Decline and Fall

We all remember that fateful day when an Arsenal team woefully short of numbers and experience was thrashed 8-2 at Old Trafford.

In my opinion, Sunday's defeat was far worse than that. I sat through that entire game, but not Sunday's. There was simply no point in putting myself through it.

That match was 6 years ago, and whatever the reasons Arsene Wenger had on that day for fielding Jenkinson, Coquelin, Djourou and Traore, and having the likes of Chamakh, Lansbury, Miquel, Ozyakup and Sunu on the bench, at least that was some sort of excuse for the result. That was the year of the famous Supermarket Sweep, when The BFG, Arteta and Benayoun (along with, regrettably,  Andre Santos and Park Ju-Young...) joined the club just a few days later. And boy was that needed, following the mismanagement of the Fabregas and Nasri situations that summer.

This year, there really is no excuse. Nowhere to hide. The players available to him currently are a much more talented group than they were in 2011, but it is quite clear that no lessons have been learnt.

I'm not going to bore you all again with complaints about right backs playing at left wing back, wingers/wannabe central midfielders playing at right wing back, a left back featuring at centre half when three confirmed centre halves are either on the bench or not even in the squad, a midfield made up of two players without the discipline to shield the defence in any shape or form (against a side that likes to attack and counter attack with pace and numbers), a world class number 10 shunted out to the right wing, a new and exciting left wing back dropped to the bench, and the club's record signing sitting alongside him whilst the manager selects at centre forward a guy who couldn't hit a garage door from 6 feet! Let's not cover that again.

Let's not cover what I've been banging on about for years; the managers inability to take account of the opposition, to pick a suitable side or formation, or to motivate the players in any way at all. They were an utter shambles from the moment the whistle sounded. Yes, the players need to take a deal of responsibility also, but regrettably there's hardly a self-starter or a big enough personality amongst them. But who put that squad together?

Stoke was bad enough, and the rumblings started then - as they invariably do after any defeat. There were excuses and mitigating circumstances; the penalty that wasn't given and the goal that should have stood. But Liverpool was always going to be a massive step up from Stoke.

I talked last year about baffling team selections and substitutions, and a similarly baffling inability to tackle the weaknesses in the squad. If anything, it's worse this season. Utterly inexplicable and illogical. The shape and make-up of the side is all wrong. Where's the defensive midfielder that everybody except Arsene Wenger knows is critical to make any top level side successful? I don't know. Do you? If we can see it, why can Wenger not?

The old pros who panned the team have got it spot on. How can Gary Neville understand more about how it should feel to play for Arsenal than the current players themselves?

So let's get to the real crux of the matter. Which is the total mismanagement of the club from top to bottom. Negligence and complacency. All that has changed in the years since 2011 is the (admittedly not small achievement of) winning of three FA Cups. But what that has done is merely paper over the cracks, which started forming the moment the team moved to the new ground. The club has lost its identity; lost its soul. Finishing fifth may have been a Catalyst For Change, but the explosion has not been big enough by anybody's standards and heads must roll as a result.

Dropping out of the Champions League places is going to only be the start, based on what we have just witnessed. No wonder players won't sign new contracts. No wonder fringe players - comfortable on their inflated salaries - are in no rush to take a pay cut to go elsewhere and work harder. No wonder the better players are agitating to leave. No wonder the manager cannot attract new players; which half-decent footballer is going to sign for Arsenal this week?

I actually feel sorry for Alexis Sanchez. At least he ran about for a while on Sunday; until he saw the futility of it all. He deserves better. Ozil is somewhat maligned, in my opinion; he is not in the side to do the hard graft and the covering back (although some visible signs of effort to do a little of that would be appreciated). He is there to make the ball talk, but when he does, the players around him are unable to capitalise. The Ox can go - actually, it looks like he is going any moment now. I don't know what was worse yesterday; his lackadaisical performance or the fact that the manager, knowing he was about to leave, picked him in the first place. As for the others - Gibbs and Debuchy being the prime examples - if they won't go of their own volition I'd pay their contracts up and thereby free up spaces in the squad.

A massive clearout is needed, but it's much too late for that this summer. And who knows where Arsenal will finish this season (I reckon 7th, if they're lucky?) and what sort of quality of player the club will be able to attract as a reault?

I'm afraid that yesterday's performance - more than the result - indicates that Arsene Wenger is finished. A busted flush. Signing that new contract was an act of pure selfishness. And the Board that put it in front of him as just as culpable. He/they must go, for the sake of the future of the club. If they had any conscience or self-awareness, maybe they would...

If there's anybody who can look at himself in the mirror after that and say that Arsene Wenger is still the man for the job, that person is delusional. There can't be many left now. So if there's one good thing about what's just happened, at least it has united the fan base.

I'm done in, as are many Arsenal fans. FFS, it's not even September yet, and this week is going to be hell as the transfer window closes. Going to watch your team is supposed to be a joyful experience. But the immediate future is bleak, joyless and featureless. It's a long, long road back already.