Usually a convincing 4-0 midweek victory would have Arsenal fans buoyant and positive about the following home game, but after last week's dismal Premiership performance against Fulham and with no sign of much-required fresh blood entering before the close of the transfer window, one gets the feeling the majority of Arsenal fans remain more pessimistic than optimistic.

Under Kevin Keegan Newcastle have finally started moving in the right direction, in particular towards the end of last season and even more so the beginning of this. The club took a point off Man Utd following a very good performance at Old Trafford on the first day of the season, and have subsequently followed up with a home win at Bolton followed by a midweek victory away to Coventry in the Carling Cup - albeit after extra time. Ordinarily, Newcastle would not have gained something from all three of those games - to their credit they have shown a bit of steel.

I am impressed with the club's new signings; it's early days but Fabricio Coloccini looks a highly competent purchase at the back and I really like the look of Jonas Gutierrez - a talented, driving midfielder with a phenomenal work rate.

Newcastle's biggest problem is that Michael Owen is the only recognised fit striker they have at present. Another negative for the Geordies is that James Milner has, rather surprisingly, been sold to Aston Villa today - leaving them a bit short of quality wide players.

For tomorrow's game at the Emirates, Newcastle are likely to employ a 5-man midfield comprising of Barton (a clear danger man who owes them big time), Butt, Guthrie, Gutierrez and Geremi. Arsenal will probably field Nasri, Fabregas, Eboue (or Denilson - tough call) and Walcott in their usual 4-4-2 formation. It's pretty clear where Arsenal might slip up in this match. Their midfield quarter will need to be very sharp and focused, passing through and around Newcastle's experienced and hard working midfield unit. They won't win a physical battle but will still need to show a lot more bravery than they did at Fulham last week.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have the problem of making the ball stick up front. Owen will have his hands full and could be negated on the ground by the pace of Toure and Gallas (which is why Toure must start ahead of Djourou), but he's still dangerous aerially from set pieces. For Arsenal, Adebayor will be an important outlet should they try to circumnavigate Newcastle's packed midfield with long balls over the top - he'll certainly need to be on his game.

Could Newcastle pull off a surprise tomorrow? Of course, although I'm not sure how much of a surprise a score draw would be. It's encouraging that Newcastle are short up front and struggled to beat Coventry in the Carling Cup midweek - along with the demands of extra time and a long coach trip to London, and it's also encouraging that Arsenal beat Newcastle comfortably at the Emirates last season on no less than three occasions. 2-0 in the Carling Cup, 3-0 in the Premiership and 3-0 in the FA Cup.

However, Arsenal will have to play a lot better than they have been of late if they want to beat Newcastle as convincingly as they did last season - FC Twente counts for nothing. I expect the Gunners to edge it, but it could go to the wire and I wouldn't be all that surprised if Wenger again pays a heavy price for his continued transfer lethargy.

Arsenal waltzed to victory against FC Twente at the Emirates stadium tonight to cement their place in the group stages of the Champions League. It was all too easy in the end; Steve McLaren's side looked beaten before a ball was even kicked.

Arsenal looked nervous in the first half and rarely committed men forward; it was a controlled performance rather than an impressive one. On 27 Samir Nasri latched onto a Van Persie pass, feinted to shoot then slipped the ball past Nikolay Mihailov to open the scoring. Then, in what was a fairly sterile first half, Van Persie missed an open goal when the ball squirted to him in the box after good work on the right flank from Walcott - it was an unbelievable miss from little more than 10 yards.

In the second half, Twente made little effort to pull a goal back, they seemed happy enough knocking it around at the back and enjoying the Emirates view. However, their lethargy only led to mistakes and on 52 Bendtner broke into the box and tried an Henry-type curler into the far corner with Gallas doubling Arsenal's advantage having pounced on the goalkeepers deflection.

Perhaps the best goal came from Theo Walcott. Latching on to a miscontrol by Bendtner in midfield, Walcott zoomed clear and curled his finish round the keeper in style. Bendtner capped off the win after a bundle in the box was back heeled by Denilson into his path. The Dane cooly slotted under the keeper to complete a 4-0 scoreline.

At the back Arsenal were hardly tested all evening, but Almunia almost messed up when he rushed out of his goal for no other reason than boredom and almost allowed Twente a gift. Fortunately, the offside whistle was blown to save his blushes.

