Cracks Continue to Show At Arsenal. What Must Arsene Wenger Do?

Those of you who watched yesterdays Carling Cup Final between Arsenal and Birmingham will have at times been stunned at the state of Arsenal's defensive prowess (or lack of). A lot has been said in the media about the result and how it came about. I would like to initially focus on what Birmingham did well during the match, as I think this has not been recognised as much as it should. The focus however will be on what The Gunners are lacking  at this stage and the effect it may have on the remainder of their season. 

Arsenal players dejected after a catastrophic defensive display. Photo: Tom Jenkins, Guardian

Alex McLeish should be credited for an astute tactical set up against an Arsenal side still yearning for silverware. a 4-5-1 set-up ensured a packed midfield who's tireless work ethic paid dividends. The 6ft7in Nikola Zigic was the lone Striker and was clearly the main target for almost every forward pass that Birmingham played, including almost every kick that Ben Foster put up field.  McLeish will have known that Arsenal's suspect back-four would struggle to cope with Zigic; and so it proved when the Serb headed Birmingham into the lead.

Ferguson Says "Nothing In It" As Rooney Loses His Cool Once Again

Rooney was lucky to get away with a blatant elbow. Photo: Telegraph

Another Man Utd game passes and despite a resounding 4-0 crushing of Wigan, what I took from the game was that Wayne Rooney continues to behave like a thug on the football field. An off the ball incident is again the talking point; one that needs little discussion when you see it! Why is it that Wayne Rooney (given his almost dyer performances earlier in the season) continues to act like a angry little juvenile when he knows there are 20 camera's focusing on him for 90 minutes?

Dalglish's Tactical Set Up Ensured a Torrid Start For Torres

Torres had 29 touches of the ball in 66 minutes, showing how he was deprived of the ball against his old employers. Photo: Guardian

An astute piece of tactical prowess from Kenny Dalglish ensured that new £50m signing Fernando Torres endured a debut to forget for Chelsea. Given all the hype of the fourth most expensive player purchase of all time, it was Liverpool who went to Stamford Bridge and spoiled the party with a 1-0 victory. I intend to focus on exactly how Kenny Dalglish won the war of tactics against his counterpart Carlo Ancellotti.

Are Liverpool Fans Mad To Even Consider Champions League Football Next Season?

Suarez made an encouraging start in front of the Anfield faithful. Photo: Liverpoolfc.tv

Listening to talkSPORT last night highlighted to me how the spirits and musings of football fans in the modern day can be so radically altered with a few good results. A Liverpool fan phoned in to discuss the chances of Liverpool catching a Champions League place this season, which even a month ago would seem utterly absurd! Are you a Liverpool fan, and if so what do you think? Are you an outsider looking in and seeing that this particular fan was utterly deluded? Here is my analysis of such a prediction…

It is only a matter of weeks since Premier League football fans were discussing the rut that Liverpool were very much stuck in and how they may be close to becoming relegation candidates! Whilst I never at any point felt they would remain at the wrong end of the table for very long, things showed few signs of getting better.