ARSENAL Q&A: They're already 12 points off the top, struggling in the Champions League and tactically clueless when in front... so, what has gone wrong (again) and is Wenger the man to fix it?
It may only be November, but Arsenal's chances of achieving anything this season are already looking bleak.
Sunday's miserable defeat at Swansea City has left them 12 points adrift of pace-setters Chelsea in the Premier League, while performances in Europe have mostly been equally uninspiring.
Sure, there have been injury problems, but many fans believe Arsene Wenger should have done more to add depth to his squad.
As the pressure again mounts on the Frenchman, we take a look at the important questions being asked of Arsenal and whether they can be addressed.
Arsenal are already 12 points behind Chelsea, struggling in Europe and out of the Capital One Cup... what's going on at the Emirates this season?
After ending their nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup and cementing a top-four finish, morale was high heading into the new season. Unlike previous campaigns, no major players had been sold and Wenger had captured Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona.
The addition of the Community Shield with a comfortable 3-0 win against Manchester City left many Arsenal fans giddy and expectant.
But with only four wins in the league this season - against current bottom-seven sides Burnley, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace - and two in the Champions League, against teams ranked only 35th and 44th in Europe, Gooners are feeling rather deflated... and it's only November.
Injuries have obviously played their part...
Yes. Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny have all missed large chunks of the campaign - and in some cases are still out.
Is that why Nacho Monreal is playing at centre half?
It is. But Wenger should have bought more defensive re-inforcements.
He allowed Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Carl Jenkinson to leave in the summer and brought in only Debuchy, who has been sidelined since September, and 19-year-old Calum Chambers, who was miserably exposed by Swansea's Jefferson Montero.
Monreal is as much of a centre half as he is a striker, and it doesn't help that Per Mertesacker is suffering from a World Cup hangover. Arsenal have conceded more headed goals than any team bar Burnley this campaign. Wenger will be desperate for Koscielny to return.
Where's the leadership?
That's one of the central problems; there isn't. Arsenal inexplicably threw away a three-goal lead against Anderlecht after searching for more goals instead of holding what they had. And they performed the same suicidal act at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Seven Arsenal players were ahead of the ball when they lost possession leading up to Swansea's equaliser. The Gunners have thrown away more points from a winning position than any other team this season.
So perhaps Paul Merson has a point when he called Wenger's side 'tactically clueless' on 11 occasions last week?
Wenger boasted Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry as his first three captains at Arsenal. Leaders on and off the pitch. But his last four have included Williams Gallas (histrionic), Robin van Persie (left for Manchester United) Vermaelen (injured/out of form) and Arteta (best of a bad bunch). That says it all.
Who should Wenger be targeting in January?
He desperately needs a centre half and a holding midfielder to add some much-needed steel to that talented, but attack-minded and arguably flakey midfield.
Mats Hummels is interested in a move to the Emirates and surely Wenger should have swooped for Alex Song in the summer. He has shone at Upton Park this year and was a revelation for the Gunners before he left for Barcelona.
Sami Khedira could do a job and what of Chelsea's John Obi Mikel? He isn't getting a game at Stamford Bridge...
But some fans are saying it isn't who Wenger brings in, but his tactics and where he plays those new signings. Why, for instance, has Mesut Ozil been deployed on the left? Shouldn't they be building the team around him?
He should. In the rare moments Ozil played at No 10, he's excelled. He isn't the same player on the left. In his early years, Wenger built his team around Dennis Bergkamp, and then Henry.
Now he seems unsure who his best player is, or indeed what's his best team. In Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, and even Ozil when he is fit, he has too many players who want to do the same job. It isn't working.
Sanchez has been Arsenal's brightest spark, but is he in a class of one?
The £30million man works his socks off and has been involved in seven of Arsenal's last eight goals in the Premier League. Without him they'd be even worse off.
Ramsey has looked a shadow of the player who lit up the Premier League last term. Ozil, on the left, was desperately short of confidence and form before he got injured.
