I'm told by a reliable source that William Gallas is no longer the captain of Arsenal.

No decision has been made yet about who will replace him. I'm sure we'll get more on this story in the next 24 hours. He is also reportedly out of tomorrow's squad to face Man City although that's yet to be confirmed.

Comments on this can be left on today's earlier post.

Well just when you thought things couldn't get much worse up pops William Gallas to open his enormous mouth and spark a raft of headlines which we really didn't need.

In an interview which appeared in the Associated Press and spread like the plague to every news service on the planet Gallas criticised his team-mates, described in-fighting in the squad, questioned (with a straight face it seems) the bravery of his colleagues and generally started the kind of shit storm we would stand back laughing hilariously at if it happened at any other club.

Maybe he was trying to motivate others but if that's what it was meant to do then it will have failed miserably. And while some of what he spoke about has some merit the more you read what he said the more it appears that his motivation was entirely personal and not for the benefit of the club.

I think the point he made about players being 'warriors' and 'brave' is a good one. However, when it comes from a man who chickened out of a challenge at Fulham and cost us the goal which lost us the match it's a bit hard to take. Still, the point itself is valid. His point about how well paid the young players are might have them resting on their laurels is a good one. I spoke about this on the blog earlier this week. That if your pay is not dependent on your performance then you'll get lazy and I think that's a real issue in the squad.

But any decent points he had to make were made useless by some of the most astonishing and unprofessional comments ever made by an Arsenal player, let alone an Arsenal captain. Let's go through some of them. Talking about an incident that happened in what appears to be the Sp*rs game this season he said:

When, as captain, some players come up to you and talk to you about a player ... complaining about him ... and then during the match you speak to this player and the player in question insults us. There comes a time where we can no longer comprehend how this can happen.

I am trying to defend myself a bit without giving names. Otherwise I'm taking it all (the blame). It's very frustrating. I'm 31, the player is six years younger than me.

You can speculate yourself but the consensus is that he's talking about Robin van Persie. Now firstly, players argue all the time. At every level of football they do it, it's normal. But these fights are generally forgotten once the match is over and certainly weeks later it does nobody any good to bring it back up again. Whoever the player in question is they're going to be pissed off today and it's not good for the squad to have to relive old arguments.

Secondly, you have to question Gallas's motivation here. Why is he making this public? From what I can see it's not to try and heal any rift, it's so he can stop himself being blamed. And it smacks of paranoia. He's had his critics this season, I've been among them, but when you're the captain of a side, the most experienced defender and you're part of a defensive unit that is shipping goals all over the place then you have to expect some criticism. I don't think anyone blamed Gallas for anything that wasn't his fault. The goals against Fulham and Bolton in particular stand out due to the way he shirked responsibility. So he has rightly been criticised in my opinion.

Thirdly, this kind of stuff should just never have been made public. The papers, radio and TV are loving this. At a time when the club is suffering on the pitch more than it ever has under Arsene Wenger you need everyone to pull together, not for one loose cannon to start stirring things up like this. You wouldn't expect this kind of thing from an inexperienced youth player so far a 31 year old international and captain of a club like Arsenal to go public like this is just 100% wrong.

His motivation was clear to see again when he said:

I have to win something this year. I have to win something, Arsenal has to win something.

The fact that he said 'I have to win something' first tells you all you need to know about the man, I think. Then when asked if he would still be at Arsenal next season, he said:

We will have to see. We don't know what will happen between here and then.

Inspiring stuff from the club captain, don't you think? I have maintained from the start that I thought Gallas was a bad choice of captain. From the way the announcement was made (Gilberto finding out via the internet that Gallas had been picked ahead of him) the whole thing has been an unmitigated disaster, in my opinion. Yes, he did well enough up until Birmingham last season but it's easy to be the captain of a winning team, a team that's full of confidence, flying through games at home and in Europe. It's when things go wrong that you get a measure of someone's ability as captain and when things went wrong Gallas was found wanting.

The Birmingham game should have been enough to tell Arsene Wenger he was the wrong man for the job. Yes, we all get emotional but it was dereliction of duty so epic, so juvenile, that a change should have been made this summer (if not immediately). You look at the cringeworthy team-talk against Chelsea when a clearly disinterested and uncomfortable squad squirmed at his attempts to gee them up. That he didn't have the wherewithal to get Sky's TV cameras out of the way as he did it is another example of his complete lack of self-awareness.

He just isn't a captain and I suppose it's not really his fault. He's been asked to do a job that he is just not suited for. He has tried, and failed, and failed again, but he is not and never will be a captain. He doesn't have the personality for it and his botched attempts at leadership are damaging the team.

You then have to look at Arsene Wenger and his insistence in keeping Gallas as the man with the armband. He has to take his share of the blame for this situation. He has hinted at being aware of the poor performance of his captain as captain, talking about having '11 leaders on the pitch'. But then too many cooks spoil the broth, as they say. Arsene has made mistakes in the past, poor substitutions, poor transfers, but I think the Gallas captaincy has been the biggest mistake of his Arsenal career.

