I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, and I sit, writing this piece, in the wake of Arsenal’s draw to Aston Villa with an inescapable sense that it simply is not the Gunners' year. Some might ask why it has taken me so long to get to this point after everything that has happened, but there is perhaps just that hope that continues to lock you in.

If there was a list of all the misfortunes Arsenal have suffered during the campaign, it would likely breach the acceptable word count. It is a lengthy scroll of ills suffered, and a fair chunk is perhaps dedicated to the 2-2 stalemate with Unai Emery.

Granted, it is an improvement on the same match from last season, and, in fact, Arsenal have managed to have a net gain of four points against Aston Villa compared to last season despite the perception of Arsenal being supposedly weaker. This, however, is not enough comfort when looking at the league table.

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When Darwin Nunez’s strike in the 91st minute handed Liverpool three points away from home to open the gap up to seven points. A dagger to the heart as it looked like a potential third-straight draw was on the way for the league leaders.

Arsenal put this aside and took a two-goal lead after the wide areas of the team, still bereft of Bukayo Saka, managed to find two excellent crosses from Leandro Trossard and fine finishes from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz. The stories were writing themselves about how the shortcomings of the Gunners’ attack were finally on the turn.

However, it would be the area Arsenal are so famed for, which would cost them… the defence. Thomas Partey was involved in the poor defending of each situation, and before the game, there was much discourse about the absence of William Saliba and who would come in.

It would be fair to speak on behalf of a large portion of fans that categorically never want to see Partey in that role, ever. But what is the alternative?

Well, there is a centre-back on the bench, in Jakub Kiwior. However, this is a player who has been responsible himself for poor defending against Fulham and Crystal Palace in his most recent starts for the side – it's hardly a given that his inclusion over Partey sees a different result on the day.

Keeping players of quality in the central part of the pitch is just a much more preferred strategy, specifically in the centre of defence. Why play two players out of their natural roles when instead it can just be Partey?

But the record speaks for itself. In six Premier League games, Arsenal have won just one in six when the Ghanaian starts in that role.

It was a question I felt needed to be asked in some way, shape, or form, and I went through several mental drafts of how to put it to Mikel Arteta after the game. I settled on linking the record to the angle of asking how damaging it is to lose players of importance from their natural roles… he didn’t go for it.

He replied: "I cannot judge just because one player plays in one position." There was more to the answer, and after several listens, I still cannot make out what is said; but I don't think it was anything of substance to change the context or perhaps the frustration at the reality presented to him with those numbers.

The good news is that Ben White is on the mend, and it is hoped he could make his return in the coming weeks, however, Saliba’s injury is a worry. Arteta admitted as much when asked.

"No, not yet. I think tomorrow we'll have more and more information," he said when asked for an update. "Tomorrow they will have another test on him, and I will be more clear about it."

Asked how worried he was, he said: "Yeah, for sure, especially with the numbers that we have in the squad and looking at our bench. Very worried."

And then comes perhaps the most interesting answer from the press conference. When asked about the Liverpool result, he makes reference to the substitutions that were made by Arne Slot, and their impact, and then goes on to compare that to his own single change – which in the game was Raheem Sterling.

"Yeah, there are moments, obviously, they managed to do that," he said. "They made the subs, and the subs made the impact, and they managed to change the game.

"And in our side it was the opposite, even though, after conceding the two goals very close to each other, the danger was, because I knew how the team was, that we could go down here because we were physically drained. Suddenly, the team find another gear to go again and just put Aston Villa in there, in the box, and go and go again, trying to find the goal that we haven't been able to score at the end."

The opposite… as in Sterling, who came on and made no impact, and he is right, but what other choice did he have? Arteta has been reluctant to throw youngsters on in the wrong context, and therefore both Ismail Kabia and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji appear to be seat fillers over actual options.

Arteta is with the supporters; he clearly agrees we need more quality, we need more players, and they need to come in now. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but it is hardly as if the Arsenal manager is swerving the continuous barrage of queries on the topic.

It is nothing other than impossible for the Gunners to win the league without reinforcement. They are facing too many injuries and absences while the current available players continue to struggle more and more with their stamina and fitness levels being drained each fixture that comes every couple of days.

And there we come full circle. I will stop short of saying I have given up; the Carabao Cup is there, just, and the Champions League too. But for the league, it appears very challenging, and these remaining days of the window feel perhaps the biggest of any transfer market to date.