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However hard that you squint it is very difficult to see the total football playing Arsenal of old that we all fell in love with and were a joy to watch. The days of the boring boring Arsenal' era were a distant memory (this was when the side were ridiculed from continually winning 1-0) and Wenger had build a side of world beaters. Who would have thought that the same side which brought us the likes of Henry, Pires, Vieira, Overmars and Bergkamp would be losing on their home turf to Hull City in 2008? What has happened to Arsenal?

The 2008/2009 season has left the Arsenal fans and neutrals quite baffled and Wenger probably summed it up best (albeit understated) after the Gunners 1-0 over Bolton when saying We have been more creative in the past.' Even after his magnificent success, some sections of the Arsenal support are beginning to question Wengers sanity, becoming frustrating and pessimistic about the future of their club. The future of Arsenal as part of the so-called Big Four' is looking under serious threat with the emergence of both Aston Villa and Everton as serious contenders. A lack of Champions League football at The Emirates is almost unthinkable but most likely a reality come 2010.

Where do the problems lie at Arsenal football club? Do we finally need to start admitting that Arsene Wenger has done something wrong? The man is most definitely a genius but for some reason he has it in his head that the current Arsenal squad is capable of winning the Premier League when it quite clearly is not. In the 2007/2008 season, Arsenal were top of the table for a long time but always looked to be one or two players away from being able to win the title. What did Wenger do? The likes of Diarra, Hleb, Flamini and Gilberto left the club and were never replaced. All of these were regular first team players.

It doesn't take anything more than common sense to realise that when you replace top class players with inferior ones, or in this case nobody at all, it is going to damage your side. Granted, Wenger made a point when he sold Vieira and Henry that success is possible without your star players but on each of these occasions he had a plan in the making. Gilberto was there to replace Vieira and then Flamini was prepared to replace Gilberto. Similarly, there was the emergence of Cesc Fabregas as a world class midfield player. However, having sold Flamini, Hleb, Diarra and Gilberto coupled with long terms injuries to Rosicky and Fabregas, Wenger has been left with nothing.

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