Not long after the last ball of last season was kicked up at Sunderland, we all knew Le Boss would be looking for a quality central defender and a quality midfielder. This was the bare minimum requirement needed to address two things - a) our vulnerable central defence, and b) the departure of Mathieu Flamini, who was one of our key players last season. That was known months ago.

But the summer break has ticked by and the only acquisition has been the ‘bargain bin’ purchase of Mikael Silvestre from Man U. Just how much of a bargain he was will only become evident after his first few games for us. But at least he brings with him experience – something we don’t have in plentiful supply when compared to our main rivals. To make matters worse, the departure of Gilberto in the summer has only added to our problems.

I am writing this having just watched our woeful performance against Fulham. It was not the fact that we lost the game that has prompted me to put fingers to keyboard, but the performance of the team. The whole team. Those of you that watched the game don’t need me to tell you that we were absolutely clueless. With no Cesc in midfield to direct operations, does this mean that we have now become a one man team?

I am no football coach but I do know that if you fail to control the midfield, you will have little chance of winning a game. Last season, our midfield duo of Cesc and Flamini performed superbly for much of the season, and if either was unavailable then Gilberto provided decent and experienced cover. Two of these players have now left us and have unbelievably been replaced by….no-one!!! Yes – no-one. You couldn’t make it up!

Although we managed three points against West Brom on the opening day of the season, our performance was far from convincing, despite playing an over-cautious newly-promoted side. That was followed by the clueless shambles against Fulham. I am not only aghast that Arsene has done nothing to address our chronic midfield problem but I am staggered that he chose to play Denilson and Eboue, especially given the fact that the pairing clearly showed no signs of working the previous week.

Arsene always talks about showing your opponents respect but he clearly failed to do that on Saturday by sending out a midfield duo that was doomed to fail even before the first kick of the ball. Perhaps he assumed that given their record against Arsenal (only two wins in 42 years), Fulham would just roll over and that the three points would be a formality for us. But Fulham had obviously done their homework by watching the West Brom game because Danny Murphy and Jimmy Bullard were easily able to take control of the midfield without breaking into too much of a sweat. And why Wenger persisted with Denilson and Eboue for the entire 90 minutes is a complete mystery. He had Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere on the bench, neither of whom could possibly have played any worse than the other two.

And then there was the matter of the Fulham goal - poor marking from a set piece. Same old, same old. Come on Arsene, get a grip… please. Without wishing to be disrespectful to Fulham, let’s not forget that we were playing a team that narrowly avoided relegation at the end of last season. Imagine if we had been playing one of our so-called title rivals? We managed one decent attempt – an Ade header which hit the post - in the entire game. Just one. If Arsene repeats this midfield exercise in the next few games it will be a case of more of the same. Thank heavens for a two-goal lead from the FC Twente away game, although there will be more than a few squeaky bums on Wednesday night if the Dutch score first. Ed’s note – this was obviously sent in before the midweek game

I don’t think too many people would disagree with me in saying that this is the weakest team that we have had in Arsene’s reign at the club. My worry is that his reluctance to get the cheque book out in order to remedy the blindingly-obvious midfield problem can only put our long-term future at risk. That’s assuming the club really is serious about winning silverware. Although I can’t really see adding any trophies to our cabinet this season, a top four finish has to be the minimum requirement. If not, then surely the likes of Cesc and RvP will be looking to move to clubs that can offer Champions League football.

As I write this on the day after the Fulham game I am alarmed to read that AW is being quoted as saying that he is no closer to signing anyone, and that the answer to our midfield problem might be within our current squad. Hello? Let’s all hope that it’s just a smokescreen from the club and the vital missing ingredient materialises before the transfer window closes. On the other hand, if the club really don’t have the money to spend then they should come out and say so. At least it would make the current situation we are in easier to understand.