By Iain Macintosh

ARSENAL 0
WEST HAM 0

IF THERE is a calendar in Arsene Wenger's office, I bet it's got a series of red crosses leading up to the day when Cesc Fabregas is expected to return from injury.

Without him, Arsenal are struggling to break down organised defences.

Without him, they won't challenge for this season's title and if this frustrating, freezing afternoon of football has served any purpose at all, it is to prove that the Gunners need extra firepower.

They need Andrei Arshavin.

Admittedly, Arsenal were a better side once they got 11 men on the pitch, but in order to do that they first had to substitute Emmanuel Eboue.

The much-maligned midfielder was withdrawn before half-time after an inglorious six-minute spell that actually summed him up perfectly.

Losing the ball on the edge of West Ham's area on the half-hour, he made no attempt to get it back, he just sagged like a toy that had run out of batteries.

Play continued all around him, but he just stood and watched, rooted to the spot.

Then, two minutes later, Scott Parker sent him tumbling with a vintage challenge that brought guilty murmurs of approval from the Arsenal fans.

Eboue propped himself up on his elbows and looked hopefully at referee Steve Bennett, but the official just waved play on.

That was enough for Eboue, who responded by clutching at his leg and rolling about on the ground.

Then he went still, as if the injury was so severe that he had passed away suddenly.

'Let him die,' sang the West Ham fans. The motion went unopposed by the home supporters.

Eboue's injury was a strange affliction that faded whenever the ball came near him. Twice in the six minutes that he deigned to remain on the pitch, he chased through-balls at something approaching a sprint.

Indeed, the wound seemed to only hurt whenever he was without a chance of scoring.

Wenger, however, had seen more than enough and he quickly gave Carlos Vela the nod.

The last time Eboue was substituted at The Emirates, the gleeful reaction of the home fans caused a crisis of conscience at the club.

This time his limping exit was met by polite applause from a smattering of supporters eager to prove their unstinting loyalty, but also by the resounding silence of the disgusted majority.

Football fans can never demand perfection, but they have every right to expect, at the very least, a bit of commitment from their highly paid heroes.

Phenomenal

West Ham certainly weren't lacking in that resource. Parker put in a phenomenal shift at the base of their midfield diamond, breaking up the Arsenal attacks like a little wrecking ball.

Steve Clarke's departure from Chelsea has coincided with a remarkable slump in the standard of the Blues defending, but you won't find any Hammers fans who are complaining.

This is their fifth clean sheet since the arrival of Gianfranco Zola and Clarke, his most inspired signing.

Arsenal didn't play particularly badly, in fact, they defended so well that the Hammers rarely troubled them.

The fact that the away fans celebrated an 88th-minute corner like a goal tells its own story. Wenger's problems are in the final third.

The spark of creativity, the rare ability to spot a tiny chink in the armour and thread a ball right where a striker wants it, is gone.

There's proficiency all over the pitch, but the likes of Denilson, Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner lack the class to sustain a title challenge.

If they can't field Fabregas, they must acquire Arshavin. Draws are all well and good but, as Liverpool are finding out, they don't win titles.