If there is one thing about the modern Premier League that winds me up (apart from Fat Lumpard’s ugly face) it is when managers patronise the supporters by claiming that all is well when it patently is not.

Arsene Wenger can sometimes gloss over all too obvious problems and in fairness to the great man, I fully understand why he does this as to criticise an individual in public is not going to help anyone’s confidence. So you can imagine my surprise when Arsene’s weekly email to fans dropped into my inbox today with the following direct quotes in it:-

“When Chelsea reverted to long balls, we did not deal well enough with it.”

“I feel we have some defensive problems which we need to sort out. We got caught on the long balls and the physical battle. We needed a bit more defensive authority as the game was there to be taken.”

“We had plenty of chances on the counter-attack when they went 4-4-2 but we were not serene enough defensively.”

The rest of Arsene’s email is pretty much standard “manager speak” but in his 12 years in charge, I don’t think I have ever seen, heard or read him singling out 1 particular problem in such a way. Who is he referring to when he says “we have some defensive problems which we need to sort out”?

Bac Sagna? I very much doubt it as he has been one of the most consistent performers this season, especially as it is his first in the Premier League. Gael Clichy? Unlikely as he too has played very well this season, with the exception of his momentary lapses at Man City and Birmingham.

Kolo Toure? I’m not quite sure but my feeling is that Kolo is a solid player overall, who very seldom has a bad 90 minutes.

That just leaves - William Gallas? Who else can Arsene be referring to?? I don’t think he is suggesting that the midfield aren’t protecting the back four sufficiently (as Manu Petit and Patrick Vieira did so well) as Arsene mentions the defence 4 times.

A quick read through recent posts on the OnlineGooner Forum shows two distinct threads:

1. We (the fans) are searching for reasons as to why we have slumped so badly in the league, just when we had forged ahead and looked likely to secure the title.

2. Quite a few fans have expressed “reservations” about William’s leadership qualities and his general performances.

We make our assumptions on what we see on the pitch and (to a certain extent) what we read but Arsene knows so much more that we do, given that he is with the players in training and that he knows each players’ personality and how they gel as a group. If we’re hurting you can be sure that Arsene will be hurting like hell.

I can’t help feeling that the Boss’s criticism is aimed primarily at Gallas after some poor performances recently especially Shite Hart Lane, Old Trafford, his histrionics at Birmingham, Middlesboro (Schwarzer’s punt travelled 90 untroubled yards down the middle of the pitch don’t forget) and Stamford Bridge where a great start was squandered by an inability to deal with long balls.

Having grown up watching Tony Adams marshall the best back four in living memory whilst delivering 10 major trophies, I will always compare Arsenal centre halves to him and I hate to say it but William doesn’t have anywhere near the same presence as Big Tone. However, should William lift the European Cup in Moscow in May, I will quickly re-evaluate and eat large amounts of humble pie.

So what do fellow Gooners think? Is Arsene expressing dissatisfaction with his Captain? Can William still lead us to a trophy this season?