With Arsenal fans looking for a big performance tonight after the Fulham debacle, they got the goals but little else - this wasn't much of a test. Twente looked like a Division One side and showed a startling lack of ambition considering the circumstances. Still, Arsenal did the job professionally and the result will have restored some pride and confidence if little else.

Almunia (5)
Had virtually nothing to do but nearly made a costly gaffe when he rushed out of his goal for no reason and caused panic in the defence.
Sagna (6)
Was obviously ordered to stay back because the Frenchman wasn't his usual attacking self.
Djourou (6)
Was pretty comfortable throughout, certainly shows a lot more confidence and composure than Senderos.
Gallas (7)
Was in full control defensively and made up for lack of numbers in the box to score a poacher's goal.
Clichy (6)
Comfortable throughout.
Walcott (7) STAR MAN
Struggled to beat Twente's left back in the first 30 but gradually grew in confidence as the game progressed causing the opposition numerous problems. Capped off his display with a fine second-half goal.
Denilson (6)
Set up Arsenal's fourth with a great back heel in the box, but again his passing was generally below par and still doesn't get stuck in enough.
Fabregas (6)
Played 65 minutes but clearly lacking match fitness.
Nasri (6)
Not quite as impressive as he has been of late, but scored the sort of goal Hleb would never have dared to attempt. Rested at half time.
Bendtner (5)
Nothing was coming off for Bendtner tonight, he was slow and ponderous and seemed to miscontrol the ball at every opportunity. Ironically, this led to a couple of goals - although more by luck than design. Showed persistence to score in the last minute, but in a closer game he would have almost certainly been dragged off early.
Van Persie (4)
Never really got into the game and missed an absolute sitter in the first half. Van Persie needs to buck his ideas up and get more involved from start to finish.

SUBSTITUTES

Eboue (5)
Came on at half time but saw little of him.
Adebayor (5)
Made little impact as a sub.
Song (5)
Strolled around making comfortable square passes in the last 20 minutes.

On the eve of Arsenal's Champions League Qualifier 2nd Leg, Arsene Wenger has come out with more ludicrous statements about how the team is good enough to win the Champions League in its present state and how a new signing is not necessarily required or may not be forthcoming.

I can't be bothered to analyse these remarks too much - it's a mystery to me why Wenger said them or if indeed he believes any of his own illogical rhetoric. Besides, having read Arseblog this morning - one of the few Arsenal blogs worth reading - his common sense virtually mirrors my opinion on said comments, so go read that. It's telling that even this normally 100% pro-Wenger blogger is literally tearing his hair out at the manager's lassitude.

Like I said several days ago, rightly or wrongly it won't be long before the supporters make their dissatisfaction known in the only way they can if this transfer lethargy is followed by continual poor performances. Arsenal may be OK at the Emirates, but I feel the team will definitely suffer on its travels.

Arsenal play FC Twente tonight having virtually eliminated the Dutch team from the CL qualifiers via a 2-0 victory in Enschede two weeks ago. The fact that Arsenal fielded an even more inexperienced midfield in that match as they did at Fulham and still came away with a result tells you all you need to know about the strength of our opponents. Arsenal should roll them over at the Emirates in the blink of an eye.

Whether Arsenal can repeat the trick against Newcastle on Saturday is another thing, and I'll comment on that later in the week. Cesc Fabregas will be back, and may feature tonight. We'll just have to hope that Wenger has not rushed the player back from injury too quickly; something he has a tendency to - because he has to. We also have to hope that Fabregas does not suffer from burn out this season - people forget the boy is only 21 and has played an awful lot of football in the last 12 months, right up to the Euro 2008 final.

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A smidgen of good news this week, AC Milan have taken Philippe Senderos on loan with a view to purchasing the player at the end of the season for approximately £6m. Why a club with the richly talented defensive history of AC Milan want Senderos at all is slightly baffling - don't they scout players? At least in their wisdom they've allowed themselves the option of returning the player back to Arsenal should he fail to impress.

Senderos is a player who should have been sold two seasons ago and replaced by a player of equal stature but more composure, technical ability and intelligence. He doubtless cost Arsenal a place in the Champions League semi-final last season, and then had the gall to come out afterwards and blame Arsene Wenger for his wretched performance at Anfield, stating: "I just assumed my mistake on the first goal for Liverpool. Then I was the victim of the choices made by the coach."(???)