From the way it happened, which caused some turmoil within the squad who were expecting the well-liked and highly-professional Gilberto to be made skipper, to his continued backing of Gallas as both a player and captain when he has struggled with both roles. The captaincy has made it difficult to drop Gallas the player and it was Kolo Toure who made way despite the fact it Gallas's form was worse.

Former Gunner Perry Groves has given his reaction to the latest outburst from Gallas and says:

Gallas has been an absolute disgrace. He has brought into disrepute all the great Arsenal captains of the past.

Arsene Wenger has to take some responsibility because he is the one who made him captain. He should take the captaincy off him.

Those are some seriously strong words and I don't think I've ever heard such stinging criticism of any Arsenal player, let alone an Arsenal captain. I know people have accused me of having an anti-Gallas agenda and I will freely admit I don't like him and have never liked him. But this is my blog with my opinion and I'll always say what I think. It's not an agenda, it's just an opinion. I don't know what kind of agenda you could accuse Perry Groves of having, beyond being, like all of us, an Arsenal fan who is upset at seeing things which should be kept inside the club so clumsily aired in public.

For me this is the straw that broke the camel's back with Gallas. The manager has to take the captaincy away from him. If the consequences of that sees Gallas leave then so be it. You cannot tolerate the captain of your club behaving in this way. To try and point fingers at a teammate so less blame will be apportioned to yourself is so selfish and cowardly it's just not true. It's like telling on someone else in school so you don't get into as much trouble. That is not somebody who is thinking of what's best for the team, only what's best for himself. To reveal the in-fighting, allowing hungry journalists to get their teeth into the 'Arsenal in crisis/civil war' stories does nobody any good.

It's simply not acceptable and I don't know how Gallas expects to receive the backing of his teammates, the fans or the manager any more. No doubt we'll hear something today about 'I am fully behind Arsenal and blah blah blah' or some comment from Arsene about how 'William is a fighter' so I'm expecting my intelligence to be thoroughly insulted. All I know is that if I were the manager of the club and my captain came out with that kind of stuff I would take the armband off him the minute I removed my fucking boot from his arse.

The Gallas experiment has failed, Arsene. You thought you could make him a captain the way you made Lauren a full back or Kolo a centre-half but you couldn't. You humiliated one of our most professional and loyal players to do it. You stood by him when every bit of you must have known he was the wrong man for the job. Change it now or this team is going to continue to suffer under his rudderless attempts at on-pitch leadership.

He might be suspended for this weekend but give it to Cesc. It's time to give the young man a chance. Maybe it'll help lift him out of this funk he's in. Maybe the team will react well to having a new leader. And when January comes, Arsene, think long and hard about what's best for Arsenal Football Club, not what's best for your little experiments and projects.

More reaction from East Lower, Gunnerblog, Goodplaya and Goonerholic.

In other news this morning we've been linked with a move for Belgian midfielder Steven Defour. Kolo Toure is added to the injury list for the Man City game, he has a calf strain. We're already without Eboue, a suspended Cesc and, of course, Theo Walcott who will be missing for three months. Arsene's response was much less volatile than I had expected.

Now, time for this week's Arsecast. I'd love to tell you this will brighten up your day but given the state of the team and the Gallas stuff it's not exactly the most cheerful Arsecast of all time. I chat with the Man from East Lower about stuff and there's some other gloomy stuff in there too. I just wasn't feeling very funny this week (please insert your own joke about how I'm never funny anyway, it'll save me the time!).

You can subscribe to the Arsecast iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

And that's that. It's enough, eh?

So the club indirectly confirmed the bad news about Theo Walcott last night. While commentating for French TV Arsene Wenger said:

Theo dislocated his shoulder during training, he will be out for at least three months.

Well, great biskwits made of arse flotsam. That is bad news. Theo was established as our first choice right sided midfielder and the alternatives are a bit depressing. When he gets fit again it'll probably be Eboue playing there and he simply does not offer the same attacking threat as Theo. In a period where we need to be as efficient as possible and to score as many goals as possible due to our leaky defence this is bad news.

Theo is going to have surgery to correct the problem which should make the shoulder much stronger so reports about how his career is at risk should be taken with a very hefty pinch of salt. It's just the usual suspects making a big drama. Hopefully he can recover well and quickly and we wish him all the best. Hurry back, Billy Whizz!

Hearing what Arsene has to say about Theo's injury in more detail will be interesting, to say the least. We know he's never been a fan of international friendlies, particularly pointless ones like the ones this week, so I suspect he's not going to hold back. His frustration won't be helped by how important Theo is to us. As for the issue of compensation I think Arsenal should go for it. I did some reading around last night and came across an article about Michael Owen and one of his many injures suffered whilst on England duty. An FA spokesperson said:

The FA takes out policies to cover for injuries sustained on international duty. This figure can be up to £100,000 a week but it is not the FA who pay this money out, it is our insurers, if they deem it is fit to do so.

