10 things we learnt from Arsenal's performance against Liverpool on Monday night.

1. A new striker is still top on the agenda - So with only a few days of the transfer window left, Arsene Wenger and Arsenal have still not addressed the striker situation at the Emirates, and are quickly running out of time. It was evident once more on Monday night that a world class striker is needed, as Olivier Giroud failed to impress once more, being hauled off with 20 minutes left for Theo Walcott. Make no mistake, Giroud is a very good striker, but he is not world class, and until this is addressed Arsenal will not win the title.

2. Ramsey needs to play central - Aaron Ramsey has failed tor recapture his form from the 2013-14 season, and I feel that this is hugely down to the fact that Wenger keeps on putting him on the right wing. It is evident that he is not the quickest player, and he becomes very isolated in games. This then leads to him trying to get involved in games by coming central, like last night, which then led to there being no width at all, until Oxlade Chamberlain came on in the last ten minutes.

3. Sanchez is still not match fit - Though his work levels and passion is still there, I still feel that Alexis Sanchez is still a few weeks off from being 100% match fit. Personally, Wenger has rushed him back too soon. He hit the post, when he should of scored in the second half, if he has that chance in a few weeks time he scores, simple as that.

4. Cech has arrived - The veteran keeper well and truly announced his arrival on Monday night in spectacular fashion. After a disastrous start to his Arsenal career on his first appearance at the Emirates on the opening weekend against West Ham, he well and truly atoned for those errors made. He single handily kept Liverpool at bay throughout the first half, including two astonishing saves, firstly from Christian Benteke and then from Phillipe Coutinho.

5. Gabriel can do a job when needs to - The Brazilian really impressed last night in which was a mixed night for the Arsenal defence. He was quick, strong and showed during the 90 minutes that he can push to get into the team this season.

6. Chambers on the other hand... - It was a complete different story Calum Chambers at the heart of the defence yesterday, who had a bit of a nightmare. I can understand it slightly though, given the circumstances, with Mertesacker and Koscielny both being ruled out. So it meant there was a complete new partnership at the back, and for large parts of the game it was catastrophic. Lets hope this was largely down to nerves, because I still feel that he is developing and can be one for the future.

7. Coquelin once again solid - The Frenchman is getting better and better by the game in my opinion and is really making the central defensive midfield role his own. His hunger, fight and passion is incredible and was notable once again on Monday night, at times holding together that ropey defence.

8. Ozil much more influential in a big game - It was built up on Monday night to be the battle between Ozil and Coutinho. Personally I feel they are two complete different players, both brilliant in their own different ways, and you cant really compare them. Each player dictated each half, it was Coutinho in the first half, he pulled the strings and had Arsenal running ragged. But in the second half, when Arsenal did decide to turn up, everything came through Ozil and his brilliant start to the season continues.

9. The Ox needs to start - It baffled me firstly to why Oxlade Chamberlain did not start in the first place, but then as to why Wenger brought him on with 10 minutes to go. The game was calling out for his drive and pace. For me he is our most direct player in the team, he just wants to run at defences, and the build up of play was too lethargic on Monday. Soon as Chamberlain came on it was a different story. He has to start on Saturday at Newcastle.

10. Start to the season has been average - Arsene Wenger even said after the game that the start to the season that Arsenal have made has been 'average'. They cannot afford to drop any more points, with Manchester City already breaking clear at the top and Chelsea bound to get back to full strength in weeks to come. The performances have been too casual and sloppy so far.        

50 up...How Olivier Giroud is quickly becoming one of the most consistent players in the league.

He may not be the most technical, gifted player in the league but Olivier Giroud is turning into Arsenal's and the Premier League's most prolific strikers. Giroud has played 117 games for the Gunners, and on Saturday he netted his 50th goal for the club in the 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace. Giroud has beaten the likes of Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Robin Van Persie with the amount of games taken to reach the 50 mark. The Frenchman has been heavily criticised by media and experts, with many questioning if he is good enough to be Arsenal's first choice striker, but Arsene Wenger has stayed loyal to Giroud and how that has paid off.

I believe that Giroud deserves more praise and he is one of the most underrated players in the league, consistently delivering on a regular basis and getting the goals that critics claimed he would never get. He doesn't just get goals, his all round play is crucial to the way that Arsenal operate and engine as a team. Whether it is his defensive work or his overall hold up play when playing as the lone striker, he is becoming one of Arsenal's most important players, and one of the first you expect to see on the team sheet each week.

Since returning from the ankle injury that he suffered in early August that ruled him out till November, Giroud has come back a stronger and better player. He has netted nine times since returning back to the first team, taking his overall tally for the season to 11, and there should be no doubts that he will hit 20+ by the end of the season. The addition of Danny Welbeck has also helped his overall game massively aswell. When both Giroud and Welbeck start, they both work together brilliantly, Welbeck's pace and energy combined with Giroud's strength and aerial threat has improved and made Arsenal's strike force a lot more deadly this season. Not to even forget about the addition of Alexis Sanchez aswell...

This season was meant to be the break through season for the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere, but it is Olivier Giroud who is pleasantly surprising all Arsenal fans and pundits and long may it continue!

 

It's 2015, so let's ban these racist thugs for life.

Chelsea Football Club, one of the most prestigious teams English football will ever witness. But the club is slowly being branded as racist. They have boasted possibly some of the best black players the Premier League has seen, with the likes of Marcel Desailly, Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole.

Tuesday nights events in Paris on the metro before Chelsea's 1-1 draw against PSG, were quite simply unacceptable, ugly and disgraceful. And it is not the first time their fans have been caught in a racism storm. Back in 2012, during an encounter against Manchester United, one Chelsea fan was pictured doing a 'monkey' gesture towards Danny Welbeck, then of Manchester United. Three years on it continues to happen, and the FA, UEFA and even the police have to step up to the mark now and put down a real marker.

We are living in 2015, not the 1980's. For a group of football fans to not allow a man to board a train because he's black leaves me quite frankly speechless. And for these fans to then follow up their actions by chanting "we're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it" was almost the final nail in this embarrassing and shambolic act. Now of course not all Chelsea fans behave in this manner, and I guarantee that the majority of them who saw this story first break out would of been shaking their heads in embarrassment for their fellow fans.

This whole shameful act has landed Chelsea in very deep water with all associations, and they also need to make a decisive decision quickly, as the last thing they want is to be labelled 'racists' because at this current moment that is what they are being labelled.

The minority of those Chelsea fans who were involved on that metro will be watching the news and seeing their actions feeling pretty ashamed, and they should be. Their actions were cowardly, shallow and spineless and they have no place in sport, let alone football.