I was sorry to see the last of the English team’s, Arsenal, exit from the Champions League this week which means there will be no English clubs at the quarter-final stages of the competition for the first time since the 1995-96 season.However, I am happy for Tottenham that they are still in the Europa League despite their 4-1 loss to Inter Milan, thanks to an important away goal by Emmanuel Adebayor.Arsenal were facing a tough task of overturning a 3-1 defeat at home to Bayern and to their credit their managed a 2-0 win in Munich which levelled the tie on aggregate, only for the Gunners to lose on the away goals rule. Harsh, but that’s what happens when you concede three goals at home.We always knew Arsenal can play football, it’s just that they had to come with a stronger game plan than they did in the past. Defensively they have been frail, they’ve been leaking goals left, right and centre and in the last game you saw an Arsenal team that we’ve seen in the past ... strong at the back, worked hard and played good stuff. They’ve always played good stuff but my main criticism of Arsenal is their defensive frailties, always giving up goals.On Wednesday they showed their true form and I’m glad for the manager Arsene Wenger because he has taken such a bashing, and we know deep down that he’s a good manager. You look at the time he’s been at Arsenal and the things he’s won and the players he’s brought into Arsenal over the years. I just think one or two players have let him down a bit.Arsene is a very intelligent man, he’s an economist and understands that professional football is about one thing and one thing only ... results. If you don’t get results, no matter who it is, people are going to crucify you. Over the last two or three years Arsenal have been struggling in terms of winning trophies and people definitely want something and I understand that.I have to give Wenger some props because of what he has done, not only on the football field but with their bank accounts, they are one of the few teams that don’t owe any money. He has brought players in who cost next to nothing and sold them for millions and millions of dollars. It shows he’s a good economist. I’m not sure he wants to invest all that money in so-called top players. Who is out there apart from Messi and Ronaldo? And even if you go to Brazil it would be hard to find that dominant player who is going to come and set the house on fire.Against Bayern Munich, Arsenal left themselves with a hell of a task and they got close, the same thing with Inter this week. They went to Spurs and lost 3-0 and then to come at home and tie it up was an unbelievable feat. But in reality you can’t give that many goals away when you are playing two-legged affairs because you make it too hard for yourself. To have to come from a 3-0 deficit is very hard and what it tells you is a lot of teams’ defensive frailties in modern football.I’ve never seen so many goals in my life scored because of poor defending. Spurs eventually got through and rightly so deserved to get through because they played well in spurts. In the last 15 minutes I thought Spurs dominated the match and I’m glad to see them through, they are a London club and neighbours of our club, West Ham. When you have people like Adebayor, even though he hasn’t had his best season, if you give him a chance he will stick it in.I see that Rio Ferdinand has been recalled to the England team but at age 34 I don’t think he will be a long-term solution to their defensive problems. If I were Rio I would seriously think about it because next year he will be 35 and if we’re going to take him to a World Cup at 35 then it tells me they are struggling for defenders.He’s done fantastic for England and while he might not have the pace of players younger than him, he does have the intelligence and smarts. You just have to watch the way he plays when he has Vidic with him, they have a good understanding of one another. However, if I were him I would seriously think about it. I applaud the manager for calling him up again but it is probably just a stop gap to fill in for someone who is injured.I was very surprised at Roy Hodgson’s decision, especially when he wasn’t in the new manager’s plans initially for the Euros. He more or less eased him out, didn’t he. Things have changed now that former captain John Terry has retired from international football.