Recently in Gossip/Trash Talk Category

Peter Crouch must have committed about five handballs before scoring but the referee failed to spot even a single one. There was nothing dodgy however about Asimir Begovic's goalkeeping. He brought off at least three spectacular saves. However, he could not keep out Javi Garcia, who made his City debut as did Maicon and Scott Sinclair. The last 20 minutes were a Toure de force, as Yaya kept coming at Stoke but luck and Begovic kept their unbeaten streak alive.

Stoke also avoided a stoppage time heart breaker after Edin Dzeko beat an onrushing Begovic to spoon a shot towards goal but Ryan Shawcross sprinting back managed to keep the ball out throwing his left leg out just before it crossed the line.

Michael Owen came on for Crouch but he did not do much. Was he supposed to?

He won in court and now he wants his handshake too? Anton Ferdinand snubbed John Terry and a bit later Ashley Cole, his co-conspirator declining to shake their hands. Lip reading Terry, he appears to say, "My handshake is better than yours, damn right!"

It took Thierry Henry eight matches to open his scoring account for Arsenal, a period so fraught with self doubt that the winger turned striker admitted he had to be "re-taught everything about the art of striking." The drought ended on 18 September 1999 against Southampton, as Henry losing his marker, finds a sliver of space and curls his shot without any further elaboration. The rest they say is history. Arsenal's topscorer finished with 228 goals (and possibly counting) breaking Ian Wright's previous record by 43 goals.

Wright did not have to wait that long. His first league appearance was against Southampton on 28 September 1991, and it turned out to be a stunning debut as Arsenal scorched the Saints, 4-0 with Wright scoring a hat trick on his way to winning the Golden Boot. Three years later, Southampton were at the receiving end of another Wright hat trick losing by an identical margin. The former Crystal Palace striker ended his Arsenal career with five hat tricks and lead the club goalscoring six of his seven years.

The highly anticipated arrival of Dennis Bergkamp, a rising star on a record fee of £7.5 million from Inter was expected to pay immediate dividends. Instead, Bruce Rioch's signing struggled to adapt to the Premier League. On 23 September 1995, Southampton came knocking and Bergkamp, the butt of merciless ridicule by the press, scored a brace in his fifth appearance. He went on to score 11 goals that season helping Arsenal to fifth place in the league. Bergkamp ended his Arsenal career giving the English language, "sublime." .

Robin Van Persie, his career blighted with injury till last season, lived up to his full throated promise when he showed what he was capable of if healthy. Arsenal shot to third place after their worst start in fifty eight years as the Dutchman top scored with 30 league goals. RVP came to Arsenal from Ajax in 2004 and his first brush with the Premier League was marred by competition from Antonio Reyes, immature outbursts, and injuries. He was a sparingly used sub coming in late for either Reyes or Pires and it was his fifth match coming off the bench as Arsenal trailed Southampton, 1-2. With a few minutes left on the clock, RVP drew Arsenal level with a left footed curler for his first Premiership goal on 30th October. The Saints turned out to be a familiar target once again on their Premiership return, as RVP scored a first hat trick for his new club, Man Utd.

Oliver Giroud should take heart. His movement has been good and he's been getting chances in front of goal. He doesn't have to overthink things. Admittedly, all four players who scored against the Saints were not exactly centerforwards but were either wingers turned strikers or were comfortable playing in the hole. Giroud's best bet still remains positioning himself out on the posts for set piece service or second attempts. He has to use his height and physicality to create chances for him and for others in and around the box. Tomorrow might be the day to end his scoring frustrations. If he does, he's in excellent company.

The Bars of Aragon, part of the Catalonian flag will feature in the 2013-14 kit

Two days ago, a million and a half Catalonians demonstrated in Barcelona in an unmistakably fervent call for independence from Spain. The president of Barcelona, Sandro Rosell attended that demonstration with his family as a private citizen, not representing the club. And Pep Guardiola living it would appear in exile in New York sent a video in support of a Catalan nation with the message, "one more vote for independence." The former Barca manager also recently attended a NY event celebrating the national day of Catalonia.

Next season, the club is unveiling its new away kit with the Bars of Aragon emblazoned on its jerseys in solidarity with the Catalonian people. Rosell when asked what Barca's future would be if Catalonia indeed achieved independence was quick to add that they would not break ties with the Spanish league and would play El Clasico's.

