Alain Prost is known as one of the finest drivers to ever race a Formula One car. The meticulous Frenchman not only won four world titles during his career but became known as the Professor for his intelligence inside the cockpit. The man who once said you cant always have the best team, its about compromise was the master at knowing just how much he could get out of his car, no matter how good or bad it was. If he had the team to win, which he had very often at his time at McLaren, and his final year at Williams, Prost excelled, but he was almost equally as impressive when he didnt have the car to win, finishing a race in the best position possible, while many of his opponents made mistakes trying to turn their car into something it wasnt. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has more than just his passport in common with Prost. One of the most deep-thinking men in the game today, the 63-year-old has had to alter his ambitions for his club in recent years, guiding them to finishes, once thought as failures, that now he believes are successes. Wengers team, who this week qualified for the group stages of the Champions League for a 16th straight season, have enjoyed many a Premier League race at the front, but in recent years have fallen back, not coming close to glory in each of the last eight years. In five of those campaigns the Gunners finished fourth, a position not too long ago that would have been seen as adequate, but far from acceptable for a big club like Arsenal. However, since UEFA changed the rules for 2001-02 season, to finish fourth now means you get a spot in the following years Champions League. For the first four seasons, following the change, Arsenal didnt need the extra spot awarded to such a position, as they raced ahead of the pack, finishing either 1st or 2nd in each of those seasons. Since finishing second to Jose Mourinhos 04-05 Chelsea pacesetters, though, Arsenal have finished fourth five times in the last eight years. This has led those at the very top to accept mediocrity at The Emirates, simply because of UEFAs insistence on rewarding a lucrative spot to a position that hasnt come close to domestic glory. Wenger sees it quite differently. Despite not coming close to winning a league title in eight years, where many Arsenal fans, quite rightly, believe they should be competing, fourth spot is a position the manager believes is an accomplishment. "For me there are five trophies every season: Premier League, Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League," Wenger said in a shareholders meeting back in 2012. "The fourth is the FA Cup and then the League Cup." In Wengers world, with 16 straight appearances in Europes elite competition, all should be right at Arsenal, but it clearly isnt as he stands at a crossroads with the clubs fan base surrounding their level of ambitions. Told in June, by chief executive Ivan Gazidis, that the club will have a large escalation in financial firepower to attract big players, the fans finally thought the clubs conservative approach in the market would end this year, yet with hours to go before Mondays deadline, there has still been no significant signings in this transfer window.Fans and media alike have been left bamboozled by Wengers nonchalant approach to potential transfers, accusing him of aiming high for unrealistic targets and turning down chances to get good, yet perhaps not great, players to come in and improve their squad. Wenger gives little away towards his thought process towards the transfer market and potential targets but it is worth noting that he clearly thinks more of his current players than most – he did after all bring them to the club – and secondly, perhaps more crucially, Wenger will be aware just how big the gulf is between his team and the three super powers above him. Both these elements will be enough to bring doubt into his mind when assessing whether or not a potential new signing would improve his team. In the last eight years, Arsenal has finished behind Manchester United, after 38 games, every season and its not been close. From 2005-2006 to 2012-13, the Old Trafford side have scored an incredible 116 points more than their rivals, an average of 14.5pts more per season. Only once during that span has the gap between the sides been less than 10pts by the end of the season. Similarly, the race between Arsenal and Chelsea has been very uncompetitive, with the Blues finishing above their London rivals seven out of the last eight times, outscoring them by 62pts, an average of 7.75pts per season. With the help of significant more horsepower, Manchester City have overtaken Arsenal in the last three years, finishing higher each season and outscoring them by 27pts, an average of 9pts per season. It is clear the big three have left Arsenal in their dust and once again this season the Gunners have started the race to be 2013-14 Premier League champions in 4th place on the grid. However, the line between success and failure, even in Wengers judgment of how success is achieved, is a thin one for Arsenal and anything lower than 4th again this term would be a major disappointment and setback for the club. That makes this Sundays North London derby with rivals Tottenham even more interesting. Happening on the final day before the transfer window closes, the match gives Wenger, and his injury-hit squad, an opportunity to test his players out against the team most likely to threaten their monopoly on a top four spot. With Arsenal idle in the market, Tottenham have been the opposite, turning this transfer window into an exciting period in the clubs history, despite the imminent loss of their best player. Many of their new signings could have quite easily have been bought by Arsenal, who could have competed with their wages and offered them the chance to play in the Champions League. They could have also spurred Arsenal into improving their squad to counter the improved threat their closest rivals have made. Yet, Wenger did neither. Aware he cannot compete with the top three in the