Trials and Tribulations: An analysis of Arsenal's performances this season

Arsenal have been in a shocking spell of form this season. They have been knocked out of the FA Cup in Round three by Nottingham Forest and only have four wins in the last 11 Premier League games - allowing their rivals to maintain an arm's length over them. This seems to be a trend for the past few seasons where inconsistencies and low confidence plagues the first team during the November - December period of the season.

The biggest competitions for a top Premier League team include the Premier League, the F.A. Cup and the Champions League. For the past few seasons, the F.A. Cup was the only thing keeping Arsenal relevant in world football.

But now with that no longer an option and the competition rising in the Europa League due to the demotion of Champion's League teams like Atletico Madrid, Borrusia Dortmund and Napoli, the only thing Arsenal can hope to win is the English Football League Cup - and the final happens to be with the Premier League's runaway leaders - Manchester City. It will be nothing more than a consolation if Arsenal wins the EFL Cup.

On the flip side, winning three trophies in four years does not have such a bad ring to it either.

It will be a struggle for Arsenal to reach the top 4 in this season

Top four in the Premier League? Maybe not. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspurs have been steadily rising and may even be challengers for the title next season. Ironically, Arsenal cannot be considered being one of the 'Big Four' of English football currently.

Currently Liverpool are in third place with a six-point lead to Arsenal, while Spurs sit in fifth with a four-point advantage. Tottenham have a good shot at achieving a top four finish and look to be on course to finish above the Gunners for the second consecutive season.

It seems to be an apparent fact among supporters that the majority stake-holder at Arsenal, Stan Kroenke is not committed to transforming the Gunners into a world class club which the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City already are. Apparently, he prefers to be more inclined towards his American investments than to build on the reputation Arsenal already have as a global football club and fans are deeply frustrated with the lack of investment in the squad.

Arsenal fans with banners directed at owner Stan Kroenke and manager Arsene Wenger

Next in the firing line seems to be Arsene Wenger. He has greatly fallen out of favour with the same supporters who hailed him as one of the greatest managers in English football. The absence of a Premier League title since 2003-04 has people questioning Wenger's tenacity to stay at the helm.

Although the F.A. Cup victories in 2014, 2015 and 2017 helped repair his reputation, but his decision to extend his reign by another two years, left the already divided fan-base even more so. This was supposed to be his year to hit back at his critics, however he seems to be underperforming again.

Wenger needs to provide consistent results on the big stage if he is to remain at the helm

Finally, it's the players themselves. Granted that maybe Arsenal don't have a world class squad like some other teams in English football such as City or United at the moment, but persistent inconsistencies have deeply frustrated the Arsenal faithful to the point that recently, the team got booed off after their shock loss to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium by the travelling fans.

Granit Xhaka has not been performing as per expectations with far too many mistakes in his game

Against small teams, they have a knack of letting their guard down resulting in them either relinquishing a comfortable and manageable lead or letting in an early goal and then fighting for a comeback.

Against bigger teams though, Arsenal seem to do a much better job and seem to have a definite game plan to contain the other team, which is something Arsenal fans should be proud of.

A lack of leadership and the lack of a visible killer instinct keeps them from being genuine title contenders this season.

The shock loss to Swansea has seriously dented Arsenal's chances of a top four finish

Quite frankly, the Arsenal squad needs a revolutionary makeover. The midfield and defence need to be revamped with big names. The signings of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are a start but the need of a quality defensive midfielder and center/wing back is still apparent. To turn the trials and tribulations at the club into the joy and pride of Arsenal by winning the Premier League title, that is the dream.