The capitulation at Wigan, on 17 April 2010, was painful. Two nil up, the team appeared to mentally chalk up the three points, as evidenced by the schoolboy giggling which greeted Mikael Silvestre’s goal. The eventual outcome was the nadir of a season which promised much but delivered little.

Following the debacle against Spurs, we have now lost three of our last five home games. Going into the game as the recent form side in the country; at two nil up, we confirmed what was already obvious: this team cannot learn from its mistakes.

The wins at Wolves and Everton represented, once again, a false dawn. It was a different Arsenal which took to the field for the conclusive forty five minutes than that which completed the first half. Make no mistake; the second half performance was one of complacency, not tiredness.

For a team that was playing to reach the league summit, to fall apart as they did is unbelievable. The moment Tottenham scored their first, I feared an implosion. Spurs sensed that we were there for the taking – there was an almost palpable fear of it within the stadium and not without foundation. Ostensibly and most damning of all, they wanted it more than we did. Perhaps it means more to them.

Inevitably, by the time this is published, a celebratory DVD will be available to commemorate Spurs' first away victory in a derby for 17 years. They will milk it, because it doesn't get better than this for them. Big clubs beat other big clubs - that is the nature of football. By behaving as they do, they simply highlight their own inferiority complex. That and their obsession with Arsenal remain present within every echelon of the club.

Arsenal purport to be among the elite of Europe. Our neighbours aspire to join the party on a regular basis. Truly, both are missing the point. At the business end of the Champions League, the North London contingency will surely be routinely dismissed.

No doubt there will be some unpleasant exchanges on various message boards in the aftermath of this embarrassment. Ultimately, the facts are beyond dispute. The score line was entirely representative – it does not necessarily suggest a shift in the balance of power, as will surely be suggested. Based on the trends over recent times, it is questionable whether either side has sufficient power to sustain a title challenge.

Arsenal have a rich history of winning trophies - but still covet the biggest club prize of all from a distance. In the last five years, only by virtue of the home comforts of The Emirates Cup has a pot been gleaned. Personally, I cannot include this in any list of official honours, any more than I would include The Peace Cup (Korea), The Vodacom Challenge (South Africa), The Feyenoord Jubileum Tournament (Holland) or The Barclays Asia Trophy (China). Let us hope that we never become so success starved as to have to! That said, until Arsenal can defend, further honours seem a remote possibility.

Against Spurs, we defended a high line which never looked comfortable without Vermaelen. Whilst I think we may have won with him available, there is, in his absence, a lack of rounded leadership and determination, which defines his game.

In the final reckoning, once again, set pieces were our undoing. In as open a derby game as I can remember, they were able to break following our own inept dead ball routines on several occasions. From theirs, a menace threatened with every free kick and corner. Arsenal are not prepared to deal with simple tactics; the inch perfect passes today were few in number. Several opportunities were spurned. The game should have been secured before half time. 2 – 0 and we f***** it up, royally.

Chelsea lost again, which is always welcome. However, until we can translate periods of supremacy into points, it will remain academic what title challenging clubs do or do not.

Aggrieved as I feel about the nature of this reverse, it was the sense that it was inevitable, not for the first time, which rankles. Let us be honest: this game of two halves was deservedly lost. After the break, the second ball was rarely won by Arsenal, nor was any shape or tactical discipline evident. We were outfought and ultimately paid the price.

Typically, having beaten Arsenal, Redknapp believes that they can win the league. Whatever their euphoria, deep down, their fans will know that they will soon have surpassed a half century without title success. We have seen the components of a title winning side – in different forms; but none have displayed the continued weaknesses of our current squad. Bluntly, there is a lack of balance and a lack of guts.

We should heed the warnings that Spurs have given – both on Saturday and also in showing us how a team in continual flux can drift into obscurity. It has taken two decades for them to reverse that trend to any degree at all. We must be careful and not complacent enough to allow the barren period to extend into normality. To do that, lessons must be learned and deficiencies admitted and addressed.

The good news is that we can address the shortcomings. A centre half in the Merteseker mould and another commanding midfield buffer for the defence is imperative. Perhaps now, those who derided Gilberto for so long can see the error of their ways. Song needs to sit back and defend in the big games. Clichy cannot concentrate for 90 minutes and for that reason I would give Gibbs the nod. Koscielny would be excellent in Italy, where defenders “nick” the ball, but is ill-equipped to deal with aerial bombardment. Going forward, from a defensive solid base, we probably have the wherewithal to succeed.

The bad news is that, arguably other than Vermaelen, we had our first team available and couldn't raise our game to turn the tide at home. The lack of urgency was unforgivable and not a one off. There seems to be an individual and collective reluctance to accept responsibility and prevent repeated basic errors. Performances like this belie the notion that this team has the consistency to win major honours. There are flaws which Arsene Wenger refuses to address.

He will not bring in the strong-minded assistant to do the nasty stuff - there will be no shouting at London Colney on Monday morning, nor come what may, will any set piece practice ensue. For a man who is obviously extremely intelligent, to neglect the obvious over such a long period of time is more than frustrating: it is a dereliction of duty. I am conscious of sounding like a broken record, but how many times can the same failings be exposed?

There is a chance to win silverware in the Carling Cup – I suggest we take it seriously. Ironically, a berth in the semi final is dependent upon beating Wigan – whom we have taken for granted in this very competition. There was a time when Arsenal players were told “Remember who you are, what you are and who you represent”. Since now they obviously cannot respect the manager, the fans, the Club or their absurdly cosseted lifestyles; perhaps they can at least demonstrate some self respect.