Which brings us to what exactly are Guardiola's future aspirations? The conventional wisdom is that he's biding his time and will return to the sport. But what if he believes he has a future in politics in the nascent Catalonian state? It's not hard to see him garner widespread support. He is after all the lynchpin behind the homegrown project that nourishes Barcelona and continues to bring the club so much success.

World Cup champions Spain had to eke out an 85th minute goal by Roberto Soldado to get past Georgia who elected to park the bus. It almost worked.

Kealia Ohai scores the game winner in the 44th minute following great work down the right flank by full back Crystal Dunn and then celebrates a la Megan Rapinoe.

Congratulations, girls, that was a sweet victory against a formidable opponent who had beaten the USA, 3-0 in the group stage. The Germans had scored fifteen goals without conceding a single one in 610 minutes of matchplay before Ohai's score broke that record.

" I saw Crystal taking it down the flank and I knew she would get something off so in my head I was thinking, 'you've got to get in the box.' I sprinted as fast as I could, got in the box, it went past Stengel and I shot it and I just couldn't believe it." Ohai said.

Ohai became the seventh US women to score a winning goal in open field play in a final. She joined a who's who in women soccer: Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett, Lindsay Tarpley, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd.

Afterwards, the celebrations continued.

Leo Messi continues his incandescent national form which can only be good for Argentina's World Cup chances. The little maestro unleashed a free kick that swerved past the wall and lodged into goal. The Albiceleste's Real Madrid contingent also contributed with Angel Di Maria opening his country's account and Gonzalo Higuain adding to that tally.

Paraguay got their goal from a spot kick after Rodrigo Brana handled the ball in the box trying to head away danger. Jonathan Fabbro had no difficulties converting.

The disparity between Messi's Barca and national team performances was always attributed to the club system he played where the likes of Xavi and Iniesta made goalscoring easy. But Argentina under Sabella look like a more complete side with Di Maria and Higuain taking over the goalscoring responsibilities as well as dropping back to assist Messi's forays forward. With Javier Mascherano and Fernando Gago back in the squad, the midfield connectivity has been taken care of. Giving Messi the captaincy seems to have also ended the remote relationship he was frequently criticized for with his own country.

Argentina now lead the CONMEBOL zone in World Cup qualifying with 13 points, followed by Chile and Ecuador with 12 points each, Uruguay in fourth with 11, and Colombia jockeying for the final spot with 10 points. The Albiceleste have a commanding goal differential which could prove to be a crucial tie breaker.

Vincent Kompany's inch perfect header and Jan Vertonghen's sizzling free kick provided the scoring highlights.

This might be the best Belgian side since the Enzo Scifo- Jan Cuelemans- Nico Claesen- Eric Gerets era. The present squad can choose between the goalkeeping abilities of Simone Mignolet and Thibaut Courtois. In midfield the skillful likes of Eden Hazard, Maoruane Fellaini, Moussa Dembele, Alex Witsel, and Dries Mertens run the show. On top they have Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas.

Wales were also done in by a rash challenge by James Collins on Guillaume Gillet which earned him a red card. Keeping up against a Belgian side of this calibre was going to be tough even with a full XI. Playing with a man down for more than an hour made it impossible.

The USA celebrated a historical win over Mexico beating them for the first time in Mexico about three weeks ago. Today, it was the Reggae Boyz recording their first win ever against the USA in nineteen meetings as they took advantage of a midfield without Michael Bradley and his potential link up with the men on top. As they say something was missing all through the match against Jamaica.

Clint Dempsey defying all match fitness odds put the USA on the scoreboard in a record 36 seconds. But Jamaica came back strongly through two set pieces. A low hard drive by Rodolph Austin deflected off Kyle Beckerman to draw them level. In the second half, Luton Shelton dealt the USA a mortal blow with a perfectly executed free kick which left Tim Howard stranded. Jamaica then held on to their 2-1 margin to create history.

Frank Lampard collects a brace from a spot kick and a header. Jermain Defoe combines with Alex Oxlade - Chamberlain in an Arsenal- Spurs hook up to score a third. James Milner collects a fourth after a clever interchange involving Tom Cleverley and Theo Walcott. And Leighton Baines finishes off hapless Moldova with a deflected free kick.

Cleverley and Oxlade Chamberlain caught the eye. And Frank Lampard spoke glowingly of the Arsenal youngster.

"And Alex was brilliant. He lit up the first half with his injection of pace and running with the ball. It's great to see exciting young players like that playing for England. "

Roy Hodgson starts his 2014 World Cup campaign swimmingly. David Beckham started his international career at Kishinev sixteen years ago as England won 3-0 win in their 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Pretty historical milestones, wouldn't you say?

