A Typical Arsenal Letdown

Just when you thought that the team had indeed matured, especially with Arsene Wenger throwing plaudits to his young proteges every few seconds, Arsenal conspired to turn in another toothless display at the Emirates Stadium. While their efforts could not be faulted, they really tried to throw everything including the kitchen sink at Hull City, but it was clear during the game that some of the Gunners fans could not stomach any more live English Premiership football until a real cutting edge could be found. Or in more accurate terms, a permanent cutting edge.

So often players like Adebayor have flattered to deceive, and the striker that Wenger tried so hard to keep during the summer hardly made his presence felt. Being marked out of the game by a team of supposed no hopers should lower his market value further, and keeping him might be a mistake in the end. But Van Persie was one bright spark in the game, as was Fabregas who worked tirelessly as usual. The only letdown, again, were their lack of finishing. This is now a problem that should rank as the most important for Wenger to solve, if he is really serious about adding further titles to his resume.

It was a typical letdown by the Gunners though, especially after their reserves hammered Sheffield United in the Carling Cup. The seniors failed to live up to their place in the squad. It might be time to take a look again at replacing Gallas, for he was at fault with the winning goal and is clearly a player in decline. The call to spend again in January will gather pace if such weaknesses continue to be exist. There is no doubt that Arsenal have a great chance to win the English Premiership this season, but players with killing instincts must be employed, instead of just focusing on playing attractive football. Perhaps when Eduardo is back, we might see more improvement in that area, but the Croatian will need a few months to get his sharpness back as well.

Well, at least now it's on to the Champions League, where we usually do well in the group stages.