Ed’s note – This piece was received yesterday afternoon from one of my regular email correspondents before Arsenal played Porto. Did not have the opportunity to post until now, but it’s still worth a read…

A terrible home defeat and, unusually, the manager criticises publicly his players, accusing them of over-confidence and worse; before adding that the opposition closed us down and did not let us play, acknowledging that we’ve got to learn to deal with that. But how can any team be over confident when playing their division’s current champions and league leaders (with a 100% record to boot)? I refer, of course, to Monday night’s Underhill debacle, where Arsenal Reserves lost 4-1 to the highly rated Aston Villa team. Unlike on Saturday, when I witnessed the Hull fiasco, mercifully last night I was at yoga, possibly putting in more physical effort than people less than half my age whom I’ll one day be paying huge sums to watch kick a ball around.

If an Arsenal team can get “blasé” - to quote Neil Banfield - against such opposition, should we be surprised by the inept display of the only-just-a-little-older seniors two days earlier that has left many Arsenal fans angry and frustrated? Arsene has promised to sort it out and even admitted that we are weak at corners (he could have added “at both ends of the pitch”). The Porto game cannot come quickly enough as we all wonder whether the current generation - whom Arsene describes as more gifted than the Invincibles et al - really are up for the fights (mental and physical), game in, game out, home and away, irrespective of the opposition and competition; and for 90 f*****n minutes (not 45, 60, or until we take the lead, leading to the mental quandary of whether to stick or twist)! Aaaarghhhh.

A pre-arranged holiday prevented me attending the Sheffield United game. By all accounts the boys were stunning.

As for Hull, Theo did not fancy some of the early tackles on Saturday and went back to his usual anonymity. Yes, Wiley was weak, but the team should be used to that, too. Cesc was often beaten to 60:40 balls by lesser mortals who wanted it far more. But, on the hour, all ten outfielders shouted “Shoooot!” as if John Jensen were back and Geovanni duly obliged with an early contender for goal of the season. OK, we played badly but still created enough chances to win; but that’s only part of a story that has been analysed already by others.

Finally (on things Arsenal) a thought about Robin Van Persie, that world class attacker (at least in his own mind). My mate and I are unanimous that he is too one-footed and, therefore, predictable; and so much easier to defend against. He is no longer an automatic starter and Bendtner’s greater height and physical presence are just two reasons why he should be seen as second attacker (to Adebayor) and a better defender for opposition dead-ball situations.

Elsewhere, Mr Styles made a decision at The Swamp that was so bad he could not avoid apologising to Bolton. How are their players supposed to show “respect” to officials who are so incompetent, I wonder ? As Shearer said on MOTD, Styles was extremely close to the action and had a perfect angle. Perhaps this just goes to show what an excellent job Surley Awex Fergusmoan has done over the years. He puts referees under such pressure to favour his side, whether at OT or away. He admits Styles got it wrong before brilliantly adding that he (Styles) still “owes” his horrid team another four similar gifts to compensate for last season! After last season’s Anfield defeat, we saw the price of the fact that this is one area (intimidation) where Red Nose lauds it over Arsene every time.

That idiot commentator Jonathan Pierce called Manchester United “lucky” upon receipt of the penalty. That was brave as he surely does not want to get banned from future matches at OT! But, as with the Liverpool penalty last season, I disagree with this use of the word “lucky”, for the reason given above. It won’t change and that makes Arsenal’s chances of overcoming teams with greater resources even more difficult. Styles’ punishment will probably be to be “rested” - isn’t that a euphemism for out-of-work actors ? - this coming weekend. But such a decision falls between two stools; either an official is up to the job, in which case we all get on with life, or he isn’t, in which case he goes back to Sunday park football. This is akin to the referees’ favourite compromise of giving a free kick just outside the area for a tackle just inside that may or may not have been legitimate.