Out of all the players Arsene Wenger has ever bought, Senderos is surely one of those who made the least improvement. I'd go as far as to say that he is almost exactly the same error-prone individual that Wenger first signed in December 2003 for the princely sum of £2.5m. Senderos biggest weakness is not his poor distribution, clumsiness, tendency to play the man instead of the ball and an inability to understand the concept of the offside trap, it's more than that - it's his mental weakness. He's adequate - and can even play well - against teams in the lower echelons of the Premier League table, but in big important games he completely folds.

It's true that the player's best spell was during Arsenal's Champions League campaign of 2005-06, he looked decent all the way up to the final, but Arsenal were playing a deep-lying 4-5-1 formation throughout the majority of that tournament which certainly played to Senderos' strengths - as it would any centre-back of his ilk. However, normally Arsenal do not play to Senderos' strengths, Wenger prefers his teams to push up and play it out from the back, leaving plenty of space behind the centre backs. Through balls can be mopped up by the likes of speed merchants, Toure and Gallas - whereas Senderos has always been slow, ponderous and nervy when left exposed to one-on-one situations.

Regardless, I'll say good luck to big Phil; he gave his all - you can't criticise him for that, but it wasn't good enough and I hope he does well at Milan, least of all because that way there's no chance of them sending him back with a damaged goods label.

As all of us Arsenal fans are aware of course, the release of Senderos does not mean all is well in Arsenal's back line. The club still needs a powerhouse centre-back with a strong aerial presence, Toure and Gallas are incapable - and by all accounts Silvestre's not too hot on that front either. But that doesn't mean we should have retained Senderos - it's never a bad idea to empty out the trash once in a while, as at least it leaves a vacancy that the slightly more promising Djourou or Song could fill.

Mikael Silvestre of course is a step up from Senderos, if not a massive one - but at least the ex-Man Utd man has a worldly composure, and that might be important come the tail end of the season, assuming Arsenal are capable of challenging for anything by then.

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Now is not the time to act all calm and collected - Arsene Wenger is in a predicament and Arsenal need to buy one or two players within the next seven days, otherwise Arsenal's season is almost certainly going to hit a premature dead-end.

Having patiently waited four years for Wenger to rebuild the squad after deassembling the so-called "Invincibles", the majority of Arsenal supporters will simply not tolerate a backwards step at this juncture. Some might think that's unfair on a manager who has worked wonders at the club - but four years is a long time in football, the brand has changed, the competition has changed and Arsenal have to keep up if they want to remain an established force in Europe.

At the moment I have some sympathy for the Arsenal side that performed so dismally against Fulham on Saturday. I'm really not sure how much more you can demand from a midfield of Nasri, Denilson, Eboue and Walcott - you simply have to recognise their limitations, which is why the fans furore has mostly been directed at Wenger rather than the players.

In a post-match interview Wenger made the point of lamenting Arsenal's first half display in particular, yet whatever he said to boost the player's performance had little effect as Arsenal were equally poor after the break. This indicates that the manager is fostering unrealistic expectations on the players he's putting out on the pitch. I do believe they were trying, but simply weren't mature enough to respond to what was being asked of them.

In respect of possible new signings, Wenger made an interesting comment midweek regarding a possible move for Aston Villa's Gareth Barry. He asserted that there's little point spending £15m on a player who at 27 has no resale value. Just as well Wenger didn't think that when he bought Emmanuel Petit, or Rioch when he purchased Dennis Bergkamp aged 26 - presumably they had no resale value either?

If the papers are to believed, Liverpool's Xabi Alonso (aged 26) agreed terms with Arsenal several weeks ago, but the Merseyside club turned down a £10m offer as it did not meet their £16m valuation. Sounds dubious to me; why would Liverpool allow Arsenal to discuss terms with Alonso before accepting a bid? However, assuming the valuation part was true, how about meeting the Liverpool board half way and offering somewhere in the region of £13m? If Arsenal did outlay that sort of money, their net transfer spend for 2008 would deficit at -£2.2m - hardly a stretch.

