Six and out...

I know this is probably not what I should be saying after my beloved Gunners have just trounced a fellow Premier League team, but to be honest I'm not feeling all that positive about things right now - you have been warned, read on only if you want to join me in slumpsville. I know it's nearly summer and things are being wrapped up, usually the last two games have a party feel to them, and yes we did just knock in 6 goals including a treble from our striker, but where i'm sitting the skies are grey, we're going into winter and this columnist is wondering how the f*** we managed to concede 2 goals to the worst team ever to grace the league.

Before Monday nights game Derby had scored just 17 goals and only 12 of those were at home. So you would expect a team, who for a long time lead the league and was a Champions League quarter finalist to have no problem keeping things tight at the back against such obviously inferior opposition. But no, we conceded twice one of which to Robert Earnshaw of all people who then started somersaulting and dancing like an ugly ferret. I'm sure it must be hard for the team to stay focused and motivated in such a game, but this is how good or bad habits are formed. It was the sort of defending that has been symptomatic of Arsenal all season, cheap's goals conceded not long after taking the lead, and regardless of what the occasion is these are highly paid professionals who are failing to do their job. Gallas, Touré and co should not be switching off now because they simply haven't earned it this season.

Now I know some people might say it was too easy, that we knew we could out gun Derby and conceding two was just part of us going all out in attack against a weak side. Those people would be wrong. I would rather we had won 2 - 0 than 6 - 2 because to concede twice to such a poor side at any stage of the season shows a lack of resolve and ruthlessness on our part - and something that ManUre and Chelski seem to understand far better. Particularly away from home our backline has often been naive. Yes we score plenty but the amount we concede belies where we sit on the table - ManUtd, Chelski, Liverpool and Everton have all bettered us in this department. Quite simply this result shows what a difficult job Arsene has this summer to tighten up our defensive line.

So against this backdrop, it is particularly concerning to see our team once again being eyed off by the vultures of Europe. This seasons Barcelona appear to be AC Milan, whom, not content with snatching Mathieu Flamini to warm their bench, are now winking at Manu Adebayor and pointing to a suitcase overstuffed with Euros with his name on it. Of course his agent is denying anything but his comments about 'receiving no concrete offers' hardly fill me with confidence about his current loyalties.

In my mind though a greater concern may be Barcelona themselves - their failure to beat Man Ure this week (along with their failures domestically) have got the Catalan press screaming for change. With us seemingly Barcelona's feeder club of choice in the last few years, and with a certain young Catalan again performing wonderfully in our midfield, I wonder how long it will be before the tapping up of Fabregas begins. Certainly if Cesc's supposed close friends Flamini and Hleb decide to head back to the continent, I will begin to fear the worst.

Of course this will only inspire the hordes of transient Arsenal fans who seem to revel in the rumour mongering on the Internet. Why is it they are always insisting that the solution is to let half the team go and instead bring in the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rooney - they are clearly out of their minds and should go and manage Manchester City - they have a chairman who seems about as deluded as they are. I for one respect Arsene's principles of developing players into what he requires. It has worked in the past and will no doubt work again. The fly in this ointment though is the club must do more to protect these investments. Granted they have put Cesc on a long term contract and could not have easily predicted Flamini's sudden rise as a premier league force, but they must learn these lessons now so we don't have to suffer another season of rebuilding in the wake of departures in key areas. We simply cannot lose members of the spine of the team every season - that is what has made teams like United and Chelsea so strong, who, by keeping the likes of Fat Frank, Scholes, Ferdinand, Terry, Drogba and Rooney regardless of any interest from outside have managed to be consistent performers each season. The twist here is that they share the money and lack of morals of the big European clubs of course, but with English teams dominating Europe of late, surely there is no better place to be than a top 4 Premier League club to challenge for the highest honour's?

Regardless the board must not let Fabregas contract dwindle down like that of Hleb and Flamini. Losing a player is bad, losing a player for nothing is unacceptable at this level of the game when so much money is involved.

As it is, young Cesc has temporarily lost his mind. It's one thing to retain belief, but his insistence this week that the league was still there to be won made me wonder what they've been putting in his paella recently. Adebayor was more on the mark when he said the team would 'learn from this' for next season. The trouble with this sentiment is will any of the team be left to put that into practice?

By Paul Wright

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