Arsenal’s ability to collapse is legendary and this season is no exception. A shambolic display against Chelsea, followed by a disappointing display against Swansea leaves Arsenal in 4th place on 63 points.

Everton are in 5th on 57 points, but have a game in hand. We have to play Manchester City on Saturday, and let’s be honest, I don’t think any Arsenal fan thinks we’ll get any points from that one. Lose against Manchester City and Everton can draw level on points with us if they win their game in hand.

And I’m sure this is what will happen.

Added to that, we’ve got to actually travel to Goodison Park and get a result – and we all know how good we are in the big away games.

Roberto Martinez has shown he is an excellent manager, and he has done fantastically well with Everton who have limited resources. He has most of his main players back from injury and the advantage he has over us in the final run in is that he can put out a team with fight, desire and passion. Things that have disappeared completely from this Arsenal team.

Another problem is we have no discipline. Paul Scholes, rightly I may add, said we line up with 5 tiki-taka midfielders and it looks like Arsene just tells them “to do what they want”. They try and play pretty passes but don’t bother doing silly things like tracking back or defending as a team. Everton however still have the grit and determination from the David Moyes days, along with the flair and attacking verve Martinez has instilled.

And let’s be honest, missing out on the Champions League is probably the only way Arsenal will actually do something like sack Arsene Wenger. Okay, even if we finish 5th that wouldn’t happen but you can hope.

We also have the “distraction” of the FA Cup, and if there’s a side that can manage to throw away 4th and the FA Cup, it’s Arsenal. We’ll take our eye off the league, finish 5th to Everton and beat Wigan to get to the final, only to lose against Hull Tigers and lose yet another final under Arsene Wenger.

But the main reason we will finish 5th (or below) is because like all Arsene Wenger teams since 2006, the whole club suffers from mental fragility. From being genuine title challengers to being a side that is now fighting for 4th place is exactly something that would demoralise the players. If they can’t perform for the manager, the club or the fans in a massive game against Chelsea, then how are they going to do it for the rest of the season? Against Swansea they showed they’ve got no balls or fight and that will continue for the rest of the season.

The fans, club, manager and players all know the season is over now. Which means the final two months of the season are going to be extremely painful for Arsenal fans.

After the disappointing draw against Swansea, Paul Scholes was on Sky Sports and was asked about his opinion on Arsenal.

He said the games against Chelsea and Swansea were a typical week for Arsenal. They capitulated against Chelsea, and play with midfielders who have no discipline and play nice one-twos all over the place. To Scholes, he said it seems like Arsenal line up with 5 passing midfielders and are just told to go out and do whatever you want to do. The midfielders don’t track back and don’t bother defending. And when Arsenal went 2-0 down against Chelsea, they still tried to play their stupid tiki-taka football.

Another point he made was there are no leaders in the team. No Patrick Vieira’s, no Martin Keown’s, No Tony Adams’ – Arsenal badly need someone who can organise the team. When Arsenal went 2-0 down against Chelsea no-one bothered chasing back to steady the ship. We played the same way and got punished. It’s no co-incidence we’ve been badly beaten because we have no discipline, no leaders and no characters.

He also said in the past when you played Arsenal you were wary of playing against Vieira, Adams, Keown, etc. but now it’s obvious you can just get stuck in and get about them.

Finally, he said that Arsenal might be 3rd or 4th in the league, but for him, they’re a million miles away from winning the Premier League.

And you know what, I can’t disagree with anything he said.

Everyone has been giving their opinion on Arsene Wenger’s best ever eleven, but no-one has done an Arsene Wenger worst eleven. So I thought it would be fun to see which from his worst ever signings could complete a truly awful team.

For the record, my favourite Arsene eleven from his last 1,000 games would be:

GK: David Seaman
RB: Lauren
CB: Tony Adams
CB: Sol Campbell
LB: Ashley Cole
RM: Freddie Ljungberg
CM: Cesc Fabregas
CM: Patrick Vieira
LM: Robert Pires
CF: Dennis Bergkamp
CF: Thierry Henry

But I’m sure your best eleven would be different.

