Arsenal is disintegrating and they did it to themselves

Arsenal is most likely out of Champions League after just two rounds. Getting zero points out of the first two games against the two weaker opponents in their group is a new level of fruitlessness. Hope would spring eternal was it not for the fact that the team has to face Bayern Munich twice next. Where before there was apathy at the frequent early Knockout rounds exits, there's a creeping discomfort now that the team is no longer just stagnant, but degenerating.

What could have possibly fit Arsenal's identity better than to equalize against Olympiacos at 2-2, only to concede the game-winning goal just a minute later? Or even, to equalize at 1-1, only to go down another goal because David Ospina, the Arsenal goalkeeper, caught a routine cross into the box and proceeded to take it beyond the line because of his momentum? The manager is known to praise and plead the presence and need for mental strength, yet here, both the team and the man himself have shown a complete lack of it.

To rest players for the upcoming Manchester United clash at the weekend is only agreeable if certain parameters are met. First, It's understandable if Arsenal have the depth and quality to do so. Secondly, it's permissible if Arsenal had won the previous game and this was not a must-win situation.

Neither criteria was met. In fact, Arsenal is notorious for their lack of depth. Peer at the Arsenal bench at any given match-day and it's far from the super quality that the manager speaks of. For a team that is in four competitions as we speak and has a long injury history -- Laurent Koscielny injured his hamstring during the game -- it's self-destructive to have not corrected this glaring issue.

Arsenal continue to repeat the past after failing to learn from it. After resting key players in the first match against Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal started against Olympiakos with Aaron Ramsey and Petr Cech on the substitutes bench. Cech, even with a minor injury, is immeasurably better than Ospina. Ramsey came on in the 60th minute for Francis Coquelin, who was again exposed when not surrounded by more competent teammates. He played next to an invisible Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla, who has lost every twinkle of magic in his little elf boots.

This was a case of looking too far into the future while losing the present. A problem that has persisted with Arsenal for over a decade.

The Premier League title chase that Arsenal have sacrificed their Champions League progression for is in vain. The best predictor of future performance is past achievement, and the failures of the last decade support that statement. But even more importantly than that, while current leaders Manchester United actively tried to address weaknesses and bolster their ranks, Arsenal dallied. Manchester City did as much as they could in order to make sure that they'd have the attacking depth to last a whole season, Arsenal did not. Only Chelsea, who refused to buy for what feels like the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, is matching Arsenal as a wreck.

Yet, Chelsea -- who also lost in the Champions League on Tuesday -- still managed to beat the Gunners even at their worst. Refereeing decisions played a huge part, but given an honest assessment of Wenger's past record against Jose Mourinho, was the result ever in doubt?

This particular loss is not surprising, and that's what's damning about it. It's a continuation of previous seasons. Arsenal never take the easiest path. They were arrogant, completely underestimating their opponents in the Dinamo match, and they did it again against Olympiacos. The players played as if the win was a foregone conclusion rather than something to be achieved. Was it not for Alexis Sanchez, whose motor is somewhere between out-of-control chainsaw and caffeinated squirrel, the scoreline would have been much worse.

Most of his teammates trotted about with no real effort involved, relying more on the name and reputation of the team than their actual legs. The attack was inept, the defending was clownshoes and the goalkeeping should never be mentioned again in the sphere of professional soccer. Same old Arsenal, except their brilliant games are fewer and farther between.

Fourth place has been like a trophy to Wenger because it led to the Champions League. But with Arsenal in danger of going on in the group stage, after years of round of 16 exits, we have to ask a question: what exactly does this team aspire towards? Whether their priority is Champions League or the Premier League, they've failed in spectacular fashion for a decade, and now they're failing even worse. If their ambition rests on the smaller titles and commercial success then, while understandable, that needs to be made clear.

There are still games to be played, but two of them are against Bayern Munich. Arsenal appear to be headed to a record of zero points from four games. Stranger things have happened than Arsenal turning around their season and upsetting Bayern, but even the most optimistic of fans must feel disappointment and frustration creeping up on them with each one of their club's failures.

Arsenal is indefensible at this stage. And yet, this is what we've come to expect from them. Failure.