Danny Welbeck has done OK, but will never be in the same bracket as Bergkamp, Henry, or Ian Wright.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was Arsenal's best player on Sunday, but needs a consistent run in the team while Cazorla has gone off the boil and injury-prone Wilshere is struggling for form.
More so than Cesc Fabregas joining Chelsea in the summer? He's been one of the Premier League's best players this season. Wenger had first refusal, so why didn't he sign him?
Fabregas and Ozil could not have played in the same side, and when you've spent a club record fee on a player why would you undermine that by bringing in someone who lines up in the same position?
Nor can we forget Ramsey’s breakthrough campaign last year. Fabregas was undoubtedly a star player, who stood head and shoulders above his peers, but he is also one who personified a different Wenger era – a move away from the power of Emmanuel Petit, Vieira, Henry and Co and one built around slighter, diminutive players, albeit as skilful – but which ultimately has proved to be nowhere near as successful.
Despite his success at Chelsea this season, signing him would have been a step back.
Some Arsenal supporters were calling for Wenger to leave after Arsenal's defeat at Swansea. Is it time for him to go?
Arsenal fans would have been desperate for the club to kick on after last season's FA Cup triumph, but it appears as though they will be battling only for a top-four finish this season.
They seem miles short of what is required to launch an assault on the Champions League. Wenger's stubbornness to adapt his tactics when facing bigger teams is alarming.
So too is the fact that his players don't seem to understand the concept of defending as a team.
While his squad must take some responsibility for that, doesn't it ultimately fall down to the man who organises them? No longer can Wenger, or indeed the fans blame, a lack of spending either.
More than £40m was spent on Ozil and almost £50m on acquiring Sanchez and Welbeck. Is Wenger's time up at Arsenal? Perhaps... but don't expect him to walk away any time soon.
What should Arsenal fans be hoping for during the remainder of the season?
Sadly for them a decent run in the FA Cup, a battle for the top four, and probably an exit from Europe at the round of 16 stage when they draw one of the competition’s top clubs.
We've been here before haven't we?
Sunday's miserable defeat at Swansea City has left them 12 points adrift of pace-setters Chelsea in the Premier League, while performances in Europe have mostly been equally uninspiring.
Sure, there have been injury problems, but many fans believe Arsene Wenger should have done more to add depth to his squad.
As the pressure again mounts on the Frenchman, we take a look at the important questions being asked of Arsenal and whether they can be addressed.
Arsenal are already 12 points behind Chelsea, struggling in Europe and out of the Capital One Cup... what's going on at the Emirates this season?
After ending their nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup and cementing a top-four finish, morale was high heading into the new season. Unlike previous campaigns, no major players had been sold and Wenger had captured Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona.
The addition of the Community Shield with a comfortable 3-0 win against Manchester City left many Arsenal fans giddy and expectant.
But with only four wins in the league this season - against current bottom-seven sides Burnley, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace - and two in the Champions League, against teams ranked only 35th and 44th in Europe, Gooners are feeling rather deflated... and it's only November.
Injuries have obviously played their part...
Yes. Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny have all missed large chunks of the campaign - and in some cases are still out.
Is that why Nacho Monreal is playing at centre half?
It is. But Wenger should have bought more defensive re-inforcements.
He allowed Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Carl Jenkinson to leave in the summer and brought in only Debuchy, who has been sidelined since September, and 19-year-old Calum Chambers, who was miserably exposed by Swansea's Jefferson Montero.
Monreal is as much of a centre half as he is a striker, and it doesn't help that Per Mertesacker is suffering from a World Cup hangover. Arsenal have conceded more headed goals than any team bar Burnley this campaign. Wenger will be desperate for Koscielny to return.
Where's the leadership?