No Landon Donovan or Michael Bradley

The USA return to World Cup qualifications today with their match against Jamaica at Kingston. They are without Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley who are out with injuries. Amongst the midfielders, Bradley has an established reputation for his box to box contribution and link up with the strikers up top.

The others like Maurice Edu and Kyle Beckerman are more traditional holding midfielders with Jermaine Jones occasionally roving up. Klinsmann can call upon Jose Francisco Torres but he's played in a number of different positions including out on the flank without imposing himself. Without Bradley, the midfield is missing speed and counterattacking strength through the centre but with Fabian Johnson and Brek Shea on the wings the US can get the ball to the box rapidly.

A more conservative 4-4-2 might be favoured with Jozy Altidore using his strength and aerial ability to knock the ball down to Hercules Gomez.

A rapidly improving Jamaican team is sure to sniff out some opportunities here. The Reggae Boyz have never defeated the USA but they have managed to fight them to a number of stalemates and the World Cup qualifiers have been no exception. All four matches played in Jamaica have resulted in draws.

Clint Dempsey is back and this will be his first match since joining Spurs from Fulham. However, his minutes maybe limited because of match fitness concerns. The USA will also feature Carlos Bocanegra having moved from Rangers to new club Racing Santander, fellow Ranger Edu leaving for Stoke to join Geoff Cameron.

Michael Orozco Fiscal also returns to the squad for his first World Cup qualifier since 2008 and his goal was the one that made history as the USA won against Mexico in Mexico for the first time back in August. Also included Graham Zusi who has been outstanding topping MLS with 12 assists.

Seems like just yesterday we were talking about Timothy Chandler, Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream, Eric Lichaj, Sacha Kljestan, Alejandro Bedoya, and Freddy Adu. But they have disappeared for one reason or the other. Klinsmann has reposed faith in wingback Johnson, Shea and striker Terrence Boyd as part of his revamped squad.

He doesn't have hair, he's fat, he doesn't score

" Then I remember - I drank a few bevvies while I was away. I'm stocky. I'm not like Ryan Giggs, all bone and lean muscle."

So writes Wayne Rooney in his new book, My Decade in the Premier League. He now has problems walking for at least a half hour the morning after a game. He's past his physical prime and it appears to take him longer to get back into shape.

What this bodes for the future is still unknown but there are a number of Utd fans who must be thanking the stars they got Robin Van Persie who is 29 years old and injury prone himself.

More extracts from his book available in the Mirror >>

"You'll never stop loving me, will you, oh beautiful reflection?"

'Tis not about the money. Cristiano Ronaldo feels unloved by his club, his manager, his locker room, and his fans.

" In regard to the Santiago Bernabéu faithful, he still lays the blame on the fans for not unanimously defending him on the day he was booed and for not worshiping him every time he scores a goal."

"I am sad", has set off cataclysms that threaten to dwarf the Spanish economic crisis.

For satirists, this is an embarrassment of riches. Ronaldo's "I am sad" or Sepp Blatter's comparison of Ronaldo to a "modern day slave" when Utd refused to let him go to Real Madrid. Which do you find more ludicrous? It's all about inflated self worth.

For shrinks, a case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, isn't it?

Antonio Cassano scored his debut goal for Inter but it was not enough to keep Zdenek Zeman's Roma team plundering three in return. Check out Marquinho's goal from the tightest of angles. A sliver of daylight and that is all that was needed.

Michael Bradley is out with a quadriceps injury and will not feature in the US national side's upcoming World Cup qualifier against Jamaica.

Francisco Totti turns 36 years of age in 23 days and still shows that impeccable touch. He created two of Roma's goals, including the one that led to Osvaldo's cheeky chip over Luca Castellazzi. Captain fantastic!

Thomas DiBenedetto, the CEO of AS Roma presides over a club brimming with optimism while his FSG partners, John Henry and Tom Werner, owners of Liverpool see their side's season slide into despair and bitter recrimination. A tale of two clubs.

Damn Yankees: Gillett and Hicks followed by Henry and Werner

It's not been two months since Brendan Rodgers came on board and already fans are slating him for Liverpool's worst start since 1968. Is he responsible for Martin Skrtel's bone headed giveaway to City? Or Steven Gerrard's ill advised pass? Or Pepe Reina failing to save a rather routine shot? You can't legislate for stupidity. At some point the onus should be on the players which in a sport like football accounts for a majority of the results.

