Shocker at Stoke - a blessing in a grotesque disguise?

I'm still not quite sure how to feel about that match, if I'm honest. We went out with a whimper, but after an initial fit of petulant rage comparable to Rory Delap if his ball-drying comfort blankie was taken away, I'm trying to look at the outcome of this afternoon in a positive light.

On the one hand, we were presented with a great opportunity to get our teeth into a tournament that had already seen the back of United, Liverpool, and Everton - not to mention leaving Spurs with it all to do. With Chelsea still in the mix, it wouldn't have been easy, but we had a real chance of finally hoisting the old trophy cabinet out from its current storage space; a dark, dank basement under Highbury Square, I'll wager.

But the good news is that our schedule has been blown wide open - we have 16 league matches left, and all the time in the world to plan for each Champions League fixture. Taking into account the somewhat fragile state of our squad at the moment, this could be a good opportunity for us. Having lost today, we have cut at least one or two more matches out of the fixture list; had we forced a replay, a run to the final might have added up to five extra games, all with the potential of extra time and penalties. Man United have their Carling Cup semi-final second leg coming up with every chance of reaching the final, while Chelsea will be pushing for the FA Cup and, with a home tie against Cardiff in the next round, will almost certainly reach the semi-final. Both teams will be trying to spread themselves over three competitions, increasing the likelihood of injuries, and they'll have to rest players for their Champions League fixtures against the Milan teams.

In addition, the financial rewards of FA Cup participation are always handy, but they pale in comparison to the mammoth amounts of cash we receive from the Premiership and the Champions League. Without having to juggle and rotate, we can compete for both and will have a great chance of reaching the lucrative later stages in Europe. Of course, trophies are what we're after, but I'd pick an extra round in Europe over another futile - and potentially injury-inducing - run to the FA Cup semi-finals.

As for today's match, we were simply outplayed.

Campbell had a good first-half, showing the strength and positioning needed against a physical team like Stoke, and on one particular occasion single-handedly prevented a 2-0 scoreline. He got tired in the second half, and couldn't really track back when we pushed up, but it was a promising 'start' and maybe with a couple more matches he'll build up his stamina. Silvestre had some nervy moments to begin with (ie. getting away with conceding a stonewall penalty) but grew into the game, coming back to help Fabianski a couple of times and turning in arguably his best piece of defending in an Arsenal shirt. With Rory Delap running onto a through ball, Silvestre's excellent positioning in anticipation of the move gave him time to beat his opponent to the ball. He picked up a knock from the resulting collision and was limping slightly afterwards; and I think Wenger would have brought on Bartley had he not used up all of his subs.

I usually back Wenger when he makes a seemingly senile decision (ie. the first few times he used Bendtner on the right wing, with great success) but the triple substitution wasn't one of them. Of course, he didn't fancy a replay and wanted to push for a win, but only two players were necessary at first with half an hour to go. Furthermore, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had been one of our best performers, handling Stoke's physicality and showing off some Cesc-esque passing; with no sign of the teenager tiring, it might have been worth leaving him on and saving one attacking substitution until later. Wenger was clearly right to take Theo off though - he was very rusty and needs to get back in the swing of things - but I would have liked to have seen Rosicky come on. Out of all our 'front three' candidates (the few who are fit, anyway) he is the one who can give himself time on the ball and bring some composure to the side, something which we desperately needed in the last 20 minutes.

Carlos Vela looked quite sharp, and was unlucky not to put away a second Arsenal goal on his right foot, denied by a well-timed challenge. He wasn't actually that bad during his short stint at left-back (there's a sentence I never imagined myself saying), playing his way out and triggering a counter-attack before being restored to his position - not that I want to see him tested back there again. Armand Traore, however, put in another poor performance, largely summed up by that permanently anxious facial expression of his. He seems to have developed a habit of loitering about the touchline, vacantly watching the animated advertising hoardings with his arms crossed while the midfield sprints back to cover. Kieran Gibbs' long-term injury could be a massive blow if anything else happens to Clichy.

Cesc wasn't quite as effective as he was in his last handful of league games, but he was still one of the few things going for us and was a cut above everyone else in the middle of the park. At times he was dragging the rest of the team, although on a couple of occasions his passing was uncharacteristically sloppy. Still, this is a small criticism, and despite being up against it in a packed midfield, he was the only one regularly finding space, with JET the odd exception.

Although there was no question they deserved their win, I was less than impressed by some of Stoke's methods. Neither the ITV coverage nor the referee paid much attention to Robert Huth's early 'challenge' on Cesc Fabregas; the German effectively wrapped his arm around the Spaniard's neck and lifted him away from the ball (the ball can become a redundant feature at the Britannia). There were a few late challenges and a couple of legs left in, with local pin-up Ryan Shawcross being one of the main offenders.

Matthew Etherington landed quite heavily on Francis Coquelin's head at one point, and although I'm not suggesting it was intentional, he certainly could have avoided sinking his studs into the defender's face. Still, I know a good performance when I see one, and he ran riot against us. He's had a good season and he often got the better of Coquelin - minus one breath-taking tackle by the defensive-midfielder-turned-right-back on the touchline, with which he managed to sweep the ball clean out from the winger's feet and stop it from heading out for a throw-in. Until he was replaced by Danny Pugh, who it would appear was dragged out of a skip shortly before kick-off, he was a constant menace.

It wouldn't have had much of an effect as we were two goals down by then, but the amount of injury time was laughable and referees cannot keep giving Stoke the benefit of the doubt. Whenever Delap takes a throw-in, he picks up that rag of his and takes about a fortnight to dry the ball off. Were he a United player, the total injury time he amassed from his throw-in foreplay would have been enough to make Alex Ferguson smile, pat the fourth official on the back and return to his seat without having a coronary.

Lastly, I hate to resort to what I usually consider a petty excuse, but the pitch was shocking. It was how I would imagine the ecosystem now thriving under that cap permanently fused to Tony Pulis' head - moist and bobbly, with some weird brown patches. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Stoke kept it that way on purpose; but with the likes of Robert Huth stamping about and grazing on it, the groundsman would be forgiven for not bothering at all.

Anyway, bitterness aside, Stoke deserved their win and I hope they play that way against Manchester City in the next round. As for us, we still have a lot to be pleased about, with a slight advantage over our title rivals going into a tricky set of league fixtures. We should be looking fresh at Villa on Wednesday - time to give the league a good crack at last.