So the precedent is set and if the FA are paying insurance then we would be foolish not to make a claim. Losing a player for a week or two is one thing but three months entirely another. 

Where exactly this leaves us for Saturday's game against Man City remains to be seen. We'll be without Cesc through suspension and I think Eboue is still injured. If that remains the same then you have to think one of Ramsey or even Jack Wilshere will be drafted into the team, perhaps to play in a 5 man midfield. One thing Theo's injury does is highlight the paucity of options available to us. Don't get me wrong, I think Ramsey and Wilshere are great young players but that we're hoping for either a 16 or a 17 year old to come in and save our bacon just isn't right for a club like Arsenal. Anyway, we'll find out more about that later on, I'm sure.

One man who will come back into the team is Robin van Persie who scored two for the Dutch last night. Hopefully he can keep those shooting boots on because I think we're going to need them. There were no other reports of injuries for those involved in matches last night, fingers crossed it remains that way.

Arsene Wenger also hinted at changes in the centre of defence, talking up the qualities of Johan Djourou. He said:

He has gained in personality, in determination and in quality. He is pushing all the other players. At the back you want players who are strong in the duels and strong in the air. Johan's size is a big advantage. He is among the top quality.

I really don't see the harm in putting him in at this stage. We've seen Kolo + Gallas doesn't really work, nor does Gallas + Sylvester (9 goals conceded in 5 league games with them at the back), so I suppose it's time to see if Gallas + Djourou works (despite the obvious common denominator in those previous partnerships). There are signs that it might though. I think Gallas had his best spell as an Arsenal defender around the turn of last year when Kolo had gone to the ACN. Senderos played and as the kind of centre half who attacks the ball he allowed Gallas to play the 'mopping up' role he does best.

If Djourou plays in a similar manner then at least we'll have someone who adds some presence and aggression to the centre of defence and we might see an improvement in the performances of the captain which, until we can address the problems in defence during the transfer window, would be very welcome.

Right, not much more happening at this early stage. The players will be coming back in dribs and drabs today, leaving only tomorrow for the manager to assess his squad and get things in order for what's going to be a tough game in Manchester.

More on that and other stuff tomorrow. 

Morning all,

bad news to start the day I'm afraid. This round of utterly pointless international friendlies has claimed its first Arsenal victim and the consequences could be quite serious. Theo Walcott dislocated his shoulder and could now miss as much as three months while he recuperates.

He fell under a challenge from West Ham's Scott Parker and was stretchered off to hospital. England coach Fabio Capello said:

Our priority is Theo and making him as comfortable as possible before he returns to England. We’re all very disappointed but the most important thing is for Theo to travel home and make a quick recovery.

Really though it makes little or no difference to England. The next World Cup qualifier isn't until April 1st but for Arsenal it's going to cause a massive problem. Theo has played in every league game this season and has established himself as the first choice at right midfield. Now we're really stuck. I have no idea how long Eboue, the next obvious choice for Arsene Wenger, is out injured but with Bacary Sagna out Eboue could provide cover for that when fit (although Kolo Toure can do a job).

With Manchester City coming up on Saturday we now have no Cesc (suspension) and no Theo. Those are two of our most dangerous midfielders and life will be much more difficult without them.

I expect a bit of fallout in the wake of this injury. Arsene Wenger, never a fan of friendly internationals at the best of times, will be absolutely furious about this injury. And it opens up the whole debate about compensation for players injured while away on international duty. While the FA can, perhaps, justify ignorning claims of clubs when a player is hurt during a competitive game they simply cannot do the same for a friendly like this.

The FA should now be made to pay Theo's wages for the duration of the injury. As is stands Arsenal are the ones who suffer on the pitch and in the wallet and that's simply not right. As well as that there should be more debate about the need for a friendly international at this stage of the season. As I mentioned England's next qualifier isn't until April, what benefit is a friendly now? Why, when almost everyone in football agrees that players are overplayed, do they see fit to schedule a round of games in November?

In England December is a crazy month. There is no winter break. There's a full Christmas schedule, yet instead of giving players a break FIFA and the national associations look on this as a little money-spinner. It's wrong on every level and I would heartily endorse the club taking a stand on this issue. Of course Theo could have been injured on our time but then we would take responsibility for that. As it stands the FA simply send him back to us saying 'Ooops, I think it's broken. Bye!!!'.

The shoulder Theo dislocated is not the one he had surgery on previously but we may find this requires the same kind of operation. Once a shoulder is dislocated it becomes easier for it to be injured again. I suppose we'd better just wait and see what the prognosis from the club is but given the way things are going at the moment we might as well prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario. Anything else would be a bonus.

