It's been a rough few weeks for Arsenal. The morale boost of beating United seems already to have been eroded after another league let down and Gallas' self-destructive rant.

Gallas clearly wants out - or at least someone to put his toys back in the pram and give him a lollipop. But as Chelsea fans know, this doesn't mean it's time to push the panic button. Gallas has never been famed for making easygoing company and it's clear that the strains of not being at the top are forcing things out in to the open. This unprofessional guff has ended the debate about Wenger's decision to appoint him captain. It seems very brave of Gallas to take such a risk rubber-stamping his pain-in-the-arse reputation although, to be fair to him, Milan do seem to have a habit of picking up egotistical past-their-best names.

Like we saw with Liverpool last year, the red tops have already announced that Arsenal's title challenge has just ended. And, like Liverpool last season, subsequent non-victories would herald a repeat of the headline with a tedious repetition of the reasons. How many times already have we been told Arsenal's title challenge has just ended?

Arsenal are not going to win the league, nor will they get back in to the race; exactly the same as Liverpool last year. In fact there are many other similarities between the situation Arsenal face now and the one that Liverpool faced around this time last year. First and most obvious is the press coverage, dripping with arm-chair advice. Last year it was rotation (which seemed more like a word to yell every time Liverpool failed to win a game rather than tactical analysis), this year it's buying defensive players. Both valid arguments made boring by repetition.

We also have the "is it time he goes?" question which, given the brief tenures of many Premier League managers, forces itself to be taken seriously. For a second or two. The idea of sacking Wenger, just like it was with Benitez last year, was ridiculous. Recall that Rafa Benitez has made Liverpool compete far better than under Houllier, attracted Torres and [GENERIC REFERENCE TO ISTANBUL].

The idea of sacking Wenger is just as risible. Be honest: nobody down the pub really seems to know why he isn't buying expensive, experienced players. And neither, it seems, do sports journalists. Maybe the board aren't letting him. Maybe Arsenal are discreetly getting knocked back by big names. Or maybe the oft-mentioned Economics schooling of Wenger is telling him that during the financial crisis, planning additional cash loans while already deeply in debt is a bit like mooning a policeman.

Whatever you think of his current position, the fact is that he made Arsenal win the league a few times and, given his relative lack of recent expenditure, is doing as good a job as you could hope for keeping them up there. Additionally, Wenger has been at Arsenal for years now and the team is very much so his team. Getting rid of him mid-season would just make things worse, particularly given Arsenal's clear lack of a leader on the pitch.

There is constant, prying interest in every aspect of unrest at the club - and presumably some imaginary aspects of unrest, too. Not unlike Benitez last season, Wenger's attitude towards what's getting written about his club - particularly notable during his reaction to Saturday's Match of the Day question about Gallas - is "this isn't helping me, guys".

Despite all this, like Liverpool were last year, Arsenal are comfortably capable of coming back and securing fourth without a terrifying final day of the season. True, Arsenal's strength has diminished from last season but this has been clear since the transfer deadline passed. However, even with a well-organised, professional and presumably quietly confident Villa side in competition, a regrouped and reasonably injury-free Arsenal would be likely to go on an impressive winning streak or two as well as picking up points from rivals. Arsenal's current run of uncharacteristically bad form isn't going to last and the "they're writing us off but we'll show them" mentality will kick in eventually. The Chelsea fixture is almost perfectly timed to force Arsenal to stop feeling sorry for themselves and get their act together.

Particularly if Arsenal manage to recruit this defensive midfielder in the transfer window, we should all expect them to get them fourth place and have a decent crack at the Champions League this season, at least. When they start feeling like it again, that is.

So, while you still can, make the most of telling your Gooner mates "don't worry, at least you'll get to play in Europe".