In recent seasons, there have been individual matches which have told seasoned football watchers that Arsenal do not have what it takes to win the Premier League. In 2008, we saw two of them. Away to Birmingham in February and away to Stoke in November. On both occasions the team’s faults were apparent and exposed. Yesterday’s home defeat to Chelsea told us loud and clear that there is not a cat in hell’s chance that Arsene Wenger’s team are, once again, anywhere near the requisite quality that is needed for a title-winning side.

Granted, the team was shorn of their first choice front man and left back, but that is the whole point of having a squad of 20 odd players. I don’t think I need to go into an extensive analysis of the match yesterday. In brief, it was boys against men, despite the relative experience of a good number of Arsenal’s roster. Chelsea showed more commitment, were more clinical and more cynical. They were, by a long way, a far better team than Arsenal. Tipped as champions by many very early in the season, we saw nothing to dispute that idea at Ashburton Grove. Manchester United without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez will struggle to keep up, and there is every sign this campaign could turn into the kind of procession we witnessed in 2005 and 2006 under Jose Mourinho.

Wenger’s half-time substitution and the abandonment of his 4-3-3 in favour of a 4-4-2 showed how desperate the situation was, but credit to the man for, at least, having the balls to acknowledge his tactics weren’t working. Sadly, the switch brought Theo Walcott into the fray. A lad with incredible pace, and er… that’s it. The idea that Theo will ever make more than an average Premier League wide man can surely be put to bed now. Hopeless isn’t the word for his display. The other player that stood out as having a particularly poor game to these eyes was Denilson. His contribution was utterly minimal. The Brazilian national team give a chance to a lot of players and called him up in 2006 for a friendly against Switzerland. He didn’t get on the pitch and was never asked again. Quite simply, his level is probably the Fulham midfield at best. The odd corking goal is a pleasure, but I am not sure there’s much more to this lad. He simply looked out of his depth yesterday.

In October, Wenger addressed the AGM and told the shareholders, ‘I am really convinced we will win a trophy. This season we are ready to go for it in the Premier League, the Champions League and of course both the cups as well.’ The Carling Cup has too many good sides remaining, even if the Gunners kids overturn what will surely be a near full-strength Manchester City at Eastlands on Wednesday. Forget the Champions League. Arsenal are not at the races defensively, which at some stage, is an aspect of the game they will need to rely on. So, it’s all or nothing at Upton Park at the beginning of January, with a Wembley date in May, right? Not as long as Chelsea are in the competition. Frankly, if Wenger fields his normal mix and match FA Cup side, the players might have a free weekend in the latter half of January.

Arsenal have gone along the road of self-sustainability, but the game has changed. What the club should at least have tried to do is speculate to accumulate. Give the manager £20 million extra a season with the prospect of actually winning some silverware and generating more revenue through prize money and the attendant commercial benefits that come with success. Instead, it’s tight purse strings and nearly men. With this approach, no-one could have achieved any more than the current manager, and yet, he could have done better if he was less proud and would agree to an assistant coach who might tell him on occasion that he was wrong. Stop him making ridiculous decisions like starting an FA Cup semi-final with your most likely matchwinner on the bench.

The only real question now is whether or not the manager should be given the chance to spend the money that is finally available. Because with the existing set of players, Project Wenger will inevitably hit the rails at some point in any competition. Hence no trophies since 2005. The reports of record profits are a bit of a myth. With any figures released these days by the club, it should always be remembered that they are including money from Emirates and Nike that was handed over years ago to help build the stadium. Those long term deals – at bargain rates – are crippling the club now in real terms. The cash balance the club has includes a lot of money that has to be held as security on the club’s existing debt repayments, as well as cash that is allocated for future staggered transfer payments for players already at the club. So when Keith Edelman trumpeted the club had £70 million he was talking out of an orifice that was not seen on Arsenal TV online. On paper yes, loadsamoney. Available to the manager to improve the squad? Forget it.

Net transfer spends since the arrival of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea:
Chelsea: £166m
Liverpool: £103m
Manchester United (pre-Ronaldo sale): £99m
Arsenal: - £1m

That’s right, Arsenal are in profit on transfer dealings since the summer of 2003. With a team already in place, they won the title in the incredible 2003-04 season and the FA Cup 12 months later. Since then, the league has been shared between Chelsea and Manchester United, whilst the Champions League has seen wins by Liverpool and Manchester United. Arsenal have come close to glory on a couple of occasions, but with Wenger relying on younger players than his opponents, Arsenal have become the nearly men.

The problem, ultimately, is that the fans have to keep turning up, and Wenger’s team has offered just about enough hope to keep the turnstiles clicking. But there must come a point where – for the prices being asked – people are just going to say enough’s enough. Arsenal fans are paying the highest prices in world football to watch a team that doesn’t have what it takes to win a trophy. If we were paying less, we might by more acceptant of it, but we are paying so much because of the high earnings being paid to the current squad of players. And on yesterday’s performance, frankly, we are being cheated. Chelsea players are even more handsomely rewarded, but when it came down to commitment, they, at least, were a lot closer to earning their salaries, however inflated. Chelsea played like a team, but in the face of superior opposition, Arsenal looked anything but.

January can’t come too soon. A new keeper that the central defenders have an iota of confidence in is an absolute must. Decent experienced central midfielder and a centre forward of unquestioned goalscoring ability are equally vital. Van Persie’s out until August as far as I’m concerned, and Bendtner is the only other option as the kind of holding front man that Arsenal currently rely on. Is he good enough to carry the team to honours? Is he a 20 goals a season man? No. Impact sub, yes. Nothing more.

Wenger has to stop giving out false messages to the fans and concentrate a bit more on getting his players to perform. The fancy dan Brazil 1970 football is hugely entertaining against the likes of Wigan and Wolves, but it can be nullified by teams with real quality, as Arsenal will find out once again in the Champions League knockout rounds. The club made the semi-final last season by beating an unremarkable Roma side on penalties and a Villarreal team with half its best players out injured. If the Manchester United experience should have told the manager anything, it was that his team needed more than Arshavin and a new centre-back to close the gap.

However, the Highbury Square debt ensured that Vermaelen was the only incomer of note during the summer, in spite of the money received from Manchester City. Now Wenger has access to that cash, so let’s see it used and finish the season with some semblance of respectability. And clear out some deadwood from the squad either in January or the summer. God knows there’s plenty to choose from. Four defeats already this season. There were six in total last time around. It will be no surprise if there are more this time.

Arsenal are 11 points off the pace in the Premier League. For all the wonderful football we’ve seen this season, the Gunners are currently behind Tottenham Hotspur. The table doesn’t lie.

Arsene Wenger has 18 months left on his current deal.