Everything else today is related to internationals and we had better all get praying that none of our other players come back injured. Aaron Ramsey is set to make his debut for Wales, which will probably result in him rupturing his spleen and dislocating his head. Robin van Persie will shatter every bone in his body under in innocuous challenge while playing for Holland and Gael Clichy will be killed stone dead when an Raymond Domenech tells him to go 88mph in a DeLorean car which never gets above 87 and smashes straight into a wall.

Pfff, stupid internationals. Get well soon, Theo.

Morning all. Did you ever wake up with a song playing in your head? This morning's alarm call is Neil Diamond's 'You don't bring me flowers'. Why? Jesus.

After the Stoke defeat Gael Clichy questioned the team's attitude, saying they needed to work harder to repay the faith shown in them by the manager. He was essentially saying the team was coasting, not putting in the graft to win games. He has repeated that in the wake of the Villa game and issued a stark warning to his teammates, saying:

It was a great performance against Manchester United and if we do that every week we'll be fine. But we did the opposite and we cannot work like this. There is time and there's a way to go. There is time to catch and for other teams to drop points but if we play like we did (against Villa), after a few months the season will be finished.

Strong words indeed. And true words. The way this team can perform exceptionally one week and then like a pack of chumps who appear not to care less the next is infuriating. Realistically I think there's little chance of this lot challenging for the title but with so many games still to play that optimistic part of me, the one that thinks we can win everything at the start of every season, doesn't want to write us off just yet.

But you have to question how many times they need the wake up call? How many times can our own players admit lack of focus, poor attitude, lack of effort before they realise they're letting themselves, and everyone else, down? 

The key word, and one I'm sure we'll be sick of hearing before too long (if we're not already), is 'consistency'. With Arsene Wenger admitting the international break is doing him no favours it's hard to see how anything can be worked on this week. He claims there's no rational explanation for the poor performance against Villa after the good performance against United but there are those who would say there are a number of good reasons for it (reasons which we have gone over more than a few times so don't bear repeating).

He also claimed that the lack of consistency is not down to the lack of experience in the squad. I'm pretty sure he said almost the opposite in the past but nevermind. Defending his decision not to bring in an experienced midfielder in the summer he claimed not to have any regrets:

Not really, we had no player we really wanted and for now we have no regrets. You cannot explain the own goal of Gael Clichy by the fact we haven’t got an experienced player in midfield. 

Leaving aside the first part of that which makes my brain hurt in a bad way the second part of that statement is hugely disingenuous. Of course an own goal by Clichy can't be explained by not having an experienced midfielder but having an experienced midfielder would have made it easier to get one back or, shock horror, actually be ahead in the game at that stage. Having an experienced midfielder would improve our team irrespective of somebody scoring an own goal so that doesn't make much sense to me. It sounds like excuse making.

'You cannot blame the fact I burnt your steak on the fact that I did not clean out the fireplace'. 

The fact that he says there was no player he really wanted is staggering though. I'm told he really wanted Xabi Alonso so while he might be saying this for the benefit of his squad, struggling as they are with confidence, it's a bit insulting as a fan to hear him say it. That he has no regrets, after four losses in thirteen games, is the icing on the cake and icing is made of poo. 

Again the optimist in me is hoping that Arsene is saying one thing in public while thinking something completely different. My big worry is that he actually believes what he's saying, believes that this squad of players is capable of winning the title without augmentation. He says defeat is harder for managers than players. I have no doubt he'll pore over the tapes but if he does that and can't see what the team is missing, if he can't see a 'rational explanation', then I'd be even more worried.

I also think, not for the first time, that the stories on the official site do him no favours at all. 'Defeat is hardest for managers', screams the headline and as a fan that immediately got my back up. When you read the article it explains a bit better but the lack of awareness of the writer or the site editor is telling and it's not the first time the Arsenal website has done that kind of thing. Try to soften the blows, if you can, not make them worse.

Not much else going on really. The internationals take place tomorrow and I am expecting at least a dozen injuries. Which will require the Carling Cup team to play against Citeh. See, there could be a plus side to these injuries.

Hasta mañana, Arsechums. 

It's going to be a strange week for Arsene Wenger. After a setback like the one against Villa you want to get your players on the training ground and work them that little bit harder, but with a round of meaningless international friendlies in midweek he's going to find a lot of his players away.

While it would have been a good time to work on the defence his entire 'first choice' back four of Sagna, Clichy, Gallas and Sylvester are away (well, Sagna would have been but he's now out injured for three weeks and won't be available).

Nasri will be gone with France, van Persie with Holland, Cesc with Spain, the two Ivorians will be gone, Fabianski will be with the Polish squad, Walcott with England, Ramsey with Wales, Bendtner with Denmark and Djourou with Switzerland. So he'll have a rag-taggle bunch of players on the training ground and with the others not due back until the Thursday he'll only have Friday to work with them ahead of the Man City game.

Hardly the ideal preparation but then a solid week's work after the United game didn't seem to do much good, did it? Manuel Almunia has described the performance against Villa as 'embarrassing' and I suppose it's good that there's that level of honesty amongst the players. What exactly will be done about it remains to be seen.

