in 3 months, because his already freighter like turning circle has started to resemble continental drift. Mustafi either needs to be in a 3 or be taught a lot positionally. Personally, I just don't think he's big enough to ever be a top centre-back. Good as a squad rotation option, but not someone to build a defence around.

Indeed. But Lacazette has got worse in this regard as the goals have vanished. A couple of good goalscoring games and I reckon he'll be timing his runs better again. He just looks frustrated and anxious.

Who has had a hip injury since his first international duty of the season.

Not saying a different manager wouldn't be a good thing.

I know Kevin thinks Wenger will leave this summer. But he thought he would leave last summer as well. Kevin was pretty damn confident he'd go last summer, if my memory serves. But Kevin was wrong last summer, and it won't shock me if he'll be mistaken on this issue next summer as well.

I always enjoy the way Kevins editorials nicely summarise the situation at Arsenal more than anyone else like arseblogger etc. It just strikes me Bernard that many people are talking as if it is a given Wengers off this summer and we will get the change we want. I just can't see it though, maybe announce next year is his final season but to terminate his contract early ??? Just doesn't seem the type of thing this board would do.

If we have to endure another full season of arsene I won't be able to recall a period when I would have been less enthused about the club and the only person it would serve would be to give arsene another 10 million quid.

What part of anything that I have said is a fantasy? You're the one who seems to think opinions expressed on a small internet forum can influence club policy or that disagreeing with you makes someone a bad fan who deserves a bad team. I'd hardly say that my views that the club doesn't give a toss about what's posted on here and that differing fan opinions can still be equally good fans are fantasy.

And I've never, obliquely or otherwise, suggested that you are a bad fan or deserving of any negative outcome for all the relentlessly negative and often factually incorrect nature of your postings.

The minute you start suggesting that other fans are responsible for this teams decline and that some are better than others, you sound like peak Harlow of a decade or more ago when he was still a loyal Wenger disciple to the rejection of all other opinions, and are picking a fight with anyone on here that disagrees with you. And I'm not prepared to ignore people pulling out that black and white 'with us or against us' b%*&s%*^ - its bang out of order and you know it, no matter how much you pretend not to.