Anxious Cole fears 'tough year' for Gunners

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Anxious Cole fears 'tough year' for Gunners

Ashley Cole has conceded that Arsenal have failed to find an adequate replacement for Patrick Vieira after the Gunners' second defeat of the season left Arsene Wenger's side already looking like also-rans in the title race.

A month into the campaign and Arsenal are nine points behind Chelsea and looking as though the sale of Vieira may prove a decisive one - Saturday's defeat at the Riverside was the first time in eight Premiership meetings they had not beaten Middlesbrough.

Cole's admission may have been a statement of the obvious but against a Middlesbrough side with several injury problems Arsenal's lack of a midfielder with a dominant edge to complement their intricate passing was starkly apparent.

Cole said after the match: 'We've lost key players, but we've only really bought [Alexander] Hleb in.

'We've lost Patrick, who was our main inspiration in midfield and we've only got one in. There's nothing we can do about it - it's nothing to do with me - and we've just got to do what we can with the squad we've got.'

Cole was also scathing about the team's approach going forward, saying: 'We dominated for the first 30 minutes, but we overelaborated and every time we got near the box, it was if we were looking for that extra turn or bit of skill when we could have just passed or shot.

'Sometimes you need to be more direct. It's very very frustrating.

'If you look at the history of the championship, this is very early to have lost two games, so it's going to be very hard from now.

'It's going to be tougher this year because I don't reckon we can afford to lose any more than three or four times.

'If we lose more than four, then it's going to be a struggle because teams are getting better now and sides like Liverpool and Newcastle have added to their squads, which is going to make it even tougher for us.'

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Smithy

pls fire wenger