We all could see that Arsenal was totally in control of the game against Tottenham in the first half. And then we ran out of steam as it was visible that some players were struggling to keep up the pace. Did the international games have any effect on this? Why don’t we try to find out?

So let us start by having a look at how many players in the starting lineup have been away this week and how much time they have played for their country.

Arsenal started with :

Fabianski played 90 minutes for Poland and was away for a few days.

Sagna played 87 minutes for France and was away for a few days

Squillaci stayed in London

Koscielny stayed in London

Clichy was away for France but didn’t play

Arshavin played 90 minutes for Russia and had some troubles with his transport

Fabregas played 45 minutes with Spain and was away for a few days

Nasri played 90 minutes for France and was away for a few days

Denilson stayed in London

Song stayed in London

Chamakh played 71 minutes for Morocco and was away for a few days

So in total we had 7 players that were away this week until they could resume normal training on Friday and in total they played 473 minutes of football. And this also involved a lot of transport and the fact that many players only could start to prepare the game on Friday morning is something that can have a negative impact.

And I know that Arshavin had a lot of trouble to get to the place where the international game in Russia was played as there were a lot of problems with the fog and they had to travel by train to get there.

Gomes stayed in London as far as I know but he certainly didn’t play for Brazil

Hutton stayed in London

Gallas stayed in London

Kaboul got a late call for France but didn’t play but was away a few days

Assou-Ekotto stayed in London

Bale stayed in London

Van der Vaart played 80 minutes for Holland against Turkey and was away a few days

Modric  played 90 minutes for Croatia against Malta and was away a few days

Jenas  stayed in London

Lennon  stayed in London

Pavlyuchenko stayed in London

So in Total they had 3 players that were away this week and in total they had some 170 minutes of football played by 2 players.

So this means that we had more than half our team out this week or not at our disposal to train in a normal way.  To be exact 63 % of our team was away and only 27 % of the Tottenham team was away.

And if you would take into account the substitutes the numbers are even more clear. All our players were on international duty this week and only Wilshere did not play because of injury. On the Tottenham bench there was only Crouch and Corluka who were on international duty.

Well, you actually can’t. How can you prepare such a game in one day? You can’t do such a thing. But we had no choice. And if you compare this to  Tottenham who  only had 5 players out and that is 27% of their squad. That is a difference of 50%.  Now if half of your team is getting tired because of this, you can bet this makes a difference.

Our players also played a lot more than their Tottenham counterparts. So not only in numbers but also in playing time our players had to work harder than the Tottenham players. And certainly in the line up.

And when you look at how the game developed it was clear to see that the players that played almost or the full 90 minutes for their country gradually faded away. Nasri, Arshavin, Sagna started very well but couldn’t keep it up. Chamakh also looked tired during the game and he also couldn’t keep the tempo up. And the same thing happened to the Tottenham players who had played during the week. Van der Vaart was very quiet apart from his free kicks and Modric also didn’t had an impressive game.

So I think that we didn’t lose the game on saturday.  No it was a lost game before we started it. Most of us didn’t realised it at that time and I just hoped it wouldn’t affect our game. But I am sure it did.

We lost the game during the friendly international games this week.  We lost the game because the brainless Fifa heads decided for some strange reason we should be playing international games in this time of the season.  Like I said earlier this week: this was a ridiculous time to play those useless games. And they cost us dearly.

Well the good thing is that for now there will be no more time to lose our players for friendly internationals and also in the next few months.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes there is a big problem with complacency at the club at the moment.

The Gunners were 2-0 up at half-time against arch rivals Tottenham at the Emirates, but took their foot off the gas in the second half, eventually losing 3-2.

Keown has seen it all before, and has suggested the team's players tend to respond like this whenever they are praised too highly.

Arsène Wenger's side were in decent form going into the match with Spurs, and thought they had the game won at 2-0 up.

A concerned Keown said: "This Arsenal team can go close to winning the league but it seems the group suffers from complacency - it is like a disease.

"They get to a certain level, everyone says nice things and then they let it slip. But I think they will bounce back."

Keown knows a thing or two about defending, and indeed the defence has not been as resolute since his time at the club. The 44-year-old was not impressed with the defending on Tottenham's third goal on Saturday.

He said: "For the winner, Arsenal's defence dropped back too far and too quickly.

"They should not have allowed the opposition in the box and you can see that they lack leaders at the back."

Samir Nasri has had another dig at former team-mate William Gallas, slamming his lack of loyalty for moving from Arsenal to Tottenham.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea defender captained Spurs on his return to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as Harry Redknapp's side earned a memorable win against Arsenal.

Nasri refused to shake Gallas' hand before the game, after revealing earlier that they did not speak to each other for a year when they were together at Arsenal.

Gallas says he was disappointed in Nasri's behaviour, saying: "Yes, Nasri snubbed me but I think that he's still young, you have to understand him.

"It's a shame that he reacted this way. Yes, let's just say it's a shame for him."

Nasri, however, has continued the arguments even after the game, saying that as an Arsenal player he could never join North London rivals Tottenham.

He said: "There are always ups and downs in life but I have a lot of respect for the way a player stays loyal to his club.

"I cannot see myself going and joining the sworn enemy. There are loads of other clubs, other clubs in London. But going to Tottenham? No I cannot see it at all."

Marouane Chamakh has called on Arsenal to bounce back from their defeat to Spurs with a win over Braga to book their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Gunners missed the chance to go to the top of the Premier League after throwing away a 2-0 half-time lead during Saturday's North London derby at Emirates Stadium.

Chamakh, who scored in the 3-2 defeat to Tottenham, feels having a match so quickly is the perfect opportunity to put their derby disappointment behind them.

"It will help us to forget the Tottenham game and we must focus on Braga and get a victory," said Chamakh.

Arsenal travel to Portugal on Tuesday looking to complete the double over Braga after thumping them 6-0 in their opening Group H encounter, but Chamakh insists there can no room for complacency.

"The group is tight," added Chamakh. "There are three teams going for top spot so we know we need to get a win over there."

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was so impressed with stand-in captain William Gallas’s performance in victory over Arsenal at the weekend that he is considering handing the Frenchman the position on a permanent basis.

The 33-year-old was roundly booed by the Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium after his controversial move across north London in the summer, but the barracking only served to inspire him to one of his best performances in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt to date.

Gallas signed a one-year contract with Redknapp’s side and his performance played a large part in securing Tottenham’s first win away to Arsenal in 17 years.

“William should be captain in all honesty,” said Redknapp. “Luka is a quiet little guy. He just gets on with his own job.