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Arsenal’s north London derby defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday has been hailed as a true turning point in the balance of power in the area and between both clubs for the first time during Arsene Wenger’s tenure as manager, but is it all as easy to rectify as simply spending more money in the summer or do the problems go deeper than that?

The term ‘sterile domination’ is one that’s been coined to describe the Arsenal we see before us this season and their record against the top four, which reads played seven, won one, drawn one and lost five, on top of defeats in Europe to the likes of Bayern Munich and Schalke just highlights that they are struggling against better quality opposition this term. Losing Robin van Persie to Manchester United in the summer and bringing in Olivier Giroud as his replacement sums up the transfer policy and the sharp fall in quality better than any words can. Giroud is a perfectly serviceable option to have in your squad, but he shouldn’t be the only option to call upon and the club looks desperately short of options in key areas.

Former Gunners defender Sol Campbell urged Wenger to re-think his transfer policy of recent years, pointing to Sir Alex Ferguson as the model to follow for the future, telling The Mirror: “You have to give him (Wenger) immense credit for what he has done and it has been overlooked that while they have not done well in the cups, they have been consistent in the league.

“But maybe there has to be a change regarding transfers. It should be done on a more case-by-case fashion. I think the fans deserve that. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly looked at what United could win if they had Van Persie and decided that if they succeed, that would justify the fee.”

Before we get ourselves into a tiresome net spend argument, which is obviously inflated due to the sales of van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in recent campaigns, that doesn’t detract from the fact that Arsenal have spent significant funds, but their replacements have all been purchased from the bargain bin in an attempt to reign in costs. Liverpool have been guilty of the same needlessly cheap exercise for years and all it does is plug your squad full of decent players that are incapable of performing to the standard required of a side chasing top four football.

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The respective run-ins that both Tottenham and Arsenal have mean that the seven-point gap can yet be made up, while they still sit just five points behind Chelsea in fourth with ten games left to play, but the run they went on this time last season was only made possible by the presence of van Persie, and they look short of not only leaders but players to look toward for inspiration when everything isn’t going according to plan.

Wenger essentially answered his own poser during the post-match interviews yesterday, telling the BBC: “In the first half there was nothing [in it] and then we were 2-0 down. I don’t know how it happened. We produced a great energy level from the first to the last minute, but we were not decisive enough in our box or their box.” That crucial lack of quality at either end of the pitch is ensuring this is perhaps the most difficult season they have had in qualifying for next year’s Champions League and the odds are stacked against them, even if it is still not an impossible feat.

When things are going badly, former players are always quick to label what the manager at the helm should be doing, despite not having any real experience in the game other than their success on the pitch. Everyone is a critic, but when it comes to Wenger and his reluctance to spend big money when needed, it’s an opinion that’s almost universally held and should they fail to make the top four this season, all of their hard cost-cutting work in preparing the club for Financial Fair Play will have been in vain; they simply won’t be in a position to capitalise on the levelling of the playing field that they hope will happen from Europe’s second tier competition and therefore will struggle to attract the players required to close the gap.

Given his recent failings in the transfer market, there’s no reason to suggest that throwing money at Wenger would guarantee success at all, while the reports of him being handed a budget upwards of £70m in the summer always appear to coincide rather neatly with the club putting up ticket prices – the cynic in me would suggest that they are more than linked.

What is clear, though, is that something has to change, whether that be the club’s bean-counting approach, the man in charge or an overhaul of the playing staff. The club is clearly on the way down at the moment, incapable of stopping the rot, while on the other side of the street, Tottenham under Andre Villas-Boas are a club on the up.

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Wenger’s greatest downfall, even larger than his stubbornness to accept that he’s wrong and that he may need to adapt at times, is his trust in his players and across the squad, there are plenty that deserve a swift exit and it’s actually quicker to count on one hand the ones that need to be kept than not.

Just so long as Wenger continues to define finishing in the top four as akin to success and a ‘trophy’, then they will continue to accept second best and even by those standards the club is underperforming this season. Changing the culture of the club and approach behind the scenes is just as important as spending money, even if Campbell has a point that quality rather than quantity on a case-by-case basis should be keenly looked at in the summer. This isn’t quite a time of crisis yet, more a day of licking wounds, but Arsenal need to get their house in order or they run the risk of falling short precisely at a time when their financial future dictates they must succeed.

