Coming back on the bus today I was reading one match report. I had read quite a few, most of the view, the correct one, that Arsenal were worthy of a point and ferguson was whinging unnescessarily. This match report picked up on an interesting fact and this was that Adebayor has failed to hit the net in the last 7 games in which he has played. With Van Persie out this is slightly worrying. It seems that Eduardo is not yet ready start in Wenger's eyes and with Theo Walcott requiring a little more "natural commitment" as Le Prof called it, Wenger has gone with 5 in midfield in the last two matches with Hleb just behind Adebayor. Hleb is not a natural goalscorer and neither are Rosicky, Eboue or Flamini. Therefore Cesc Fabregas is the only man scoring regularly right now and this will not continue all the time. If Adebayor is going to lead the line he MUST start scoring again. We know he can after seeing his early season form, I just hope the slight dip in form is not a regular thing for Adebayor. It happened last season when he went through two slight dips: one at the very beginning and one towards the end. Coincidently (?) these were when his main partner was out injured or out of form. When Ade was at his best Henry and/or Van Persie were fit and playing well alongside him. He was able to provide them with chances while feeding off them to score himself. He worked best with Van Persie and again this season that combination has bared fruit. As soon as Van Persie is laid out Adebayor's form has dropped. Im not saying it is RVP that makes Ade play well but I am sure there is a link to having a partner up top with him. I know he can lead the line in a 4-5-1 but surely the stats show that in a 4-4-2 he has scored more goals.

This leads on to the debate over a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2. Everyone has their own opinions on it, as do I, and I will relay a few of them. In my opinion it works for us at certain times and this depends on the opposition. Away at Anfield I could understand it. Their defence had been shaky and they normally are able to dominate midfield. To counter this Wenger packed the centre of the park and it worked. We passed them out of the game and had we been less wasteful in front of goal we would have won the game. When opposition are likely to dominate this area it is an understandable tactic, Chelsea being another team where this might be nescessaery. At home to Man Utd however I would not have deemed a 5 man midfield requierd. Wth Paul Scholes out they posed a far smaller threat in this area; I know their front 4 was a major threat but at home I had enough confidence of picking them up. If we wanted to win this game we would need to score goals and to be honest we never looked likely to do that. Our goals were our only real chances. Adebayor was isolated up front and this led to his coming short to find the ball. Unfortunately there was noone in the box now and we had no chance to get forward. There were not enough runs from midfield to support the tall striker. We were not able to play the kind Football normally do as we could not really make any progress forward. Man Utd wanted to soak up pressure and hit us on the counter as being the away team they had nothing to gain by attacking us. Maybe away at Old Trafford the tables will be reversed and we will look for the counter with a 4-5-1. When we face teams with the game plan Man Utd had on Saturday, 2 strikers are needed to break them down.

Therefore who should play alongside Adebayor while Van Persie is out (not for much longer it seems - Nov 24th)? I would play Eduardo alongside him. I know he started slowly and he was hampered by an injury but his goals against Sheffield United showed exactly what he can do when given any sight of goal. He is composed and assured in front of goal, he can be a real handful and will work well with Adebayor, just like Van Persie and Henry did. Theo Walcott can do this aswell as we saw against Slavia Prague. He linked well with the Togo man and his pace will be a real threat playing off the balls Adebayor constantly wins. Bendtner, for me is too similar for Adebayor and should play instead of him should he be given a start. Eduardo and him worked very well together and showed what they can do together. It was also an indication of how Eduardo can play with a tall ball winner.

With both Almunia and Lehmann making errors this season, surely it is time for Fabianski to get a start. I might get slated for panicking and people may say he is too inexperienced. However it seems experience counts for nothing this season, with Lehmann preventing us winning at Ewood Park and Almunia maybe stopping a win on Saturday. They are both erratic and of what I have seen of Fabianski he looks to be confident and solid. Wenger said the no.1 jersey was there for all three of them to fight for. He will stick with Almunia as it is only one mistake he has made, Lehmann was given a second chance. However should he not take this opportunity I would like to see the young Pole given a chance. If not, then could we see Lehmann out in January with a replacement brought in? This is the option I would plump for. Lehmann is now more of a trouble maker than a positive effect and I would sell him in January and get in a world class stopper, from whom Fabianski can learn lots.

So who is out there? With a huge amount of money to spend we are not limited in the financial aspect. We do not definitely need anyone in other positions on the pitch although I would like to see a centre back come in in January. Therefore Wenger could concentrate on a keeper. It must be someone who is not cup-tied in Europe, someone world class as said already and someone any defence would have utter confdence in. One name comes to mind and we have been linked with him before. Gianluigi Buffon stayed loyal to Juventus when they were relegated but they are not in Europe, unlikely to qualify for next year and he may want a bigger challenge. He would be available at between £10-15 million with them oweing us money from the transfer of Patrick Vieira. This is simply a suggestion, we may not buy a goalkeeper at all, but Buffon is my choice should we want to.

As for a centre back - again there is only one choice for me and that is Micah Richards. He is a combination of Toure, Gallas and Senderos. He dominates in the air, has brilliant pace, tackles well and leads the defence brilliantly. He has said it is a "dream" to play for Arsenal and we have the financial firepower to make this happen. He is more suited to the Premiership than Senderos is and could be the perfect replacement eventually for Gallas. He would fill in for Toure while away in Africa and push for a starting spot with Billy and Kolo once all are available. Song does not fill me with confidence, Gilberto and Hoyte are not centre backs, with Djourou on loan developing ideas of a midfield role, we are 1 centre back short in my opinion. Wenger may not feel the need and keep faith with the above mentioned in this position - this is a mistake, especially with the Ivory Coast likely to go for in the African Cup of Nations

One last thing to say: Denilson and Diarra are ready for a Premier/Champions League start in my opinion. Diarra is another ball winner with brilliant ability to control a game. Although I love him as a player and loyal servant to the club I am starting to believe Gilberto may be surplus to requirements come the end of the season. Denilson has come on leaps and bounds and can play the Cesc role should Wenger so need him to. Both have impressed on all counts this season.