Hardly the start to 2009 Gunners fans would have wanted, but it now seems a real possibility that Arsenal could lose two of its most experienced centre-backs in January.

Uncannily, I wrote in my previous blog that Kolo Toure has evidently lost his passion in playing for Arsenal, and a big bid from Manchester City might be welcome if that money could be used to buy a better defender. Subsequently, Toure has handed in a transfer request and the tabloids are mooting Manchester as a possible destination.

There is no sign of an incoming bid from Manchester City, but they are the sort of club that I would imagine Toure leaving for. I don't see a major Italian, Spanish or English club making a move for Toure as he isn't good enough a player. He's a top player, but not a world class player.

Toure cites his relationship with William Gallas as the reason for ending his love affair with Arsenal, but there's more to this than meets the eye; Toure's form has been very poor since the African Nations Cup in January 2008 - where he had a shocker. Subsequently, Wenger slowly lost patience with his domestic performances and dropped the player to the bench.

Toure's pride has been hurt, and like all players with a big ego - rather than fight for their place or analyse their own performance, they pass the buck and look for an escape route.

That's the modern footballer for you.

But I'm not going to criticise Toure beyond that, he's been a brilliant servant to the club and played a key role in much of Wenger's success. I'd rather a few more Arsenal players had his boundless enthusiasm and professionalism.

As for William Gallas, the day the captain's armband was removed from his sleeve, it was clear to me that his days at Arsenal were numbered. His departure is just a matter of when.

Gallas' escape route could well be AC Milan. We already know Milan are looking for a quality centre-back, which is why they took Philippe Senderos from Arsenal on loan. Although, it didn't take long for Milan to discover what any intelligent football fan already knew.

However, I don't see Arsenal selling both Toure and Gallas in the January transfer window - not unless Wenger can find suitable replacements. Who goes first is anyone's guess, but Gallas has not handed in a transfer request - Toure has.

If super-rich Manchester City were to offer a bonanza bid for Toure, Arsenal would be crazy to decline it - and won't decline it. Toure is only 27, so £10-15m would be welcome. 

Arsene Wenger is almost certainly likely to strengthen Arsenal's squad in January.

I doubt he fears the probable backlash from supporters should he fail to act,  but even Wenger knows that this current Arsenal team is a long way from being successful and needs urgent surgery.

There is an outside chance of salvaging the season should Wenger make the right moves - the FA Cup is obviously achievable if Wenger goes for it, although I don't see any hope of winning the Champions League with the current squad.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's success in the transfer market will largely be dependent on whereabouts forthcoming purchases are currently plying their trade.

Players already acclimatised to the Premiership would be far more suitable right now, the likes of Andrei Arshavin - much touted by the media, would require a minimum of 3-4 months to adapt.

By the way, I don't see Wenger moving for Arshavin - the agent is talking the move up too much, and most of it seems more out of hope than expectation. Arshavin is the right age (27), but has only played for one club his entire career (Zenit Saint Petersburg) in a lightweight Russian league. Arshavin has never been tested at the top domestic level and is therefore likely to struggle to adapt to English football.

Recent reports have quoted Wenger as saying that up to two experienced midfielders are required, which is somewhat an admission of failure on his part. Should Wenger make two midfield signings you would have to put a major question mark over the futures of Eboue, Song, Denilson or Diaby. Most likely the former two, and possibly Diaby as well what with Wilshere and Ramsey coming through the ranks.

Who would I like to see Wenger buy? I would prefer to see Premiership-based players for the above-mentioned reasons, but this may not be exclusively necessary. My preference would be the following three players.

1. Mikel Arteta

The 26-year-old right winger is highly experienced in the Premiership having spent 3 years at Everton. He can also play as a defensive midfielder, so is aware of his defensive duties. Arteta is a technically-gifted winger who offers width and can also come inside. His set-piece delivery is excellent. Arteta has scored approximately 24 goals in his three seasons at Everton.

