It was another frustrating Arsenal performance at the Riverside last Saturday as the Gunners let slip a one-goal lead to draw with Middlesbrough. The home team started brightly and put Arsene Wenger's men under plenty of early pressure. Emmanuel Adebayor gave the visitors the lead though in the 16th minute heading home from a Cesc Fabregas corner. Boro hit back a quarter of an hour later when Jeremie Aliadiere headed an equaliser. The second half was a scrappy affair and neither team had the guile or cutting edge to find a winner and take all three points.

This was a match that the Gunners could have, and should have, won and the disappointment at not leaving the north east with the spoils was compounded by results elsewhere as Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd all drew and Villa blew away Bolton at home to leapfrog into fourth place. A huge step in catching the pace-setters at the top of the table could have been taken but the opportunity was squandered.

Five defeats coupled with dramatically inconsistent performances from one week to the next is not the stuff of champions and one can only surmise that it must be a very weak league this season for the Gunners to still be in touch at the top of the table. The next two fixtures could really set the tone for how the second half of the campaign is going to pan out. On Sunday, Liverpool visit Ashburton Grove and then on Boxing Day a trip to Aston Villa awaits. Victory in these two games would give Arsenal a fighting chance of still making a case for winning the title. Defeat in both games would leave them floundering and having to scrap it out with the also-rans for fourth place.

At the moment, it is hard to see where the turning point is going to come. Victories against Man Utd and Chelsea did not manage to light any sort of fuse as performances reverted to the mediocre directly after these games. The fact is that too many players have been out of form for too long and the squad does not look to be strong enough. Putting it even more bluntly, some of the personnel are simply not good enough for this standard of football and it is hard to see the club going forward with certain players getting regular games. With January coming up, Arsene Wenger must surely be looking to add some reinforcements - if not for this season then for the next one.

All Arsenal fans will have been delighted to see Eduardo back playing in the reserve team last night. Those who witnessed his horrific injury justifiably suspected that it would end his career. That he is back playing less than a year later is nothing short of incredible. Time will tell if the injury has affected his pace or undermined his game in some way. It will still be a few weeks before he is properly assimilated back into the first team but his return cannot come soon enough. This Arsenal team seriously lacks a poacher in front of goal and to have a true penalty box player back in contention will be a great relief - and maybe that will be the catalyst to rediscovering some consistency.

Off the pitch, the club put out a statement this week regarding changes at board room level. Normally, this would not be too interesting to fans but the news that Nina Bracewell-Smith is now no longer a board member and, consequently, has been freed from the lock-down agreement not to sell her shares could represent a huge concern with the likes of Alisher Usmanov still lurking around looking to acquire enough equity to force a takeover bid. Peter Hill-Wood's statement is somewhat vague with regard to Bracewell-Smith's intentions and it will leave those vehemently opposed to the Russian's advances feeling somewhat nervous. The majority of Arsenal supporters do not want Usmanov anywhere near the club. With many dubious clouds hanging over his past business dealings and the fact that he is actually a Manchester United supporter, he is not a man that fans want owning their club. It will be interesting to see how this boardroom reshuffle plays out but should it open the door for Alisher Usmanov, it would be a very dark day for Arsenal Football Club.