Former Arsenal player Steve Sidwell, part of the Villa side which won on Saturday, said:

You look at the top four and you come to Arsenal thinking you can pick up points. That’s how it looks to me. You can get points at Arsenal. I believe you play Arsenal home and away and think you can get a result.

There was a time when teams were beaten before we even got on the pitch. Now, I'm not stupid enough to think that lasts forever but the perception that we're a soft touch hurts a bit, I have to say. I'm not blind to the problems of my team or its players but I get all defensive when someone else starts pointing out what's wrong with us. I do not like it. It's just the way of the football fan, I suppose. I can listen to any other Arsenal fan criticise the team or point out its flaws but if I hear Alan Hansen making the exact same point I want to press his face on a hot frying pan and hear that Scottish sizzle.

We'll be without Cesc for the Man City game too as he has picked up five yellow cards and gets an automatic one match suspension. Goonerholic suggests sending him back home for a bit to let him recharge his batteries so he can come back nice and refreshed. In one way it's a nice idea but ultimately when he comes back the problems will remain, in my opinion.

Cecs is going through probably the worst run of form since he broke into the first team. He looks sluggish and lethargic and he looks like a player who isn't enjoying his football at the moment. He looks worn out and I don't think the players he has around him make it any easier for him to get himself out of this slump. It's easier to lift yourself when you've got quality around you and with the greatest of respect to Denilson I don't think he's ready yet (but I maintain he could be a good player if he were to brought through more slowly and able to learn from more experienced players) - and I look at central midfielders of not too long ago and I just do not understand what the manager sees in Alex Song.

We have a wonderfully gifted player in Cesc but I don't believe we're doing, or have done, as much as we should to get the best out of him. Yes, he can play better but it seems as if he doesn't have the confidence in his young midfield partners that he did in Gilberto or Flamini (whose style of play did so much to make Cesc so good last season - even if Flamini were to have left then he should have been replaced with a similar player). I'm sure he was disappointed when we failed to sign Xabi Alonso this summer, having talked up his Spanish colleague in interviews. We know that Arsenal wanted him but for the sake of, perhaps, a million or two, we didn't make the purchase.

So while sending him back for some home cooking might not be the worst thing in the world I'm not sure it's the full answer. What is clear though is that we need Cesc to find his form again and quickly. There's nothing the manager can do in the transfer market until January (that's if he does anything at all) and there's a lot of football between now and then.

Sorry for the glum start to the week but what can you do? This is Glummy McGlum reporting from Glumtown for Glum TV.

So the season lurches from one exhilarating high to another crushing low with a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

We've been talking all week about how last week's win over United would count for nothing if we didn't get the right result yesterday and so it proved. Last week was just another false dawn. Are any of us really that surprised about what happened yesterday? The more optimistic amongst us hoped that the win over United would see the team turn a corner, gain confidence and kick on for the rest of the season. Those less so suggested it was merely a win that papered over the cracks until we got found out again.

The paper lasted seven days and the cracks were there for all to see. Against United we played with passion, desire, commitment, energy. Yesterday you would be hard pressed to say any Arsenal player showed any of those characteristics. We were lucky not go in at half time at least one behind, if not more. Villa had plenty of chances, causing our defence plenty of problems even without Carew, and when Mike Riley awarded them a penalty it looked like things would go downhill from there.

But Almunia pulled off a good save and Gallas showed the benefit of being around when a penalty kick is being taken. His quick reaction when he followed to help clear the rebound prevented a goal. It was good defending. Almunia made other saves from Young and the lively, troublesome Agbonlahor and having escaped the penalty and ridden our luck on the back of a poor first half you thought Arsenal might show up in the second.

It wasn't to be. Again we were bereft of ideas and craft when faced with a side who sit every man behind the ball. Lots of sideways passing, little triangles that went nowhere and more or less no threat to the Villa go whatsoever. Adebayor came on for Diaby and joined the hapless Bendtner up front (who was in turn replaced by Carlos Vela) but one scabby header that hit the post he did little himself. Cesc had a shot after some decent work by Theo (I think) but that was the sum total of our attacking threat. 

At the other end Villa had the pace and the power to bother us on the counter. The first goal came when Sagna was dispossessed (and injured) in midfield, Young whipped in a cross and with Agbonlahor waiting behind him Gael Clichy headed into his own net. For the second it looked like there might have been a foul on Vela on the edge of the Villa box, Laursen pumped it forward and Agbonlahor outpaced and outmuscled Gallas before driving home his shot. Poor defending and it's an area the manager has spoken about being weak yet has done precious little to fix.