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Arsenal have joined the list of clubs monitoring Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez, according to the Daily Mail.

The Chilean international has rotated in and out of the starting XI for the Catalan giants, and is understood to be willing to listen to offers in the summer.

Joining Arsenal in the race to sign Sanchez are Inter Milan, Liverpool and Serie A champions Juventus. The 24-year-old joined Barcelona from Udinese in 2011 for £22million, after rejecting offers from Premier League clubs Manchester United and Manchester City. Fabrizo Larini, the sporting director at former club Udinese, believes Sanchez would fit the style of football seen at the Emirates.

“Sanchez needs to play the ball on the ground, just like Arsenal. That would be his ideal game,” Larini said.

“The only thing that these teams will have to consider is that he is a player who needs freedom to play his way. In teams that particular rigid patterns of play he might have a few problems.”

Arsenal are looking at several attacking options for the summer transfer window, after being one of many clubs to scout St Etienne’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon international has been one of the players of Ligue 1 this season and could be receiving a bid from Arsene Wenger when the window reopens.

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For now, Wenger will just be hoping to get all of his players back injury-free after the international break, ahead of the club’s next game against Reading at The Emirates at the end of March.

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After the exploits of Marcelo Bielsa’s team last season, Athletic Bilbao found themselves rising up the status ladder in European football. The performances were stunning at times, but the romance of an all-Basque team really does catch the imagination. From the side that fought all the way to two cup finals last season, are there really any names currently housed at San Mames that wouldn’t be welcomed in the Premier League?

There’s being prudent and keeping the good of the business at the fore of your mind, and then there’s being extremely clever with limited resources in the transfer market. Arsenal’s public pursuit of Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Amorebieta could potentially be a very smart move with the player’s contract coming to an end this summer.

Some supporters might be concerned that Amorebieta is similar in stature to Per Mertesacker. To those who are sharp enough to look beyond the stupidity of “one of the league’s worst defenders,” the German centre-back is exactly what Arsenal have been in need of, and Amorebieta is more of the same. The Bilbao defender, who currently represents Venezuela, comes equipped with an increase in pace over the German, while the same sense of defending first, messing around later is prevalent.

While Arsenal are more than set with a defender who knows how to play the ball out from the back in Laurent Koscielny (and Thomas Vermaelen if he remains at the club beyond the summer), the team have been in need of a throwback to the traditional styles of defending. Technical ball players with plenty of mobility is a plus for those who use a high defensive line and an assured presence in midfield, but there now needs to be an overwhelming sense that the team will and can hold a position of strength for a significant period during a game.

It doesn’t always need to be the big names on the continent. I’m certain that there isn’t a real issue with how much money Arsene Wenger spends at Arsenal, rather the concern being with what he does with it. A good number of transfers in England and across Europe in recent windows have provided evidence that spending big doesn’t always guarantee success, while the business of clubs like Newcastle and Swansea have been praised league-wide.

Amorebieta fits the mould in terms of being relatively unknown, yet who has enough experience in one of Europe’s best leagues to allow for a smooth transition to Arsenal. The player is a perfect counter for Arsenal against the physical sides in the north of England. Coupled with his height, notable power and fearless approach to a heated battle in the penalty area, there is very little to doubt from Amorebieta and what he could offer to Arsenal.

The stumbling block, however, is that Amorebieta could fall into the trap of looking worse than he actually is. Buying good players is one thing, but it absolutely needs to be married with strict defensive coaching and a clear understanding between the back four and goalkeeper. The arrival of the Bilbao defender would be a promising step in the right direction, but it’s essential that Wenger continues with his newly-adopted sense of defence.

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The Arsenal manager is often criticised for not being decisive with potential signings, even for players available on a free transfer. Yet the signing of Amorebieta will prove to be a one of Wenger’s smarter moves of recent summers – provided, of course, he seals the deal.

