Oh Arsene...

We've been here before. Extreme optimism and genuine belief turns into despair and resentment in the space of a few short (long, for Arsene Wenger) weeks. The last time such a collapse happened was in 2008, following Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Birmingham which memorably saw captain William Gallas sulking like a child on the floor in the opposition half alone while his team conceded a last minute penalty. It started a downward spiral that saw the Gunners' season crumble away. They were going well in the league and cup competitions before then, and now three years later I could substitute the same story and apply it to the present, with only minor details to change. The situation is still the same and the problem is still the same. Although the season is not completely over and I take the risk in writing them off too soon, many will agree, even Arsenal fans, that it is over after losing to Bolton on Sunday, and that they will finish their 38th Premier League game of 2010/11 without the title, and of course no other trophies as consolation. This will make it six years without any silverware, and for a club of Arsenal's stature, many will see it as unacceptable. Cesc Fabregas was even recently quoted as saying his manager Wenger would probably have been sacked from an equivalent club in Spain if he had presided over such a lengthy trophy drought. That is another matter, as this is England, and not Spain.

Some of the personnel may have changed since Arsenals 2007/08 late-season demise, yet the manager remains in place, the younger players that were on the fringes then and have remained at the club have arguably improved, and despite what may be made of Wenger's supposed reluctance to bring in 'big' players, the squad, I believe, is better than it was. Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin, for instance, are hardly unknown talents. However, the manager has remained, and the footballing philosophy is the same. With this unwavering Wenger philosophy of beautiful football inevitably comes the dissenting shouts of "frail" and "lack of maturity" whenever the excellent technical prowess that Arsenal possess as a team do not quite yield the right results that Manchester United or Chelsea would more likely be able to grind out. A valid summary of Arsenal's current predicament was aptly provided in two words on a football forum yesterday: "S**t Barcelona". Recent results have shown that Arsenal lack the grit to get the job done. I am not doubting the ability of any of the Arsenal players. On the contrary, I feel they have one of the best squads in the league in terms of ability. If the league was decided by mental state of mind, however, they would be mid-table at best, and I stress 'at best'. It is difficult to pinpoint the nature of this problem, though. Wenger clearly knows these players inside-out, yet when it comes to the crunch, it is left to him to come up with excuses about refereeing decisions or some other wild myths to account for the failings of those he sends out to win games.

People talk about the lack of big-money signings, and yes, they perhaps should be made in the summer to bring a bit more steel - psychological steel, if anything. Even one or two older heads would bring a balance to the squad, as too much pressure is heaped on Fabregas as captain to inspire and lead, and frankly he hasn't been consistent enough as a leader this season. The dire goalkeeping situation doesn't help either. Edwin van der Sar, for one, has shown that a championship winning team needs a world-class stopper, and the keepers that Arsenal have used this season have cost them more than they have saved them, most notably in the Carling Cup final. Stan Kroenke's increasing involvement with the club at a corporate level is an unknown entity. It is most likely the funds will be there for Arsene Wenger should he feel the need to utilise them, but his future, like the future of the club's ownership (with supporter shareholders unwilling to sell to the American) is uncertain. He still is the right man for the job, but those dissenting voices are not getting quieter.

The FA - A Paradigm of Incompetency

After yet another frenetic and unpredictable weekend in the Barclays Premier League that saw Arsenal and Chelsea's title hopes slide further away, Manchester United did what they have seemingly done all season by winning another game they might have lost. 2-0 down to West Ham at half time and looking as if they might hand their rivals a lifeline in the race for the championship, United conjured up that familiar resilient, never-say-die mindset and blew the Hammers away in the second half, thanks in the main to a hat-trick from the boy Rooney. I use the word 'boy' in this context to illustrate his reaction to scoring his third. With a Sky Sports camera hovering inches from his face, and, glowing with passionate anger, he stared into the lens and shouted, "What? F***ing what? F*** off." It was an outburst not unlike that of a young, angry teenager (pretty much all of the time).

Let me firstly say that language like this is not appropriate at any time, and I don't condone someone screaming expletives like that, especially when it is by a professional footballer to millions of viewers on the television. They are role models to thousands of young aspiring players and should act accordingly. Yet I would like to point out that such a reaction is understandable, particularly when someone shoves a camera down your throat. It's provocative and asking for trouble and the subsequent mass hysteria that has predictably emerged. Still, everyone loves a talking point.

However, it is not the actions of Rooney that I wish to discuss. It is the response of the Football Association to the incident. Rooney had, after the final whistle, immediately apologised for his outburst via the club's website. Sensible, yes. He apologised for his behaviour and that should have been the end of it. But no. Why? Because the British media love a witch-hunt. That it is Rooney makes it extra-special. It is not in the nature of the media to 'let it go', and so, on this occasion, they haven't. On the other hand, I very much doubt if it were a West Ham player - Carlton Cole, for example - who had sworn into the camera, the same would have been made of it. What if an overseas player had done the same thing, in a different language? I very much doubt there is a special room at the FA where dozens of translators are all sat in front of monitors waiting for a foreign player to swear on TV.

All of this, in turn, puts an enormous amount pressure on the FA to make an example of the player in question. It turns out that the player in question is Rooney, arguably England's most important player. They have charged him for using offensive language, and he now faces a two-match ban. By the way, who was 'offended' by his language? Was there a bloke called Steven sitting at home watching the game in Basingstoke with a can of Carlsberg who thought Rooney was actually telling him to "F*** off"? Rooney even said it himself in his apology: "It was not aimed at anyone in particular." The charge itself, therefore, is something to question.

Another issue is the FA's superb record of inconsistency. I agree that Rooney should have been banned for elbowing a Wigan player earlier this season, but the FA didn't take action. Perhaps the FA felt that because they didn't ban him when they should have done, this is a perfect opportunity to do so. But two wrongs don't make a right. It seems that whoever is dishing out these punishments has no sense of priority. There was a racism claim against the families of some West Ham players during Saturday's match - they could easily be monitoring that situation instead in conjunction with West Ham and the police. The countless other incidents that have gone unpunished, such as Steven Gerrard's elbow against Portsmouth's Michael Brown last season, merely exacerbates the problem, while the incidents that barely qualify as incidents (arguably Saturday's) are dealt with more severely. The problem for the FA is that if they don't act, they are jumped on by the media, but if they do, then surely they must continue to do so in the same vein. Therefore, banning every player that has ever sworn during a football match would be a good start. This, of course, is impossible and stupid and so what the FA must do is sort out the more petty occurrences in the game - which at most deserve a quiet slap on the wrist - from those that are unacceptable in this game and must rightly be extremely dealt with.

Easier said than done, and I feel that nothing will change for the foreseeable future.