Likelihood? Despite being purchased from Real Sociedad for a measly £2m, I wouldn't be surprised if Arteta carried a price tag of around £12-£15m. Everton would be extremely reluctant to sell, at least at managerial level. I'm pretty sure Arteta, however, would relish the opportuinity to test himself at one of the biggest club's in England.

Financially, Everton appear to be operating stably, making only minor financial losses year-on-year. The surprising summer sale of Andrew Johnson to Fulham for £10.5m probably puts them on a more stable footing but it's unclear whether manager David Moyes has that money to spend. A major bid for Arteta might test the Everton board and Moyes. I think Arteta would be absolutely perfect for Arsenal, but doubt Wenger would spend the £15m or more required to net the player.

2. Alex

The 6ft 3-inch Chelsea stopper seems to tick all the right boxes as far as Arsenal are concerned. Experienced, having played for Santos, PSV and Chelsea (not to mention 27 caps for Brazil), fairly quick, aerially dominating and still only 26. Alex could forge a excellent partnership with William Gallas in the same way Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure were once imperial.

Likelihood? Alex has been a first team regular at Chelsea this season, but is likely to find himself dropped to the bench now that Ricardo Carvalho has returned from long-standing injury. Chelsea have been just fine at the back with Alex, conceding only 9 goals in 20 Premiership games. However, guarantees of being first choice in Wenger's squad could be appealing to Alex.

Meanwhile, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has hinted the he wants the club to be more self-sustainable. Chelsea are £736m in debt and Abramovich ordered the sacking of 15 scouts recently to bring wages down. Manager Phil Scholari has been told he will be given no money to spend in January, but a £10-£12m bid for a third choice centre-back might allow Scholari some leeway.

I would love to see Alex at Arsenal, and Kolo Toure could possibly be sold to recoup much of the price tag  - especially if super-rich Man City become interested. I like and respect Toure - one of my favourite Arsenal players in fact, but he appears to have lost some of his appetite for Arsenal, his performances have been pretty awful since January 2008.

3. Daniele De Rossi

Born in Rome and a product of A.S. Roma's youth system, 25-year-old  De Rossi, is a strong, highly combative defensive midfielder with good technical attributes and vision. He now has 42 caps for Italy. Arsenal are in dire need of a defensive midfielder, it's their major problem position - and De Rossi more than fits the bill.

Likelihood? Roma are a top Serie A side, but more used to being also-rans than winners. They have benefited recently by the Serie A scandal that saw so many top Italian sides either relegated or handed points deductions.

Roma are currently 11th in Serie A and look likely to struggle to make the Champions League next season, whilst rumours of a club takeover are rife. Financially the club appears to be in a good shape though. Can De Rossi be prized from his boyhood club? It could take a £20m bid to get him, and Italian internationals usually only move to England in their twighlight years.

I think it's unlikely, unless Arsenal really make a major push for the player, plus offer a massive wage incentive. Not the Arsenal way, but looking around Europe he's my pick of defensive midfielders who might be attainable.

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However unlikely or achievable, these are my three wants - a trio of  players that would instantly transform this Arsenal side and turn them into serious contenders for just about every trophy going.

They would probably cost the club in the region of £50m though, and I can't see Wenger spending that even though the money is available. I would be delighted if Wenger managed to purchase at least one out of the three though, and brought one or two other experienced signings in.

Other areas of concern at Arsenal are the goalkeeping position. Shay Given has been mentioned as a replacement for Manuel Almunia - and although I believe Given would more than welcome the move I doubt Wenger sees the goalkeeping position as top priority. Almunia is not world class, but he's capable - Given would be an upgrade that could wait until the summer if Almunia fails to impress for the rest of the season.

