West Ham United 2 - 2 Arsenal

It's not easy being an Arsenal fan, as this press release from Wrigley will verify: http://www.wrigley.com/uk/press/news-details.aspx?id=1381

For those who haven't read it (most, I would assume), Wrigleys (the chewing gum manufacturer), in conjunction with some nondescript 'scientists', has compiled a league table of heart rates for fans of premier league teams. Suffice if to say that there is little or no scientific merit or credibilty in Wrigley's league table, but Arsenal's fans have been placed in second and if my heart rate last Sunday is anything to go by then this should come as no surprise (at least to me).

Arsenal had won their last four league games going into the match at Upton Park, as well as 3 in the Champions league and Carling Cup leading up to the game at Alkmaar. Of those seven games, I would suggest that in only one (4-0 against Wigan at the Emirates) did Arsenal look truly assured. Hubris, inexperience, a lack of confidence or a sense of entitlement have all been offered as potential reasons for this. Regardless, on the pitch it has meant that each game has been extremely hard work and rarely have Arsenal looked comfortable.

A game like the one on Sunday was almost inevitable. Arsenal went to East London to face a team languishing in the relegation zone, low on confidence and looking for a result to kick start their season. The Hammers started brightly and were making Arsenal work hard without creating any real chances when Arsenal were able to make good use of a rare spell of possesion. After a neat one-two, Sagna was given enough room to whip a delightful cross into the the 6 yard box (there's a first time for everything) and a miscommunication between keeper and defencer resulted in Robert Green palming the ball into the path of the onrushing Van Persie who stuck it away. The gunners had a foothold in the game, and capitalised from more sloppy defending when Gallas nodded in a corner ten minutes from the break.

Call me what you will, genius, cynic, or just canny observer of footballing trends, but in my (rapidly beating) heart I knew that even at 2-0 and with West Ham struggling to create anything, it would just take just one second, one slip, one lapse in concentration and they'd be back in contention. In the end they were given a boost in the most irritating way; Alessandro Diamanti, a regular diamond geezer (sorry), tried to bend a free kick around the wall, only to see Vito Mannone push the ball straight onto Carlton Cole's head, much like Green did with Van Persie's goal earlier. Suddenly Arsenal went from a team completely in control to a team very much on the back foot. West Ham were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, but were still struggling to carve out good opportunities. There was a decent penalty shout when Scott Parker went down in the box but it was waved away; not so when Song clumsily kicked Carlton Cole in the back of the ankle several minutes later, and Diamanti duly tucked the spot kick away, the flash git (sorry). Even when Parker was sent off for two bookable offenses with five minutes to go West Ham still looked more likely to grab a winner.

The signs were there against Blackburn, again against Birmingham and it became clear in Alkmaar that Arsenal cannot close out games out the moment. It's difficult to pin down a reason. The centreback partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen seems to get better every game. Song and Diaby look more and more confident shielding the back four, and the full backs look less jittery. Why then, does this team look constantly as though they are about to throw games away needlessly? Why are we shipping goals like never before? Canny as I may be, in all honesty I'm finding it difficult to explain. Maybe it is an issue of confidence or inexperience, but the problem seems to run deeper than that. With a tricky run of games coming up, including Spurs and Chelsea at home and Sunderland away let's hope Wenger gets to the bottom of this before I do, or a season that seemed to be trundling along nicely might just come off the rails. Or my heart might just explode, whichever comes first.