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Although Radamel Falcao’s elite set of striking gifts ensure that the Atletico Madrid striker is likely to have the cream of Europe’s biggest clubs queuing up to fight for his signature this summer, you would have thought that Manchester United might be a notable absentee from such a shortlist.

With Sir Alex Ferguson already boasting arguably the most fearsome strikeforce in the Premier League in the quartet of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck, while the chance to sign Falcao must be a source of real temptation for the Scot, the money that it would take to prise the Colombian away from the Vicente Calderon has generally been thought of as being better spent elsewhere.

Yet while the noise coming out of Old Trafford directly appears to be toeing the general consensus of supporters, a steady slew of reports suggesting to the contrary have reared their heads in recent days.

And in the most illuminating report yet, we’ve been led to believe that not only have United sent their chief scout Jim Lawlor to run the rule over the 27-year-old during Madrid’s recent 5-0 thumping over Granada, but that the club are ready to broker a £47million deal for the forward, with Javier Hernandez going the other way as a £20million-rated makeweight.

Ferguson was, as you would expect, sneeringly dismissive of such a prospect, simply asking reporters whether they “honestly believed” that the club were likely to swoop for the former-Porto man. Considering renowned rumour-stirrers Marca and The Daily Mail are the two publications championing the story, understandably, few are particularly convinced over the credentials of such a deal.

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Yet putting the shoe on the other foot, this isn’t the first time this season we’ve seen United linked with a swoop for another elite hitman, following reported interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski and for as little credibility as the tabloid media may possess, it’s hardly as if Ferguson has enjoyed an unnervingly truthful rapport with the press over the years.

What’s made this element of transfer speculation resoundingly different from some of the other reports we’ve seen this season, however, has been the indifferent reaction Falcao’s name seems to have sat with supporters. Because although his talent is one that no fan would begrudge seeing grace the Theatre of Dreams, it would be the overlooking of a midfield that remains in desperate need of an upgrade that would particularly resonate with the wider public in the red half of Manchester.

And that applies to not just a mooted deal for Falcao, but one for Lewandowski, Burak Yilmaz or any other top European striker for that matter.

With United already looking somewhat top-heavy as a squad as it is, while players like Falcao only come along once in a while, there is surely only so many more goals that can be added to this side.

In van Persie and Rooney, Ferguson already possesses arguably the two finest goalscorers in the Premier League and considering the acquisition of the former has pushed the latter – along with the 27 league goals he scored last season – into a deeper midfield position, it’s difficult to even comprehend the acquisition of another out and out striker.

Furthermore, that’s not even taking into account the mere seven starts that Hernandez, another of the league’s most natural goalscorers, has been consigned to this campaign.

It would be naïve to try and second-guess a manager that bestows the acumen of Ferguson’s class, although if Rooney’s midfield deployment during the recent 2-0 win over Stoke City was something of a dress-rehearsal for a long term stint in the role, then perhaps reports linking United with another frontman aren’t quite as far-fetched as some may believe.

The Englishman enjoyed a superb showing from deep, albeit against futile opposition given Tony Pulis’ side’s recent woes and there has been a school of thought that a long-term midfield berth could prove just the solution that both club and player have been looking for.

Although to wheel out the aged out cliché of the best players not always necessarily making the best team, forcing Rooney deeper within this team to accommodate yet another gifted forward player feels like an incredibly awkward way of solving a midfield issue that requires a long term blueprint – not just a fantasy stop gap.

Because regardless of Rooney’s merits as a would-be midfielder, it’s his credentials as a frontman, that should lay waste to another deal for a forward at Old Trafford.

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During his deployment as an out-and-out striker at United over the last three seasons before van Persie’s arrival, Rooney scored a staggering 84 goals in all competitions. That’s a record that leaves him very few peers in the European game, let alone simply in English football, but still, the 27-year-old has had to make way for the Dutchman as the preferred striker at the club.

The quality, depth and versatility that Ferguson has managed to accumulate and develop at the club has rendered Manchester United as one of the few clubs in Europe that would have little to gain by signing Radamel Falcao.

