Enough is enough

Today, Sunday 17 February, is a somewhat gloomy day for me. The general consensus in seasons past is that once Arsenal exit the cup competitions, their season is in effect over. This has been the case every season in the past 8 years, bar the exception of the odd failed title push. Needless to say, Arsene Wenger needed to show that he valued the domestic cups on offer for English clubs.

And so yesterday saw Arsenal host Blackburn Rovers at Emirates Stadium for the FA Cup 5th round tie. I rummaged around my savings to find £40 to buy a ticket for this "prestigious" game. I was lucky enough to find myself within shouting distance of the Blackburn away fans who were, in general, great company in a stadium which was teeming with misery and disbelief by 16:50. Of the 58,000 Arsenal fans in the stadium, I can honestly say that only those in the executive boxes and hospitality ares were reasonably happy throughout the game - I mean they never make any noise anyway.

As the game kicked off, the Gooners surrounding me were uncharacteristically lairy, taunting Blackburn keeper Jake Kean before moving on to a rather portly Blackburn fan. While the fans were full of vim and vigour, the same cannot be said for most of the Arsenal XI. While Diaby and Rosicky were put in the starting lineup, Santi Cazorla and Wilshere were benched, and Arsenal were missing the artistry of the two talismanic midfielders. A few nippy passes opened some space for the returning Gervinho on the left wing, and time after time he could only salvage a corner at best.

It was in the first half when I seriously considered Gervinho's value at the club. I do not like targetting players, I don't believe a club of Arsenal's stature hould have to deal with such issues; but like the much-maligned Santos, Gervinho just did not come up with the goods to prove his worth for the shirt. I sat frustrated, there seemed to be no communication between him or Monreal, and Blackburn barely had to break sweat to keep the Arsenal out. The defining moment in the first half was when Gervinho was found clean through by Tomas Rosicky, but the Ivorian only managed to slice a shot wide - he had to score.

My fellow Gooners were left flabbergasted by that inexplicable miss, but as Mike Dean blew for half-time it didn't seem that Arsenal would lose. They had so far demonstrated the kind of performance that was normal; it can be said that Arsenal are very much "second-half performers" - most of the time, the results are grounded out in the mid-late second half.

And yet, as the teams returned to play the second half, Blackburn were clearly under strict instructions from Michael Appleton; a disciplined, organised plan was set in motion to deal with Arsenal's fledgling attack, and from the first minute to the last, the Blackburn defence dug deep and stopped Arsenal's advances. They rarely slipped up, and Tomas Rosicky was unlucky not to score when given space on the edge of the box, his sharp drive rattling the crossbar.

That was as close as Arsenal came to scoring. Soon after, Wenger made three changes in one go, Wilshere, Cazorla and Walcott replacing Gervinho, Rosicky and Chamberlain. The game had barely restarted before Blackburn launched a rare attack. As Olsson raced into the box, his shot was palmed by Szczesny, but COLIN KAZIM-RICHARDS obliged in finding the net. His half-volley bounced off the floor before finding its way into the net via a fortuitous nick off the post.

If some Arsenal fans were feeling shaky at half time, most were decidedly hacked off at this point. Cue panic-stations. Instead of playing more direct football, Arsenal opted for playing more passes in a hope they could unlock the Blackburn defence. It seemed as if Arsenal were playing pass after pass with no intention of having a shot. As the Arsenal fans grew more anxious, the time slipped away and the result appeared a formality. Arsenal just didn't look deserving of a goal, and when Mike Dean blew his whistle to signal full-time, the deal was done; Arsenal's FA cup campaign was over.

The boos rang out, and while Blackburn fans celebrated, the Arsenal fans trudged toward the exits. Feeling disillusioned, I left the stadium quickly. It was hard facing the idea that Arsenal's season was all but over. Granted, the Champions League is still there but by golly, it would have to be some performance given teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich are all equally fitting contenders for the title.

So what happens next? Personally, I've always tried to stick with Pro-Wenger fans; I just can't see how it would be beneficial to sack Wenger now, given the vast empire he has built up in the club. What's more, he is unlikely to be sacked at all, given the board's steadfast support for him; as Wenger has raised the value and overall profits of the club substantially, the board will feel that they can only make more money with Wenger in charge. That's not to say that Wenger's primary motive is money, but you get the idea that the board in particular are concerned only with their bank balances.

If Arsenal progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, one can only fancy them to win the entire tournament given how much of a force Bayern are, and especially given that the Champions League will surely be a Wenger's priority after this disappointment.

I said at the start that Wenger needed to show he valued the domestic cups in England. As I survey the season's events so far, I notice that Arsenal exited both cup competitions in the quarter-final stage, losing to lower-league opposition; what's more, they lost with near enough first-team lineups. If this doesn't prove that our squad is weak, then I don't know what will.

Enough is enough. Time to strengthen Arsene, otherwise you risk facing the wrath of even the most loyal Arsenal fans - that is if they are worth anything anymore. I've never witnessed such a divided fanbase as Arsenal's, and it needs fixing soon.