Marcus Hahnemann's second season syndrome - Arsenal's movement just kills you

I called them the 'give-and-go kings' in my last Sportsmail column and, unfortunately for us, they proved me right.

But how do you stop Arsenal playing? We watched some clips of how Man Utd tried to cope with them — and even they put tons of people behind the ball at times. Arsenal's style is so fluid that they'll tear you apart given half a chance. They constantly drift into new positions and organising a defence is very difficult.

We lined up with two banks of four in a 4-4-2 formation, while they went 4-5-1. We expected that from them, but also knew it would make it a very, very difficult night for us — especially on a pitch like ours which is pretty wide.

The back four and midfield couldn't stick to their own positions because their men were moving all over the place. They had to track them, which obviously left gaps which others needed to fill. Imagine letting a runner like Theo Walcott go. With his pace, he'd kill you.

Everything we planned before the game and everything we did during it needed to be flexible. It was a hell of a challenge both mentally and physically. That's why, having done so well for 44 minutes, conceding so close to half-time was a real killer.

We knew once they'd scored, we had a choice to make. Go and press them and they might cut us apart.

Keep it tight and we were facing certain defeat. That's what a team of that class reduce you to. It's Catch 22. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. And remember, we defended pretty well, especially in the first half.

We did have 11 men behind the ball at times but it's important against a team like Arsenal that you always try and keep one person up, otherwise you don't have an 'out ball' and the pressure is unrelenting.

But then again, even if you do win it back, it's still difficult because everyone is so tired from chasing that you can't get going again. I kicked one out early to Kitson and Doyle and everyone yelled at me to keep hold of it for a bit!

We may have lost, but overall I think our game-plan worked as well as we could probably have hoped.

After all, let's be realistic, they are top of the Premier League and have just won a game 7-0 in the Champions League. On that form, I reckon plenty of other teams will struggle even to score against them this season.