I think Arsenal’s got something that the other top four sides don’t have: financial planning. Their debt is the most sensible debt out there (mostly tied up in Highbury, right?), and the most likely to actually be paid back appropriately and without a major cash injection from a random billionaire. In that sense, it’s prudent to NOT spend; if you can get to the top four for free, than why spend 25 million? The problem is that top four finishes, while good, aren’t filling up trophy cases; at some point, the club’s going to need to win something again.

Of course, if and when they beat Liverpool tomorrow, this is a moot point. A loss tomorrow leaves this whole conversation lingering until the 20th; a win draws a line under it with a fairly easy run-in to the end of the season. Ten days of talk about Arsenal’s poor form against the top sides will suck for Gunner fans (I’m dreading the possibility of a Tottenham win and a Liverpool loss; if we lose by two goals or more, we drop behind Man City).

The problem isn’t that the team is too young, but that they haven’t had a truly defining win yet. No offense to Liverpool, but our win there in December wasn’t all that great. Yes, we fought back, but ‘Pool had been slumping and weren’t at their best (or even at their good) that day. We go a goal down, and the squad has no self belief; if we don’t answer ten minutes after the goal, we’re not going to answer. In fact, we’ll likely give up another goal. (See: Chelsea on Sunday and United the week before). We don’t have the heart. The determination is there, so is the technique, but we don’t fight like Chelsea or United. We turn lame.

It doesn’t help our confidence that our keeper is south of terrible; I’d like to say Almunia should never play another game for us, but our options aren’t just limited, they aren’t even options.

Ask any Arsenal supporter: we’ve know what the squad has lacked over the past 2-3 seasons. We need another defensive middie (That’s not a knock on Song, because if you ask me, if Cesc isn’t putting in the performances he is, Song is my MVP) and a true first-choice keeper. It’s almost laughable that Wenger claims we can win the league, but then we see Almunia (Karl Hungus) on the team sheet week in and out.

I’ll stop now because I just realize how much I’ve written. And I’m getting angrier.

I agree, he’s probably never going to spend more than 30 million in a summer unless he sells 50 million, but the players need to be shown that there is hope that they’ll win something.

Of course, I don’t see why van Nistelrooij or Huntelaar wouldn’t have been worth a shot on loan, but perhaps Wenger has given up on the season. Better to wait and see if there is one available in the summer. On van Persie comes back, there wouldn’t be playing time for him anyway.

I think at this point, too, it’s very clear that Wenger WON’T decide in the summer to buy players; it’s not what he does. I actually like Wenger, and I like his policy of buying young (and, generally, cheap) with an eye towards building up his squad…but eventually you need to actually win something to keep the players’ ambitions sated, to say nothing of the fans.

Something I’ve noticed (and I may be wrong because I don’t watch Arsenal all the time) is that once you guys go down 1 or 2 goals, the young(er) guys seem to give up. Cesc is always in there, but he doesn’t have much support. Although I have to give Vermaelen props for bloodying the crap out of Malouda’s head. They also seemed to spend too much time on the ball. No one can pass the ball like Arsenal, but there were times when I think they could have slotted one past Cech had they taken the shot instead taking an extra touch. Just my two cents.

To be fair, if Arsenal had gotten the first goal, I think we would have seen a very different match.