Arsenal end league season with win over Norwich

Fourth place and 79 points. That's what we've achieved in the League this season. It's certainly a Premier League season that could've been. Manchester City were victorious but led the pack for the least amount of days out of this season's top four. Arsenal on the other hand, spent the most time at the top. We still have the FA Cup final to come next weekend which will hopefully bring success. The Norwich game was a great way to end the league this campaign. Aaron Ramsey ended it the same way he started it whilst Carl Jenkinson also grabbed a goal. It was a convincing performance and we played really well against an all but relegated Norwich side at the time. The team line-up brought about many changes as Cazorla and Mertesacker weren't in the squad and were rested. Fabianski started for the first time in the league in 2013/14 whilst Sagna started at centre back.

Ramsey and Jenkinson were on the score-sheet as Arsenal beat Norwich

It was a game of little significance for Arsenal as we had already secured fourth place. Previous final days have seen us needing a win in order to get Champions League football. There was no drama on Sunday though as we ran out comfortable victors against a Norwich side with little fight left in them. The first half was a slow affair but end to end. Giroud and Podolski both could have put us a goal ahead but Ruddy was having an outstanding game. Aaron Ramsey's goal was one Ruddy couldn't keep out though. Giroud dinked the ball towards the back post in which the Welshman unleashed a sumptuous volley right into the top corner. It was Ramsey's tenth league goal of a breakthrough campaign.

Carl Jenkinson notched Arsenal's second goal and it was the young full-backs first goal for the club. I'm sure everyone involved with the club was delighted for him. He celebrated like it was a last minute strike of great importance but can you blame him really? If it was an audition for the likely departure of Bacary Sagna it was a very good one. He looked fairly solid down the right hand side and got up and down the pitch well.

Bacary Sagna, who does indeed look set to leave in the summer will be a huge loss. Despite two leg breaks in recent years he's been one of our most consistent players. It'll be incredibly difficult to find a right back as committed as Sagna, who in 2013/14 has proved himself to be very versatile at times. He's played at left back and in this game had a brilliant game at centre back which I thought merited him the man of the match award.

Jack Wilshere made his return after a couple of months out whilst Abou Diaby also made his return to first team action for the first time in 13 months. Both of them coming on in the second half was extremely encouraging and both looked comfortable on the ball. They've been two of the most injury prone players and it'll be key that they remain fit next season.

It was interesting to see that Wenger went with Fabianski instead of Szczesny for the final league game. That could've been his final game for the club as who starts in the final next week remains to be seen. I won't complain either way because both have been outstanding this season. Fabianski deserves it because of his role in the Cup this season but Szczesny is our number one.

Anyway, lets hope that 2014/15 brings us better fortunes in the league and we can mount a title challenge until the very end. First, the FA Cup final awaits!

The teams line-ups:

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Turner, Bennett, Olsson, Redmond(75), Tettey(58), Johnson, Snodgrass, Howson, Elmander(58).
Subs: Bunn, Whittaker, Bennett(75), Fer, Murphy, Loza(58), Hooper(58). 

Arsenal: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Sagna, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey(63), Rosicky(74), Ozil, Podolski, Giroud(74).
Subs: Szczesny, Monreal, Flamini, Kallstrom, Wilshere(63), Diaby(74), Sanogo(74). 

My man of the match: Bacary Sagna. 

Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 26,848.    

Arsenal bow out of cup to Chelsea

Arsenal's lack of depth was evident as they faced a strong Chelsea side on Tuesday night. It was an extremely frustrating performance in which an individual error and then a great strike cost us a place in the next round of the League Cup. Two Spaniards, Azpilicueta and Juan Mata were on the score sheet for Chelsea as they comfortably beat us at the Emirates. Chelsea, having played Man City at the weekend were surely in a worse position to play us but they have great depth which allowed them to change their team around and still look good. Arsenal, however, was a different story. We were forced into making changes due to the fact that we have the likes of Liverpool and Man United coming up in the League.

