Why Arsenal will specialise in failure until Arsene Wenger is replaced (Read More)

Jose Mourinho suggested that had any other manager pushed another manager in the middle of the match, as Arsene Wenger had done to the Chelsea man in their recent game, he’d have been treated more harshly.

It’s probably true - but the reason is more damning than some kind of pro-Arsenal bias

It’s more likely to come from the fact that Wenger, and by extension Arsenal, are no longer really seen as a threat.

In the past, Wenger’s Arsenal side would have been happy to exchange more than glances on the pitch, and now you know there’s going to be little more than a shove.

Arsenal are a spent force, forever playing catch up, but at a pace far slower than those ahead of them are moving.

Before the match against Hull City, when the side were gearing up for yet another disappointment due to yet another injury crisis, Wenger said he would move for a defender in the January transfer.

For reference, we are now in October, and Arsenal started with Nacho Monreal in central defence.

Monreal is an adequate back-up full-back for a Champions League team, and yet under Wenger he is regularly considered as a worthwhile option in the middle for the next three months.

As the transfer window closed, Arsenal weighed up making some kind of move for William Carvalho, the Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder, but with Wenger abroad refereeing a charity match, the side were only able (or perhaps truly willing) to sign Danny Welbeck, unable to break into United’s first team as a striker.

This came after Wenger elected not to sign Cesc Fabregas, who has proven himself to be perhaps the best midfielder in the Premier League at the moment, firing Diego Costa and therefore Chelsea to the top of the table.