Manchester United won the league last season due to their spirit and experience but Rooney and Nani apart, they lack real quality. Chelsea are currently going through a transition period and we know first hand how tough it is to get through to the other side and still remain strong

Happy new year, kind of. Apart from the post Fulham game I haven’t really had the chance to do much in the way of writing over the last few days as I have been super busy but I have slipped out of real life for a second to jot down some of my thoughts.

I watched some of the Newcastle vs Manchester United game last night and it was pretty enjoyable. Firstly, whatever you may think of Alan Pardew you have to credit him for the work he has done at Newcastle since arriving last season. I had a look at their squad in the summer and thought they had some very good players on their books. A few who look very much in the mould of an Arsene Wenger type player.

I am probably jumping the gun a little on this but I think Manchester United have had these recent results coming for a while now. They look like a side who have lost their aura and are now being exposed as the mortals that they are.

Manchester United won the league last season due to their spirit and experience but Rooney and Nani apart, they lack real quality. Chelsea are currently going through a transition period and we know first hand how tough it is to get through to the other side and still remain strong.

Liverpool’s failings have been covered up and ignored for the most part even though they have invested heavily, especially this season.

It just makes me regret the fact that we were still in the changing rooms when the race had begun at the start of the season. With the current squad we have, I am pretty certain that we would have been involved in a title race had we had a smoother summer but let us not go back there again.

A positive second half of the season could be just what we need to make a proper fist of it next season. Unless something disastrous happens then we will have all of our summer signings with a year of the Premier League under their belts, Jack Wilshere, a stronger and more rounded Alex Chamberlain as well as hopefully some external strengthening.

In the meantime we need to haul ourselves into the top four and stay there until the season ends. That has to be our short term aim, getting above Chelsea and staying above Liverpool. We can concern ourselves of Tottenham and the Manc clubs once we have established ourselves in the top four.

Bacary Sagna will be around for the second half of the season, in fact he should be kicking a ball once again or at least being very close to doing so. I have missed him massively, our very own Mr consistency. It is quite amazing that we have coped so well without him. I am looking forward to Sagna and Koscielny establishing a strong partnership. Koscielny mostly played on the left side last season as Djourou started as the right sided center back.

It will be interesting to see how quickly it takes Sagna to find his feet, I get the feeling that he will not take much adjusting. He joined the club and started producing quality performances and has probably had a handful of bad games since 2007.It is a shame that Santos will miss pretty much the whole season, his return is supposed to be sometime in March so that might have to wait until next season or if we are lucky, towards the end of this campaign.

Theo Walcott’s contract is leading much of the discussion at the moment. He needs to improve his consistency but he is a valuable part of this squad and when he is on form, we do not have another player mature enough to give the team what he does. Football is a fickle game and we tend to forget things quickly if form changes. It was only recently that Walcott destroyed Ashley Cole and had many good games during that period. We need to see that from him on a weekly basis, that has got to be the challenge.

I hope the contract’s of Theo, Song and Robin get dealt with swiftly and when I say dealt with, I mean sign them all up to long term deals. As Vermaelen has said, if we keep this squad together then success is not far away.

Speaking of contracts, it is being rumoured that Franny Coquelin is on the verge of extending his contract with Arsenal. I am all up for that I must say. I absolutely love the fella. All the way back when he made his debut at Barnet, this tigerish 17 year old was snapping into challenges and spraying the ball around effortlessly.

He seems to have a bit of the early Gareth Bale about him in the sense that every time he starts, we tend to lose but luckily for myself, I am not superstitious. I think the quality of his performance has deserved more action on the pitch. We have all moaned about certain squad players not making an impact or taking their chance but that cannot be said for Coquelin. I hope he does sign a new deal and keep improving because if he keeps getting better naturally then a place in the team will just have to present itself to him at some point. Certainly Arsene made the correct decision in regards to Frimpong going on loan.

Before I get myself ready for an early night, can I point you in the direction of today’s Your Vision article on Robin van Persie and his improvement as a player. Written by Stephen Rowe and worth a read.

Back tomorrow.