There's no doubt in my mind that Villa thoroughly deserved that win. They didn't even play that well but we were so poor it would have been a miracle if we'd gotten anything out of the game. We made it easy for them and while most of us will accept a defeat if we know we've given 100% in the game that was collectively a truly awful team performance. Arsene spoke last week about how you need 11 leaders on the pitch. One might have made a difference yesterday. This team is rudderless, inconsistent and now, sadly, out of the title race for this season. We've lost four out of thirteen and with so far still to go in the campaign it's inconceivable that we can remain unbeaten from here on in.

There are some very real problems. Last week they got themselves up for a big match and performed excellently. This week the opposition wasn't quite so glamorous and the performance reflected that. It was the same against Hull, against Stoke, against Fulham and against Sunderland. Is it over-confidence? Arrogance? Laziness? It's not my job to find out, it's Arsene Wenger's, but you cannot deny the problem exists. 

Defensively we are a shambles. There's no solidity at the back and the centre of our defence is weak. We have conceded 15 goals in our 13 league games, 10 of those at home. The issues the manager identified have not been addressed and unless they are then we will remain a defensively suspect team. Apart from Djourou, who has not really been given a chance in the league this season, none of Gallas, Toure or Sylvester have performed well enough. When you have a soft centre you will get exposed and Gallas, Toure and Sylvester are soft. I won't say not good enough because that's too sweeping but not playing anywhere near well enough. 

I also wonder that if Gallas and Sylvester weren't French would Wenger be so forgiving of their poor form and slack defending. I fully accept that Kolo Toure has not been playing well but it was Gallas who was guilty of a string of poor performances and individual errors which costs us goals, yet Toure was dropped. What kind of message does that send? Gallas defended well for the most part yesterday, he prevented the rebound being scored, but was found out with a simple long ball over the top, 'defending' for which other centre-halves of recent times would have been crucified for. How long do you keep carrying someone?

Midfield was woeful yesterday. Cesc is playing as poorly as I have ever seen him play, Nasri goes from the sublime to the opposite of sublime, Theo flits in and out of games and when faced with that kind of system has no space to get behind defences where he causes the most damage, Denilson still isn't ready in my opinion, and Diaby was more or less anonymous.

Up front Bendtner didn't have a lot to work with, Villa are a good defensive side, but the way he strolls about the pitch is maddening and the way the ball seems to bounce off him at completely random angles when he tries to control it puts me in mind of a hungover Sunday League player at times.

Yet this was the same group of players that did so well and beat United. It's so, so frustrating.  

Afterwards Arsene said:

You have to accept that the game is played by human beings and sometimes physically they have a drop. It is very difficult for us to have a rational explanation about what happened today. I believe that the team want it but it was just like a few other times this year where it is unexplainable why we don’t really play at our 100% potential.

Physically that team had a week off after the United game. There is no reason why they should have had a drop. They should have been full of confidence, full of energy, yet they were half-arsed, sluggish and, at times, disinterested. Where was the urgency? Where was the fight?

I think it's obvious this team lacks a leader. Again I'm not being critical of Gallas just for the sake of being critical but he's not a leader. He might try but it's just not in his nature. I think that's obvious and then you have to start looking at the manager who persists with him as captain. Is there a natural leader in the team? I've talked up Cesc for the captaincy and I think he'd enjoy it but maybe now is not the right time.

We're a quiet team. There's nobody talking, egging people on, shouting, encouraging. We go out, 'play our football' but if that doesn't work we are stymied. We miss a Flamini type character, not only for the way he played football (and I think we really miss that at the moment) but for his relentless drive and unwillingness to be beaten. Some of them appeared to just give up yesterday, went through the motions and that's not right.

The manager has to address these issues and the only way of doing it now is with the chequebook. We have to splutter through until January, hoping that the Arsenal that is motivated and capable turns up for the matches, and then buy. He needs to buy at least one centre half and at least one central midfielder. Not prodigies, not teen-sensations, not players with 'great potential', but players who can come in, bring quality and experience, and improve the side. Ideally one of those players could provide the leadership the team so badly needs.

I know we have lots of good young players coming through but the cream will rise to the top anyway. Let's not forget Cesc broke into the Arsenal team when we had Vieira, Parlour, Edu and Gilberto in his way. Proper men, experienced quality footballers and to perpetuate this fallacy that buying a player will somehow prevent a talented youngster making his mark does the manager no service.

It's hard to know what to feel about this group of players. One week they're fantastic, the next week they're beyond dreadful. They build us up then knock us down again. The bottom line though is that this team has weaknesses that are apparent to me and practically every Arsenal fan. We lack quality in defence and in midfield and there's a mental weakness that has to be corrected, otherwise this is going to be a very long and very trying season.

Till tomorrow. 

Ouch. Not hangover, football injury. Got a kick on the outside of my right foot playing 5-a-side last night and this morning I can't put any weight on it at all. I can hobble around using my heel but that's about it. And it's fucking painful, stupid foot. Reckon I have to go to the hostibal to get an x-ray. Gah. It was fine last night though, which is the weird thing.

