IT CAN always sound precipitous criticising Arsene Wenger just six months after he won the Double. But Arsenal's ignominious exit from the Champions League on Wednesday does pose some legitimate questions about the judgment of the French professor.
Arsenal went out of Europe at the first stage for the third year running for two reasons: they missed chances that twice would have turned draws into victories and then when injuries and suspensions denied them leading actors, the understudies turned out to be cast members from Puss in Boots.
The blame for both predicaments can be laid at Wenger's door. First, no matter how much his track record and persistent positivism may persuade one otherwise, his squad simply lacks the required quality.
Proof came when the stand-ins were thrashed 5-0 at home in the English League Cup by Chelsea's superior reserves, while in Europe the wreck of the Titanic would have been less out of its depth.
Step forward, but try not to fall over, Christopher Wreh, who replaced the injured Dennis Bergkamp on Wednesday, Stephen Hughes and Remi Garde, who replaced the injured Patrick Vieira and suspended Emmanuel Petit, and Luis Boa Morte, the back-up winger.
On qualifying for Europe, Wenger's obvious reaction might have been to strengthen the squad to cope with the increase in the number of matches and the quality of opponents. Instead Wenger sold goalpoacher Ian Wright to West Ham leaving himself with just one out-and-out striker, the profligate Nicolas Anelka, and two forwards, Bergkamp and Wreh.
Wenger defends his decision not to sign another striker by saying that he failed to find the right player at the right price and at the right salary. Instead he placed his faith and most of the goalscoring responsibility on the 19-year-old shoulders of Anelka, rich in promise but more wasteful with chances than Andy Cole.
Wenger did bolster his midfield by signing Nelson Vivas and Frederick Ljungberg but even the proposed £4.5 million arrival of the Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu cannot dilute the feeling that it is all too late.
"Sometimes you look at the bench of other clubs and you see the quality there," said an envious Marc Overmars after Wednesday's defeat 1-0 defeat against Lens at Wembley.
Perhaps Wenger was correct to eschew the quick fix this season and patiently build for the long term. Last season's Double triumph gives him at least a season's immunisation against board unease at bad results.
But if Arsenal want to compete at the highest level sooner rather than later then either Wenger must stop being so fussy about new signings or the directors must find a way of increasing the size of his cheque book.
In the meantime Arsenal's domestic prospects over the next few weeks are no more encouraging, given the continued loss of Petit, Vieira and Bergkamp, and Tony Adams is likely to be out for two months with a recurrence of his back problem. This could necessitate a return to the French clinic which tried to solve the potentially career-threatening problem last Christmas.
On top of those woes, Ray Parlour's red card for a cynical kick on Cyril Rool late in Wednesday's tie is likely to earn him a club fine, while Lens have appealed against the dismissal of Tony Vairelles, claiming that Lee Dixon made a meal of the challenge. All in all, it left Arsenal with few crumbs of comfort.
