The way I see it - PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal

Last updated : 23 November 2004 By Jason Hogan

I was so pissed off I didn't even bother watching the highlights of our game against West Brom on Match of the Day. What was the point? All I had to do was shut my eyes, think of the umpteen games of this type that Arsenal have been involved in over the last few five or six years and use my imagination.

To be honest, I currently find myself (not for the first time) lurching between a burgeoning sense of frustration and a need to apply a rational sense of perspective. Being held at home to a draw by the Baggies, for example, is one thing but the circumstances in which it came about were all too familiar to any Gooner with a properly trained and experienced eye.

The only thing I will say right now, in mitigation of Arsenal's players, is that I appreciate the fact that it cannot always be easy to maintain a high level of intensity and focus when confronted by no-win situations match after match, week in, week out particularly when everybody outside of Highbury is only interested in seeing them fail.

Why are Arsenal always in a no-win situation every week and why do people outside of Arsenal lie in wait for us to fail? It's not because we happen to be champions or even because we happen to have a half decent side that plays decent football; it's simply because people on the outside neither like Arsenal Football Club, respect Arsenal Football Club or both.

Having said that, it would be wrong of me not to admit that what happened on Saturday ultimately served to endorse what I said prior to Saturday's game and the fact that Wenger MUST make some serious moves to strengthen the squad defensively in January or we can kiss our title goodbye.

For one well known (and well chronicled) reason in particular, the truth is that people are not just suspicious about Arsenal's vulnerability in defence these days, they are nigh on convinced of it and Arsene cannot afford to ignore that any more than we Arsenal fans can. He simply doesn't have that choice anymore.

In the meantime of course, we will have to muddle along with what we have when we go to Holland to play PSV Eindhoven.

Now, when we played this lot back in September I was honestly surprised that striker Jan Vennegor of Hesselink didn't play any more than a cameo role at Highbury. As it turns out he won't play any part at all in Wednesday's game due to the fact that he picked up a pretty nasty shoulder injury whilst playing for PSV against Vitesse Arnhem over the weekend.

That means that the lanky ex-Sheffield Wednesday man Gerald Sibon is likely to start up front along with support coming from the American lad, DeMarcus Beasley.

Still, even though we may need to be wary of the likes of John De Jong and the shooting ability of Mark Van Bommel from range the man who will be key to making PSV tick is Philipe Cocu. I earmarked him as the key man for them in September and with his experience and know how I have no reason to change my mind now.

It's true to say that our form and our results have been relatively indifferent by our standards of late but for all the problems that we have I think that this game actually offers the Arsenal something rare - a genuine incentive.

We will not just be playing for a routine three points in Holland in the way we normally do over here because if we win we will gain automatic entry into the last 16 and therefore be guaranteed to have something to look forward to come late February early March.

But, if Arsenal are to seize the day they must be prepared to go out and do what they haven't done too often (particularly in Europe) of late - prove that have the will as well as the skill to win.