So onto Arsene Wenger’s worst eleven. As with the best eleven, I’ve gone for a traditional 4-4-2 formation as that’s the one Arsene has used the most over the last 17 years.

Goalkeeper: Richard Wright

It was a toss up between Richard Wright and Manuel Almunia, but I decided to go for the England goalkeeper. Signed in 2001 when Sol Campbell also joined the club, he was the next big thing and tipped to be a future England goalkeeper. He only managed 12 league appearances for the club (22 overall) and was sold after only one season. A spate of injuries hampered his career and he ended up playing for a host of lower league sides and is apparently now at Manchester City.

Right Back: Oleg Luzhny

A bit unfair perhaps, but when he signed for Arsenal in 1999, he came from the extremely talented Dynamo Kiev side which had players like Andrei Shevchenko and Sergeih Rebrov. He was signed to replace Lee Dixon who was coming to the end of his career and actually made a lot of appearances for Arsenal. Unfortunately for Luzhny, a young man called Lauren arrived at the club and Luzhny found himself as the main backup.

When you consider the other main right backs were Lee Dixon, Lauren, Eboue and Bacary Sagna and Luzhny is considered the “worst”, then it shows how good that position has been over the last 17 seasons.

Central Defence: Pascal Cygan

Forever an Arsenal legend, the man nicknamed “Zinedine Cygan” was a god awful defender. He signed from Lille for just over £2 million and was actually highly-rated in France, winning the player of the year (or being in the team of the season, I can’t remember) just before he signed for Arsenal.

The biggest problem was he had no pace which is a problem in the Premier League. He did manage to score a few goals from set-pieces which added to his legend, but when he left in 2006 not many Arsenal fans were disappointed.

Central Defence: Sebastien Squillaci

Signed from Sevilla in 2010 for £3.5 million, and at 29 was an exciting signing for the club because of his experience in a team full of young players. When he arrived at the club he took the Number 18 shirt, previously worn by Pascal Cygan and Mikael Silvestre, which really should have told us what was to come.

He was mainly backup to first choice defenders Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen, but unfortunately an injury to the latter meant he ended up playing 32 appearances for the club. And during that time he was widely criticised for his poor performances. He just struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League and made so many mistakes I can’t think of any specific one – I just remember he was a terrible defender who contributed to a lot of the goals we conceded.

Left Back: Mikael Silvestre

Alex Ferguson thought the French defender was past it and obviously the logically thing to do was to sign him. He was given a 2 year deal in 2008 and was part of the team that collapsed against Tottenham Hotspur, resulting in the small club down the road to come away from The Emirates with a 4-4 draw.

Another signing I never understood.

Right Midfield: Jermaine Pennant

Another “prospect” Arsene signed which ended up being a flop at Arsenal. His first league appearance for Arsenal resulted in the young winger scoring a hattrick against Southampton (in a game where Robert Pires also scored a hattrick) but after that his Arsenal career went downhill; he reportedly turned up late for training, loved the flashy lifestyle and generally believed he was the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread had a better attitude though.

Central Midfield: Amaury Bischoff

Signed in 2008, this is probably the strangest signing Arsene Wenger has ever made. He had a reputation for having injury problems and he didn’t disappoint. Arsene said at the time he was “a gamble on talent” but personally I thought he was Arsene’s illegitimate son. He played a host league cup games and finally made his only ever Premier League appearance against Portsmouth, coming on as a substitute for Theo Walcott.

Funnily enough, he left after one season with the club.

Central Midfield: Julio Baptista

The Brazilian was very highly rated in Spain where he played for Sevilla and in the summer of 2005 we tried to sign him, only for him to go to Real Madrid, which was a sign of his value at the time. He reportedly said he wanted to stay in Spain for one more season so he could get his dual citizenship, but in 2006 we signed him on a one year loan deal in exchange for Jose Antonio Reyes.

Nicknamed “The Beast”, Baptista’s main assets where his power and strength. He struggled to get to grips with the pace of the Premier League and in the 2006-2007 season Arsene preferred to use the midfield pairing of Mathieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas. He did score a few goals and even scored a memorable four goal haul at Anfield in the (then) Carling Cup. He failed to impress and left after just one season with the club.

