Arsene needs to make his defensive buy sooner

News that Thomas Vermaelen will be undergoing surgery this wednesday and should be out for at least another 6 weeks does not bode well for the Gunners. If yesterday's performance is any indication, the defense still needs a lot of improvement before it can face the likes of Barcelona or Manchester United in our quest for the League and European titles. Ironically, yesterday's clean sheet was our third in a row in the premiership but the performance of Djourou and Eboue leaves a lot to be desire. We can be comforted that Sagna will be back for the next match but with Vermaelen and Squillaci now out, there are no senior players to rotate in central defense.

Djourou has improved quite a bit over the last couple of matches but yesterday he still needs to have that consistency in his game. Yesterday was not one of his better ones and if the opposition was anything more than a woeful West Ham, we would have been in for a rude shock.

Arsene has talked about his intention to bring out the cheque books but we have yet to see any indication of it. Many names have been linked to us, the latest being Philippe Mexes but there are still no concrete news as yet. I fear that our title aspirations and cup dreams may be in tatters if the Professor is up to his old negotiation tricks and wait until the window is almost over. The month of Jauary is extremely hectic with games coming thick and fast so any injuries or to Djourou or Koscielny will be a major blow. Of course we can move Song back to the defense but it will definitely weaken the established midfield partnership. I wouldn't want to change the winning formula.

So Arsene, please get out your cheque book and sign us a central defender please.