There were two key reasons Arsenal suffered to such a humiliating degree in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Firstly, the squad Wenger has now is the legacy of the lack of spending and reliance on discovering young, unproven, potential – due to the financial restrictions of the move to the new stadium. Five years ago Arsenal went to Old Trafford for a similar game and won 2-0 with a weakened team. Over a period of five years between 2001 and 2005, the club made four FA Cup finals with a policy of fielding below strength line-ups until Cardiff, semi-finals included. The difference then was that the second stringers were better due to the money spent to give the team better depth when key players were injured (or rested when it came to the FA Cup). Wenger saw this lack of depth during his early seasons at the club and rectified it. The resulting squad came close to winning three titles in a row, putting five major trophies in the cabinet over four seasons.

Now, our second choice full backs are Justin Hoyte and Armand Traore. Pat Rice is on the coaching staff, and was a quality right back in his playing days. There is little evidence he’s been passing on his knowledge to Hoyte. Wenger now has money to buy players that can strengthen his squad. It should be obvious after the cup exits at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford the areas that need addressing. A quality utility defender that can play anywhere across the back line is imperative. A decent midfielder who can fill in at full back is another. Lassana Diarra was one such player, but one can only surmise he was a bad apple for Chelsea to allow him to go to Arsenal so cheaply and then for Wenger to sell him on so quickly. Emmanuel Eboue is a disgrace and should be got shot of at the first available opportunity. If you are going to try and win the physical battle with your opponent, use your strength to muscle them in a challenge but don’t lead with your feet. Hoyte was poor, but the amount of assistance he received from the disinterested right midfielder was shocking. Critically, Flamini must be secured as an Arsenal line-up without him does not look like a team that can compete. God only knows what would happen for the remainder of the campaign should the Flanimal get injured.

The second key reason that we witnessed what we did in the 4-0 whitewash was the mindset of the players. When the manager publicly states that he would prefer a defeat to a draw, you might as well take the field waving white flags. It was the wrong message to send out, and frankly, Arsenal should refund the ticket money paid by the 9,000 who travelled to support the team. I’m aware that some coaches returning to London had as little as three windows intact due to attacks from United fans. If the players had to endure such a return journey, they might get some idea of reality and have a bit more pride about their highly paid professional duties to Arsenal Football Club and its supporters. If the manager wants to give the FA Cup the same degree of importance as the Carling Cup, home matches should not be on the season ticket and regulars should have the option not to attend.

Looking at the starting line-up, the midfield was – on paper – strong enough for this match. Up front, Bendtner was given his chance and blew it. He has potential, but at this stage is only really an option as a 75th minute sub. The only players to come out of the match with any credit were Jens Lehmann (the score could have been at least 8-0 were it not for him) and Eduardo (the only outfield player who performed with any semblance of pride).

Arsenal played so badly they made average United players look good. We can thank the stars that Cristiano Ronaldo was rested as it could have been double figures against if it was he, rather than Park, up against Traore.

The other question that has to be asked is of the players that were on the bench. Presumably, if you are fit enough to be on the bench, you are fit enough to play. So these players were effectively rested. The manager’s argument is that the game would take too much out of them ahead of Wednesday’s match against Milan. My view is that momentum is important, and that winning is a habit that actually overcomes fatigue – half of which is in the mind anyway. Did Manchester United look tired in the latter stages of the 1998-99 season? The same players started most of the matches in all three competitions.

Arsene Wenger will be able to justify his team selection yesterday if Arsenal get a result against Milan that puts them in the box seat for the return leg and get three points at Birmingham next Saturday lunchtime. And the manager will need to get on his knees and prey that none of Sagna, Clichy, Flamini or Adebayor gets injured between now and the middle of May or the Premier League dreams will go up in smoke.

And what he cannot allow is for an Arsenal team to take the field in any future competition with such a half-hearted approach as was witnessed at Old Trafford. With only two of the team showing the remotest interest in getting a positive result (and one of them in goal), it was an insult to the fans that travelled in such numbers believing they were going to witness a football match. The least the club should do is refund their admission cost. At a cost of about £400,000. Some cheque signing will be required in the summer to strengthen the squad, but 9,000 need to be issued before then as a gesture to those that suffered the most on Saturday evening. Get signing Mr Edelman.