Personally, I think Alonso would be a great buy - and if Arsenal upped their offer it might allow Liverpool to increase their bid for Barry. This appears to be the triple transfer axis at play. Gokhan Inler? Sounds like another Flamini to me, but Alonso would clearly be a step-up - so why not go the extra yard and get a top quality international player that is already acclimatised to the Premiership and a good pal of Fabregas to boot.

Or how about getting BOTH and farming Denilson out on loan where he can play Premiership football without the pressurised demands of a top four club like Arsenal? It all sounds like a dream, I know.

Prior to yesterday's disaster at Fulham I was going to write a pre-match report. I wish I had because I wasn't convinced Arsenal could beat Fulham, and it would have made me look good had I predicted a draw or said Fulham 2 Arsenal 1.

I wrote approximately 10 days ago that Arsenal were heading for an early season fall, and prior to the match yesterday afternoon I texted my close friend, Kevin - a Fulham fan, and told him not to be so pessimistic, if Fulham played to their best they would get something from Arsenal's "shit" midfield - as I so eloquently put it.

Under such circumstances I do not enjoy being right - not in the slightest, but neither was I enraged whilst viewing the game. Only optimists would have been enraged, whereas I merely watched with a sense of weary resignation. My overriding thought reinforced an opinion I had been carrying all summer, why does Arsene Wenger seem to think the season starts on 1st September? It doesn't, it starts in early-mid August, and if you want to win the title you need to be completely ready by early-mid August. If mid-table is your ambition, fine - make your last minute buys then.

Yesterday's performance was the clearest indication yet that Arsene doesn't know. He knows a hell of a lot, but doesn't KNOW. No-one KNOWS.

An incredible trainer, a media obfuscator, a genius at turning unknowns into world stars - not forgetting the most successful boss in Arsenal's history - but as anyone who followed the infamous Brian Clough's managerial career at Nottingham Forest will realise, it's dangerous to idolise a manager whilst they are still an employee - best idolise them after they've gone.

In respect of the board's idolising of Arsene Wenger, on an operational level the sacking of David Dein has created a yawning chasm that increasingly appears to be subtracting any sense of perspective between the board and the manager. Dein knew Arsenal needed money to compete with money, and he was the only entity at Arsenal football club who acknowledged that and would have sat down with Wenger in a quiet restaurant, as a friend and confidant, discussed boardroom policy, the team's strengths and weakness, the manager's ideals, and then leveraged Wenger's requirements against the rest of the board or gone out and used his massive persuasion to broker some deals. Dein was also the only man on the board Wenger would have listened to intently, because Dein brought Wenger to the club, was the only man on the board who had his finger on the pulse from the supporter's perspective, understood the game at grass roots level and had the knowledge and experience to back up his opinions.

Dein was the link between the supporters, the club and Wenger, the glue that binded them all together. But Dein is gone now and there's no way back. If Wenger is mortal then you can bet your life Dein is mortal. Dein took a wrong turn in siding with Alisher Usmanov - it was a panic decision from an incensed man, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been missed; his subtraction has eaten away at the club's impetus and strangled its fortunes in the transfer market like a bad dose of woodworm. Dein's departure has created "Wenger the obstinate", "Wenger the isolated".

The question is, has the Arsenal board become obsequios to Wenger's every whim? Are they too trusting in his eminence and when, if ever, do they question the manager's practises? Are they too busy building busts, and is top four - but no longer the top two - good enough for them forever?

When does the board interject with an opinion that suggests all is not well. I'll tell you when, like all clubs do - when the fans start booing.

That day is not far away. For the first time in Wenger's reign the storm clouds of discontent are gathering - the sun has gone in, the sky is turning grey and the supporter's once unanimous backing is cascading preliminary raindrops.

Wenger will need to get his umbrella (chequebook) out. Forget FC Twente, Hull City could beat them, the boos will come at the Emirates against Newcastle next weekend if a) Arsenal fail to get anything other than a win or b) Wenger fails to comfort purchase in-between.

The first boos directly aimed at Arsene Wenger, not at a dud performance by Adebayor or Eboue or some kid with too much responsibility on his plate - at Arsene Wenger. That's meaningful.

Ten days ago I wrote "wiley old fox Roy Hodgson will know exactly how to further compromise a weedy Arsenal squad lacking experience", and so it proved as Arsenal fell to a dismal 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage. Fulham only had to work hard in closing Arsenal down to reap dividends, they did little else to earn their victory - but it was enough, and deserved.

