The Boss continually talks about the transition that the club is going through, but every year we seem to have to rebuild in certain positions due to departures of key players. The question is: how long can this continue before our top players such as Van Persie, Fabregas and Clichy get fed up and head for pastures new?

As far as I can see, many of the players in the first choice eleven are already fully developed and this “transition” is holding them back. Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Rosicky, Emanuel Adebayor and Manuel Almunia are all experienced at the highest level, and are unlikely to develop any further. They are all world class athletes who are capable of winning trophies but due to a lack of strength, particularly in the middle of the field, are not performing to the best of their ability.

I do not mean to continually criticise Denilson, but his performances this season have done nothing to prevent me from doing so. A world class holding midfielder could cost up to £20 million. Yes, this is a huge amount of money, but it is potentially a massive investment for the club. The club’s hesitance to pay the market value for world class players could see our failure to lift a trophy yet again this season. Xabi Alonso, an experienced Spanish international, agreed personal terms with us this summer only to see the move collapse due to Arsenal offering no more than £10 million, £6 million below the asking price.

If we are to successfully complete this transition, money must be spent in one of the few areas where we are extremely weak. Last Saturday’s performance at Sunderland helped to reinforce this point when Alex Song, a player who I rate extremely highly, lost possession in a dangerous area and ten seconds later we were a goal down.

“When we have a fully fit squad…” I hear this at least once a day from some deluded Gooner, but let’s face it, when does anybody ever have a fully fit squad? Our weakest area is central midfield and we only have one player to return in that position, Abou Diaby, who hopefully can improve things, but don’t hold your breath.

Despite the fact that our football is “easy on the eye” it is extremely frustrating to watch at times, as the team seem happy to pass the ball around all afternoon without creating anything. This was shown at the Stadium of Light when we had 67% of the possession but only created one real clear cut chance which RVP should have buried.

If we are to win anything we must start making full use of set pieces because, as we saw on Saturday, we can score cheap goals from them. We have scored two goals in two games from a corner, which shows if the delivery actually beats the first man we have players capable of scoring with their head.

Overall, I feel the main reason the team are so frustrating to watch is because of the undoubted ability which this young squad of players possess. This time last year I was sure that 2008/09 would be our season, but at the minute it doesn’t look that way. Let’s just hope the performances pick up soon.