As predicted in the end a comfortable journey through to the knock out phases of the Champions League, although as predicted, problems lie ahead with the upcoming draw for the second round looking far from friendly.

Let us be honest, we were crap on Wednesday night but we didn’t really need to be any better than crap against a very poor side. We had the easiest group possible and made hard work of it. We should have topped that group no problem and down to our own failings we have ended up finishing second and will be punished with a far tougher range of possible opponents in the second round. Right now it looks more than probable that Spurs will go further in the competition than us although to be honest I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we both went out in the next phase. Both North London sides seem a little too attack minded to win it in my eyes.

A big downer for me against Partizan was the sudden realisation that our main hope to replace the less than reliable Clichy at left back is more injury prone than RVP and believe me that is saying something. This despite our leader’s statement that in his opinion RVP is not injury prone. Surely that is the most blatant lie that has ever been spoken? A bit like saying Arsenal look solid as a unit and are very strong mentally I guess.

I read an interview with Andrey Arshavin on Wednesday and in it he said that he likes the games that we have to win (he was talking about the Partizan Belgrade game) as it tunes him into the game easier. As an Arsenal supporter reading an article like that it doesn’t fill me with much optimism as surely he should feel that every game is a must win game? Does it have to come down to a final group game after blowing numerous chances to guarantee qualification already for him to feel the basic desire to try and win the game? Judging his performance against Partizan he must have forgot the need to win pretty quickly after the end of the interview as he was - to put it bluntly - sh*t.

How foolish was it for Sagna to get himself sent off by the way? 3-1 up with ten minutes to play when you are already through and now he gets himself suspended for the first leg of the second round when we will need him against top opposition. Why didn’t he just let the guy go on and take his chance to shoot on goal? It is instances like that that can make the difference between winning trophies or not in my opinion as it is just not professional. Look at what Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho did recently in the game against Ajax. Like it or not it is that mentality that wins trophies and we just do not possess any of it. There are born winners and then there are people that will always make things harder for themselves and then turn round and blame things like bad luck. You make your own luck in life and in terms of football getting sent off in that position is as pointless as buying a season ticket and then choosing not to attend matches.

I guess from looking at all the empty seats last night I am not the only one that has completely lost interest with the group stages of the Champions League. Isn’t it boring? Why do we need to be kept apart from English teams all the way through to the quarter finals? Why does it have to be seeded so there are no games of any real interest? It needs a revamp as it is getting less appealing than the League Cup in terms of excitement and that is saying something. I for one don’t care about avoiding the big teams, put the balls in to the hat and see what comes out if you ask me, it is what cup football is all about, that element of surprise and playing teams you don’t normally see. The opportunity to see the likes of Messi and co doesn’t happen much in the Premier League as most of the marquee names play in Spain these days so bring it on and if we lose to a better team so be it.

Come to think of it who is there in the Premier League that you would get overly excited about going to see play? Chelsea have very strong players in the likes of Terry, Essien, Lampard and Drogba but none of them would get me off my seat very often, none of them ghost past a player like Henry or Ronaldo used to. United can boast Rooney, Nani and co but again would you pay money to see them play and think I am excited to have been able to see them in the flesh? City have spent millions over the past two seasons but again where are the real household names that you would travel to see play? Yaya Toure anyone? That is why if we could sort ourselves out just a little bit at the back we could easily win the league and it isn’t just me being overly positive, our opponents really aren’t that good.

A big game coming up for us on Monday night at Old Trafford, it will be an interesting weekend all round with Chelsea playing at Sh*te Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon. I can’t see Chelsea losing that one, I would fancy them to get a minimum of a point but there is every chance that a point from Monday night’s game could see us remaining in top spot. That is what I would like to see us look towards, becoming harder to beat rather than always looking for the win. If we could go to places like Old Trafford and come away with a point it would give us so much more of a chance to stick close to our rivals rather than going overly gung-ho and coming unstuck as the difference in drawing these games to losing them is massive. If we draw on Monday we will stay a point ahead of United who will have one game in hand whereas if we lost to them we would be two points behind them and probably five after they play Blackpool. That gives us a mountain to climb whereas dulling the game down and becoming hard to beat enables us to stick with them, not have to play away to them again for the remainder of the season and try and pick off the lower teams with more adventurous play.

I would take a point against United and a point at home to Chelsea now and have done with it. Only a return of two points from a possible six but importantly they haven’t won those matches and stolen a march on us which is exactly what they have done over the past few seasons. When you look at the real reasons why we lose to teams like United it is more to do with the Fletchers and the O’Sheas in their side than the Rooneys and the Nanis. We don’t get outplayed in terms of pure football but we do get outmuscled and outdone in terms of tactics again and again. I think that has to go down as one of our manager’s main failings and I for one do not see a possible League Cup win covering up those faults for very long at all if we continue to lose out on the main prizes come May.

So far so good though as we are in the knockout stages of the Champions League, the semis of the League Cup and top of the Premier League. There are a lot of teams that would be very happy with that, just ask a Liverpool supporter!