Had they not possessed such a pressing need to address other areas of the team, maybe the Colombian’s talent might well justify the upheaval of both current personnel and ebbing away of transfer funds needed to bring him to the club.

But for all his box-office glamour and unworldly striking ability, Falcao’s arrival cannot come ahead of the acquisition of another truly world-class midfielder. And given the price it will cost in order to find that man, there’s no way his potential arrival could be framed as anything less than a luxury.

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Arsenal and Manchester City could reignite their interest in Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios, who has admitted that he is keen to make a summer move, according to reports from talkSPORT.

The 28-year-old moved to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande last year, but is already considering his options after failing to settle in the Far East.

It is believed that he is currently embroiled in a contract dispute with his employers, which is similar to that suffered by Didier Drogba.

The Ivorian was eventually allowed to move on for free, and now plays for Galatasaray.

Barrios admitted recently that he is far from happy with the situation and is looking to leave in a bid to get his career back on track.

Prior to his switch to Guangzhou Evergrande, the South American hot-shot impressed with Borussia Dortmund, averaging a goalscoring record of almost one in every two games.

This alerted both City and Arsenal, although they were unable to match the financial lure of Chinese football.

But now they could rekindle their interest and offer Barrios a European lifeline.

The duo are both in the market for attacking reinforcements, with City particularly short on forward threats having sold Carlos Tevez.

Arsenal are reportedly closing in on Gonzalo Higuain, but could turn to Barrios if the deal collapses.

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Would Lucas Barrios be a Premier League hit?

Tell us what you think below!

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Liverpool’s Luis Suarez will always be one of the most controversial footballers the Premier League has ever seen. His rap sheet to date contains a series of incidents that have broken almost every footballing taboo.

The striker burst onto the scene at the 2010 World Cup, but blemished his rave reviews by handballing on his own goal line for Uruguay against Ghana and subsequently celebrated in no humble fashion when Asamoah Gyan missed the following penalty, essentially ending the biggest chance an African team has had in the international tournament throughout my life time, as well as making himself a pantomime villain throughout the continent.

Then, a year later, he arrived at Anfield with a preceding reputation from his 81 goals in the Eredivisie. Suarez’s talent from the offset was impossible to deny, despite his low output during his first two campaigns with the Reds, but it wasn’t long before the Uruguayan was once again in the media for the wrong reasons.

In October 2011, he was accused of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, and subsequently punished by the FA. The eight-match ban still remains a controversial issue for many reasons; Suarez himself claimed cultural ignorance, whilst Liverpool drew criticism for avidly supporting a player, t-shirts and posters to boot, that had openly admitted to using a racial slur, albeit with a different understanding of the word in comparison to the British public.

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Some gave Suarez the benefit of the doubt, especially as his form picked up momentum last term. The Reds forward finished up with 23 goals and eight assists in 33 Premier League appearances, and throughout the 2012/2013 campaign won over many of his critics with his talismanic, all round displays. It wasn’t just his output, it was his quality on the ball, his ability to dribble past any opponent, his confidence to take on whole defences on his own, and his undying work-rate and passion to succeed.

Just as the footballing world were debating whether or not such a controversial figure, who had once admitted he’d sell his own grandmother for a goal, and once celebrated a goal by performing a dive in front of David Moyes’ dugout during a Merseyside derby, should be considered for the PFA Player of the Year award, Suarez nipped any hope of winning the individual accolade in the bud by biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in the arm, witnessed by a packed Anfield crowd and the millions watching at home. What’s more, it wasn’t even the first time in the 26 year old’s career he’d bitten someone – in Holland, he’s referred to as ‘The Cannibal of Ajax’ for taking a chunk out of Otman Bakkal with his teeth in 2010.

But for me, it’s Suarez’s actions this summer that will cement his place in the annals of Premier League history as the master of controversy. Throughout his villain role at the 2010 World Cup, his tribunal with the FA and the Ivanovic incident, the Liverpool forward could at least claim that it was the lust for victory, propelled by the loyalty he feels towards his club and international side, that caused him to commit such on-pitch atrocities. That saving grace however, has now gone out the window this summer, as Suarez plots a move to Arsenal.