That's one of the central problems; there isn't. Arsenal inexplicably threw away a three-goal lead against Anderlecht after searching for more goals instead of holding what they had. And they performed the same suicidal act at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Seven Arsenal players were ahead of the ball when they lost possession leading up to Swansea's equaliser. The Gunners have thrown away more points from a winning position than any other team this season.
So perhaps Paul Merson has a point when he called Wenger's side 'tactically clueless' on 11 occasions last week?
Wenger boasted Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry as his first three captains at Arsenal. Leaders on and off the pitch. But his last four have included Williams Gallas (histrionic), Robin van Persie (left for Manchester United) Vermaelen (injured/out of form) and Arteta (best of a bad bunch). That says it all.
Who should Wenger be targeting in January?
He desperately needs a centre half and a holding midfielder to add some much-needed steel to that talented, but attack-minded and arguably flakey midfield.
Mats Hummels is interested in a move to the Emirates and surely Wenger should have swooped for Alex Song in the summer. He has shone at Upton Park this year and was a revelation for the Gunners before he left for Barcelona.
Sami Khedira could do a job and what of Chelsea's John Obi Mikel? He isn't getting a game at Stamford Bridge...
But some fans are saying it isn't who Wenger brings in, but his tactics and where he plays those new signings. Why, for instance, has Mesut Ozil been deployed on the left? Shouldn't they be building the team around him?
He should. In the rare moments Ozil played at No 10, he's excelled. He isn't the same player on the left. In his early years, Wenger built his team around Dennis Bergkamp, and then Henry.
Now he seems unsure who his best player is, or indeed what's his best team. In Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, and even Ozil when he is fit, he has too many players who want to do the same job. It isn't working.
Sanchez has been Arsenal's brightest spark, but is he in a class of one?
The £30million man works his socks off and has been involved in seven of Arsenal's last eight goals in the Premier League. Without him they'd be even worse off.
Ramsey has looked a shadow of the player who lit up the Premier League last term. Ozil, on the left, was desperately short of confidence and form before he got injured.
Danny Welbeck has done OK, but will never be in the same bracket as Bergkamp, Henry, or Ian Wright.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was Arsenal's best player on Sunday, but needs a consistent run in the team while Cazorla has gone off the boil and injury-prone Wilshere is struggling for form.
More so than Cesc Fabregas joining Chelsea in the summer? He's been one of the Premier League's best players this season. Wenger had first refusal, so why didn't he sign him?
Fabregas and Ozil could not have played in the same side, and when you've spent a club record fee on a player why would you undermine that by bringing in someone who lines up in the same position?
Nor can we forget Ramsey’s breakthrough campaign last year. Fabregas was undoubtedly a star player, who stood head and shoulders above his peers, but he is also one who personified a different Wenger era – a move away from the power of Emmanuel Petit, Vieira, Henry and Co and one built around slighter, diminutive players, albeit as skilful – but which ultimately has proved to be nowhere near as successful.
Despite his success at Chelsea this season, signing him would have been a step back.
Some Arsenal supporters were calling for Wenger to leave after Arsenal's defeat at Swansea. Is it time for him to go?
Arsenal fans would have been desperate for the club to kick on after last season's FA Cup triumph, but it appears as though they will be battling only for a top-four finish this season.
They seem miles short of what is required to launch an assault on the Champions League. Wenger's stubbornness to adapt his tactics when facing bigger teams is alarming.
So too is the fact that his players don't seem to understand the concept of defending as a team.
While his squad must take some responsibility for that, doesn't it ultimately fall down to the man who organises them? No longer can Wenger, or indeed the fans blame, a lack of spending either.
More than £40m was spent on Ozil and almost £50m on acquiring Sanchez and Welbeck. Is Wenger's time up at Arsenal? Perhaps... but don't expect him to walk away any time soon.
What should Arsenal fans be hoping for during the remainder of the season?
Sadly for them a decent run in the FA Cup, a battle for the top four, and probably an exit from Europe at the round of 16 stage when they draw one of the competition’s top clubs.
We've been here before haven't we?
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