So a dramatic and important time after the international week, Toure, Almunia, Clichy, Flamini and Gallas putting us two goals down against Bolton before a heroic fight back won us the game, our defence had come so close to costing us. Three games against Liverpool, three that could kill off any lingering hopes of a title and dump us out of Europe or give us momentum and confidence going into the last few games. Well we know what happened, we scored four times and were unlucky not to get more but we conceded six times, five of which we could have prevented so now we go to Old Trafford, deflated and hoping Ronaldo and Tevez get a cold while Manchester's superb centrebacks, who have done more than anyone to get them so far this season despite the understandable praise of Ronaldo by every pundit, don't become fit in time. I suppose had we won in the league game, we could have coped with the CL loss as we would go to Old Trafford with a great chance of pulling ourselves back into the title race. But now a win would only just leave the hope lingering on while a defeat or a draw means we should perhaps experiment with fringe players like Song or things like Toure in a holding role.

First goal in the three Liverpool games, Flamini lost it carelessly again and neither Toure nor Eboue were able to stop Gerrard's good run before he pulled the ball across. League goal, Crouch winning the ball in the air is fair enough but failing to win second or third ball, Toure vanishing and neither Gallas or Gilberto able to stop Crouch was not encouraging. Then we went to Anfield, Senderos lost his man and Cesc, for some reason, didn't stick to his post but wandered inside. Second goal, ok Crouch wins ball but again nobody was able to get to the knockdown first and Senderos backed off. In some ways, this is fair enough, he goes charging in and Torres skips around him, we are in more trouble but once Toure is there, one of them has to close the striker down, neither do and Toure leaves a huge gap for Torres to fire through, a great shot to be fair. Then we rescue the tie and a minute later, Cesc and Toure get beaten by Babel so Toure, for some reason, decides that he should jump onto the back of Babel and impede him. The ref rightly gives the penalty, yes were have been hard done by on such calls recently but still no excuse for fouling the guy, not much could be done about the winner as understandably we had everyone inside their half. We have compounded our bad luck with awful defending and while there are many issues Arsene may wish to address in the summer like left wing, squad depth and what to do with two forwards with grave injury concerns, I think he must look at the backline, the keepers and the holding player role, see where he can improve as we can't afford another season of our defence undermining our great attack. Normally I am reluctant to contemplate who to sell before the season ends and someone may go and perform brilliantly now but things have been so bad that I can't see our defence going on a run of clean sheets.

First of all, our choice of numbers ones, VDS has been superb whenever his miserly defence has been breached and Jens at his best has shown what a top class keeper does. Jens Lehmann has had an erratic season last time and started badly so was dropped as he looked to shake off an injury. Unfortunate as Arsene refused to reinstate him, performing well in the few games he got, but seized his chance when Almunia was injured; conceding one goal behind a mostly first choice defence and making a world class save against Milan, getting a strong hand to push away an early header. He was unfortunate in the 4-0 defeat as his defence collapsed and he made many very good saves to keep the score line down though perhaps he could have done better once or twice. Yet Almunia got straight back in and Jens will either retire or take one last season in Germany, despite his declining abilities, he is still Germany's number one and I feel Arsene's failure to reinstate him was his biggest mistake this season.

Almunia went into this season as a solid deputy and has been given a real chance to make himself number one and for me, hasn't taken it. He has done nothing as bad as Jens’ early mistakes like the Fulham one but then he hasn't pulled off a save like the AC Milan or the Slavia one, he is the reliable second choice who won't let you down but won't gain you points and that isn't enough - though he can't be blamed that much for Liverpool failure, would Jens have pulled off something? Lukasz Fabianski is a talented young keeper I'm sure, but he has had a horrid debut season, making errors, looking uncertain but he is only twenty two and he will hopefully have adjusted and be better next season. I think the best course is to buy a new keeper, of top quality who will win us games as VDS has done time and time again this season. If Almunia doesn't like it sell the Spaniard then buy a deputy who will cope for a few years.

