AC Milan vs Arsenal: Gunners' Disgraceful Display Symptomatic of Sorry Season

It was all laid bare at the San Siro on Wednesday, the pitch in nearly as sorry a state as the so-called Arsenal squad that took to it.

All the problems—the roster deficiencies, the toll of injuries, the faces not seen, the tactics and strategies used and misused—were on full, agonizing display as AC Milan sliced and diced the Gunners' lackluster 11 for four goals on one end while stifling what was supposed to be (but hardly resembled) an attack on the other end.

After 90 minutes of play—the last 75 of which was largely disgraceful—Arsenal, one of the biggest clubs in the English Premier League and one of the most recognizable brands in the world of football, slinked away with their first four-goal defeat in more than 200 international matches.

But the 4-0 final score can hardly do justice to just how deplorable a performance it was. The long litany of questions and concerns that have dogged Arsene Wenger's side all season, in all competitions, came home to roost all at once, causing the pitch to collapse beneath their feet as though Bane had blown the place to smithereens.

There were issues up front, where Robin Van Persie, the club's skipper and the leading scorer in the English Premier League, seemed to shrink under the spotlight rather than exert himself like a true leader. Granted, RVP was once again on his own atop the Arsenal attack for most of the game, until "Le Professeur" finally yanked Thierry Henry off the bench and into the action.

The definition of "too little, too late."

There were issues on the wing, where the yearning for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's insertion deepened with every missed opportunity by Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott, though the shock of not seeing The Ox in the starting 11 might've been enough to ground the Gunners before they ever took off.

There were issues in the midfield, where the Gunners' dominance in possession was squandered by the inability of Mikel Arteta and Alex Song to create good chances against the Rossoneri's defence. That inertia seemed to summon the ghosts of "what if?" still middling about the ground at the Emirates Stadium.

The ones still crowing about Jack Wilshere's troublesome ankle and Cesc Fabregas' departure to Barcelona.

And, above all else, there were issues—too many to count—along the back line, where each and every defender who stepped in, be it Thomas Vermaelen or Johan Djorou or Bacary Sagna or Kieran Gibbs or Laurent Koscielny, was made to look like Wile E. Coyote while Milan's amalgamation of world-class Roadrunners, from Kevin-Prince Boateng and Robinho to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Nocerino, ran circles around him.

Yet another shocking wake-up call in a campaign all to replete with them, an embarrassment that may even have rivaled Arsenal's 8-2 debacle to Manchester United at Old Trafford if only because of the size and scope of the international stage.

As unbecoming as Wednesday's walkover was, Milan deserves much of the credit for making the Gunners look so silly in the first place. The Rossoneri just seemed to have an entirely different gear into which they could kick their performance, particularly over the final third of the match. With Milan's attack firing on all cylinders, there was little chance the Gunners could ever hope to recover from their early mistakes.

Now that the nail has been all but driven into the curmudgeonly coffin of Arsenal's Champions League hopes, the North Londoners can (and must) turn their full attention back to the FA Cup, in which they'll face lowly Sunderland on Saturday, and the pursuit of a fourth-place finish in the EPL, amidst a scrum with Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool.

The Gunners may well make hay at home and work their way back into European play next season.

But for now, the only cogent sensation around the Emirates Stadium is one of stinging failure. What Arsenal do with that sting—whether they wallow in it or use it as a wake-up call—will determine where their fate lies from here on out.

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