Gunners still in with a title chance

Arsenal will be crushed psychologically after throwing away a priceless victory against Liverpool, but the harsh reality is that the result was typical of their season. They have had so many highs and lows, from going into the Carling Cup final with hopes of four trophies to seeing it all fall apart through their failure to score at the Emirates in the Premier League. But crazy as it seems, they still have a chance of winning the title. They are now in the Last Chance Saloon, however, and it will be all over for Arsene Wenger and his team if Manchester United win at Newcastle today and Arsenal fail to win at Tottenham tomorrow. The problem with Arsenal, though, is that they have developed a habit of feeling sorry for themselves, so who is going to lift them for what is already a tough game? They have missed leadership on the pitch for a while now and when things are going badly, nobody has been able to step forward and demand more from the rest of the players. Seeing Dirk Kuyt equalise from the penalty spot 12 minutes into stoppage time will have been a crushing blow for everybody at Arsenal. Disappointing results In football, it is all about responding to big setbacks and both Arsenal and United have suffered hugely disappointing results this weekend, but if you asked who was best equipped to dig deep and respond, you would always say United. Yet while Sir Alex will be telling his players that they now have a fantastic chance to bounce back from the FA Cup defeat against Manchester City by beating Newcastle, you cannot see Wenger driving Arsenal in the same fashion. Maybe Arsene has to take much of the blame for that because he is the one who said recently that second place this season would be acceptable for Arsenal. This year was Arsenal's big chance and, if they had ever got going when the going got tough, they would be firmly in pole position now. But they have felt sorry for themselves too often and been told that second best is OK. By the time they go to White Hart Lane, they could be nine points adrift of United and you just cannot see how Arsenal would be able to overcome that.