The other problem is we now have, probably for the first time, under Wenger's stewardship players that are clearly not good enough to live up to the high standards the boss has set himself.
Finally, as usual, we had to suffer another gutless performance by a sub standard referee this time Mr L Mason who was standing in for Alan Wiley. Whilst we have seen worse it was quite incredible how he was sucked in by the predictable pressure by the home fans, booking Van Persie for daring to tangle with an opponent just minutes after being punched in the ribs!! Well done ref!
Lehmann - 5 - Possibly his least convincing performance in an Arsenal shirt. Came out far too early to make life easy for Nade to score his first Premiership goal for The Blades and some uncharacteristic poor distribution of the ball.
Hoyte - 5 - Sadly does not look like he will be the local lad come good for us, shame. (Fabregas 64)
Toure - 5 - Came crashing back down to earth tonight, was at fault for the only goal of the game and looked shaky all night.
Senderos - 6 - A rare occasion, lately, when he looked our best defender got some good interceptions in and looked strong.
Clichy - 6 - More suicidal balls from Gael but did get some decent tackles in and showed nice touches in flashes.
Julio Baptista - 6 - Missed one of our better chances early on, showed some potential but not enough, just yet, for us to be jumping out of our skins for Dein and co to get the credit card out to make his move permanent.
Gilberto - 6 - Should have added to his impressive goal scoring tally of late, when heading a decent chance straight into the soggy Bramall Lane turf, not at his most efficient tonight but still one of our better performers.
Rosicky - 7 - Our best player on the night, caused a few problems including when he sweetly hit one shot that forced Kenny into a smart save, also worked back when required. (Denilson 83)
Flamini - 4 - Busy hard working but has limitations, his lack of pace cost us when put through late on in the first half.
Van Persie - 6 - Started brightly but as usual got rattled by rough (cheating) play by our opponents, which did the job as his concentration went out of the window.
Aliadiere - 3 - A player I have always wanted to succeed but we must surely now accept that he is just not good enough, poor.
Fabregas - 5 - (64) Got booked and now out of our crucial FA Cup game against Liverpool for foolishly jumping in on a challenge two yards from our the corner flag.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Lauren, Song.