In the first half, chances were few and far between. On 12 minutes an Adebayor effort 20 yards from goal failed to test the keeper Mark Schwarzer and on 20 a smart cut back by Nasri fell to Van Persie in the box, but his body shape wasn't quite right, bending a curling shot wide of the left hand post.

One minute later, Fulham - who never really looked liked troubling Arsenal - took the lead. A corner from the left was flung in and Gallas struggled to win his dual with Brede Hangeland who outstretched a long leg to poke the ball past Almunia. Prior to that, two Arsenal players had made a feeble attempt to close down the corner kicker.

Arsenal almost struck back immediately, when Adebayor headed an excellent long-range cross from Sagna against the post, it was a good effort.

Overall, however, it was a particularly poor first half from Arsenal's point of view. At the back, Gallas was making unusually hard work of everything and Arsenal's midfield was dysfunctional. Nasri put in more tackles than Eboue, Denilson and Walcott combined, yet was often on a different wavelength to the two forwards ahead of him - that's understandable. Eboue cut a dismal figure, continually chasing his tail to win loose balls in midfield, likewise Denilson who never got his passing game going. Finally, Walcott, another inept display - he clearly lacks confidence and his decision-making in the final third constantly frustrates the players around him.

At half time it was clear that Arsenal would have to improve dramatically to get anything out of the game. However, despite Fulham tiring as the second half progressed, Arsenal made few in-roads. It was mostly left to set-piece free kicks from Van Persie - four in total - but none of them found the target. On the rare occasion a half-opening did appear, it was usually from distance with some almost comedic long rage strikes from several Arsenal players - it was about as far from Wengerball as you could possibly imagine.

The story of the game lies in the statistics. One shot on target from Arsenal in the entire 90 minutes. Fulham had two. Things will doubtless improve when Fabregas and Rosicky return and Wenger pulls his finger out and buys the defensive midfielder that is so desperately required, although one can't help but think that the manager's transfer dithering has already cost the club precious points, and unnecessarily so.

Almunia (7)
Had little to do and certainly was not at fault for the goal conceded. Distribution was good.
Sagna (7)
Worked tirelessly and put some good crosses in, but to no avail.
Toure (7)
Made one excellent last ditch tackle from Zamora, was generally sound.
Gallas (5)
Was meek in challenging Fulham's Hangeland who duly stabbed the ball past Almunia. Made several other hashed clearances.
Clichy (6)
Adequate performance but needs to try and find a target man when crossing from the byline - most of the time it's hit and hope.
Walcott (4)
Another poor performance; shoots when he should pass, passes when he should shoot, doesn't get involved enough and is far too easily crowbarred off the ball.
Eboue (5)
Particularly abject in the first half; couldn't get close to Fulham's hardworking midfielders. Fared better in the second-half when moved to the right wing, winning a few free kicks in dangerous areas.
Denilson (4)
Short and long-range passing both dismal - constantly giving the ball away. Put in very few tackles and disappeared from the game in spells.
Nasri (6)
Tried hard, tackled well, but clearly needs 6 months to adjust to life in the Premiership.
Adebayor (6)
Hit the post with a good header, linked up as well as he could with the players around him, but his long-range shooting wasn't poor.
Van Persie (5)
Wasted numerous set piece situations. Looked semi-dangerous but really needed to get behind the Fulham defence. Alas, a lack of creativity from the midfield prevented this.

SUBSTITUTES

Song (5)
Only had 10 minutes, came on for Toure who I presume picked up a knock.
Bendtner (5)
Had little effect despite the 25 minutes he was given.

Today, Arsene Wenger put his hand in his pocket and shelled out somewhere in the region of £750,000 for Manchester Utd defender Mikael Silvestre. It's a bizarre transfer that no-one in their right mind could have dreamt up. Not least because it's the first time in 34 years that a Manchester United player has sealed a move to Arsenal.

Why did Man Utd sell Silvestre? Because he was surplus to requirements and spent almost the whole of last season recovering from a serious cruciate ligament injury. He was also entering the final year of his contract - even Man Utd have to balance the books.

