EMMANUEL Adebayor has a new look.

But not his old scoring touch.

Adebayor recently cut his braids and many have jokingly speculated it has caused the player to lose his goal-scoring touch, a claim he vehemently denies.

The Togolese striker has not scored in the league since cutting his braids, with his record before doing so standing at an exceptional 19 goals in 24 games.

Of those, Arsenal lost just one, while drawing four and winning the other 18 games - and they were top of the table.

Since the dreaded snip, Arsenal have drawn four Premier League games on the bounce - all games they, on paper, were expected to win - and have since surrendered their five-point lead at the top of the table.

And, barring a miracle from relegation strugglers Bolton earlier this morning, will trail new leaders Manchester United by three points.

Of course, there are far more logical reasons for Arsenal's slump in form.

The distraction of the Champions League.

The demoralising and humiliating exits from the Carling Cup and FA Cup.

The demand in general of playing so many competitions at once.

And, of course, the loss of striker Eduardo Da Silva to a horrific broken leg, just as the Brazilian-born Croatia international was looking to play a key role for Arsene Wenger's men.

However, it has been deemed far more amusing to blame the barber on this occasion, with Adebayor now having to come out and explain exactly why he gave his dreads the drop, while maintaining they had nothing to do with his lack of goals.

'They were getting on my nerves. I could only wash them once every three weeks,' he said.

'I don't feel I have lost form at all. If you watch our matches closely, you will see that, even when I don't score the goals, my contribution to the team is 100 per cent.

IMPORTANT

'The most important thing is the team should win.'

Which they're not - a fact becoming increasingly worrying for many Gunners fans, as a potential dream season is now slipping away from Wenger's inexperienced side.

This will only serve to anger many faithful fans who laughed off cynics predicting just this: that Arsenal's inexperienced side wouldn't last the course of the season.

Former Arsenal player Nigel Winterburn has joined in on the debate, claiming many footballers have dubious superstitions.

He himself, like Adebayor, is not one of them, and believes the imposing forward will have to rediscover his form in front of goal if Arsenal are to keep pace with United and now Chelsea, who, though in third place, arguably have momentum on the Gunners.

'A lot of players have superstitions or use psychology in their game,' said Winterburn.

'I never believed in anything like that but I remember David O'Leary always used to put a ring in his pocket before the warm-up.

'I'm sure the fans would like to think Adebayor's dip in form was down to his hair. But, for me, it's all down to ability.

'He is one of a number of key players who are perhaps five per cent off their best at the moment.

'To win the title you need all 11 players at their maximum.

'Manchester United look to Cristiano Ronaldo for inspiration, Chelsea have Frank Lampard. Arsenal need Cesc Fabregas and Adebayor to raise their game, but recently that hasn't quite been the case.

'United and Chelsea might have the momentum, yet I'm certain Arsenal are still in the title race and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes down to the wire.'

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