A reason for optimism?

Having endured Wednesday’s night torturous performance, I’m sure many of you aren’t enjoying yourselves being Arsenal fans at the moment.

Having gone into the international break with a satisfying win over West Ham United, club football returned at the weekend with Gooners up and down the country feeling optimistic and positive ahead of the action.

A certain win against Norwich City would be followed by a spicy encounter with Schalke 04 that would be a stern test, but a challenge that we’d overcome and maintain our 100% start to our Champions League campaign.

If only we still had that optimism now.

Arsenal whimpered to a 1-0 defeat at the Canaries, a game which proved to be Norwich’s first win of an awful start to the year.

And what was left of the optimism was sucked out of the Emirates on Wednesday after Schalke ended our 9-year unbeaten run in European matches at home with a comfortable victory.

We now find ourselves going into what sure be a sure-banker at home to Queens Park Rangers but, after these back-to-back defeats and a negative AGM meeting on Thursday, there seems to be doubt surrounding our latest match.

We weren’t exactly convincing against the Londoners last year, winning 1-0 on New Year’s Eve before losing 2-1 at Loftus Road over Easter.

Seeing as QPR are one of those sides that can bully teams as well, Arsenal need to be playing with confidence if they’re to pass their latest test this weekend.

Confidence, however, is something that the side is clearly lacking at the moment. We didn’t need Steve Bould and Mikel Arteta to come out and tell us that.

But before everything gets even more doom and gloom, not everything is lost.

Remember we have players still to come back.

We had no recognised centre-forward against Schalke, no pace and an awful left-back.

While we may have to put up with Andre Santos for now, we have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott still to return who will inject some much needed pace into our attack.

Olivier Giroud will surely start on Saturday and provide the side with an actual target man as well as intelligent movement and a genuine threat of goal.

There is also the small matter of the return of Jack Wilshere as he nears full fitness. Imagine a midfield three of Arteta, Wilshere and Santi Cazorla!

And while Abou Diaby, Kieran Gibbs and our polish goalkeepers might have to wait a little long for before they return to action, the squad is certainly starting to shape up nicely.

Arsenal always tend to enter a rut at this stage of the season, but it has got to end at some point and what better way than with three points on Saturday against QPR.

So let’s stop being on a downer, get behind the boys and get our campaign back on track.

We are Arsenal after all.

Matt Cotton

Follow @FindingCotton