There was only one thing to worry about for Arsenal fans, well for me at least, as the Gunners cruised to a 4-1 victory over a good Newcastle United team fresh from a win over the Premier League leaders Chelsea. And it was not whether Arsene Wenger was so thankful to the Magpies for stopping Jose Mourinho emulating the invincibles season.
With an Arsenal squad and particularly our back four that was ravaged with injury problems, the makeshift defence with Debuchy alongside Mertesacker and Bellerin at right back, put in a really solid showing. The young Spaniard and the Frenchman were particularly good, Gibbs carried on his recent excellent form and our BFG suggested once more that he is world class as long as he is comfortable with the players around him.
And that was what worried me with the January transfer window just around the corner. In previous years we might well have expected to hear the boss then say that these cover players showed that Arsenal do not need to sign another defender.
So it was a great relief to hear the manager say the exact opposite. He did not even beat around the bush but declared flat out that he was going to sign a centre back in January. Who that player is we will have to wait and see, but at least it now seems certain that the Gunners will have another defensive option very soon…