Don't Panic

Make no mistake, Turf Moor is a tricky place to go this season. Burnley have won most of their home league games (including their matches against Man Utd, Everton and Sunderland) and have only lost there against Wigan. To win a championship, a team needs to win matches like this - however, this was the kind of match that we would have lost a year ago, especially with Cesc out for the second half, so, disappointing as it is to leave with one point, we should keep in mind that it really could have been worse.

Alex Song was yet again far better than most of the team, second only to the captain. He (not Diaby) was the physical presence we needed against a strong Burnley team, and his authority grew after Cesc's withdrawal. Vermaelen and Gallas, on the other hand, were looking a bit dodgy again, and Sagna struggled against the in-form Chris Eagles; fortunately for us, Owen Coyle doesn't seem to have been following Silvestre's career path of late and ensured that his team's attacks tried their utmost best to avoid our sturdy 4th choice left-back. Arshavin didn't contribute as much as he should have, and Walcott was really disappointing again.

Almunia's form has nose-dived lately, which is seriously worrying. He was on great form last year but has been wildly inconsistent since the summer, and has been poor in the last few matches. He made an horrific error last night and was extremely lucky that the resulting goal didn't stand, and his panicked flapping whenever a cross has reached his box has generally filled me with terror. This might be the time to reward Fabianski for his recent performances with a couple starts over Christmas.

The good news is that Cesc won't be out for too long (at least according to Wenger) - on the evidence of last night, we seriously need him in away matches. The last thing we want after finally getting recognition as title contenders is for another of our key players to be out for ages. But for the meantime, I suppose there's always column inches to fill and flames to fan, so step forward Joan Laporta, who has been reassuring the Barcelona fans that a bid will be prepared for Fabregas in a few months' time.

I'm getting sick and tired of our players being used as pawns in the Barcelona club election campaigns. We should be looking into whether we have grounds to lodge a formal complaint with FIFA, because this cannot be legal. We've been bullied by Barca and Real in the past, but this Fabregas situation is becoming harrassment.

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