Even a matter of months ago, the striker’s views were understandable. He insisted that he wanted to leave England behind him due to the intense pressure and scrutiny the British media put on him, and there’s little doubt the claim was true; no newspaper article discussing Suarez could leave out his checkered past, and no facebook feed could be complete without a Suarez meme poking fun at the Uruguayan. At the same time, his hot form made it quite clear that he’d outgrown the Reds, with consistently exceptional displays and prolific end product for a club who had struggled to make it into the top half of the Premier League for the most part of last season.

But the fact Suarez waited until he was about as far away from Merseyside as possible, in Brazil to be precise, to condemn the club for a lack of loyalty and the British press for their bully mentality, suggested that there was far more opportunism to his decision to leave Anfield that met the eye.

Now we are edging into August, and rather than leaving England to take up the opportunity of a life time at Real Madrid, leaving not too many hard feelings behind at Liverpool, Suarez’s priority location is North London, to join up with the Gunners, citing a need to play Champions League football.

But will playing Champions League football, for a side who’ve made it past the quarter-finals just twice since 2000, actually benefit the Uruguayan’s status, or career? He’s already regarded as one of the most talented single entities in Europe, and is already liked with every major club on the continent. Similarly, on the domestic front, the Reds have claimed more silverware than Arsenal in the last eight years, with the Gunners’ trophy cabinet alarmingly bare since their last triumph in 2006, whilst both clubs are still miles away from the Premier League title race with their current rosters.

Overall, Suarez is causing Liverpool a lot of problems for very little personal gain. Arsenal are just about the most insignificant Champions League club out there – constantly rewarding themselves for qualification, but rarely impacting on the competition itself – and in the Premier League they’re amid an almost decade long malaise. Moving to the Emirates won’t give Suarez the opportunity to play with a particularly better or more star-studded cast, and Arsene Wenger is hardly likely to offer the striker a lucrative wage package considering Theo Walcott had to let his contract wind down and play bluff to secure a not particularly competitive £100k per week deal.

What’s more, it shows a disgraceful lack of loyalty towards his current club. Liverpool have constantly stood by Suarez throughout his lust for controversy, and their ‘Support Suarez’ campaign during his eight-match ban for racial abuse undoubtedly contributed to Kenny Dalglish’s decision to step down at the end of the 2011/2012 season.

The Uruguayan’s claim that the Reds haven’t stuck by him enough during the recent biting incident smacks of hypocrisy and delusion – Brendan Rodgers could hardly give him a pat on the back after such a shocking episode, and was right to condemn the striker in public regardless of his status as Liverpool’s only current world-class talent; anything else would have put the club’s integrity into serious disrepute.

Along the way, Suarez’s demeanour has been ungentlemenly to say the least. At one end, he’s refused to make a formal transfer request, in fear of losing out on his contractually tied loyalty bonus, whilst on the other hand and in public, he’s regularly insisted that Brendan Rodgers should adhere to his demands and sell him. He couldn’t even do his club the good grace of keeping the issue behind closed doors, and has used the public domain and the British media to do his bidding, despite insisting they are the ones who conspire against him.

It’s bound to have an effect on the striker’s selling value, despite Liverpool adamantly maintaining that they hold all the cards around the negotiating table. And whilst at one point this summer, it seemed he would at least spare Liverpool some embarrassment by switching to La Liga, he will now be plying his future trade for one of the Reds’ closest divisional rivals, and one of the few teams that stands in their way of Champions League qualification – Rodgers’ ultimate aim that his Anfield tenure will eventually be judged upon.

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Suarez is and will always be the epitome of controversy; fans will always feel divided over whether to judge an exceptional player on his footballing ability, or his questionable morality. But for me, the Emirates move is the final straw for a player who people have constantly found excuses for. His lack of loyalty is disturbing, his demeanour this summer despicable, and his careerist mentality is a shocking condemnation of the culture of the modern footballer.

All that fuss, all those bridges burned at Anfield, betraying Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool faithful along the way, for the sake of finishing three places higher in the Premier League, and regular elimination in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The king of controversy strikes again.

Should Suarez be condemned for seeking a move to Arsenal?