At rightback, Sagna has been nothing short of superb and the best rightback in the division; he has really strengthened the defence and his injury was a huge blow to the team. Eboue has played there once this season and did alright, if we can sort out his head then he can be a valuable deputy for the role. Hoyte has been solid as ever despite a horror show against Man U but Arsene doesn't seem to have much faith in him given how Flamini and Diarra were used when Sagna was missing and he may have to leave which would require us buying cheaply or promoting someone as cover should worst come to worst next season. At leftback, Clichy has not been at his best, guilty a few times of careless defending or losing possession in our defensive third. Evra has had the better season and we need Clichy to return to his previous form. Traore has had a poor season, Liverpool game aside, where he has attacked well enough but looked suspect at defending but he is a very young player and there are high hopes for him. Gibbs has done well in the role once or twice as well, he looks a solid player. Keep as is due to the potential of Traore and the belief that Clichy may just have had an off season by his high standards.

Centreback is key, we went into this with high hopes of Toure, Gallas and Djourou quite popular with fans though there were doubts about the partnership and if Gallas should be captain. Song and Senderos were not in favour among most fans. Gallas has been a fine captain but he has made a few errors this season - though I note most were alongside Toure. He needs to learn to play to whistle in regards to offside calls and he does sometimes react a second slow. He was not at fault for most of the Liverpool goals other then perhaps the league one.

Toure has always been a player who uses his pace to recover from mistakes, which he makes sometimes, but it is quite possible that pace has been hampered since he picked up an injury and he has performed abysmally recently, at fault for most of the goals we have conceded of late. Someone with his ability on the ball though may prove to be a useful holding player, keep his quality while still breaking up the first choice central defensive partnership.

Senderos needs a run of games to get going and till that happens, there are concerns that he will make errors. But he has been our second best defender (behind Sagna) in our recent run. An unfortunate own goal was the sum of his mistakes during our poor run and he was superb against AC Milan. A good first leg performance against Liverpool but he was erratic in the second, making one or two errors while also making some good blocks. There is an argument over whether he can perform over the big games and that needs to be answered, if he can then it might be worth playing him alongside Gallas. If he can't then sell him for his own sake so he can improve elsewhere, perhaps Italy where his lack of pace may be less exposed.

Djourou wanted to go on loan but his time at Birmingham was a failure, he struggled badly and didn't look like the classy defender we saw last season, Since his return in January he hasn't played other than one half against Spurs in a 1-1 draw, so he may well consider leaving at his age to progress his career unless he suddenly becomes third choice centreback which would require someone being sold or a rejig. Song has won over many fans with some good performances in shaky defences in the Carling Cup and he was superb in his natural position of holding midfielder for his country and is a good youngster. He provides good depth at centreback but I wouldn't play him ahead of others.

Problem is, Manchester's Vidic and Rio have been mountains at the back while nobody has looked like performing that well for us either this season or the two before, not consistently anyway. Arsene may need to buy in cover if one or two decide to further their careers elsewhere and look at his centreback pairing. Does he promote Senderos and hope he can show more of the Milan-type performances rather than the Liverpool one, or does he buy in a player similar to Vidic? Or even buy two new first choice centrebacks? I would hate to be in Arsene's shoes and have to decide but he gets paid the big bucks to do so and I have faith.

Last is the holding midfielder, someone who sweeps up in front of the defence and wins the battle for our more creative players. Gilberto was coming in from a superb season and captaining Brazil but he seems wrecked by how Arsene failed to inform him that he wouldn't be captain, a bad peice of man management. Mentally he seems elsewhere though he has been nothing but professional, his form has picked up a little of late but like Jens, it will be a sad way to end his time at Arsenal, which seems over. Flamini was a versatile workhorse but given his chance early on and a contract to play for, he was superb. But for some reason, his mind is elsewhere since his wage demands have not been met. You could argue it is tiredness or his superb form dropping off to his real ability, but he has lost that bite and indeed has played a part in our recent struggles. Denilson has suffered in his second season, but he is young and I hope he bounces back. A slight problem may be due to his similarity to Cesc in many ways. We also lost the impatient Diarra who looked a real prospect when he played. Song and Toure will also want that role and Lansbury may well hope to be in the squad so numbers may not be a problem. But is there a real quality one in there with Gilberto gone and Flamini probably going? If there isn't then Arsene needs to splash out on someone who will aid the defence.

Is there something behind the scenes that can be done? Bring back Keown to work with them? It’s going to be an important summer for Arsene now he has the funds. I think that if he doesn't add to his defence or come up with a new system then we must kiss any title hopes for next season goodbye.