The second half against Tottenham was not in the least bit surprising. It is something which should never happen again, but sadly will. I also have no doubt this will happen again sooner rather than later, most probably before this season is over. All one can hope is that it’s the last time we do it against Saturday’s opposition and that they are made to wait at least another 17 years before taking three points away from The (New) Home of Football, if not longer!

As expected the debates have been raging as to why this was so expected. The usual arguments have been used such as lack of focus and concentration, thinking the game was won before it actually was (i.e. not killing teams off), or a lack of desire, mental strength, and winning mentality. I could keep going but I’m sure we know all the different theories by now.

This doesn’t appear to be a new issue for Arsenal though, and for me there is only one recurring theme over the various years and squads of players - Arsene Wenger’s philosophy on how the game should be played. Under Wenger Arsenal only plays one way, which is to attack. Many people have said we need a defensive coach, and I tend to agree, but sometimes I’m also left wondering just how much good even this would do given our style of play. Some argue it would work, pointing to Martin Keown helping us reach the 2006 Champions League Final, but let’s not kid ourselves. When it came to the ‘bread and butter’ of league football that season our defence was as bad then as it is now and we just about scraped 4th place. I point this out because I’m assuming Martin was asked “sort out the defence please” and not “sort out the defence please, but for Europe only”?

As such I’m not sure a defensive coach will solve our issue because Arsenal will continue to love attacking, and as a result watching Arsenal in the second half on Saturday was like watching children play Sunday league in the park. Everyone runs forward, chasing after the ball, hoping to be the hero by scoring a goal. I sit next to Simon Rose and at half time on Saturday we spoke about keeping things tight at the back, keeping our shape and our discipline, as his recent article mentioned he was often shouting “no charity today Gael!” However, with Arsenal this method of football does not exist. Within 60 seconds of the restart we lost possession. As they counter attacked Arsenal had a five man frontline across the opposition penalty box which consisted of Sagna, Song, Fabregas, Chamakh, and Arshavin. 60 seconds into a second half where we don’t want to be stupid, don’t want to gift them a way back into the game and we have five players (including one defender and one defensive midfielder) stranded out of position.

So it was no surprise when only a few moments later almost the same thing happens leaving Van der Vaart and Bale (that’s right their two most dangerous and in form players) bearing down on our goal, once again leaving the keeper unprotected and with no option but to pick the ball out of his net. From this point on we (and I include fans in this as well as players) get nervous, the opposition get confidence and then anything can happen… such as a penalty for handball. As the festive period approaches I wonder if the Arsenal coaching staff has got slightly confused with the old ‘Christmas tree’ formation and have mistakenly turned it upside down to make 2-3-5 as opposed to 5-3-2?

It was interesting to read the Editor’s version of events after the game, and he had one thought the same as me, one which I never thought I’d want to say but can no longer deny which is ”in terms of winning football games, Jose Mourinho is a far better manager than Arsene Wenger”. Mourinho would never have let this happen. Tactically he would have organised the team at half time, considered a change of shape or style in order to see out the game. I love the style and philosophy of Wenger, and would much rather have this than Mourinho’s style 9 times out of 10, however Wenger and Arsenal have to realise that not every opponent is like Blackpool at home. There will be that one time out of 10 (or make that three times so far this season) when the Mourinho style of appreciating the situation as it unfolds needs to be applied.

Away from home we seem to have acknowledged this, at least a little bit. We still over commit at times, but generally we have curbed our usual enthusiasm and by hook or by crook we have hung on to all three points at Blackburn, Wolves and Everton. But in home games we still appear clueless, like those 11 children on a Sunday morning who run forward at every possible moment in a desperate attempt to score the perfect goal they dreamt about the night before. Correct me if I’m wrong, but besides the odd goal kick or punched clearance I’m pretty sure the only thing Fabianski did all second half was pick the ball out of the net three times, such was his lack of protection through our ill discipline and non-existent shape. They did not win this game, Arsenal lost it, and unless we start to apply the same ‘defensive discipline’ at home as we have away I fear our home form will continue to suffer. Hold onto you hats because we’re going to be in for one hell of a rollercoaster ride at The (New) Home of Football!