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A combination of factors have led to Victor Moses becoming a forgotten figure at Liverpool, or at least someone who is on the peripheries of the team looking in.

When Moses made the switch to Liverpool from Chelsea in the summer, it seemed to be a move that suited every party. A season-long loan could have seen Chelsea eventually pocket a decent fee for an unneeded player, while Liverpool, provided they were thinking along those lines, would get a good idea of what Moses was worth to their side. Additionally there’s the advantage of Brendan Rodgers strengthening his side for this season without much spend.

Moses was never going to be a hit at Chelsea. The volume of players going in and out the door at Stamford Bridge is often indicative of the scattergun approach to transfers. More often than not it becomes a struggle, based on politics, as to who gets minutes and who doesn’t.

The run up that led to Moses’ transfer to Chelsea was that he was a regular for a Wigan side who simply couldn’t hold onto him. Eventually one of the bigger teams in the league would have caught on to his abilities and snapped him up. Moving on loan to Liverpool this summer looked to be the perfect opportunity to regain some of that stability in a starting XI.

Though we can all agree on Liverpool’s strongest attacking three. Luis Suarez is a given, Daniel Sturridge will always be involved in large parts of games because of his scoring form, and Coutinho rounds out the attack by offering an injection of creativity. It’s not that Moses isn’t good enough, rather that he’s fallen victim to Rodgers’ tactical tweaking. One week may see a front two of Suarez and Sturridge, while another, or even midway through a game, the manager will decide that further width is needed, allowing for the introduction of Moses. The point is Moses is a secondary, thus far only needed when the first option isn’t producing.

The former Crystal Palace midfielder is right to be concerned about his lack of playing time, or rather a promise of regular minutes that is currently going unfulfilled. I don’t believe he’s in a position where he needs to prove anything to anyone, or even himself. We saw what he was capable of at Wigan, displaying qualities that made sense for a step up to a bigger and better team. Importantly, though, it’s his development and in turn career that’s on the line. Unfortunately, Rodgers has a winning formula, and without the stress on his players of midweek games, there isn’t much of a need to heavily rotate.

If this is the theme for the rest of the season, it will give Moses an indication as to where his future lies: neither at Stamford Bridge nor Anfield. He’ll be far more careful in his choosing on his next destination, provided Chelsea make things easy, which they have little reason not to.

It’s another unfortunate step in a young player’s career. But crucially, both Chelsea and Liverpool saw something in him that they deemed worthy of pursuit. Moses is evidently good enough to bounce back.

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It would appear the days of hard graft and determination are long gone in football. Today the culture of instant gratification extends well beyond the terraces and into the hearts and minds of many of our top footballers. Rather than knuckle down and fight for their places, too many now seek the easy way out with a potentially lucrative move elsewhere.

Players may argue that their careers are short and time is a finite commodity, they would be right. However the degree of knee-jerkism shown by so many Premier League stars is in my opinion totally unfounded.

Arsenal club captain Thomas Vermaelen has this week spoken openly about the possibility of moving away from North London come January. In a recent piece by the Guardian he was quoted as saying:

“I’ll have to think about that when it’s necessary. January is still a few months ahead.”

“I have spoken to the manager but it will remain private between us. Things can happen in a split second and change my situation. That can happen tomorrow or next weekend. In that case, we will speak differently in January. I have to be ready for that.”

A former Gunners favourite who has slipped down the pecking order behind the imperious combination of Per Mertersacker and Laurent Koscielny, for me he needs to show a little more patience and perhaps loyalty.

The nature of Arsenal’s obligations this season would suggest that Vermaelen will be called upon with regularity. Competing on numerous fronts with the potential for injury and loss of form, the Belgian would be much better placed knuckling down and proving himself once more. Wenger wouldn’t want to lose someone that provides quality competition for the rest of his centre halves, so the only one pushing for a move must be the player himself. As Club Captain I think he owes Arsenal a little more than to bolt when things get tough.

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His defence is an understandable one though:

“Of course, never playing will not be the ideal situation for me to go to the World Cup, that’s for sure,” he told the Daily Mail.

