On Tuesday night we got undone by a classic smash and grab. We were in the ascendancy and probably should have settled for the draw but such was the desire to win that we committed too many and got undone by a well worked counter attack. Overall I think we were the better team but Dortmund scored the all important second after Cazorla hit the bar. It also showed the importance of Flamini as he would have been covering for Sagna when Lewandowski appeared at the far post to volley home.
I can accept losing because in football it happens, you can't win them all. The most important aspect of losing is the reaction following. If we batter Palace at the weekend then we're all well and good. It's the perfect opportunity to bounce back and looking at fixtures over the next few weeks it's important that we do that well. In terms of the team we play, it's all a bit up in the air. Either way I think we'll see the return of Flamini in the holding position alongside Arteta I would imagine. The rest of the team is a bit of guess although the thought of Wenger playing a side that contains youngsters and inexperienced players is probably misfounded bearing in mind we have Chelsea in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.
Palace are a side struggling to find form and are now managerless so we have to be aware of the affect that sometimes has on a team. They will probably have former player Chamakh leading their attack and lets face it, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he scored against us for some strange reason. Jedinak is a tidy player as is Capana. I think the wings could be an area where we get some joy. That said we lack out and out wingers and I think we missed Walcott's pace against Dortmund too.
This weekend gives us a great chance to react following the disappointment on Tuesday ahead of some tough games including Liverpool and Manchester United in the league. Hopefully we can turn up, put in a performance and stay top this week. COYG!