Anyway, back to matters somewhat more important, Arsenal play Aston Villa today at the Grove. The team news it that both Adebayor and Almunia are in the squad. Almunia has recovered completely so is likely to start while the boss says he hasn't decided whether or not to play Adebayor. There'll be one young Dane cursing the recovery powers of the Togonian.

Whichever striker he picks I think we'll see the same formation as against United last week. We've really said all there is to say about how we need to play, about how irrelevant last week would become if we didn't follow it up with the right result today, so let's just hope we get the Arsenal of last week and not the Arsenal that faced Stoke. We want the Dr Jekyll Arsenal and not the Mr Hyde one. I think. Whichever one of them was the good one. And by good one I'm talking about the mean-spirited, ruthless one.

Arsene Wenger reckons seven or eight of Tuesday's Carling Cup team will play for Arsenal in the Premier League. He says:

If you look at the team that played in the Carling Cup Final two years ago our midfield was Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Diaby. That was the midfield that started against Man United. We have a good idea of the potential development of the players. That’s why I believe seven or eight will play.

Beyond Song and Djourou, who have a measure of Premier League experience, perhaps the one closest to making the breakthrough is Aaron Ramsey and the boss says there's no better place for him to be than at Arsenal Football Club. He says:

I believe he has something special. He has the work-rate, he has the spirit and he has good vision. He has all the physical and tactical ingredients to become a great midfielder. He still needs to develop his technique but he has what is needed to become a top-level player.

In the bits and pieces we've seen of him so far he's been impressive. He set up Adebayor's second goal at Blackburn, he set up Bendtner with a back heel against Sheffield United and he does seem to have an eye for the crafty little pass in and around the box. That's something that could well be vital as we come up against teams who like to get men behind the ball. His long passing is good too and he seems to have a mean free-kick on him. I'm tipping him to be semi-regular in the Premier League by the end of the season.

You can see some video of Wenger talking about the young players in The Sun today. 

Lukasz Fabianski's agent says other clubs have been asking him about the Polish stopper but says Fabianski is enjoying his time at Arsenal and is working 'step-by-step' to become Arsenal's number 1. If he does make it I can't imagine there'll ever be a dull game. Still, his emergence and progress is a good thing. Competition is vital, especially in the keeper's position. We saw how Lehmann responded when his place was under threat, Almunia performed excellently when he knew Jens was ready to back in at any time, and the duel between Fab and Al should keep them both on their toes.

There was good news about Eduardo who should be ready to play in about 'two or three' weeks, according to Arsene Wenger. I'd imagine they'd be a few reserves games under his belt before he's reintroduced to first team action though, so if we start to see him in the squad around Christmas time then that'd be about right. 

Right, that's about it. I've got to go get my foot looked at. Fingers crossed we get the right performance and result. Till tomorrow. 

Good Friday to you all.

It's kinda quiet even though we've got a big game against Villa tomorrow. I suppose we can start with team news. There will be fitness tests for Almunia and Adebayor, which is a bit of surprise. Almunia is still recovering from the kick in the face he got from Michael Carrick but Adebayor seems have recovered a bit quicker than expected from the ankle injury he got against Stoke.

With so many big games coming up this month I can't see the manager taking any risks if he isn't 100% though. We're still without the injured Eboue and the suspended Robin van Persie. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the same team that started against United. Villa are a decent side although their recent form hasn't been brilliant.

In John Carew they have a player we know all about. From that goal he scored for Valencia to the shocking challenge on Hleb in last year's game at Villa Park he's one of those whose father you wish had just had one more wank in his lifetime before he got Mrs Carew up the spout. If he plays, there are doubts because of injury, then it'll be a test for Sylvester and Gallas. In Ashley Young and Agbonlahor they've got quality too and they're very solid at the back.

Last weekend's win over Manchester United lifted the spirits and showed what this team is capable of. However, the worries over their consistency remain so a good performance and three points against Villa is vital to show that a corner has been turned. The pressure's back on but if we play with the same commitment and energy as we did against United then we're more than capable of winning the game.

Abou Diaby looks set to continue and he calls Patrick Vieira his role model. In reality the similarities between them are mostly physical. Diaby seems much more comfortable in a more advanced, attacking role and he's yet to show that he can come close to what Vieira did in central midfield. Still, if that's who he's holding himself up against then at least he's learning from a great player.

Youngster Abu 'Wakemeupbeforeyou' Ogogo has joined Barnet on a one month loan deal while William Gallas says he's a good captain.

Any beyond that there's not much news. As usual Saturday morning will be busy with the various bits and pieces that come out of the manager's press conference but for now we'll move on with the Arsecast and it's Arsecast number 100. Holy moly, that's a lot of Arsecast.

On this week's momentous show I chat with Goonerholic, one of the only people old enough to remember Arsecast 1, about the Carling Cup, the United game and tomorrow's game against Villa. As well as that there's The man in the bar, Eboue, Adebayor, Arsene Wenger Hawkins and more.

