Arsenal's Monaco result is a 'false sunset'

Although it's common for fans to expect heads to roll when results don't go their way. I don't think that's any more prudent than suggesting we will win the league after one good victory away at Man City. A lot of people are calling that a 'false dawn' and perhaps that's true, but then the Monaco performance must be a 'false sunset'.

Nevertheless, the chances of coming back from a 3-1 home defeat are remote to the extreme. I can imagine a valiant 2-0 win in the principality and a honourable exit: that would be typical Arsenal.

Meanwhile, calls to replace David Ospina, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud seem immature and premature in equal measures. Giroud did miss a lot of chances, but I maintain he would have scored eventually had he stayed on. You have to expect strikers to miss as well as score: it's par for the course. At least, he was in the right positions to score. I still have faith in him.

The same applies to Ospina: he's not done a lot wrong. His head shouldn't roll.

Mertesacker is a different kettle of fish. He made some poor decisions against Monaco, and has made a habit of it recently. Seeing as we've got Gabriel now, it would make sense to play him while BFG is out of form. That's the only change I would make.

Calls for wholesale change are not wholesome or helpful. Hopefully, a win against Everton will go some of the way to proving me right.

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Is Arsenal's north London domination at an end?

That's the question being asked after Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at Spurs.

This talk seems to be a bit premature, given we're talking about one tightly-fought London 'derby': a game in which form and class often count for little.

At this stage, all we can say is the better team on the day won the match. Spurs were simply more up for it. You could see that by their celebrations at the end. If Arsenal won, their celebrations would have been more low key, mainly because they expect to win or draw against their London rivals.

As to where Arsenal will finish the season, I'm still saying in the top 3 or 4. With Ospina in goal, I see lots of clean sheets from here on in. With Wellbeck back, I see goals at the other end. Although Arsenal are not serous title challengers, the Champions League spots should be achievable.

Meanwhile, I predict Spurs will be a place or two lower. It will be a close run thing, though.

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