In the wake of another disastrous result in the Premier League against another title rival which all but effectively ends our Premier League title challenge, I have a few questions that I hope Arsenal fans can answer:

1. Why play so openly against another top side?

I am not the only Arsenal fan I suspect that noticed the run of humiliating results against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United away already this season (I include Old Trafford because we lost to the worse Manchester United side in the last 20 years).

It was kamikaze football. I struggle to understand the logic in playing this way. It try so hard to think of any possible reason that my head literally hurts.

2. Why don’t our players turn up to big games?

It’s one thing to blame the managers approach but once the players cross the white line they should be fighting for Arsenal and what the shirt represents. But against Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and now Chelsea, the players have been pedestrian.

There’s no fight, there’s no passion and where is the belief? Where is the motivation? If you can’t get motivated and excited about a massive game then there’s something really wrong with you as a professional player.

3. Should we refuse to be shown on BT Sport?

In the three most humiliating results this season we’ve been shown on a Saturday lunchtime on BT Sport. Are we cursed because Arsene decided to have Virgin installed at home instead of BT?

4. Are the players staying up too late? 

And those horrendous performances and results have also been on Saturday lunchtimes. Are the players getting enough sleep the night before? Is Olivier Giroud organising all night sex sessions? Or is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain setting up late night Fifa Tournaments which go on into the early hours?

5. Do we even prepare for the big games?

It literally seems like we don’t even prepare for the big games and Arsene seems to think the prospect of playing in a massive game is enough for the players to go out and give a performance. I say this because in those three matches the players have look lost and seem like they have no idea what they’re doing. Do we just bottle it because we’re not good enough? Does the kit man give the players underwear which is too tight? I honestly have no idea why the hell we play so badly against the better teams.

Arsenal find themselves 4 points off the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand. A win against Chelsea tomorrow would put us in a truly fantastic position but a defeat would do the opposite – it would virtually put us out of the race.

With only 10 games of the season left, the very tight battle at the top means the next couple of weeks will be vital as we go into the final stretch. Dropping points at this stage will mean an uphill battle – with 4 teams with a real chance of winning the league, the team that will end up triumphant will be the one who gets through the next fortnight without losing the most points.

So Arsene Wenger needs to learn his lesson from this season.

Against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United away we’ve been embarrassed. In those games, considering our position in the league during those times, draws would have been good results. But instead we got our approach completely wrong and lost 6-3, 5-1 and 1-0. The United result may not have been disastrous, but considering it was against the worst Manchester United side in the last 20 years, then it wasn’t great.

Draws are underrated and in those situations would have kept us in a strong position in the league and kept our rivals away from us in terms of points.

So it’s important we’re not too reckless against Chelsea and lose because we tried to go for a win. A draw keeps us in the race, a win gives us belief that we can go on to win the Premier League but a defeat would leave us in a position where we’d be out of it in my opinion.

Our record against the top teams is poor and we need to address that against Chelsea and Manchester City. The reason why we’d be out of the running if we lose against Chelsea and City is because they would get a massive boost from beating a title rival and the fact that they’d win a 6 pointer.

So will Arsene learn his lesson? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

#COYG

We all know that Bacary Sagna’s contract ends this summer and for the last few years, he’s been hesitating to sign a new deal. He’s 31 years old and I suppose, he sees this as his final chance to make a big money move or get an improved contract from Arsenal.

I’ve said over the last few seasons that it was obvious he was leaving this summer because he would have signed ages ago. Players like Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and even Theo Walcott all know that refusing (or “delaying”) the chance to sign a new deal forces Arsenal’s hand. We either let them go or give them a mega deal to stay.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I didn’t even think Sagna would be staying beyond this season for this reason – if he wanted to stay then we would have secured a new deal 2 or 3 years ago. Now if you believe the latest reports, Bacary is after a new deal worth £90,000 per week and a £6 million “signing on fee”.

Other sources say we’ve made an improved offer on his current £60,000 a week deal, and put £75,000 a week on the table.

There is no doubt about the quality of the player, he’s been one of our most consistent players over the last 5 seasons. But should we give in to his demands? Only Arsene will really know the answer as there are many things to factor in.

Does he think Carl Jenkinson is ready to step up next season? Is Sagna’s versatility and ability to play in central defence invaluable to the team? Does Arsene think Sagna still has a good 3/4 seasons left in him? Only the boss can answer those questions.

Personally, I think his departure was on the cards a long time ago and unless something drastic happens then I can’t see him in an Arsenal shirt next season. With his demands he’s essentially asking us to compete financially with teams like PSG who are after his signature, and we just can’t do that.

Meanwhile, fellow Frenchman Olivier Giroud is “apparently” considering a move back to France on the wishes of his wife Jennifer.

No idea if this is complete hearsay but I did hear rumours that he was off in the summer last week and I suppose if the price is right then I don’t think there will be many Arsenal fans that would miss him terribly.

Giroud splits Arsenal fans; some think he’s utterly useless and isn’t good enough for Arsenal, while others think he gives 110% and gives us that extra dimension.

I think it’s certain to say though that if Arsene sold Olivier Giroud and replaced him with a top quality striker, that he wouldn’t be missed by many.