ARSENAL, barring a catastrophe at The Emirates Stadium next week, have effectively sealed their place in the draw for the Champions League group stages.

They should count themselves very lucky though after they were given a real scare by Dutch underdogs FC Twente before winning 2-0.

Arsene Wenger's men were beaten in every department, except of course for the one that counts; finishing.

If Steve McClaren's England had played like Steve McClaren's FC Twente did in Arnhem, then the Three Lions wouldn't just have qualified for the European Championships, they would probably have won it.

Theirs was a performance filled with verve, desire and urgency. They harried the Arsenal players, closing them down as if it was the closing stages of a Cup Final.

In other words, it was the polar opposite of watching McClaren's previous squad, meandering through the motions.

If Romano Denneboom and Marko Arnautovic had not squandered a string of gilt-edged chances, the second leg would be looking very precarious for Arsenal.

Wenger claimed afterwards that his 'youthful' team had coped well with the pressure, refusing to panic, but while his players can take some credit for just about hanging on long enough to recover their composure, this wasn't exactly a squad of rookies.

Teenager Aaron Ramsey was making his debut, but alongside him was Denilson, who made his first appearance almost two years ago. Likewise, Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou have been around for long enough not to need to be excused for their tenderness.

Arsenal's main problem was not immaturity, but their failure to fill the gaps from last season.

Jens Lehmann was a fine servant for the club and Aleksandr Hleb was the initiator of so many offensives, but it is Mathieu Flamini who will be missed the most.

The French midfielder, who defected to AC Milan in the summer, was Arsenal's gunboat, zipping about tirelessly to intercept and frustrate his opponents.

Denilson was supposed to fulfil the same role, but here he was withdrawn and FC Twente were only too happy to make full use of the space they found in front of them. They broke through the centre, they rampaged down the wings and they should have been two goals up by half-time.

The Dutch were so good that at one point you could hear their fans singing, 'There's Only One Steve McClaren', which was very strange, rather like peering into a parallel universe.

IMPROVEMENT

Arsenal gleefully proved their doubters wrong last season by leading the Premier League into the final stages, succumbing in the end to a poor run of results and some appalling luck.

This year, the vultures are circling again, but Wenger will have to coax significant improvement out of his players if he is to shoo them away for a second time.

West Bromwich Albion visit The Emirates tomorrow and, as Tottenham found out last season, newly promoted teams have a habit of exceeding expectations on their first day in the Premier League.

Arsenal are known to have money available to them and, if this performance is anything to go by, they would be very wise to start spending it on experienced reinforcements.

Have they been properly replaced?

ALEKSANDR HLEB

HE moved in the summer to Barcelona and has since been 'replaced' by French youngster Samir Nasri.

However, Nasri had to miss the Twente game as a result of injury, and the verdict is still out on whether he can adapt to the Premier League and fill Hleb's boots.

MATHIEU FLAMINI

FLAMINI moved on to AC Milan after feeling unappreciated at Arsenal.

His position is the one that desperately needs filling, and Gilberto Silva's departure has made the search more urgent.

Since then, Arsenal have been seen sniffing around Udinese's Gokhan Inler and Liverpool's Xabi Alonso.

JENS LEHMANN

THE German goalkeeper moved on a free transfer to Vfb Stuttgart.

Lehmann was slowly being phased out the previous season, but was handy to have on the bench.

Now Wenger must rely on Manuel Almunia as first choice and Lukasz Fabianski as back-up.