In my last post I wrote about Arsenal needing a new outlook. This weekend it seems like we need a new midfield. Eboue plus Denilson has to be the worst central midfield pairing ever to play for Arsenal.

I was at the match at West Brom and there was audible collective groan at the stadium when the team was announced. These two cannot even hold on to the ball long enough to think of a pass. They had a strictly OK game against WBA and that performance did NOT justify sticking with them against a real Premiership outfit like Fulham.

Anyone who watched the match will have seen how our central midfield endlessly gave the ball away, Denilson being the most culpable of the two. The whole team played badly and Fulham adopted a very physical game from the start. The physicality is not a problem but with a drama queen like Eboue in the centre it is a ploy that will work. He falls over more than any player in the Premiership. Denilson could not and did not find a single pass of note to any of his team-mates. The number of times he gave the ball away was shocking. While Denilson kept spraying the ball aimlessly, why Wenger didn’t get Ramsey (who had a great pre-season) on as a substitute is inexplicable.

The long passes to Adebayor which were such a good outlet last season were mostly overhit. The few he got to he tried to do something with, but there was no-one to contest the second balls.

Three free kicks in range were not enough for (the immensely talented??) Van Persie to even trouble the keeper once. While Fulham’s defender found the goal through our famously porous defence, one hoped it would rouse the team into a reaction. What came instead was just one Ade header off the post. No urgency at any point until the very end when many shots were thumped in without any real direction.

I will not talk about Theo’s performance as I have already said enough about him. Nasri does not help much with the defending and Clichy was under continuous pressure. Sagna had a torrid time too, and neither of them could provide useful crosses.

With the ratio of incomplete passes in the midfield piling up I am sure Wenger’s computer will throw up some interesting stats on this game. I hope it will show him the error of his ways. He will undoubtedly point to the international break, which is really sad. In fact, Denilson, who had a nightmare of a game was the only midfielder who did not travel!

What is worrying is that even if he wants to, Wenger cannot fix the midfield problem. It is too late. We don’t care about players who left and who were great last year. This year we could and should have bought a good midfielder early enough for the pre-season.

Any reinforcements before the transfer window shuts will be average and will go through a compulsory injury period before they kick a ball for Arsenal. We had the luxury of one of the easier starts of the season and we have already blown it. A shame really, as we could have piled up a few points to help us though the winter.

While this is not the end and only just the beginning, it is indicative of how the season is going to be less of a title chase and more of a fight for a top four finish.

Like the boss himself said post-match, when you want to play at the top you must start with the right attitude and personality. Those are exactly the qualities this young and now threadbare Arsenal team lack.

Whilst the other contenders are already dishing it out in style we have yet to kick off. And the usual ‘Arsenal style’ has been missing so far this season. If nothing else we must first get the trademark flowing style back into our play, then we can dream of trophies.

(Ed’s note – We are getting a lot of stuff submitted for the site at the moment, including more reaction to the Fulham game. We’ll do out best to get it all online over the next few days, but bear with us if you have sent in something that hasn’t gone up yet. Some offerings need a bit of time spent on tidying up for grammar and spelling (!) and time is in short supply at Gooner Towers until September arrives.)