OK, that may sound a tad harsh, but it's what most Gooners are thinking. It may take some time to click as a team, so we want to see something we can argue the toss about now that doesn't end with 'Well everyone knows how to play Arsenal now'. Thing is, and I'll risk being boring by repeating it again, we have to score first. If we are going to play the beautiful game, we have to score first. That means playing the pretty passing stuff but actually taking the chances when they come. Because teams are packing the defence and midfield, it means the chances are going to be less, but there have been chances. It's way too simplistic to say we just have to shoot more, we actually are shooting, just not scoring, different thing entirely. Admittedly that is stating the blindingly obvious, but it's something that seems to have escaped some recently. To my mind equally obvious is that this team has not played together that much so the understanding is lacking. Seasoned pro's can make allowances for that by using their experience which a number of our current first team just do not have. The question really is whether the Prem is out of sight before we learn to play together.

Watching the recent matches it seems that the most common problem is bad choices when on the ball. I'll assume it's down to lack of experience and/or trying too hard, but Adebayor and RVP are both guilty of this, unfortunately for them amplified by them ending up missing goal chances. In passing, if we are going to use Adebayor as a Plan B, we need to stop playing in a Plan A way. Passing to another strikers feet instead of Thierry is not a Plan B, it's just a variation on Plan A. To this end we need Theo-like wing play so everything does not go throught the centre. Whether it's Theo or someone else I don't much care. Always going through the centre or keeping it narrow does not play to Cesc's strengths, it's just puts too much pressure on him to always make pin-point accurate passes and I think he is suffering from the responsibility. It also means whoever is currently playing on the wings has to come inside to try and maintain possesion further narrowing our options. I think Rosicky actually needs to play in the centre, he's not going to make the same runs as Bobby or Freddy used to, but given a bit of space he can make chances.

Now the contentious issue of Cashley. Maybe we will still get rid of him, but if we don't, he has to play. I know the whole thing about loyalty and I wouldn't be happy after what he's said, but if he doesn't end up at the Chavs, he needs to play and we need him to play. It'll be a chance for him to act like an adult, and goodness knows we need a left-back right now, not when Clichy is fit again.

So far as JAR is concerned, sell him for a loss or if we can't and he won't play then don't pay him. If he thinks England is not nice now, see what it's like with no income. He's nothing more than an unpleasant divertion now.

I reckon we can still play the quick passing game we love, but the issue is that the players don't have sufficient experience together to make it work yet. Just consider, if we managed a few wins by passing the other team senseless and then actually scoring, the opposition would have to come up with another tactic as 10 men behind the ball would suddenly not look such a good idea. I don't think we are that far from it happening, but the risk is that the last bit of improvement may be more than we can manage whilst still maintaining any sort of challenge in the Prem. May just have to settle for the CL.