Liverpool has become a revolving door of managers with Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson, and Kenny Dalglish, following each other in a space of two years. It's a hodge podge of styles; rotational style, English style, no style. In the case of Dalglish, the fall from grace has been nothing short of spectacular. Fans associating a history of success clamoured for his return but he's now tied to the hip with the biggest bungle up in transfer history since Hong Kong went to China. The repercussions are being directly felt this season and led to some bizarre decisions most succinctly seen in the convolutions on transfer deadline.

Michael Laudrup's Swansea are enjoying a successful start to their second year in the Premiership building on a template left by Rodgers. It took them a year to climb from the Championship to a position in the top league and the way they are playing it would appear relegation is the furthest removed from their mind. Does Rodgers have the personnel to implement that quick, short passing style and rapid interchanges that he favours? Joe Allen fits right in because of his time with the Swans. But the rest of the squad needs a primer. Steven Gerrard is an example of how old habits die hard forcing the issue with long passes.

Do Liverpool fans really think Michael Owen would be an improvement on Clint Dempsey? Wouldn't he have been the ideal replacement for Andy Carroll, who by the way will have to find a new home if FSG is serious about recouping part of that £120m spent under Dalglish and Damien Comolli. Their hands are also tied from the debt which still remains from the previous ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Carroll will not come back if Rodgers is serious about implementing his system but second guessing by fans this early does put him under tremendous pressure. For those who talk of a plan B, there needs to be a plan A, fully formed and visible to the eye, otherwise what you get is tactical sectarianism and pitch apocalypse. Patience, my friends.

Is it possible to be a legend in two clubs within two consecutive seasons? Robin Van Persie may just be on his way to being that. This like the other two previous matches was not Utd at its best. They are leaking goals, getting bossed in the midfield, and coincidentally like Arsenal last season, over reliant on Van Persie for their scoring. Against the Saints, they had no answer to Ricky Lambert who rose unmolested into the air to head the ball from a cross by Jason Puncheon past Anders Lindegaard. The opportunity arose when Morgan Schneiderlin reading Tom Cleverley's pass stole the ball from Shinji Kagawa and then fed Puncheon.

Utd came back as Van Persie taking advantage of Nathaniel Clyne losing his footing chested a cross and thumped it past Kelvin Davies. It was another slip this time by Patrice Evra allowing Schneiderlin to give the Saints the lead in the second half. Could this be a miracle at St Mary's? Sir Alex immediately made a double switch bringing in Paul Scholes in place of the lackluster Cleverley and Nani for the invisible Kagawa. And things improved considerably as Scholes connected with Van Persie almost immediately. The former Arsenal striker could not convert and in the next few minutes also made a hash of a spot kick after Jos Hooiveld brought him down with a tackle from behind. It's hard to characterize but RVP might have tried a panenka but instead it mutated into a ugly wobble which Davies was able to swat away while prone on the ground. The miracle at St Mary's was still alive.

Then came the game changer. Don't you love that word? It's so American. Nigel Adkins takes off Puncheon, Lambert, and Adam Lallana and brings in Guly, Emmanuel Mayuka, and Jay Rodriguez. The attacking zest is gone and the Saints now just close shop which if you've followed enough Utd matches means you're essentially going to self immolate. And that is what happened as an impatient Sir Alex warned his players tapping on his watch. With time running out, Utd forced corner after corner and from one of them Rio Ferdinand thumped a header that came off the upright and Van Persie was at hand to pounce on it. It was the 87th minute. Immediate rationalization being this would still count as a moral victory for the Saints even if they came away with a draw. But Van Persie had one more trick up his sleeve, swiveling his head perfectly to guide Nani's cross past Davies in extra time. The miracle was over.

The Guardian has an article detailing how a cash strapped Liverpool could only offer a feeble £5m for the American. Now, to be fair, the article's emphasis is on the club's criminal waste of money on transfers made under Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli. But herein lies the rub.

FSG offered up £20m as a transfer budget plus whatever player sales they could generate which went in acquiring Joe Allen, Fabio Borini, Oussama Assaidi, Samed Yesil, and Nuri Sahin (£3m in loan fees) which added up to £30m. The total raised for players sold including Charlie Adam on deadline and on season long loans was about £8m.

The owners made it clear that any future purchase would be contingent on cost cutting. Brendan Rodgers cleared £8m in wages by selling those players. Which means that the Liverpool coach had about £6m to work with. That was what Spurs paid for Dempsey and it should have been enough for Fulham to release the striker whose preference was to come to Anfield in the first place. It was the topic du jour signing all summer long.