league, Wenger, for now, has settled on the same group as last season to once again win the 4th place trophy. The last time these teams met, at White Hart Lane in March, Arsenal lost 2-1 and fell four points back of fourth place Spurs with ten games to play. Tottenham dropped significant points during that run-in, which ultimately prompted Andre Villas-Boas and technical director, Franco Baldini, into finding major improvements this summer to attempt to improve on the 72 point tally of last season. "We need to get to a point where we are qualifying for the Champions League regularly, thats our aim," Villas-Boas said last week. Arsenal, who is already at that stage, will not give Spurs any kind of warm welcome on Sunday but their fans should privately be welcoming the new threat their neighbours are providing. In the last two seasons Spurs have opened the scoring at The Emirates but have gone on to lose 5-2, remarkably, in both years. A similar scoreline on Sunday might just be the last thing Arsenal needs. Wenger has spent too much time lately being comfortable with the three teams ahead lapping his club, while sitting safely in behind them. Arsenal fans need a team to make a bold move up the inside heading into a fast corner. If Tottenham do that as early as Sunday it might just force Wenger into being more aggressive on the final day of the transfer window. Join Luke Wileman, Jason DeVos and myself live this weekend for more Barclays Premier League action. On Saturday we will be live on TSN at 9:30am ahead of West Ham vs Stoke before we host Arsenal vs Tottenham on Sunday at 10:30am on TSN2. See you then. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys China . Off-Season Game Plan examines a team facing some challenging times as GM Bryan Murray tries to put together a roster for next season. Perhaps the first challenge facing Murray is that its expected he will be moving out Jason Spezza, a premier point producer who is about to enter the final year of his contract. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/.C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla. NCAA Jerseys Outlet . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . A top pitching prospect, one who the ball club is pinning some of its future hopes, takes the spot of a veteran who once was viewed as a future ace but who, to this point, hasnt realized his potential and may never.With no idea where he will be playing in the NBA next season, Kevin Love has withdrawn from this summers Team USA basketball roster. Love is in limbo while the Minnesota Timberwolves field offers for their three-time All-Star, a process that was complicated and likely lengthened when Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Andrew Wiggins signed his contract this week. Love is the latest All-Star to pull out of Team USA, which begins its training camp in Las Vegas next week to prepare for the FIBA World Cup in Spain. In recent weeks the Americans have lost Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. They have 18 players remaining and will choose 12 for the World Cup of Basketball roster. Love, who won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics and 2010 world championship and was one of the first players to commit to play this summer, told USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo that he would be unavailable for training camp that starts Monday. "He wants to play but its a little bit of a sign of the times when you look at the league in terms of contracts, rumoured trades," Colangelo told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "All of those circumstances puts players Im a funny position." The Cavaliers have been in pursuit of Love since before the draft. Their chances of landing Love, who can opt out of his contract next summer and has told the Timberwolves he wants to play for a contender, increased exponentially when LeBron James chose to return to play in Cleveland. The Timberwolves have demanded Wiggins, the No. 1 overall draft pick, in a package in return for Love and the Cavaliers have gradually softened on their position to include the dynamic 19-year-old wing player in trade talks. Under NBA rules, Wiggins cannot be traded until 30 days after he signed his contract with the Cavaliers.dddddddddddd. That length of time allows other teams to make offers for Love as well, but also makes it too risky for Love to participate with Team USA. An injury could derail any trade possibilities, so Love had to take the difficult step of informing Colangelo on Friday night that he would not be able to participate. It had to be a tough call for Love to make. He has long held playing for Team USA as one of the highest honours possible and has referred to his experience of winning gold in London as the pinnacle of his young career. While other big stars like James were stepping away from the team to get some rest this summer, Love took pride last year in joining with Kevin Durant to be among the first elite players to recommit to the World Cup team. "I think he truly is remorseful," Colangelo said. Love was a vital piece to the London team, giving the Americans a rebounding presence and a much-needed big man to stretch the floor. But Colangelo said the team would be able to get by without him, pointing to an experienced roster and rising star Anthony Davis, who was on the Olympic team but played only sparingly. "Its not like theres a barrel full of power forwards that can rebound and shoot the ball like Kevin Love," Colangelo said. But in international competition, where teams generally play smaller than they do in the NBA, players such as Indianas Paul George and Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons could help fill the void. DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond are other big men that should give the Americans a presence in the paint. "Someone is going to have an opportunity to step up," Colangelo said. "Were kind of anxious to get started to look at this." ___ AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report. ' ' '