Arsenal once again look like they will come up short in their pursuit of success on all fronts this term.
Arsenal have been the model of consistency over the past 20 years, under the tenure of Arsene Wenger, but their stagnation within the game, as far as winning major trophies is concerned, has been overlooked because of their ability to finish inside the top four, year-in, year-out.
Gunners fans are desperate for success, with a league title, and progression past the first round knock-out stage of the Champions League both featuring highly on their wish list.
Wenger undoubtedly deserves great credit for helping transcend Arsenal into an elite club, and pioneering many innovative changes, which at the time were seen as visionary.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
The problem now though, is that those ideas that were so groundbreaking 20 years ago, have become archaic, yet the Frenchman persists with methods that are becoming redundant in the modern game.
Whilst younger, more forward-thinking managers are coming through, Wenger remains in a bygone era, and it could be argued that his presence in the Gunners hot-seat is preventing the club from reaching the heights that they are undoubtedly capable of.
He is totally devoid of the ability to shake things up tactically during a game, and always persists with the tiresome 4-2-3-1 formation.
Opposition managers know how Arsenal will play, and they have become predictable to line-up against.
They obviously have outstanding individual players, whose talents enable them to go on long winning runs, and still remain competitive.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
But in a game of such marginal gains, there are question marks as to whether Wenger can be considered elite anymore, and if he can truly cut it at the highest level.
And his transfer policy still leaves a lot to be desired.
He brought in Granit Xhaka for close to £35 million in the summer, genuinely thinking he was a box-to-box midfielder, yet he is quite clearly an accomplished deep-lying playmaker.
Then there is the fact that it took the Frenchman two years to realise that Alexis Sanchez could operate as a world-class centre forward, when arguably they could have won the league title last season, had the Chilean been deployed in that particular role then.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
His refusal to rest players has also proved to be detrimental to his side’s hopes of success over recent years.
He continually plays his best players until they break, time and time again.
Sir Alex Ferguson was the master of keeping his players fresh for the final two-month run in, and maybe Wenger should learn from his old adversary in that aspect.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, his reign in north London could be coming to an end, but if he manages to guide his side to another top-four finish, the Arsenal board will undoubtedly offer him another two year deal.
And if that happens, how many Arsenal fans will genuinely feel confident that their side can compete for major honours during that period?
Sometimes it is hard to let go of something that has so many fond memories attached to it.
This summer should be the time though for the Arsenal board to cut their ties with Wenger, and maybe then the Gunners can reach the heights that their revenues and first-team squad suggest they should be reaching on a regular basis.
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