Arsène Wenger – Saturday 27th September - “There will be changes on Tuesday, certainly. I will see how many, but there will be changes.”

Arseblogger foresaw it in his Monday blog – “There's a great quote from John Toshack from when he was manager of Real Madrid. After a defeat he said (and I'm paraphrasing here) 'On Monday you're going to drop all 11, then by Thursday it's 5 or 6, then on Saturday you play the same 11 c***s as last week'.”

How right he was. Arsene Wenger had the opportunity to send a strong message to his first choice players last night. That they have to earn their right to start in Arsenal’s first team. In fact, even if Arsenal had beaten Hull on Saturday, I suspect Samir Nasri would have replaced Eboue on the basis that he is regarded as an automatic first choice pick based on performances when fit.

Wenger apparently kept his players in the dressing room for an hour after the debacle against Hull on Saturday. And rightly so. Hopefully, what he told them then might go some way to removing the air of complacency that seems to have settled amongst several players at the club. Certainly, there are some who must be under the impression that putting in lacklustre performances will not endanger their chances of being picked for the next match. And that is the price you pay for lack of experience in the depth of your squad.

I am not a big fan of rotation, but what I have always believed in is dropping players who are showing inconsistency in their form and lack of application. After last night’s game against Porto, the manager can argue that the threat of being dropped had the desired effect. The players certainly performed with a sense of purpose not seen on Saturday. Porto did have two excellent chances in the first half, but at Champions League level, however well you play, there will be moments of danger due to the quality of opposition. What mattered was that Arsenal converted enough of the chances that came their way.

With the game safe, it was disappointing that the manager did not choose to give one of his less experienced subs an opportunity to get some European minutes under his belt. What was the point, at 3-0 up with 25 minutes left, of sending on Eboue? Wenger should have brought on Aaron Ramsey and switched Denilson to the left flank. At least he saw sense by giving Carlos Vela some time later on. But with game safe, as this one was, there seems little gain in giving Eboue playing time, and it hardly sent much of a message to the player about not being sure of a role in the first team unless he bucks his ideas up.

The knockback suffered against Hull could be the making of the team this season. That is the hope. But in my heart of hearts, the problems that led to the dropped points – lack of real desire, commitment, team spirit (there seem obvious factions in the squad), lack of basic defensive ability – haven’t gone away with the win over Porto.

Arsenal will win a lot of games this season, but they will not win enough to take the title. What can be hoped for is some luck in the cups. There is little danger of them finishing outside the top four (which is part of the reason for some of the complacency) so the financial model is not under threat assuming they can negotiate a Champions League qualifier next August. However, the first couple of months of the current campaign have seen both peaks and troughs, but not enough consistency to convince me that we have a squad of true winners.

Winners require a ruthless single-mindedness at times. If the manager is unable to be ruthless himself, then there’s no leadership by example.