Up front, I feel Arsenal have the firepower, especially with Eduardo soon to return. One of the reasons for Arsenal's lack of goals is lack of creativity and ability to dominate the midfield - particularly Denilson, Song and Diaby, but if Arsenal were to sign a striker then Carlos Tevez would be my vaguely obtainable first choice. I think he might be interested too, as I very much doubt he's playing as much as he would like at Man Utd.

However, Eduardo, Adebayor, Van Persie are at good ages and there's surely a lot more to come from all three of them + there's bright prospects such as Vela and Walcott in reserve, less so Bendtner.

Other players I would like to see join? Worldwide, apart from obvious and unrealistic choices such as Messi and Kaka - I wouldn't say no to Franck Ribery - the 25-year-old Bayern winger. However,  I see no reason why he would leave Bayern or why they would sell, he only joined the club in July 2007. Ribery is a pipe dream.

I also admire all-action German defensive midfielder Torsten Frings, although he's just turned 32. Too old for Wenger.

Locally, my only other picks of the Premiership would probably be Aston Villa centre back Martin Laursen, Everton's combatant Tim Cahill, Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, and Portsmouth centre back Sylvain Distin.

As this is my last post of 2008, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Arsenal readers of my blog a very Happy New Year.

2008 has been a difficult and disappointing season for Arsenal supporters for many reasons, and I have to admit that my unwavering support for Arsene Wenger has become severely stretched at times. However, we have to believe he has the wisdom to turn things around, and his transfer activity in January will go a long way towards dictating that.

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Arsenal Truth

Diaby made a couple of Patrick Vieira like tackles in the opening 4 minutes, which was encouraging.

By the 7th minute, Arsenal were already beginning to gain control of the match. Both teams pushed up, squeezing the midfield.

The atmosphere was tense, neither team looking particularly confident. In Portsmouth's case that was hardly surprising considering they arrived on the back of three straight defeats concluding in a 4-1 home thrashing by West Ham.

Arsenal needed width, and it took 20 minutes to arrive, a fine cross by Sagna requiring a firm clearing header from Marc Wilson.

On 23, a long ball flung in from wide right found the head of Peter Crouch, who beat Gallas all ends up to nod the ball down onto Arsenal's post. Almunia was also well beaten. A lucky escape perhaps.

By the 28th minute, Arsenal had still failed to test David James, and looked fragile to the counter attack despite Portsmouth's lack of forward pace.

Portsmouth slowly increased in confidence due to Arsenal overplaying in midfield and steamed forward on 31, but Diaby broke up play on and set Adebayor clean through. With Distin closing in Adebayor delayed allowing Sol Campbell to lunge in from behind and win the ball clean. Distin mopped up.

Should have been 1-0 Arsenal, Adebayor too hesitant, but it was a great recovery tackle from Campbell.

On 41, Nasri swapped roles with Bendtner - so Bendtner was now playing left wing?? Still, the cunning Nasri looked to be the likeliest chance of an opening, a powerful shot deflecting wide just before half time.

One minute into the second half, and James almost handed Arsenal a late Christmas present, ineffectively punching a corner straight to Silvestre whose tame header was nodded away by Portsmouth's rearguard.

On 52, Nasri  played Bendtner in centrally, but the 6'5-inch Dane went down under minimal contact. No free kick, he really has to do better.

By 57, Arsenal looked stale an unimaginative, Portsmouth looked organised - it seemed obvious that early substitutions would be required as the quality of Arsenal's football was pretty dire.

A sloppy Denilson pass set up a Portsmouth attack that was wasted, allowing Arsenal to counter. Nasri's pinpoint cross diverted from Adebayor's head by the impressive Sylvain Distin.

On 58, David James fumbled another Nasri cross, the ball dropping to Adebayor left side of goal. 10 yards out, and with the whole goal to aim at, but his strike was slashed into the side netting.

Vela replaced Eboue on 65, forcing Bendtner to change position - now wide right?? Surely Van Persie would be more effective there? Wenger thinks otherwise. Vela immediately fires a dangerous cross into the box, but Distin again clears.

