In Arsene we trust...Really?

After yet another horrendous display in recent times, which saw Arsenal capitulate against a well organized machine called Bayern Munich in their Champions league round of 16 tie at the Emirates stadium on Tuesday, there is not even an iota of doubt as to which side are now firm favourites to advance to the quarter finals.

Arsenal were totally dominated by the runaway Bundesliga leaders in the 3-1 first leg defeat, and now definitely look unlikely to turn things around at the return leg in Germany.

It was the same old story repeated against the Bavarians, as a mix of bad defending and missing out on crucial chances in front of goal ensured yet another night of European misery for the long suffering Gunner fans.

Though Lukas Podolski did get on the scoresheet for Arsenal (a soft goal at that!), goals from Tony Kroos, Thomas Mueller and Mario Mandzukic ensured that the Germans were going away from London with a quarterfinal spot all but in their grasp.

Tuesday’s mauling meant Arsene Wenger’s side, who currently lie fourth in the Premier league, will in all probability endure yet another one of those ‘trophyless’ seasons which have become an Arsenal hallmark over the years.

Winning the Premier League (the writer can’t help but suppress a laugh!) is almost an impossibility, as Arsenal trail leaders Manchester United by a massive 21 points, and with chances of gaining silverware almost nil this season, Wenger’s side will now have to settle for yet another one of those ‘third-fourth place’ battles with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur (who are four points ahead of the Gunners) to ensure Champions league qualification (groan!) for the upcoming season.

So what exactly has gone wrong with Arsenal since the good old heady days of the ‘invincibles’?

Wenger’s side consisting of stalwarts like Thierry ‘King’ Henry, Robert Pires and the ‘gigantic’ Patrick Vieira was considered as one of the best sides, both in England and Europe, and achieved the impossible by winning the league title in 2003 without losing a game all season.

That earned them the tag of the ‘invincibles’, with Wenger’s side going on to achieve great things in the 2006 Champions League tournament, firstly by knocking out Spanish giants Real Madrid (what a goal by Henry!) and later Juventus (this time Vieira was on the opposite side with the Italians and was given a footballing lesson by his predecessor at Arsenal, a young Cesc Fabregas!), and reached the final, only to be edged out by Barcelona who denied the Gunners a maiden title thanks to two late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti.

But that final in France proved to be the start of mediocrity for Wenger’s side, who are now nowhere near the class of 2003, and forget the Champions league, they have not even won the FA Cup since 2005.

That triumph over Manchester United (Arsenal won on penalties after the game finished 0-0) remains Wenger’s last piece of silverware, and since then North London has not seen a single trophy in their now dormant cabinet for eight long years.

The best they could muster was during the 2009 season, when they reached the Champions league semifinals, courtesy some gritty displays, but were brushed aside by Alex Ferguson’s rampant United side consisting of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

On the domestic front, Arsenal have slowly but surely slipped away from Premier league’s ‘elite four’ since the long gone era of the ‘invincibles’, and now resemble a club struggling to stay afloat amongst ‘money fuelled’ title challengers, such as Chelsea and Manchester City.

The rise of big spending clubs like Chelsea has also contributed to Arsenal’s recent downward spiral!

Though Arsenal’s long running trophy drought is definitely a matter of grave concern, atleast for the North London faithful, Wenger is no slouch of a manager, as the veteran Frenchman, despite the loss of talismanic players like Fabregas and Robin Van Persie, has done his level best to keep the club in the running for atleast a top four spot in the Premier league.

Wenger, with his famous reliance on young talent, has helped the Gunners become a club of repute, starting from the late 1990′s till the early part of 2000, and is mainly responsible for whatever success the London club has seen during his tenure till date, and though players like Henry, Vieira and the rest of the ‘golden generation’ were mentored towards future greatness by the versatile Frenchman, he still was terribly unlucky in not getting the required funds to build up a side consisting of high priced stars, a la City, which would have definitely helped Arsenal challenge for a few more trophies.

Henry and Pires were a part of Arsenal’s famous ‘invincibles’!

Wenger is accustomed to Arsenal’s now common ritual of high profile players exiting for the sole reason of ‘disappointment’ at the Frenchman for not winning anything of note at the club for a long time.

Cash-rich City has bought off almost half of Arsenal’s so called ‘stars ‘(Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and the list is a huge one!) in recent times, as a major player exodus from North London to the blue half of Manchester has proved to be a decisive factor in the Gunners’ current lack of quality firepower to disturb top class opponents like Bayern.

Though the current side has youngsters like the impressive Jack Wilshere, the gifted Aaron Ramsey and the speedy Alex ‘Ox’ Chamberlain, the newer bunch just do not have the required expertise of say a Nasri or even an Emmanuel Adebayor (former Gunner and City ‘loyalist’!) to handle crunch matches, like the recent FA Cup tie against second tier Blackburn Rovers, which Arsenal lost 1-0, where an experienced campaigner could definitely have made the difference for Wenger’s ‘boys’.

New signings Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, though great goal scorers, are definitely not a patch on Van Persie, whereas other additions such as Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta cannot be placed in the same league as Fabregas.

Tomas Rosicky stands out as the only player who can dictate play in midfield, thanks to his impressive vision and passing, and the Czech playmaker’s form will prove to be a decisive factor for the Gunners for the remainder of the season.

And defending is definitely not Arsenal’s forte, as was shown by Bayern on Tuesday, with Bacary Sagna and Per Mertesacker not exactly the kind of players who can put in a crunching tackle and play it rough to unsettle opposition forwards, when needed.

Wojciech Szczesny does offer a ray of hope for Wenger, as the shot-stopper did manage a few good saves against Bayern, and prevented the Germans from making it a no-contest.

So come three weeks time, and it will definitely be an ‘acid test’ for Wenger and his now demoralised side, to punch above their weight, and if not for a miracle, atleast salvage a decent result at the Allianz arena.

And if they do manage the former, fans can start chanting “In Arsene we trust“, once again, with their heads raised sky high!