“People ask me if I panic because I’m not playing a lot but I’m not.”

Herein lies a problem. While we should expect players to show a degree of patience, it is difficult when they have a yearning to represent their country at an upcoming World Cup. For Belgium particularly this drive is even greater, their first appearance since 2002 with a squad genuinely considered as the dark horses of Rio 2014, it a significant draw for Vermaelen.

My issue though is why can’t he achieve all this at Arsenal? A man who has previously led the team from the heart of defence only to have his recent years dogged by injury and loss of form. I really hope that during these apparent discussions, Wenger had the sense to tell Vermaelen that he should work to prove himself at Arsenal and with that the international call is merely a peripheral inevitability.

I’m not trying to single out Vermaelen because he clearly isn’t the sole case of this worrying lack of patience. Up and down the country players and agents continue to manoeuvre themselves towards new clubs at the first sign of any hardship or difficulty. Perhaps this is the great problem; agents whose ambition seems to be the lining of their own back pockets rather than the genuine interests of players and to a lesser extent clubs.

A hefty signing on fee often drives agents towards moving players around even when there is only weak reasoning to do so. Agent power has had a huge effect on the patience of modern players, and in reality it is an issue that is detrimental to both respective clubs and the players alike.

Someone like Vermaelen would be much better off heeding the advice of someone with actual footballing credentials like Arsene Wenger, than the self-interest of a professional football agent.

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Wenger may have the interests of Arsenal at heart, but the secret to good management is how one deals with the individual needs of their players at well. Wenger will know that they both seek a mutually beneficial outcome and that involves a fully firing and driven Vermaelen turning out in the red of Arsenal.

If player and manager can get the balance right who knows we may yet see the Belgian turning out in Rio next summer.

Do footballers like Vermaelen need to show a little more patience?

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At first it was easier to explain. No European football of any kind (and the fortune, in hindsight, of being knocked out of the League Cup early) owed to Liverpool’s good form at the start of the season. It was thought of as a false position they held near the top of the Premier League table, because thrown into a fixture list as congested as that of fellow title rivals, their true colours would show.

Liverpool have taken good steps to be where they are now, investing in youth, both in the form of their manager and their recruits via the market. With the fire power Brendan Rodgers has available to him in the form of Luis Suarez – a player trumpeted as the best in England – combined with smart tactics and a supporting cast of more than able attackers, it is about right where the club are now.

Instead of looking at it from a cynical point of view, we should strip away the topic of European football from the Liverpool-title challenge discussion and look at it for what it is: a team starting again, building from the bottom up and who will, when the time is right, play in the Champions League again. But first the ability to perform domestically.

Rodgers has been eager to keep his players grounded. He doesn’t need to look too far for support on that front. Steven Gerrard is one of the best captains to have in situations like this, when young players need a strong figure on the pitch and in the dressing room to help keep their heads clear. More than anyone at the club, Gerrard will be desperate to add the Premier League title to his trophy count, but it’s clear he’s not becoming distracted from the job at hand.

Around Christmas it was understandable for the Liverpool manager to want to distance his squad from talk of title challenges. It was sensible because even then, when they went into Christmas day as the league leaders, there were issues in the team that needed ironing out. Inconsistencies in the team’s results and general form, the matter that he had flagged up a squad that wasn’t strong enough and that could yet be reduced further by long-term injury. There’s also the psychological impact and distraction it has to talk up your own title credentials. Even Jose Mourinho, who is top with Chelsea, won’t admit to being in the race.

But that was three months ago. There’s only 10 games left and Liverpool are only held off the top spot by Chelsea while sitting above Arsenal and Manchester City (albeit who have two games in hand). The biggest name missing from that list will generate undoubted joy from the red half of Merseyside. Liverpool are so far ahead of Manchester United, and not just in terms of points, that it seems pointless to mention David Moyes’ side in the list of relevant sides who Liverpool are above.

Liverpool are currently the league’s most in-form side with the league’s most lethal strike partnership. Things likely could have been different, and Sergio Aguero’s injury troubles at Manchester City are as much a case of fortune as being given a clear run at the title through a lack of cup competition interventions.