An Arsenal corner on 68 finds Bendtner free in the box, but he headers tamely into a crowded area - the ball appearing to strike Papa Bouba Diop's hand - but purely accidental.

Vela is getting into the game more, whipping in another cross that James deals with well, then Ramsey appears for the anonymous Diaby.

Up the other end, a rare Portsmouth attacking forray results in a strong Nadir Belhadj strike dealt with comfortably by Almunia.

Going into the final 10 minutes, Arsenal are fully in control, with Nasri looking the most likely to break the deadlock and Vela giving Arsenal attacking impetus.

On 81, a free-kick wide left is crossed in by Denilson, James comes out to punch but Gallas gets there first nodding into an empty net. 1-0 Arsenal! David James pays the price for his third gaffe of the game. Arsenal gain the lead without having done much to earn it.

Can Arsenal hold on despite Portsmouth showing little attacking threat? Jermaine Defoe replaces the hard working David Nugent and switch to 4-4-2.

"There's only one Tony Adams" sings the Emirates crowd.

A brief scramble in the Arsenal box is frantically cleared in the 88th minute, and then Arsenal wisely - for once - use their brains and spend the remaining 6 or 7 minutes keeping the ball by the corner flag to record a 1-0 victory.

All in all, another unconvincing display from Arsenal. Had Adams been a little bolder he might have got something out of the game, but in light of recent results stuck with a 4-5-1 formation that was effective up until the 81st minute - largely due to Arsenal's lack of penetration and inability to string together convincing passing moves with any consistency.

On the face of it, 2-2 doesn't look a bad result considering how precarious it would have been to hand Aston Villa a six point advantage going into the second half of the season. However, from analysising the highlights it appears Arsenal should be grateful for not receiving a pounding at Villa Park yesterday evening.

I didn't watch the game - and it's the first match I've missed this season. Watching my nephew's face light up after handing him some belated Christmas gifts seemed far more heartwarming an activity than watching Eboue, Song, et al.

I did manage to watch MOTD though, sitting in dismay as Aston Villa created chance after chance after chance after chance - Arsenal's blushes incapable of being saved by the battered framework of their defending goal.

Denilson scored against the run of play just before half time, then Diaby scored a second - fine goal - against the run of play early in the second half. It looked like a classic case of smash and grab, albeit completely undeserved.

But this is Arsenal 2008, and as we well know the self-destruct button is never far. Gallas gives away a penalty on 65, followed by Arsenal's inevitable injury-time collapse - Zat Knight  burying a fine strike on 91.

2-2 it ended.

My overriding thoughts were, why was Gallas left one-on-one with Gabriel Agbonlahor when Arsenal were 2-0 up and playing a 4-5-1 formation away from home in probably their most vital game of the season? Why did Villa outnumber Arsenal 4 to 3 in the area in the 91st minute?

The word "clueless" immediately springs to mind.

Arsene Wenger was in great post-match form, following a touchline bust-up with Martin O'Neill that for a second looked like it might spill into Alan Pardew-style fisticuffs.

"The ref was influenced!"
"We could have scored 5!"
"We can still win the league!"

When John Motson enquired as to whether Wenger might make some much-needed purchases come January, the response was short and shrift, "No".

It's become blantantly clear over the last 9 months that Wenger doesn't like or want to be questioned by anybody. Not even John Motson.

Where does this hideous arrogance come from? Was it always there lurking underneath Wenger's intelligent facade or are Arsenal Football Club partially to blame?

I reckon that Arsenal has built a mythological, bullet-proof wall of greatness around our manager that for almost a decade has made him actually believe he's the messiah of the beautiful game, the inner-appointed divinity of Arsenal Football Club and thus immune to not only criticism but even objective questioning.

Any part of the hype that is questioned, any reservations made or any flaws exposed are rebuffed by our once great manager with stupifying arrogance, bordering on childlike egocentricity.

