Lehmann or rued chances, which is the real clanger?

Man, I gotta tell you, over the weekend Arsenal should have won against Fulham by the score of 37-1.

Jens Lehmann gifted Fulham a goal within the 1st minute of play, a debut goal by David Healey when Lehmann failed to pass the ball cleanly back to his defense. In his first seasons at Arsenal I thought he was the worst goalkeeper with his feet that the Premiership has ever seen. Is it just me or does anyone remember all the shaky reactions to back passes and tense clearances under pressure? Unfortunately for Arsenal it re-emerged in a moment of uber clang.

But, worse for me, was the incredible number of chances Arsenal wasted in front of Fulham’s goal. Tony Warner, it must be said, was a rock at the back, but this was a pure lack of finishing and attempts to walk the ball into the net.

On quite a few occasions Arsenal took the extra touch which caused the defense to close down and the attacker lose nerve, Hleb was guilty of this on at least 4 occasions that I counted. Then, the penultimate “perfect ball or else” moment was in the 56th minute when Fabregas had Rocisky wide open on the left and chose to try and play the perfect thru ball instead to van Persie before the inevitable offside flag went up.

Van Persie should have finished 3 chances easily. Rocisky at least 3. Hleb a couple as well and a horde of other shots on goal in which Arsenal should have done better.

Ok, enough complaint. Arsenal are pleasing on the eye aren’t they? Does any team carve up the midfield better? No. Sagna and Eboue were a fantastic combination on the right, Rocisky silky, Hleb’s footwork unmatched and Fabregas’s quality is just marvelous. I sure hope Eboue continues to start on the right in midfield, he’s so effective. Wasted chances aside, Arsenal did enough. They got their goals very late on and won the day but it shouldn’t have been so tense and frustration filled. It took a penalty and Hleb’s 90th minute heroics.

Like many teams I saw over the weekend Arsenal spent money but haven’t seemed to solve their problems. The buildup was brilliant, the finishing not so. Look at the history of this blog and see how many times you’ve seen that written.