Arsenal lost for the second time in a week with defeat to Chelsea

Overall I wasn't too fussed about the League Cup as we're top of the League. Losing to Chelsea is not a nice way to go out though, especially when we put in as bad a performance as we did. The first negative of many that I will pick up on was Nicklas Bendtner. I featured the Dane in an article back in September where it pointed out that he was willing to give everything for Arsenal this season. On last nights evidence though you wouldn't have thought that was the case. Against West Brom in the last round of the League Cup he wasn't brilliant but tucked away a penalty and then against Norwich when he came on in the League he had a pretty effective cameo performance. However this time around he was pretty awful and we were once again left questioning why he was still at the club. The reason is simple, because we didn't buy a striker in the summer. He had very little impact on the game and to be brutally honest it was like we were playing with 10 men for large periods of the game. In the second half when we were chasing the game he was eight yards out from goal and instead of shooting passed the ball away from goal. Whether this was due to a lack of confidence or not realising quite how much space he had, in that position against Chelsea, you just have to bury the chance.

I was willing to give Bendtner a chance last night but he failed to come up trumps and the need for a striker in January became even more evident. If Giroud gets injured then we really are stuck for ideas upfront. Park Ju Young even came on with 8 minutes to go, only his seventh appearance for the club after Wenger said he'd impressed in training but that didn't really fill the fans with excitement either.

The next negative is that of Carl Jenkinson. He made a mistake for the first goal which sparked absolutely fury. He has been ever improving since his arrival at the club and put in some fairly solid performances when Sagna has been injured. However his consistency is a major talking point and playing him alongside Ryo Miyaichi, a player I'll get onto a bit later, it was always going to cause problems against Chelsea. He looked very nervous, and questions were raised as to whether he was ready for proper first team action. Maybe a loan spell will do him good, but that would mean getting a right back on board to challenge Sagna who is long overdue a new contract with the club.

On to Ryo Miyaichi. He's been in and out of the first team this season following loan spells with other clubs in previous campaigns. At Wigan last season his opportunities to play were extremely limited due to injuries which have really hindered his development. However Wenger has praised his attitude to improve which should only mean he gets better. Against Chelsea he didn't really have the space needed for a fast winger to exploit and was often crowded out meaning he couldn't perform to his best. Against West Brom in the last round he was one of our better players always looking to get at a man and cause them problems. He just simply wasn't able to do that against better opposition last night though. One plus point to his game which I've picked up on is his ability to track back. When I've seen him play he's always got back and helped out the full back defensively, something that you don't always see in a winger.

The few positives that came from the game were the fact that Koscielny and Vermaelen had a solid game despite conceding 2 goals. Vermaelen looks to be re-discovering his form and hopefully that'll make him stay following a move with a link away from the club. Santi Cazorla having just come back from injury looks to have his touch back and looks in form whilst Nacho Monreal following a few sub appearances put in a decent shift at left back. He's very able competition for Gibbs. We now need a Monreal type signing at right back to provide Sagna with competition following Jenkinson's inconsistency.

It hasn't been a great start to our run of tough fixtures, losing to Dortmund, only just beating Palace and now losing to Chelsea. Liverpool is to come at the weekend, a top of the table clash which is absolutely must win. If we do win then this defeat can be quickly forgotten. However if we lose then the negative spiral will continue and the players confidence may well be hindered.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Monreal, Ramsey(82), Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla, Miyaichi(64), Bendtner(69). 
Subs: Viviano, Sagna, Hayden, Yennaris, Ozil(64), Park(82), Giroud(69).

Chelsea: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Bertrand, Essien, Mikel, De Bruyne, Mata(90), Willian, Eto'o(82).
Subs: Blackman, Ivanovic, Kalas(90), Ramires, Hazard, Torres, Ba(82).

My man of the match: Santi Cazorla.

Referee: Phil Dowd.
Attendance: 59,455.