I've never, ever found it easy to listen to Arsenal games on the radio because you can only get a gist for what is actually going on rather than a full picture. All the same, I have to say I didn't really enjoy listening to Saturday's game one bit.
Now I don't often make the habit of agreeing with people in the press and the media but there were one or two that were spot on in the sense that we lacked drive and purpose going forward. Again our build up play was, more often than not too laboured, too slow and too deliberate and we made life pretty easy for West Ham's defence.
Freddie could have nicked it for us late on when we sliced the West Ham defence open for just about the only time in the game but his control let him down at the vital moment. But as some sections of the press pointed out, it would have been rough on West Ham if Freddie had managed to convert what was no more than a fleeting chance
Whilst the first half appeared to be fairly even, the second half appeared to be dominated by West Ham whilst Arsenal struggled in vain to get into any sort of flow at all. The fact that Henry wasn't there doesn't quite stand up as an excuse for us. We have won our fair share of matches without him and we had enough ability out on the pitch to have enabled to impose ourselves more than we did.
And that was the most disappointing ting for me. Never at any stage in the match did we appear to be in the ascendancy. It puts the performance against Thun into a better light doesn't it?
Everyone was moaning about how poorly we played but if you look back at that game properly, the Arsenal at least did what was fundamentally expected of them that night. We imposed ourselves on our opponents, made chances, made their goalkeeper work – and ultimately, we win the game. Tellingly, none of those things happened at Upton Park on Saturday and whilst I am not ashamed to give West Ham a lot of credit for that, I was nonetheless bitterly disappointed with the Arsenal who for me, appeared to put in their worst performance of the season.
If you ask me, if we missed anyone on the day it wasn't so much Henry, it was Dennis Bergkamp. He is still the one player that can see a killer pass and when he is in the side our players know that they can gamble and try and run in behind even the most packed of defences in and around the 18 yard box because he has that extra vision and awareness in tight areas that nobody else at Arsenal possesses. I think that he could have been the difference on the day but of course his injury ensured that we will now never know.
The seal was put on a disappointing afternoon when Gilberto hobbled off with an ankle knock and joined Pires, Bergkamp and Henry in the treatment room for an indefinite period. And now it looks as though Cesc and young Flamini are going to have to be paired together for the trip to Ajax. It never rains, it bloody well pours, doesn't it?
Still, as the old saying goes there is always someone more unfortunate than you in this big wide world – step forward Old Purple Nose. After ManUre's shock defeat on Saturday, the vultures in the press seemed to have taken flight from Highbury and headed with the speed of light some 200 miles up the road to Old Trafford if the papers are anything to go by.
I don't know about you, my fellow Gooners, but reading the papers on Sunday and Monday were just that much more pleasant to read than normal. There are people out there who will swear blind that ManUre are not in decline (whereas we are of course) but when a Blackburn side turns up at Old Trafford, wins there for the first time in 43 years and actually looks decent value for it given the chances they created well, that argument somehow feels as though it is not built on the firmest of ground, does it?
Speaking of arguments, there is an ongoing debate about the PRF and whether they are boring or not. Moaninho his back on Monday over this by saying they have averaged two goals a game in the opening games, so how can his team be boring?
Well, I will say that is a fair comeback. What gets me though is that when you look back to the George Graham era, he won the league with in 1989 and 1991 with sides that also scored an average of two goals a game or as near as damn it.
Now I will freely admit, having been a season ticket holder back in those days, that our football in those days wasn't always as free flowing as we see these days (though we DID have our moments) but unlike we see today with the PRF, I don't remember ANYBODY in the press and the media attempting to defend us then in the way that the PRF are being defended now.
It seems as though Graham got it wrong way back then. He should have insisted on being in charge of a squad that cost around £300 million to build (rather than a team made up largely of players that came through the Arsenal ranks), topped up his tan up and spoke to the press in arrogant Anglo-Portuguese tones as opposed to Anglo-Scottish in order to gain more respect. Shame on you, George – shame on you!
Anyway, enough of that, time to look forward to the game in Amsterdam with Ajax.
It's fair to say that Ajax have not had a great start to their domestic campaign. They stand eight points behind Feyenoord after just six games in the Dutch league after one win in their last four.
Ajax did win their last league outing 4-1 against Roda though I have to say on the evidence of the footage I have seen their victory was nowhere near as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.
It has been a time of transition at Ajax. They have of course lost the services of Ibrahimovic who was a real quality performer and they have also lost Rafael van der Vaart to Hamburg as well. Markus Rosenberg was initially brought in to replace fellow Swede Ibrahimovic but he has taken a bit of time to settle in.
Rosenberg was linked with the Arsenal for about six months before he joined Ajax and from what I have seen of him, he is a lad that tends to be hit and miss. I have seen him score one or two quality goals but I think that he is not quite in the same class as Ibrahimovic who, is actually barely a year older than him.
The players to watch from Ajax? Well, you have to say that Wesley Sneijder is one and that Steven Pienaar is another. Sneijder reminds me an awful lot of a young Clarence Seedorf. His game us uncannily similar to his in that he is a solid all rounder and possesses a real shot on him. Pienaar is arguably the biggest jewel in the Ajax crown now that van der Vaart has moved on. The word on the street is that Ajax are trying to tie him down to a new long term contract but I get the feeling that the South African will be on the move probably to Serie A next summer.
One other young man we will need to watch out for possibly in Nigel De Jong. This was the lad that scored against us as an 18-year old at Highbury just under three years ago.
I understand that De Jong, who actually played at right full back that night at Highbury now operates as a right winger these days. All I know that I was impressed with him back then and I know that there are Serie A clubs also keeping tabs on him.
All in all, I really don't know what to expect at all from the game in Amsterdam. The Arsenal will have a pretty strange look to them on the night that's for sure. I hope that we can do ourselves a little bit more justice than we did at Upton Park on Saturday. Wenger has come out and said once again that he believes in his players and their potential. Let's hope they are ready to prove him right.