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0-0, 1-1 or narrow Chelsea win...

Arsenals last four games in March Bayern (a) Spurs (a) Chelsea (a) Man City (h) They will need to built up a bit of a gap at the top before the tough run of fixtures to stand a chance in title race IMO.

Big blow for Arsenal as he has become their most potent goalscorer. Less of a blow for England who would achieve fuck all with or without him.

Havent seen enough TBH but agree thet would definitely have to pay over the odds. To be fair, almost anyone would be an improvement considering Bendtner is current alternative.

Regardless, Wenger is highly unlikely to move for a marquee striker in January anyway. Will almost certainly wait until summer. For Jan, I think they'll go after a loan or cheaper option to act as a legitimate back up / competition for Giroud, or even stick with what they have.

Definitely mate. I was referring to the last 1 or 2 years when talking about short term thinking. Obviously his overall tenure proves that he wasn't a short term manager.

Yes, Fergie sacrificed long term development for short term success. Very much the opposite of Wenger in that sense. He was a winner no doubt about it but I'm not buying the BS he came with in terms of leaving the club in the best possible state. Their best players are coming towards the end of their career and the youngsters coming through are simply not good enough. Also when he did spend big in the transfer market, it was increasingly unsuccessful towards the end of his tenure. £20m on Hargreaves, £17m on Young, £25m on Anderson, £30m on Berbatov...probably other examples. Can't argue with Fergie's success but like you say, he left at the right time.

Probably. Considering they pissed all over Europe without one, it will be devastating if they get someone like Lewandowski or Suarez.

Spot on. Draw was fair on balance. If Arse play like they did today against Man City and to a lesser extent Chelsea, they will struggle though. Need Flamini back in for those games as Arteta alone is not imposing enough. Also think it could be time to bring Walcott into the starting 11 as it would stop teams pressing as highly against them. I think if Arsenal don't win the league, the striker position will be the main reason. Somebody of the quality of Suarez, Aguero, Rooney, (RVP) etc would transform them but I don't think Wenger will address this until the summer. Giroud is good but will never be world class. Mind you Bayern have proven you don't need a WC striker to be successful if you have the right system and midfield talent.

I facny Man Yoo tomorrow TBH. 2-1.

Suppose it will vary depending on which fans! I'm just going off twitter, blogs etc

Interesting point. The general consensus amongst Arsenal fans is that they desperately need Walcott back but it is hard to argue with their results and performances since his absence so maybe it has benefited them. I think it depends on the situation and game- they will definitely need players like Walcott, Ox, Podolski over the course of the season but the current system, which is basically three no. 10s behind Giroud, is working pretty well at the moment (and is fucking nice to watch!).

None of those players are anywhere near the quality of say Bale or Modric IMO. Spurs looked more dangerous when they had VDV playing behind Crouch! I agree that some of them could become top players but there is no guarantee if or when that will happen. They look extremely blunt going forward thus far - struggling to score in basically every game. I would expect them to improve in this department over the course of the season but I still feel they lack quality compared to Arsenal, Utd, City and Chelsea. There are too many question marks against too many Spurs players for me. Like I said, I believe Spurs chance to come above Arsenal has came and gone - I'd expect Arsenal to widen the gap between themselves and Spurs this season, if anything.

Spurs squad is only theoretically better than Arsenal's based on the reputation of their signings - the majority of which are totally unproven. You also have to remember that the existing foundation of Spurs' squad is not actually that strong in terms of quality - they were carried by the likes Bale, Modric and VDV for years. Spurs have increased in depth but lost out in quality IMO. I would be very shocked if they came above Arsenal - their golden chance to do so has been in the last 2 seasons and they threw it away big time. Arsenal look much stronger this year, personally I would expect them to widen the gap between them and Spurs if anything.

They have a strong first 11 but squad is still too thin for a title challenge. They will most likely come 3rd or 4th IMO. Title challenge not totally impossible but would require a lot of luck on the injury front.