Arsene Wenger defends his transfer policy again, but Arsenal show no signs of improvement

Another Premier League match, another disappointing result. While it might not have been as bad as shipping four goals to Liverpool, Arsenal, yet again, showed absolutely no signs that they are here to compete for the title this season.

Up against the champions Leicester City, who are going through struggles of their own, this was an opportunity for the Gunners to make a statement, after the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea had made their with two wins in two, but that lack of bite up front was clear as day as Arsene Wenger's side failed to score at the King Power Stadium.

The reaction of the fans at the away end after the goalless draw was clear, with plenty of "spend some (you know the word that comes here) money" yelled at the Arsenal manager, who, despite obvious flaws in the team, has refused to correct them.

"Why do you say I'm reluctant? I don't understand that," was Wenger's answer to the obvious question of "why won't you buy?".

"I will spend £300m if I find the player and if I have the £300m. Not to forget as well that we are a club who has 600 employees who we need to have a responsible attitude for as well. It's a bit surprising that you come out of football games and don't speak about football, instead everyone has to speak about money.

"I believe that you have to respect the players who play, the performance that has been done by those teams and if you find players who can strengthen our team, then we are not reluctant to spend the money."

The problem, though, is that all Wenger does is defend, defend and defend his tactics. In the end, Arsenal will make a run in September, everything will look hunky dory in December, early January and then the fall will come, before the rise again for that top-four place. The question to ask, though, is that if that pattern remains no matter what – and sometimes it is the other way around, with a really slow first half followed by a blitz in the second half of the season after the title is long gone – whether buying players will change that.

Maybe it is the mentality that is the problem, and that is down to the manager. The fact that Arsenal have not seriously challenged for the title for a decade is down to the manager; yes, there might have been extenuating circumstances, but those circumstances are long gone now. Arsenal have the money, bucketloads sitting in the bank, and the ability to compete with the biggest clubs in the world and the fact that they do not seem to, shows where the ambition is at.

Wenger is expected to bring in a defender by the end of the transfer window, be that Shkodran Mustafi, Jose Gimenez or someone else, even if the manager waxed lyrical on Rob Holding's performance at the back against Leicester, with the 20-year-old doing well in the company of Laurent Koscielny.

"Unfortunately, nobody speaks about the performance of Rob Holding," Wenger added. "You should be happy, he's English, he's 20 years old, but I am sorry, he did not cost £55m so he cannot be good and that is for me what is most disappointing for me.

"You don't speak about the performances of the players anymore, you just speak about money. Anything else than football. I believe that it's not right."

What is also not right, Arsenal fans will no doubt say, is charging exorbitant prices for tickets, and yet never showing the ambition on the football pitch to be the best in the business.