Arsenal has become an X Factor football club, where mediocre talents are promised riches and rewards well beyond the scope of its contestant's ability. Arsene Wenger is Simon Cowell. He has 25% written into their contracts in case they make it big elsewhere and as an excuse for failure continually points to big hits from the long distant past.

As with any overhyped individual, eventually they self-destruct and the industry shoots them dead.

Wenger is self-destructing, the team has self-destructed, and over the last few months we've quite possibly been watching the stubborn seedlings of arrogance and denial - never mind performances - that most managers go through before signalling the inevitable end of their reign.

Pride goeth before a fall.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm getting fast fed up with Wenger's borderline insane attitude to referees, other clubs, and this club. For all he's done in the past, week-by-week my respect for him is being completely erroded.

As 2008 nears its end, it's becoming fairly clear that Wenger has January to save the season and 14 months to save his job. That's three transfer windows to turn it around. Several years ago the mighty Alex Ferguson - three times as successful as Wenger - was plagued by similar cat calls, he turned it around, can Wenger?

It's dismaying to me. The excuses.

Maybe I am an abnormal football supporter, but I can't help seeing things exactly as they are. I don't have a biased bone in my body - I am almost totally objective when it comes to watching any sport, irrespective of the individual or team I support.

Nationality does not interest me, and neither does creed or colour.

The fine details of my opinions may well be worthy of debate, but I can at least guarantee to myself that there remains an honest objectivity there. That's why I always believed I would be a different blogger, and that's why I called my blog Arsenal Truth. I dont see much objectivity on other blogs, I'm not convinced they always express exactly what they feel, mostly for fear of being pilloried by other Arsenal fans.

Perhaps my objectivity explains then why every time Arsene Wenger opens his mouth these days, all I hear is contradictions, excuses, false truths.

I can't back him when so much of what he says flies in the face of the facts, lacks sensible enquiry, impartiality.

More to the point, I often feel patronised by our manager.

Arsene Wenger's reaction to Adebayor's sending off at Liverpool has made me even more disillusioned, lowered my respect of the manager by another 1%.

His blindsided opinions are no big deal as an individual event, but just another brick removed from  a slow-crumbling facade.

To tackle the subject in question, let's get this straight - it's highly questionable whether Adebayor should have been sent off at Liverpool. The first challenge he committed was a booking - the second challenge probably not. But from referee Howard Webb's angle I can completely understand how and why Webb decided to hand out a second yellow.

Adebayor raised a foot several feet from the ground and brought it down sharply in the direction of Arbeloa (to build a barrier between his body and the ball) whilst simultaneously pushing him in the face.

From the referees perspective, and at full speed, it looked as if Adebayor put his foot through him and that's why Arbeloa went down.

It was a genuine refereeing mistake. The reasons for Adebayor's sending off, correct or incorrect, are so obvious, and any fool must surely know by now that in a world of TV replays, a tackle from one angle can look completely different from another.

Some might even suggest that despite Adebayor making little, if any, contact, his actions should still be punishable as a dangerous play offence.

Armed with this knowledge therefore, why after the event is Wenger continuing to blame the referee, and even more disappointing, insisting that Adebayor's sending off denied Arsenal a victory?

According to Wenger, Arsenal would have won had Adebayor stayed on the pitch. It's a lame excuse - the very lamest of excuses. From what I saw, Arsenal re-doubled their efforts after the Adebayor sending off and earned themselves a point from a game that looked to be desperately slipping away. Besides all that, Arsenal were at home and there was nothing to stop them winning with 10 men - it's happened dozens of times before, especially under Wenger.

Unfortunately, Wenger yet again chose to bring out the anti-Arsenal card. All this anti-Arsenal tripe is just that, tripe. Referees are not anti-Arsenal and Arsenal get as much protection as any other team.