Left Midfield: David Bentley

Like Jermaine Pennant, he was tipped to become a big player for Arsenal and England. But like a lot of young players who get accolades and money early, it all went to his head and he was labelled the “next David Beckham”. He scored an exquisite chip against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup in 2004 but never lived up to the hype. Off the field problems including a gambling addiction didn’t help and he joined Blackburn Rovers in 2006.

Did come back to haunt Arsenal a couple of times, the most memorable being the 45 yard volley against us in the disastrous 4-4 draw.

Centre Forward: Francis Jeffers

He signed for £8 million and just like Wayne Rooney when he started his career at Everton, he was tipped for big things. Labelled the “Fox in the Box”, he stayed for 3 seasons and scored a total of 4 goals. Notable incidents included getting sent off in the Charity Shield for kicking Philip Neville in the head (well, attempted to) and well, not managing to actually score any goals or be on the same wavelength as his Arsenal teammates.

Rumour has it that in 2001 when Arsene signed Jeffers, that he had the option to sign Ruud Van Nistelrooy instead of the young forward from Everton, adding to the legend that is Francis Jeffers.

Centre Forward: Olivier Giroud

A man who divides opinion, but for me Olivier Giroud is one of the worst forwards Arsene Wenger has signed. Of course, we’ve had players Marouane Chamakh, Park Chu-Young, Nicklas Bendtner and Gervinho but they were never been our main strikers. Since Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in September of 1996, the main strikers at Arsenal have been Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Nicholas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Nwankwo Kanu, Davor Suker, Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Eduardo and now Olivier Giroud. He’s not even in the same league as the rest of those players, and the list includes the biggest wanker that is Adebayor.

He’s not good enough. He wouldn’t get into any other Top 10 side, nevermind any Top 4 team. Manchester City have Aguero, Jovetic, Dzeko and Negredo, Liverpool have Suarez and Sturridge, Chelsea even have Torres and Eto’o who are past it but they’re still better than Giroud. In a nutshell, his ability to miss the simplest of chances has cost Arsenal dearly this season. With a top class striker we’d be a good 10 points better off this season and right in the title race. We have Mesut Özil, a world class assist master who is struggling because he’s used to providing chances to a clinical, powerful, world class finisher but now has to try and work with a player who can’t score decisive goals. Granted, he’ll score against teams like Sunderland, Fulham and Hull City but ask him to contribute anything positive against a half decent side then he disappears.

Arsene’s Worst Eleven in full:

GK: Richard Wright
RB: Oleg Luzhny
CB: Pascal Cygan
CB: Sebastien Squillaci 
LB: Mikael Silvestre
RM: Jermaine Pennant
CM: Amaury Bischoff
CM: Julio Baptista
LM: David Bentley
CF: Francis Jeffers
CF: Olivier Giroud

In the three biggest defeats this season, there is a running theme; lunchtime Saturday kick offs and coverage on BT Sport. The channel we’re shown on is most likely a co-incidence (unless Arsene pissed off BT because he used Virgin for his broadband connection) so the other main factor is the early kick off.

And in all those games the players look tired and lethargic. So the big question is, are they getting enough sleep before the game?

The players are all in the hotel before the game and what do they have to keep them occupied? They’re away from their families and only have themselves to keep company (unless you’re Olivier Giroud, obviously) so what do they do? They bring their PlayStations along and play Fifa, mess around on their phones and go on their laptops. All those things can get addictive and we’ve all been with mates when a Fifa session has gone into the early morning. And I’m sure we’ve all played on our phones or laptops looking at po… Facebook and before you know it it’s about 2am.

So are the Arsenal players victims of this? There has to be a reason to why they aren’t performing at the early kick offs.

When Sky Sports show the players getting off the coach when they arrive at the ground, how many of them have a pair of Dr Dre Beats on or around their heads? That’s what footballers do these days, they’re wired into their technology and are addicted to their iPhones, iPods or IWhatever.

So there you have it. Arsenal are woeful at games with a lunchtime kick off because players like Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud are obsessed with listening to the complete Enya 3 Disc Album until the early hours and Lukas Podolski is looking up The Battle of the Little Bighorn on Wikipedia.