Yet even with all that going for Rodgers and his side, it may be unwise to think too far ahead. What is important now is the game against Manchester United on March 16th. Taking away from Jose Mourinho’s reaction, there isn’t too much wrong with what Arsene Wenger said about fear of failure. No one really wants claim this season’s title as their own due to the unpredictability of the season so far.

And of course Liverpool have been here before, sitting in a strong position with just under two months left to play. They’ve also been burnt.

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The temptation will be there, and for all we know, Rodgers is sitting quietly out of camera and ear-shot thinking of the 10-game stretch and what could be achieved in only his third season as a Premier League manager. But there’s nothing wrong with what he’s doing. For now, and even with 10 games left, just carry on as normal.

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Whether it’s down to stubbornness or a tactical ineptitude, Arsenal seem to approach every fixture as though it is the same. Now, after conceding a grand total of 17 goals in three away Premier League fixtures against the league’s three strongest sides, surely it is time to try a new approach?

A humiliating 6-0 loss at Stamford Bridge and limp draw against Swansea has once more confined Arsenal’s league season to a bitter struggle for Champions League football. Arsene Wenger seemingly set his side up to keep possession as they are prone to doing (much better at home I might add). But it became apparent from the first minute that Chelsea’s midfield duo of Nemanja Matic and David Luiz weren’t going to allow them the time and space to work the ball around. Mikel Arteta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla were hurried in possession and gave the ball away sloppily in the build up to Chelsea’s first two goals.

The domination of Arsenal by Liverpool and Chelsea in recent games has really highlighted the weakness in the Arsenal boss’ set up. When in possession, the full-backs commit themselves high up the field in an attempt to provide options for the Arsenal midfield. When facing teams with the pace and the organisation of Chelsea and Liverpool, both Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have found themselves overrun by marauding bodies. It should be the job of the full-backs to provide options in order to ease the pressure, not go mindlessly rampaging forwards.

Furthermore, for all Oxlade-Chamberlain’s numerous qualities, a ball-playing, short passing, possession-centric footballer he is not. His passing can be wayward, and in midfield areas against teams that break with the pace of Chelsea it places the Arsenal defence under great pressure in the transition.

Last season, when the going got tough the Gunners got stuck in. The fashion in which they were able to grind out results with early goals and gritted teeth pushed them over the line, pipping Tottenham for Champions League football. Albeit they avoided most top teams in the final stretch, but nevertheless, Wenger’s side showed a side to their game that many felt was absent.

As not only Arsenal’s title hopes, but their Champions League hopes too, are in the balance, it may be worth channeling some of that fight from last year. The Gunners’ fantastic start to the season has seen them, at times, become complacent, almost ignoring the strengths of other sides. Instead of building on a rigid defensive performance in the big games, Arsenal have come out attempting to outplay their opposition. Away games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are not the time to dismiss the principles which allowed Arsenal to be in the position they have enjoyed most of the season.

The simple fact is that Arsenal’s players aren’t good enough right now to play in the manner they try against the best sides. And tactically, Wenger is too naïve. In his encounters with the media Wenger often speaks about ‘focusing on our own game’, or offers similar sentiments. As a man of experience it is simply infeasible to accept that he spends no time concentrating on the opposition. But at times it feels as though a little bit better preparation could go a long way. Instead, the Gunners inevitably revert back to the mean in a hope to claim victory. Wenger’s tactical predictability makes preparation for games far simpler than it does against the likes of Brendan Rodgers or Jose Mourinho; both managers who display their malleability in interpreting different situations and opponents, and adapt accordingly.

I would say Arsenal are lucky to be at home in the upcoming fixture against Manchester City, but with their ability to run riot, and Arsenal’s vulnerability against sides who press like City can and will, the potential for a painful defeat (especially off the back of the Chelsea result) is not beyond the realms of possibility.

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Wenger needs to realise that when City come to town, he doesn’t possess the team of superior footballers. In order to get anything from the game defensive discipline and organisation will be the key. If they come at City as they have done against Chelsea and Liverpool, another capitulation may be on the cards. And if that’s the case, it may just spell the beginning of the end of Arsenal’s season.

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