Silvestre can play as a centre-back, but Utd already have Rio Ferdinand and Nimanja Vidic there with Wes Brown and John O'Shea for cover, the Frenchman can also play left-back, but Patrice Evra has pretty much nailed down that position. United had agreed to sell Silvestre last summer to Newcastle, but the player refused to join - maybe Ferguson doesn't rate him, but the Scotsman has made mistakes before - selling Jap Staam was a major one.

Having read a few Man Utd forums tonight, the general opinion is that the fans are very disappointed to see Silvestre leave, as the player was well liked and would have provided very good defensive cover. However, many supporters also seem to think that Silvestre is far from bullet-proof and has more than a few mistakes in him, particularly playing in the centre-back role - although that was more often than not when paired with Wes Brown several years ago. As a left-back, Silvestre is still very highly rated.

I have mixed feelings about this signing. First off, Silvestre has just spent a year out injured, and whilst that's not catastrophic for a player who has just turned 31, it's the sort of age where such a lengthy lay-off can downgrade a players ability coming into the last 3-4 years of their career. I hope Arsenal aren't buying a crock, although you can bet his medical was a stringent one.

On the plus side, he's got a lot more experience than Clichy, Djourou or Senderos and can't possibly be as hapless as the latter. So, it's an upgrade that gives Arsenal meaningful strength in depth - Senderos and Djourou are not meaningful strength in depth.

How do I feel about a player who has spent almost 10 years at Man Utd joining Arsenal? For me, it depends on the personality. Silverstre is not detestable in the same way Ferdinand, Neville, Carrick and Rooney are detestable, so I can live with it. However, Wenger now has to turn his attention towards buying a top class defensive midfielder to replace Flamini.

Prior to this news I predicted Arsenal would not finish in the top two; does the signing of Silvestre change anything? Not really, but it does make me more optimistic. The fans needed a little more optimism, and the young players definitely need an older head in there, someone they can look up to and feel reassured when stepping out on the pitch - someone they can talk to in the dressing room who has been there, seen it, done it. For that reason alone, Silvestre is probably a worthwhile signing - injury permitting. Come next May we might discover which of Wenger and Ferguson has gone soft.

I must say I was surprised to hear the boos from the Arsenal faithful aimed at Emmanuel Adebayor against West Brom last Saturday. Most football supporters are pretty fickle, and therefore I expected his midweek strike against FC Twente to eradicate any ill-feeling for more than a little while.

Many supporters feel that booing one of your own is completely unacceptable, but as Arsenal fans so rarely jeer a player, I believe it's justified in some circumstances. In Adebayor's case there is obviously still some rancour following the player's want-away summer, combined with what appeared to be a rather selfish attitude in the second half against West Brom. I honestly believe that Adebayor was simply trying too hard, and I'm surprised the supporters did not perceive that despite his generally poor performance.

Sometimes the only way supporters feel they can express their displeasure of a player or manager is by giving them a good barracking. In-between games the gates to most top-flight football clubs are pretty much barracaded, and there really isn't a lot of communication anymore between the hierarchy and the fans. Booing players has proved to be a particularly effective weapon when used reservedly - it can change a manager's team selection and it can change a player's attitude - although not always for the better.

Adebayor got a hint of Arsenal fans' displeasure pre-season, and kissing the badge after his goal against Ajax evidently didn't wash - Adebayor must have obviously thought the supporters are completely stupid after that excruciating display of fake loyalty. Maybe he'll think differently now that it's pretty clear he has some way to go to fully appease a large section of fans.

However, the supporters have made their point now and to continue jeering Adebayor would be counter-productive. The manager doesn't want it and his teammates probably don't, so it's best to give it a rest. Adebayor is a confidence player and you can be sure that he's probably worried about what reaction he might get if he fails to perform at Arsenal's next game away to Fulham. He's signed a new contract, which means pretty much nothing, but if we want Arsenal to be successful this season we can do without our top goalscorer fluffing his lines week-in week-out because of pressure from the terraces.

In other news, Justin Hoyte has joined Middlesbrough for £3m - a good piece of business and I wish Hoyte well. In all honesty, the lad has never impressed me, but aged 23 there's certainly scope for considerable improvement if he plays regularly. I think it's the best thing for Arsenal and for Hoyte.

