Actually not just Aliadiere, all the younger players supposed to be coming through the system. Watching Aliadiere on Saturday I got to wondering. He was a rising star at the French academy, Arsene rated him highly enough to extend his contract, and yet he didn't seem to be able to play with the team. Is he really that bad? Now I do realise that he was far from the only under-achiever during the first half, but he couldn't seem to link effectively with anyone much. Balls were overhit, passes went astray. Why would this happen to someone who has been around the club for as long as he has. It got me thinking about what Wengerball requires to be effective. Slick accurate passing and good movement off the ball, both aspects need coaching to be effective. That coaching has to include the players who will be used less often than others so they can slot in when required. I had always been under the impression that Arsenal had an Ajax academy style of coaching all through the levels so that players can move up without seemlessly. Maybe I'm wrong, but either way it ain't working since peripheral players don't seem to make an impact even if they have been on fire elsewhere. Rotation can't work when the players coming in don't know the system.

I hope the Ade-bashers will finally give up now. He saved our bacon again so it is really too picky to start on about the things he could have done as well. His confidence is on the up, Thierry has been giving him pointers and his technique is getting better. He is the only effective forward we have at present.

It's becoming obvious that Robin isn't a striker at present. He may become one, but he's nowhere near clinical enough. In his defence he does get into good situations, we can only hope he'll score from a few more of them. My guess is he is snatching at them since his deadball attempts are way more accurate and he has time to consider his options.

What is it with our defence at the moment? For the second Pompey goal there were three just standing there waiting for them to take a pop, one even turned his back. Hadn't they seen the highlights of previous Pompey games? Someone also needs to tell them they are allowed to jump at deadball kicks. It wasn't until the end that I saw Sol and Kolo together that I realised how much height we are now lacking at the back. It's all very well having quick mobile backs, but they don't do so well when faced with the need to challenge deadball situations. I know Djorou is tall, but he's still got a way to go in terms of experience. On a similar note, although Eboue is impressive going forward, his defending is not great to say the least. Lauren should be put straight back in when he is fit. Not only does he defend better, but he doesn't fall over so easily and his physical presence is in a different league.

Finally, hypocrite of the week award surely has to go to the Special Needs One for complaining about Johnson diving on Sunday. Does he wear Arsenes restricted view glasses when he appraises his own team performance?