Does money equal EPL success?

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Arsenal's highest-paid stars, such as (from right) Cesc Fàbregas and Andrei Arshavin, earn half as much as their Chelsea equals. Julian Finney/Getty Images

Less than eight weeks ago, after his team's 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea, the howls of frustration against Arsène Wenger reached a crescendo. It didn't help that, in addition to losing to Arsenal's North London rivals, the bile thrown at the Frenchman was accentuated by his continued stubbornness in persevering with youth and not spending big money like his rivals around him.

Since Arsenal last won a major trophy -- the 2005 FA Cup -- Wenger has become increasingly accustomed to growing criticism from the press and the Arsenal faithful, particularly because recent transfer windows have seen him pay for little more than a new lawnmower for the Emirates pitch or a new lick of paint for the dressing room walls. Or, worse still, Sol Campbell.

The Chelsea defeat left Arsenal 11 points behind the league leaders, with the Gunners' distant title challenge in tatters. In nine matches since then, Arsenal has won seven and drawn two, and the antagonism towards Wenger has turned to utmost respect as, following Wednesday's 4-2 win over Bolton, his side sits atop the English Premier League.

Arsenal's form, combined with a torrent of news concerning the dire financial straits at other clubs, has seen Wenger's stock rise. The man once routinely beguiled for being tighter than a gnat's chuff is suddenly being championed as a bastion of prudence.

Yes, there was the odd big purchase. But the $15 million to $30 million in fees paid for Thomas Vermaelen, Andrei Arshavin, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott in the past four years pale in comparison compared to the money being splashed out by the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and even Portsmouth.

Wenger also has been famously ham-fisted when comes to player wages, relatively speaking anyway. His top earners -- Cesc Fàbregas, William Gallas and Arshavin -- make $130,000 per week. That's half the $260,000 Chelsea's top earner, John Terry, pulls in at a club where wages of $160,000-plus per week are common throughout the first team. Similarly, at big-spending Manchester City, the squad is quickly becoming littered with $160,000-plus earners, with the wage bill rising by 50 percent -- not including last summer's big-money signings. Bringing the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tévez, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott and Kolo Touré into the equation sends that percentage sharply northward.

Over at Stamford Bridge, contract talks between Joe Cole -- who has been injured for eight months and is out of a contract at the season's end -- and Chelsea apparently have stalled amid rumors that Cole is demanding a 30 percent increase in pay to take him in line with many of his teammates. Chelsea, possibly with one eye on Monsieur Wenger's negotiating tactics, is playing hard ball.

Thanks to consistent Champions League qualification, the highest match day income of any EPL club and, of course Wenger's thriftiness, the loans taken out to finance Arsenal's move to the Emirates are quickly growing smaller. Arsenal looks like it has a bright future, and it's not the only team in high spirits this week. Aston Villa overcame Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a pulsating Carling Cup semifinal second leg, in which the Villans, backstopped by U.S. keeper Brad Guzan, won 7-4 on aggregate.

They'll face the winners of Manchester City vs. Manchester United in the final, a series City leads 2-1 after its home leg this past Tuesday. At evening games, the City of Manchester Stadium is darkened for the pregame Blue Moon anthem. On Tuesday, it seemingly had a soporific effect upon the Citizens who, waking up after 20 minutes, found themselves 1-0 down following Ryan Giggs tapping in a low Antonio Valencia cross that should easily have been cleared by City's makeshift central defense.

United was cruising, dominating from midfield, its away support fervent. The second-leg looked to be a formality. Yet a simple switch from Roberto Mancini saw City come back into the game. Moving Craig Bellamy from striker to left wing allowed Pablo Zabaleta into the center of the park. City began to control the midfield and possession. When Bellamy was pulled back shortly before the break, who else but Tévez dispatched the resulting penalty.

Man. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's hesitation over purchasing Tévez allowed City to sneak in and buy him last summer. Tensions then further flamed when City erected a huge billboard of the bustling Argentine in Manchester City Centre with the tag line, "Welcome to Manchester," a dual dig at United for being located within the metropolitan area, but not the core City of Manchester, and for having a large proportion of fans from outside the region.

And if relations weren't going to be frosty enough on a cold winter's night, firebrand United captain Gary Neville remarked before the game that Tévez wasn't worth his $40 million transfer fee. Tévez, in his goal celebration, clutched his hand in a "shut your mouth" gesture at Neville. The United veteran responded with a one-fingered salute, to be investigated by the English FA.