Some managers are honourable in defeat. Martin O'Neill, Steve Coppell, Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp, Gareth Southgate - I have a certain respect for all of them. Maybe not the clubs they represent, but for their usually fair post-match appraisals. They call a spade a spade, tell it how it is. They may even criticise their own players from time to time.

Wenger NEVER criticises his players, almost as if it's that's the difference between success and failure.

Personally, I believe it can do more harm than good. When you have a bunch of vastly overpaid footballers that never have a bad word said against them and are continually protected from every misdemeanour they commit, you can end up with a bunch of lazy egomaniacs who actually believe they are beyond criticism, perfect players with ability perceived to be well beyond the realms of reality.

Of course the Adebayor incident was just one incident in which I lost yet another smidgen of respect for Wenger. But when you add up 10 months of almost continual excuses for non-performance - without even a hint of objectivity - it does tend to corrode one's opinion of a manager over time.

It's really nothing to do with lack of trophies, lack of success, more to do with lack of honesty, sincerity and integrity. The latter of which I assumed Wenger to have in abundance, but it's faded pretty fast this season.

I think Arsenal fans need some honesty and integrity from the board (due to present circumstances) and the manager - they've been pushing a hand in our face for a long time now.

What's happening at Arsenal is not a disaster, the club's long-term future, with or without Wenger, is excellent, we still have a good team, far from great, but good, and we should never as supporters expect success. Improvement yes, success no. But I do expect the club to be on the level with it's fans, both in the boardroom, and especially the more immediate face of the club, the manager.

Without that you have little. Maybe it's just me, but Arsenal just doesn't seem like Arsenal much these days. The board are in-fighting, Wenger hides all his intentions and repeatedly gives false accounts of every event, the players - bless them - are in a mollycoddled dream world - and even the fans squabble amongst themselves and  boo players when they know they probably shouldn't.

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As I unfortunately pondered last Sunday, Cesc Fabregas will be missing from Arsenal for at least 3 months rather than 3 weeks. Wenger now has his excuse to move into the transfer market without losing face.

Names have cropped up. Arshavin, Tevez etc. but are these the players Arsenal need? How will Arshavin make up for Arsenal's lack of a defensive midfielder or flaky central defence?

However unlikely, should Wenger bring in both I doubt either would make a significant enough difference to turn Arsenal into genuine trophy hunters.

If Wenger was to purchase four experienced players, including a defensive midfielder and centre back I would have more belief, but this seems highly unlikely - even though not an unrealistic objective because Arsenal really need that many top quality players.

What with the inconsistency of the current top three, one might even imagine Arsenal could somehow put in a title challenge if Wenger could transform the team with at least three Premiership-ready players in the most necessary of positions.

Personally, I believe Manchester Utd will walk it in the end - they have great fixtures, but I can but dream.

By now, most Arsenal fans will have heard the news that Arsenal's third largest shareholder, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, has been ousted by the Arsenal board - leaving the club in a precarious position should the ex-director decided to sell her 15.9% stakeholding to the highest bidder.

18 months ago director David Dein was booted out - the Arsenal board citing "irreconcilable differences", seven months ago managing director Keith Edelman resigned, and yesterday Bracewell-Smith had a ruck with the board resulting in her removal.

For a club that wants to keep outside investors at arms-length, it's showing little togetherness - forcibly ejecting major shareholders under frequent acrimony.

One thing's for sure, it must have been quite an argument for the Arsenal board to risk upsetting Bracewell-Smith to the extent that they don't even know what she's going to do with her 15.9% shareholding.

Arsenal fans can only hope that Lady Nina has enough "love" for Arsenal Football Club not to sell-out to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, but I wouldn't bet on it. You can imagine her having more than few objections to the likes of Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood. Reprehensibly old school, he's unlikely to have paid much attention, if any, to what Bracewell-Smith (or any woman) might have to say for herself at boardroom level. Ditto hard-nosed diamond dealer Danny Fiszman.