But Liverpool agreed to pay a lions share of Nuri Sahin's wages which swelled his wage bill to over £4m annually. Sahin earns about £120,000 a week at Real Madrid. A more equitable 60-40 arrangement could have saved them possibly £1,5m or thereabouts. And so the pot of money they potentially had for Dempsey shrank further to where they were forced to offer £5m tops or preferably even less. LFC's storied history was not enough to make up for that shortfall. Ergo, Sahin's wages sank Dempsey's chance of an arrival at Anfield.

The clash of two unbeaten teams playing attractive, attacking soccer and it was the Baggies walking away with the full three points. Deservedly so. They were the dominant team bossing Everton in the midfield because of the excellent Youssuf Mulumbu. And a constant threat down the flanks through Peter Odemwingie and Liam Ridgewell.

Their finishing too was excellent with Shane Long guiding an on the money cross from Odemwingie and then an unresponsive defense allowed Gareth McAuley all the time and space in the world to head in a corner.

Marouane Fellaini and Nikica Jelavic had their chances with the former guilty of clumsily blazing the ball over with an open goal in front of him.

Tim Howard was the second American goalie to have an excellent game after Brad Friedel, both losing efforts. He saved Steve Morrison's blast and then palmed away Mulumbu's rocket to prevent further damage.

The Baggies are just behind the Swans and Chelsea in stratospheric third place. Everton is in fifth. This season, the usual suspects have no easy games.

Andy Carroll was the elephant in the room. The Liverpool striker on loan in the first big moment of the match knocked the ball down straight into the path of Ricardo Vaz Te who found Kevin Nolan steaming down the left to fire a snap shot past Mark Schwarzer.

The match was just a minute old. It should have been two goals minutes later as Carroll knocked the ball down for Diame to have a blast but his shot hit the crossbar and ballooned over. It set the tone for further panic every time Carroll was involved with even the hard core Brede Hangeland committing naive errors.

Steven Reid connected from a corner to put the Hammers up by two. The Cottagers were done for when Hangeland and Diarra crowding Carroll knocked each other off trying to get to a free kick. The ball ricocheted off the falling Norwegian's head straight to Matthew Taylor. Three down and not even the silky smooth skills of Dimitar Berbatov could bring this back for Martin Jol, looking dyspeptic by now at how badly the match had gone for his side.

Carroll had to depart clutching his hamstring after falling in a heap colliding with said Hangeland. He will miss England's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

Big Sam and Big Andy conspiring to put West Ham in sixth place? Who would have thunk it?

The scoreline is flattering. This was a QPR side that made its ambition clear enough with its number of signings. It was Man City doing all the early pressing forcing corners and set pieces, one of which Yaya Toure scored from after Carlos Tevez's shot caromed off Bobby Zamora and fell to the big man.

Speaking of Tevez, the man has practically re-invented himself and is now City's main attacking threat in the absence of Sergio Aguero. The best thing City did was to keep his transfer fee so high, no one could afford him. The little Argentinian seems to be enjoying himself and there appears to be no sign of that sulking wreck who made Roberto Mancini's life miserable with his rebellion.

After Zamora equalized for QPR in the second half, City broke through immediately as Tevez's perfecty weighted cross found Edin Dzeko to give them the lead. Not a moment too soon because QPR looked quite dangerous with Esteban Granero and Zamora testing Vincent Kompany and company on the breakaway. But it was Ryan Nelsen coming close with a couple of chances to restore parity. City were able to close out the match in extra time as Dzeko's mishit was deflected serendipitously into goal by Tevez.

The next match against Stoke will probably see Javi Garcia, the £16m acquisition from Benfica start the match to take over Nigel De Jong's role. After that the attention turns to Real Madrid as City's Champions League encounter begins for which Mancini should get back Mario Balotelli who is undergoing minor eye surgery. Apparently he doesn't quite see eye to eye with the gaffer.

Moussa Dembele's undoubted moment of genius was the only redeeming feature in an otherwise rather insipid, dull, and lethargic Spurs side that was hard pressed keeping away an industrious and well organized Norwich side.

The former Fulham midfielder scored a goal on debut showing his class in the 68th minute as he used some nifty footwork and a cool finish to frustrate an enterprising Norwich side who had plenty of chances of their own. Brad Friedel showed some excellent reflexes as out of position he managed to palm away Robert Snodgrass's cleverly flicked header and then the crossbar came in the way after Russell Martin thumped Snodgrass's free kick. Friedel is not going to go away quietly into that night even as Spurs sign Hugo Lloris.

