Once is unfortunate. Twice is careless. In their past two trips to Manchester, Arsenal have scored once against United and twice against City. In past seasons those tallies would have been enough to bring six points back to London. Now, Wenger’s eternal Achilles heel, his inability to purchase quality defensive players, has caught up with him. It is no co-incidence the team conceded four goals on three separate occasions last season.

Granted there was an element of bad luck to the result at Middle Eastlands. There was an unquestionable handball not given at 3-1 and City’s first goal entered the net fortuitously. But in their search to press home their advantage during a period of dominance that led to their equaliser, the team were caught out by counter attacks rather too easily for my liking. The lack of calm experienced heads was exposed. Arsenal were chasing a game they had plenty of time to win.

Wenger’s vision falls apart on days like these. Sporadically, the team played some decent football, and indeed enjoyed far more chances than their hosts. But few were clear cut, the final ball a perennial problem. City were happy to let Gael Clichy have as much of the ball as he wanted without fear he would ever deliver a killer pass into the heart of the goal. They were not wrong. Bacary Sagna did not have a great game either, so Arsenal lacked any quality from wide. The first four matches of the season, against Everton, Celtic (twice) and Portsmouth suddenly look like a false dawn, it now seems that the opposition were simply all poor sides.

The club are now struggling to sell out home matches, rarely a problem in the past. I’ve heard that the real break even figure for attendances is 55,000. It’s something the directors should worry about, unless there are priorities elsewhere. I have to write an editorial for the printed version of the Gooner tomorrow morning, so I won’t go into the deeper implications of the board’s current strategy here.

But on ownership matters, what I will do is point you towards a Radio 5 Live programme I’ve been alerted about. Here’s the PR I was emailed by the BBC:

On the Donal MacIntyre show on 5 live tomorrow evening (Sunday), investigative journalist Shahida Tulaganova will be talking about the personal, political and business life of Alisher Usmanov. Shahida has travelled to Russia to meet those who have had dealings with Mr Usmanov and she has talked to who knew Mr Usmanov in Uzbekistan, the country of his birth. Tune in tomorrow evening from 7.30 - 8.30 pm to find out what she makes of the man who could be Arsenal’s next owner.

Could be interesting, assuming Usmanov’s lawyers don’t prevent the programme being aired as I suspect they will try. Remembering Peter Hill-Wood’s infamous words about Stan Kroenke – “We don’t want his sort here” – it remains to be seen how Usmanov is portrayed in the programme. I would not be optimistic it’s great PR for the man David Dein decided to sell his shares to somehow.

Still, Red and White Holdings were right about one thing. The club needs money and should have considered a rights issue to raise just that a little more seriously. Being charged the highest prices in world football, the fans are due at least the manager spending all the money he receives for outgoing players on replacements.

Wenger might prove us wrong. I hope so. Tony Adams’ view that if you beat the bottom ten teams home and away you win the league is what I am now investing my hope in. Realistically, Arsenal’s next five fixtures have to garner 15 points. Wigan, Fulham, Blackburn, Birmingham and West Ham are the opposition.

Liverpool lost only twice in last season’s Premier League and failed to win the title. Mind you, Manchester United won it and suffered four defeats. The secret is not losing many and not drawing many. At the moment, the best two teams in the division look to be City – who are well organized and clinical in front of goal, and Chelsea, who are very experienced and know how to play a game for the full 90 odd minutes – and that includes not chasing a win and leaving yourself short in defence when there is plenty of time left on the clock.

Still, early days, and even after two defeats on the trot, I am not prepared to say Arsenal cannot win the title. I certainly wouldn’t put my money on it though. It’s a huge ask, given the lack of investment in new faces to bolster the existing roster.

Finally a word about Emmanuel Adebayor. His celebration was certainly provocative, but in fairness, so was Thierry Henry’s after scoring that goal against Spurs at Highbury in 2003. So there is little moral high ground there. Where there is was Adebayor’s unquestioned kick out that caught Robin van Persie on the side of the head. Granted, Van Persie’s challenge wasn’t exactly subtle, but I am sure that if this is picked up on by the media, there may be repercussions for the Togolese forward. Certainly looked like a bit of history there.

Where do we go from here? Well, the team are not going to get any fresh players before January, so it’s back to the old make do and mend. A series of wins are required to rebuild confidence, but the City game had a horrible feeling of déjà vu about it. How many goals did we lose by up there last season?

Kevin Whitcher is the co-author of ‘Arsènal: the Making of a Modern Superclub’. The book can be bought by onlinegooner readers in paperback direct from the publishers with a £1 discount offer on the already discounted price. To take advantage of this offer, Click this link, select ‘buy now’, and on the next page you will have the opportunity to enter a promo code. Enter the word ‘gooner’ here and the amount is recalculated to £4.99. So, a £1 saving. Postage and packing (£2.49 in the UK) will be added before you complete your order.

BOOK SIGNING

Alternatively, there will be signings of the book this coming Thursday (17th) by author Alex Fynn and former Arsenal forward Alan ‘Smudger’ Smith at Waterstones, Cabot’s Place, Canary Wharf at 12.30 and in the evening at Borders, N1 Shopping Centre, Islington from 5.30, at which yours truly will join Alex and Alan to sign copies.