(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The press office at Emirates Stadium in London is presumably a constantly busy place; but it must have been working round the clock in the opening weeks of this season.

For several reasons, from Eduardo-gate to Adebayor's tantrums, the Arsenal Football Club has possibly provoked the greatest number of headlines in the press since it kicked off on August 15th.

This is one of the reasons why we love this game.

Who isn't looking forward to Adebayor's return to the Emirates now?

But it would be nice if we could concentrate on football for a while. So let's do that.

It started well enough. Wins at Everton and Celtic whipped up an odds-slashing orgy on the Gunners' title hopes. Critics were eating humble pie at halftime against Manchester United.

Then it all went wrong. Why?

It sounds corny, lame even, but Arsenal's players are trying too hard. They're all trying to prove a point, to win every game and to play the best football possible.

They have been caught up in the emotion of the game and it has betrayed a worrying trace of naivety in the team. The line about being a young team will no longer suffice. Desperation has crept in and the balance and patience displayed in those early games has suffered.

For example, I wonder if Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna need to push forward quite so much. Especially Clichy, with his propensity for giving the ball away. Is he really any better than Kieran Gibbs and Armond Traore? I'm not so sure.

William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen were completely exposed by their teammates' gung-ho modus operandi on Saturday.

Arsenal have been accused of drawing too many games in the past two seasons. But this doesn't mean they should underestimate the importance of a point. Two in the past couple of trips to Manchester would have been pretty useful.

Speaking of which, while Arsenal are caught up in another media storm, Adebayor's impending ban has fallen right into the grateful hands of Alex Ferguson.

Was this part of Adebayor's master plan on Saturday, just to spite Arsenal even further?

Of course not. He's not that clever. But it does leave Arsenal with a strange dilemma. Normally, Gooners would be backing City in this fixture, but who would North London rather prevail in Manchester now?

If Arsenal are still title contenders, then it's still City.

But if you're backing United, it's probably an unfortunate concession that the Gunners are fighting for fourth again.

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