So unless the mighty and admittedly normally abysmally slow Arsenal PR machine is still writing it up, we don't have that one piece of the jigsaw which will save our season, compel Cesc to stay for the rest of his life, solve world hunger and bring peace to us all. No, we didn't sign a defensive midfielder. What I do find objectionable is that the club site is spinning Eboue as the answer in what on the surface seems a transparent effort at deflecting criticism. One nifty back heel a Cruyff doth not make. Unless of course it's designed to raise ire and therefore make us (temporarily) forget or am I reading too much into it.

After our statutory 3-0 win over the Barcodes, we are again the team we should be. Funny how little it takes for the media to change from the crisis at the Emirates to Arsenal master-class headlines. I have to be honest, it did actually settle my nerves a bit, but it's still one good game and two not so good in the Prem so let's not break out the Champers quite yet.

So anyway, this morning we find that Citeh have been bought by someone not wanted for naughtiness in their own country and more than that, an owner that makes the Chavs look like failing victims of the global credit crunch. On a day which didn't give us much to get excited about, the fact that the Chavs were actually outbid did raise the spectre of a smile I have to admit. It does of course also raise the whole when is a club solvent debate with the mancs spending a ridiculous amount on one player whilst already owing more than some small countries. This isn't sour grapes despite the Sun claiming we were looked at by the new Citeh owners as possible buyout targets. No it's more to do with a club progressing because it has invested in football, not just been in the position to buy any player it wanted regardless of cost. I know that's a naive view these days, but if a club with the recent history of Arsenal can't keep up, what hope for other teams. We might just as well play fantasy football and save a lot of time and effort. Whatever you think of David Dein, he did see this coming.

But of course at Arsenal we have Le Prof. If you think he has done wonders to date, you'd better believe he's going to have to up his game further to keep us in touching distance of trophies in the future. On the up side, Wengerball can be played by a bunch of young players with little experience. Pass and move can be practised at London Colney until it becomes second nature. On the down side, Wengerball is a tad difficult to play on a rutted pitch in the middle of winter. Since we don't appear to have any new players, what do the ones we have need to do? Where the rubber hits the road is what we do when we can't pass and move as the ball sticks in the mud after travelling six foot. At this point what we have to have is an esprit de corps which pulls the team together and refuses to give in. If Arsene can built that, then don't write us off. Obstinacy and Arsenal used to be two words which fitted well together, they have to again, and I don't just mean a group hug at the start of a game. The players have to be committed to the cause and to each other in a way they were not against Fulham and we can show the Prem that spending frankly obscene amounts of money on one player truly isn't the only way. It is the hard way, but it has more integrity and is more satisfying in the long run. And at this moment in time it's our only option.