There's also the chance to win yourself a Savile Rogue scarf, unquestionably the finest football scarf known to man. Just listen and answer the question. Winner announced on next week's show, plus Savile Rogue will give you a 10% discount on any purchase if you use the code ARSEBLOG at checkout. 

You can subscribe to the Arsecast iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (18mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Ok, enjoy the 'cast, have yourselves a fine stress free Friday and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Dear Ray Wilkins,

as a former Manchester United and Chelsea player I have never really liked you. It's nothing personal, it's just that you are tainted by association. I have to admit I took umbrage at your remarks yesterday in which you claimed that playing young players in the Carling Cup devalued the competition.

To my mind this was an obvious dig at Arsenal. In a way I can understand it. You say your focus is on winning the Carling Cup so you'll play your first team players. It's a decent bluff, in fairness. Chelsea have a good record in the competition as Arsenal fans know only too well. Your lot did us in the final a couple of years back.

But let's be honest. The real reason you play your first team players in this competition is because you don't have any kind of youth system to speak of. As your team has been assembled by the chequebook there's no need to waste any time on anything as paltry as young players. If a star leaves you can simply buy another star.

While Arsenal see the Carling Cup as a way of blooding fresh talent and giving them the chance of first team football, Chelsea see it as just another trophy. Which is fine, one man's meat is another man's poison and all that. But surely as a former Chelsea apprentice, who made his debut in 1973 having just turned 17, you'd like to see some young players get their chance. Imagine if you were a youngster at Chelsea now. You wouldn't stand a chance of getting anywhere near the first team. Chelsea would simply go out and buy somebody who could pass the ball sideways rather than bring through a youngster who could pass the ball sideways all day long.

You said "Playing a young or weakened team undermines the value of the competition. And we have not and will not do that. We want to win it, big time". Far be it for me to suggest otherwise but perhaps some young players might have approached the game against Burnley with a little more effort than some of your 'big time' players.

Oh, you can put it down to a freak result, these things happen in cup football, blah, blah, blah, but we all know that's not true. Chelsea lost because you happened to open your big mouth and then you sideways passed your own foot into it. You totally and utterly jinxed them with your comments. And it's brilliant.

Did you see Arsenal against Wigan? Did you? Do you really think seeing young players enjoying their football is undermining the value of the competition? Do you think Arsenal slashing ticket prices so more fans, especially young fans, can attend the games is undermining the value of the competition? Do you think those young fans seeing incredible young talent like Wilshere, Ramsey, Vela, Djourou, Merida and Simpson is undermining the value of the competition?

If you do then you might need to step back and have a little rethink. Surely Chelsea's 'big time' players bottling a penalty shoot-out undermines the value of the competition more. Surely Didier Drogba throwing a coin at the crowd, Carragher style, undermines the value of the competition more. Surely even playing Drogba (a man whose behaviour in the Champions League final was so appalling that most clubs would have sold him in a heartbeat) ahead of some, young, eager teenager undermines the value, not only of the competition, but of your club. That's assuming there are any values there to begin with. Which there aren't.

We beat Wigan with kids, you couldn't beat Burnley with your first team. That's proper 'big time'. Anyway, I'm rambling here. I'd best leave you to work with those 'big time' players. What joy it must bring you to coach £140,000-a-week been there, done that, worn the t-shirt players and have them lose in a cup game to a team with Ade Akinbiyi in it. I'm sure it's nothing like the pleasure gained from taking young players, developing them the 'Arsenal' way, and seeing them destroy a Premier League team. Not that you'd know.

sincere regards,

arseblogger

ps - undermine my hole you poxy, uncle Fester looking cuntwrench.

In other news today some people are calling Jack Wilshere the 'new Gazza'. That is grossly unfair. Jack is obviously not a mentally deranged cunt with the IQ of a wellington boot. Some background on Jack in The Sun and the Independent, who make those outrageous claims of Gazza similarity, run a piece which suggests he could even be called up to the England U21 squad for the European Championships next summer (Stuart Pearce saying he nearly went to the box office to get a season ticket after Tuesday's game - there's a waiting list, Mr Pearce. Thank you). Meanwhile, Liam Brady, who I'd much prefer Jack was compared to, says the comparisons are a compliment to him. Now there's high praise.

The English press do love the homegrown prodigies. Jack is certainly that but I'm sure between his folks and the education he's getting at Arsenal that it will be well managed. He doesn't look like the kind of kid that feels any pressure though. You just think back to the summer when he absolutely creamed Michel Salgado in the Emirates Cup. That's a boy who cares not for reputation or experience. Still, slowly slowly catchy monkey, as they say.

The Daily Mail (spit) has a piece on Carlos Vela and how he became an Arsenal player.

And that's really about it. Tomorrow we can look forward to the Villa game, we should get team news and such later on. And there'll be an Arsecast. Number 100 too. So I have to think of something special to do for that.

I'll get busy, till tomorrow.