Meanwhile, American entrepreneur and stakeholder Stan Kroenke is apparently keen to further increase his shareholding; but if it was all about Bracewell-Smith finding a supportive buyer, this would have all been sorted out amicably.

Obviously there's more going on behind the scenes that I can pretend to know about, but this day was always likely to come - and Bracewell-Smith was always likely to be the weak link. I've always imagined a takeover to be inevitable at some point.

So, cue months of further boardroom speculation, music to the ears of Arsene Wenger who may be able to get away without buying anyone in January if this whole business turns ugly. By ugly I mean the media getting completely distracted while Alisher Usmanov attempts to get his greedy mits on that 15.9%.

If Usmanov did snap up Bracewell-Smith's shares he would be in a position to present himself at board meetings and dictate events at Arsenal Football Club well beyond the desired control of its existing members.

Nobody seems to want that, but if that conclusion becomes inevitable and a full-blown turf war ensues, then I would personally prefer that David Dein was brought back into the club should Usmanov emerge victorious. This would be a strong possibility considering Usmanov would almost certainly want to ressurrect his personal involvement with Dein in order to placate supporters already opposed to him.

The cynic inside of me wonders if Dein and Bracewell-Smith have shared any deep and meaningful phone conversations lately, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's easy to imagine the worst, but Bracewell-Smith has long-standing ties with the club and I would like to think it's unlikely she would damage her heritage by selling out to Usmanov. More worrying perhaps is the behaviour of existing board members and their continual in-fighting.

A less confrontational and probably well-balanced view (than mine) of events can be found on Arseblog.

In other news, Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva made his return to competitive action on Tuesday night, playing the first half without any problems before being subbed due to a slight hamstring strain.

As Arsene Wenger rightly suggests, the only obstacle preventing Eduardo from returning the player he once was is the psychological battle. That's still something the player has to overcome and can only be tested by partaking in full-blooded competitive matches, where balls are there to be won and tough tacklers hove into view.

For that reason alone, supporters should not expect too much from Eduardo for the remainder of this season. Even when Eduardo is fully recovered both mentally and physically I have severe doubts whether this Arsenal midfield can create the sort of clear cut opportunities that a striker of Eduardo's prowess can thrive from.

First team goals have dried up recently, 11 in 11 games; three of those by Arsenal's reserves against Wigan in the Carling Cup.

The Tony Blair of football is at it again.

As Arsene Wenger tries to deflect the mess he has created by failing to take Arsenal's squad depth seriously in the Summer, Arsenal fans are having to put up with yet another round of excuses.

This time, Wenger blames Arsenal's predicament on the rest of the Premier League becoming stronger at the expense of the competitiion's 'so-called' top four clubs.

Statistically at least, there is no evidence to back up this claim whatsoever.

In the 2002/03 season Arsenal finished second with a relatively low 78 points tally, Newcastle third with 69 and Chelsea fourth with 67.

Chelsea still finished in the top four that season despite drawing 10 games and losing 9!

The division was evidently a lot closer six years ago at the height of Roman Abramovic's spending spree than it is now.

The following season, 2003/04 - Arsenal's "Invincibles" year, Liverpool made the top four with a paltry 60 points. The top four dropped a lot more points in those days and was a lot weaker then that it is now.

Now it's 2008/09, and the big clubs (minus Arsenal) are faring a lot better than they were 5 years ago. So far this season, Liverpool have only lost 1 of 17 games, Chelsea just the 2.

Manchester United have struggled by their standards, but then they have already played away to all of their main rivals - Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. They have also visited Portsmouth, Everton, Man City and Villa - all top 10 clubs last season.

Man Utd will find the second half of the season a breeze in comparison to the first. In accordance with the fixture list they were given, Utd's points total is somewhat excusable.

The only big club from the top four that is struggling is Arsenal. The only club in any sort of danger of losing their place in the top four is Arsenal.