Apart from Dembele's bit of improvisation the Spurs attack seemed to lack imagination and even the basic craft of passing. Often their attacks would break down as Gareth Bale got forced inside into traffic and Aaron Lennon lacked the finishing cross. Sandro made a few eye opening runs but he and Jake Livermore were fairly invisible in midfield as a quick Norwich side with more fluent passing wrested control.

Not quite sure what it is but Andre Villas- Boas might be losing something in translation or maybe his micro-managing style stifles creative expression but Spurs who were so good at home last season have two consecutive draws. They started the season with a 1-2 loss at Newcastle. For the second time, they gave up a goal as Snodgrass inflicted some late minute pain with his equalizer. There was no sign of Clint Dempsey. But he could have been a difference maker.

Having made a cursory tour of the blogosphere and the attendant media the common emotion one picks up after Arsenal's no show at yesterday's transfer deadline is that of frustration, of disbelief, and a sense of resignation that once again what seems so obvious to us is lost on the manager and the boardroom. Particularly, with Alex Song's departure, there appeared to be an overwhelming need to fill his position. Nuri Sahin bypassing the Emirates in what appeared to be a sure shot deal. Or the cheap availability of Clint Dempsey after Liverpool gave up on him and Spurs bagged him. But here again, is a reminder as to why things are different.

Arsenal are not contending for the title: Arseblog leads with the belief that Arsenal cannot really contend for the title with this squad. The reality is that Arsenal gave up as contenders a number of seasons ago and the present philosophy is to finish fourth as an ideal or as Peter Hill Wood puts its, "its not as if we were relegated", in response to Alisher Usmanov's accusations of Arsenal lacking ambition. Wenger has backed this up by questioning the loyalty of fans pointing out they are spoiled having a great stadium, a good team that gets to play Champions League football year in and year out. This is an era of reduced expectations so what exactly is the problem?

Arsenal are a selling club: Too many examples to dispute this premise. Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Robin Van Persie, Alex Song, are the marquee names moving out for most part attracted by more money offered by clubs with fewer qualms on spending. Fabregas is an exception, he was motivated by a return to his boyhood club for which he took a salary cut. We make purchases but not at market prices. It is a bit unnerving to think that Malaga's financial difficulties opened up an opportunity for Santi Cazorla's sale but only after negotiating for a lower price.

Wenger says he will buy but only if it is quality: When Wenger says this, he's giving himself an out. Faced with criticism of a failure to buy, he can defend himself by saying he tried but there was no one he considered "quality". It has become a mantra of his to protect himself from these recent transfer periods which are now a constant source of much angst and handwringing amongst fans. Just two days before the transfer deadline, he said there could be one or two arrivals if they happened to be of quality. Those words should warn us that there is a good chance reinforcements will not arrive.

The boardroom is invested in itself: There is a good reason to further the current policy. Stan Kroenke has not put in a single dime of his as investment but the stock of his 63% shareholding will keep going up. Alisher Usmanov will not make a move because he's a shareholder with no boardroom privileges and he is not going to invest his money till he is given assurances he can increase his shareholding for a takeover. It is a stalemated chess match and each camp is trying to protect themselves. A self sustaining model is sound financial practise but it also benefits the status quo which borders on self serving inertia.

This year Arsenal acted more decisively before deadline: Last year was just chaotic with the Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri situation eating up all of Wenger's living moments. With them gone, a fourth placed finish in jeopardy, he moved decisively on transfer deadline and did pick up some excellent bargains who played regular minutes in the starting squad. We managed a respectable third thanks to those replacements and RVP. This year, the frustration has been mitigated somewhat with the arrivals of Podolski, Giroud, and Cazorla well before and Arsenal holding well with Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta working centrally in the first two matches till Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky work their way back to give more options.

Defence, an issue shows undeniable improvement: There appears to be an early assurance to Arsenal's defense. Steve Bould's imprint shows up in zonal marking on set pieces, less panic defending long balls, more tracking output from other players. Wenger probably sees this as encouragement they can keep things close even if Arsenal take their time get stuck in with their attack. RVP and Song's loss is keenly felt but the defensive displays are proving to be the difference between frustration and outright angst. Of course, all could change with a crucial fixture against Liverpool tomorrow, Chelsea and United to follow in the next few weeks, in what could define Arsenal's season early enough.