Ok, there's an argument going on, and I sure as hell am not gonna miss it.
First of all I think Locke already told us that Milan are only his distant number 2 club. Kinda like me and Newcastle, ok maybe a bit stronger. And if we can have Celtic and Belgrade fans come in and have a chat with us, I'm not stopping Locke.
Secondly,I think all of us agree that Porty has never forgiven Henry for sending Portugal out of the WC. Though I do believe, they woulda had their butts handed out to them by the Azzurri if they did progress. However not before Ronaldo got Matrix sent off with a dive and the Pippo returned the favour for Carvalho

Thirdly, while I don't believe for one moment that Arsenal are a bad club, I don't believe they have anything in them to suggest they might be a better team than ManU or Chelsea. In fact if Liverpool weren't so slow and I didn't hate them so much, I might have put the Scousers on the list as well.
Look the facts are, Arsenal can no longer claim to have a weaker team. They've hyped their youngsters long and hard, and if they don't have experienced players on their team, it's their own fault and no one else's. I mean Newcastle had to drag in players from their reserve and youth team to cover for the injured first timers.
Arsenal by the sheer strength of it's squad on paper and the performances they have shown, cannot claim to have any excuse for not challenging for all 4 trophies this season either. This young team excuse has been used for a really long time now. I think it's B.S honestly. I'm overjoyed as well to see youth shine in a team(Kaka, Gourcuff, Pato etc), but if they are placed in a club's first team, or as starters, it must be because they belong there and not because you want them to gain 'valuable experience'.
So let's not complain that Fabregas can't mix it up with Lampard or Ballack, coz that's nonsense. If he can't then too bad but Arsenal is substandard and should find someone else. You see, the problem plaguing Arsenal has not been it's players or it's beautiful playing style, but quite a few other factors.
1. No Plan B: Granted they play sparkling passing football. But what happens the minute the opposition wake up and decide to bolt doors and be more organized? Don't deny that Arsenal at that point have looked toothless and I'm sorry to say pathetic. They've overcomplicated passes, and lacked simple finishing. In fact if Gila had been in Arsenal and missed all those similar chances like he did here, he'd be lionised as a fast growing youngster, with a defining presence in football.
Think about it. Arsene Wenger has one style. Play down the middle. So if like they finally did(about 4 months too late, English managers are either retarded, or believe they shouldn't defend) the opposing managers bolted Cesc down. Rosicky and Hleb had to push into center. Hleb was no longer able to bolt down the right, which I feel has been the only strong secondary threat Arsenal had in offense. And voila, no more Arsenal goals.
Contrast that with say a Man U. You try bolting down Saha,Carrick and Scholes then Rooney, Ronaldo and Giggs will strip you bare, and vice versa. I'm sorry, but in English football you can't fly without wings. For one they have no concept of wingbacks. (Clichy is refreshing, but he isn't the best reader of the game or the best crosser. One I'll put to inexperience, the second is skill related. Roberto Carlos could run like a demon, but his crossing was second to none.)
Thirdly Arsenal or Arsene(when you think about it, same thing actually), seems to have a problem with the lay off and long shoot. They avoid it and at the same time are susceptible to it. It's gonna make u suffer in Europe, and it sure as hell is making them suffer in England. Fact is passing is great, but when you gotta shoot, shoot, don't pass. Milan have Kaka, Seedorf, Pirlo all capable of the killer pass, but you don't have the luxury of staying off them, coz what could be coming could either be the killer pass or the long shoot into the top corner. With Fabregas, one guys stays slightly off limiting his pass options, while another guy double teams him for the steal. Sad, but if it's obvious to me, it should be obvious to Arsene and he should have made changes.
Which is where I think Arsene has made a true blue managerial mistake while managing this club. It is IMO wrong to advocate a playing style. A philosophy of course, but a style no. Football is too multi cultured has grown too global, for one playing style.
By all means, have a philosophy..like Milan's is Possession and the killer counter attack, among a host of others, but for that you need to have an Italian manager (

), and Bolton's is be a pr!ck up the other guys anal crack, till they give up. But the moment you decide you're gonna be a short passing team, or a wing play team or whatever...you might win a few matches, but not a whole season or a tournament. You'll last as long as it takes to study your methods, and then you'll be chewed up and spit out.
If anything Arsenal should be grateful they faced PSV and not say Barca or Inter. Coz bad as we think those teams are, they can still hit a team where it hurts, and in Arsenal's case where it hurts the most, their strategy.
Finally, there is also the problem of their players phasing out in the last 25 minutes or so. Capital mistake. Earlier they used to do it, in the early stages, but now it's later and at a more dangerous time, when a mistake doesn't give you time to make up for it. We saw it in the Carling Cup, and we can see it in quite a few places now. That's I guess a player issue, but that has to be fixed too.
However where is Arsenal strong. Their youth for one. If Man U has Cris and Scholes out on long leave like what happened to Henry and Nesta, then they are f@cked. They might have enough gas in them not to lose, but win, and in big matches?? Uh-uh. Arsenal has players who can seamlessly integrate, which is their biggest strength. And a positive brought about by Arsene not choosing to compromise with his youth first policy for sh!t cups like Carling. (This one's just so you and I have something to fight over Porty

) .
So let me give this rating at the end of it all...
Arsenal....8/10
Man U....8.2/10
Chelski....8.5/10
Liverpool....(on form with Benitez thinking on his feet) 8.1/10
I'm sorry but this is what I feel the state of the EPL is right now. I guess Arsenal being ranked below Liverpool might hurt some, but the difference Rafa in his right mind can bring to the side while playing is immense enough for it to be so. Even if the Liverpool squad is I feel inferior in a lot of ways to Arsenal.
And this is from me, grand imperial poobah of the Gooner side of milanfan.com, so nobody even suggest I'm biased.