I find myself questioning my loyalty to Arsenal these days. Having been a season ticket holder since 1980 and having travelled all over the country and Europe following the Gunners in that time, my enthusiasm is waning, not just a little either. Yet again at the end of a ‘mildly’ disappointing season I pause to consider not renewing my season ticket… I know I will, I’m obviously not that far gone yet, but I do have my doubts!

I’m not entirely sure why I feel like this. It’s partly down to age, but also my job doesn’t help much. I work shifts and when they move kick-offs to Saturday or Sunday lunchtimes I often have to go without sleep or just get a couple of hours if I am working nights, just to get to the game. I also hold a certain amount of contempt for the players in this day and age, earning more in a week than most of us do in a year, failing to acknowledge the fans at away games, diving and cheating, blatantly not putting in 100% effort. It all grates with me.

I said that I was ‘mildly’ disappointed with this season. I didn’t expect us to win the title this year, we just don’t have the squad, but I’m getting fed up of us throwing away domestic cup games because Arsene wants to concentrate on two competitions that we are, in all probability, unlikely to win, given the fact that he seems to want to prove a point by NOT buying the three or four quality players we really need to subsidise the very good batch of youngsters we have.

Ever since Wenger came to Arsenal, I’ve felt we have been three or four players away from being dominating… both domestically and in Europe. Even in the times of Vieira and Petit I felt we just needed that little bit more and it never quite happened. I’ve now come to the conclusion that this will never change with Arsene in charge. I’m not saying sack him, I’m not saying he hasn’t performed miracles at Arsenal, especially on the budget he’s had, but I am seriously concerned that he has taken Arsenal as far as he can.

He remains probably the best talent spotter in world football and second to none in his football knowledge. But he appears to show a constant refusal to take Arsenal to the next level (through signing three or four quality players) and to recognise the obvious weak links in the team – Eboue and Senderos for instance. I fear we have seen the best years of Arsene in terms of winning trophies.

It’s a fine balance, keeping players happy when you are buying in more players but Man U and Chelsea do it in this country. The big Spanish and Italian sides seem to do it too, so why can’t we accommodate three more quality players in this squad? We have virtually no competition for places in some positions. The need for a big centre half who can dominate in the air is so obvious for everyone who watches Arsenal… except for Arsene? Is Adebayor really the answer? I can’t remember seeing a top professional who has worse control than Ade and his understanding of the offside rule has to be questioned. Stick Jason Roberts in this Arsenal team and he’d probably score 20 plus goals in a season. Almunia is an ok keeper but not great, Gallas is well past his best, some of the youngsters promise much but often deliver little.

We aren’t that far away from being a very very good squad but we’re not going to close the gap that exists by buying just one decent player this summer, especially if we lose two or three. To hear Arsene come out and say that wasn’t just disappointing, I found it crushing! I am dumbfounded by that kind of statement, which we seem to get every now and then from Arsene.

These days I find football summers disappointing. We’re linked to all kinds of top players, we end up signing a couple of unknowns and normally lose at least one player we really don’t want to go. Can we seriously blame Cesc if he says he wants to go next season? Are Arsenal a selling club?

We were told that by moving to the Emirates it would enable us to compete financially with the likes of Man Utd and Barca. What utter tosh! We seem unable to compete with Sp*rs and Newcastle, let alone the top European clubs!

Have Arsenal REALLY progressed over the last three seasons?

Well yes we have, kind of. We’ve put up more of a fight for most of this season and the football we’ve played at times has been awesome. But maybe that papers over some cracks? This brings me back to wondering whether Arsene has taken Arsenal as far as he can, a view that will no doubt bring derision from some Gooners.

I really do believe we are reaching a crossroads next season. I think it will be Wenger’s last year managing the side if he wins nothing again. I had no doubts about us qualifying for the CL this season, but with little or no investment I fear where we will end up at the end of next season, with several ‘fringe’ top four clubs probably willing to spend big to break into the top four. The days of winning the big prizes on a shoestring budget have gone, we have to accept that… or rather Arsene and the board need to accept that. Spending money doesn’t guarantee success, we all know that – look at Spurs! But you need a squad with quality in depth to fight on all fronts. Come on Arsene, just for once, bring in four top quality players, please, – a keeper, centre-back, left winger and striker. What a boost that would be for the club and fans alike. Make my summer Arsene… PLEASE!!