For all the talent in the current Arsenal side, something is obviously missing. We may have the va va voom, but we are lacking that je ne sais quoi. The team is missing that little something; that extra five per cent that helps them grind out a draw when all looks lost, or score a last minute winner when a draw seemed likely. Some rightly question the team’s character. They bemoan the dearth of leaders in the side and the absence of a core group of English players. These are fair points, but there might be more to it than that.

Wenger clearly takes the view that our team is lightweight. It is ironic that Wenger bemoans teams playing 4-5-1 against Arsenal yet has reverted to this formation on a full-time basis himself. He first played 4-5-1 against Man U in the FA Cup final of 2005. In the absence of Henry, he played Bergkamp up front alone and packed the midfield, with the design of going nose-to-nose with a United team who had, for a couple of years, been bullying us into defeats.

Wenger might argue that the formation can revert to 4-3-3 in attack, but who is the third striker, Rosicky? Rosicky is beyond doubt a talented player, but his goalscoring record at Dortmund does little to suggest that he will hit double figures this season. He is nowhere near as clinical in front of goal as, say, Bobby Pires or Ljungberg in the past. As in the 2005 FA cup final, we now play 4-5-1 to beef up our midfield rather than for its attacking merits.

As with last season, few teams – outside of Reading, perhaps - will let us play our game this season. Whatever formation employed, what is required is a team that will fight until the last. And in the current crop of players, few have that backs-against-the-wall mentality.

Things are too cozy for the current Arsenal team; it is simply too well liked. Few of our players are reviled in the same way that the players of the Man U team of the 1990s were. Whereas Keane and Beckham were booed wherever they went, Henry is often applauded by opposing teams. We are respected, people want to watch us; few hate us.

The simple truth is that few championship winning sides that I can remember were liked by anyone other than their own supporters. Beyond their talent, championship sides all have something in common: a siege mentality. What made Ferguson so special in the 1990s was the way he instilled the belief in his team that it was them against the world. Mourinho, too, is picking a fight with anyone in sight, again creating a united cause within his team. Even our own successes of 1998 and 2002 were built upon a sense of injustice at the ludicrous number of red cards we received. Who can forget our ten-men victories at Bolton (1-0) in the 1997-1998 season or at Anfield (2-1) in the 2001-2002 season?

I would never suggest that Wenger should go. He has done way too much for the club and has the basis for a great side. But he needs to learn once again to inspire his team to fight to the death. Hopefully his bust-up with Pardew is a step in the right direction.