Meanwhile, young Arsenal attacking midfielder Nacer Barazite has joined Championship club Derby County on a season-long loan, it will be interesting to see how the highly-rated 18-year-old fares there. He joins other bright-prospect loanees Havard Nordtveit and Fran Merida, who have also been farmed out abroad.

With effectively 12 days to go until the transfer window closes there's no sign of a purchase in the offing. Judging by the media circus, it seems probable that Liverpool's Xabi Alonso is Wenger's prime target - albeit unrealistic, with Udinese's Gokhan Inler as back-up.

Breaking News: The Daily Mail has tonight reported that Arsenal have attempted to hijack Sunderland's move for Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre. Would Ferguson really let the Frenchman join Arsenal ahead of his old pal Keane? Seems unlikely, but then Chelsea did sell Gallas to Arsenal.

Arsenal kicked off their 2008/09 Premier League campaign with an uninspiring 1-0 home win against West Brom. A distinctly average performance that would have had most fans worried right up to the last minute was especially notable for Arsenal's rashness in front of goal.

The Gunners got off to the perfect start when a defence-splitting move on the left flank saw Denilson stroll into the box and cut it back for Samir Nasri to slot home his debut goal for the club. It was almost identical to Adebayor's pre-season winner against Ajax.

For the next few minutes Arsenal looked as they might swamp Albion, but they inexplicably slowed down the pace allowing West Brom to organise themselves defensively. The remainder of the game saw Arsenal produce little more than a series of long range pot shots that failed to test Albion's Scott Carson in goal. Arsenal's next best chance came in the second half when Adebayor was put clean through but curled the ball round the post rather than inside it.

West Brom scared Arsenal on several occasions, in the first half Johanne Djourou reacted slowly to an Ishmael Miller knock down which allowed Do-Heon Kim to get a shot in. Almunia saved efficiently, but it looked to be going wide. In the second-half Miller took advantage of a sloppy Arsenal offside trap, hitting his shot straight at Almunia, the rebound produced another strike on target from James Morrison that Djourou did well to clear off the line. Gallas berated the Swiss centre-half for playing Miller on in the first place; that's what a captain needs to do every now and then.

Van Persie came on in the last twenty minutes but failed to increase the scoreline despite a smart turn in the box and left foot strike that went inches wide.

All-in-all it was a mechanical performance from Arsenal, the second half in particular lacked any sort of cohesion or sense of collective team spirit - especially in the final third, but I'm sure they'll improve when Fabregas is back and Wenger finds him a suitable defensive midfielder partner. Although West Brom were well-organised, Arsenal made it relatively easy for them, a full strength Arsenal side with a few games under its belt probably would have seen them off a lot more convincingly.

Almunia (7)
Made a couple of smart stops. Seems to be becoming increasingly trustworthy behind the sticks.
Sagna (8)
Rock solid defensively and bright and alert going forward.
Gallas (7)
Had a few problems dealing with long balls to Ishmael Miller, otherwise composed.
Djourou (6)
A mixture of good and bad; his indecision that led to Miller breaking the offside trap was Senderos-like.
Clichy (7)
Didn't have much to do defensively as West Brom didn't play with a lot of width, but displayed supreme athleticism in the second half despite little end product.
Walcott (5)
Distinctly average throughout, never really tested the opposition with his pace and more often than not his decision making in the final third was poor.
Eboue (6)
Neat and tidy in the center. Had three chances to get strikes in from reasonably close range yet made a mess of them all.
Denilson (7)
Had a decent game and did well to set up the goal for Nasri, but has a habit of disappearing from play in 10 minute patches. Did show signs, however, of being able to step in for Fabregas when required.
Nasri (8) STAR MAN
Looked alert and dangerous throughout, and scored the winner! Was impressed with his tenaciousness, Nasri has beguiling strength despite his pint-sized build.
Bendtner (6)
Looked impressive in the first half, linking play up well. Climbed high above the West Brom defence but headed a good chance wide. In the second-half it seemed like every man for himself and therefore struggled to get involved.
Adebayor (5)
Poor showing, his finishing was mostly abysmal. In the second half he became especially selfish in his desperation to score, often making predictable runs into dead end situations.

SUBSTITUTES

Toure (5)
Came on as a right midfielder (?) and therefore contributed little.
Van Persie (6)
Arsenal perked up a little when the Ducthman came on, but he failed to seal the win.