First up, due to a family commitment which had to be rescheduled to yesterday afternoon, I did not catch the game in its entirety. What comments I have are based on just under 50 minutes of the match broadcast on Sky Sports’ Football First show. So I won’t claim them to be authoritative.

On that note, I’ll start with an email received from someone who did catch the whole of the match – Harv Jennings. He wrote…

No surprise there. We will not win another league title under Wenger. Been saying so for three years. No teeth up front with too many of the same “playmaker” types but not enough grafters to take the game by the balls. RVP11 was missed more for his assists than his goals in my opinion. The “we will score more than you” mentality is shown up in this sort of fixture where our lack of aerial ability in defence and attack, as well as a lack of a set plan B showed us up against a side who, initially anticipated the worst, then got more confident when they realised the anticipated threat would not be forthcoming.

Being exposed at the back after coughing up possession too readily is an indictment on our game. Our lack of a threat out wide makes it easier for the opposing manager to organize his defence and gameplan accordingly as we are more often than not thwarted down the middle with the one/two strategy which sees us in trouble down our end as a result… Williams, Parlour, Grimandi, Gilberto, Flamini types please. It’s the Gorgeous George’s McGoldrick/Selley/Morrow syndrome all over again from a blinkered manager on his way out.

Delusions of grandeur methinks. The unbeaten season was his crowning glory and it’s all downhill from there as he tries to emulate the phenomenon that was Led Zep on the unsuspecting music world… The Arse is not a laboratory… 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 bollocks! 4-4-2 with NB52 and E9 upfront and RVP in the assist role out wide which he fulfils quite admirably for the Dutch. But who will supply the crosses? The Ku Klux Klan?

PS: Why was Nasri still on after the final whistle? He contributed less than Diaby does and we were effectively playing with 10 men. Why was our captain throwing up his hands up at the referee instead of rallying the troops? A serious lack of leadership is evident… Who is going to score two v the Chavs to get us point?

Two things to mention. I am concluding the 40 odd minutes of the game I wasn't able to witness included plenty of misplaced passes, lack of commitment and an inability to penetrate, which are typical Arsenal traits on a bad day. The other thing is that watching a game knowing the result lessens the frustration, as there is no hope, just an acceptance this one won’t have a happy ending, meaning you are possibly not as critical. More of an ‘okay, let’s see what happened’ attitude.

For what it’s worth, I did feel Arsenal created enough decent chances to have won this game. Granted, Sunderland has a fair few themselves, but the Gunners shaded it for me. The problem was the ball didn’t go in. Is this a ‘sh*t happens’ phenomenon, or is the team – without Van Persie and Arshavin in the starting line-up, simply less effective going forward. It’s too early to judge, and I have no doubt Arshavin will start against Chelsea. It seems folly to have started him on the bench yesterday, but hardly a surprise where Wenger’s concerned.

Defensively, nothing has changed. The team are vulnerable on the counter attack due to the way they play and at set pieces due to the inability of the defence to compete in the air. Wins will come through scoring more than the opposition and the 1-0 scorelines will tend to be defeats rather than victories. Vermaelen was beaten in the air from the corner that led to Sunderland’s goal.

Part of the problem may have been a lack of match fitness in two of the front three. Rosicky is only going to ever play two thirds of a match now and Eduardo and Nasri both need more games. Eduardo was hardly in the game against Sunderland, although the move with Alex Song almost resulted in a goal when the game was scoreless. Song seemed to me the only player to come out of the match with any credit.

Yet, despite this, chances were created and Arsenal could have won a difficult game away from home and picked up three points as Chelsea (the only team this season to do so) did when they visited the same venue earlier in the campaign. And that is the reason Chelsea will win the league this time around. They are a team that can get results when they play badly, by making the most of their chances. Wenger’s team are not so reliable.

The manager was extremely frustrated after the game. I think he realizes his conviction that his team will win the league is starting to look like a bit of a long shot now. The hope was always reliant on key players not being injured and Van Persie’s absence, just as the man had run into some fantastic form, was always likely to hurt.

I hope it was just an off day, and if I’d seen the entire 90 minutes, I might be more critical. What seems clear is that the clash with Chelsea next Sunday is now a must win game. If not, the season might turn into a procession in the way it did for their two titles under Jose Mourinho. The fixture is a test of Arsenal’s character and self-belief. Momentum has stalled with the international break and this defeat, but fans can only hope it’s a blip rather than the beginning of a trend.

Manchester United lost four times in winning the league last time around. Arsenal have already lost three in only 12 matches. For all the glory of their football when the team is on song, that certainly isn’t the form of champions in waiting. I suspect the Wenger dream has died with the result at the Stadium of Light and given the manager’s comments after the game, he knows it. ‘it is frustrating when you see some performances today’ is as close as he’s been to criticizing his players in public which leads me to believe the portion of the game edited out of Football First was a bit of a horrorshow.

‘If we had played Sunderland at home today, we would have won the game’, he said. Sadly, half of the fixtures have to be played away and that is where the team have come unstuck, dropping eleven points from the 21 available. If they do manage to win every single home match, it will provide them with 57 points and a platform, but they will still need at least 30 on the road – 10 wins from the 19 matches. It’s three out of seven so far. But if Chelsea can be defeated next Sunday, there is at least hope. The season can be kick started back into one of possibility. But this game is huge. Not a title decider for the visitors, but certainly one for Wenger’s team.

Here’s hoping for a straightforward victory over Liege on Tuesday and the return of confidence amongst the players and fans to avoid the season falling flat in November, an eternal Arsenal story.