Why Things Could Get Worse Before They Get Better for Arsene Wenger

After Arsenal’s elimination from the FA Cup at the hands of Watford on Sunday, Arsene Wenger could be forgiven for thinking the season had hit its nadir. However, the unfortunate reality is things could get considerably worse over the next week.

That’s hard to believe given how bad it’s been for Arsenal of late. Since Danny Welbeck’s late winner against Leicester City on Feb. 14, the Gunners have won just one of their last seven fixtures in all competitions. That’s a run that’s seen them slip to eight points behind Claudio Ranieri's league leaders and reach the precipice of elimination from the Champions League.

The FA Cup was meant to be the saving grace. In each of the last two seasons, Arsenal’s failure to mount a sustained challenge for the Premier League has been balanced by cup success. Winning at Wembley for a third successive year would have been a significant achievement, and one that might have pacified the restless Arsenal fans.

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That’s now out of the window. Arsenal had a fantastic opportunity to seize the cup once again, yet they have let it slip through their grasp. They created chances in the 2-1 defeat to the Hornets, but they lacked the conviction to take them.

Bizarrely, Wenger claimed in his post-match media briefing that the problem was not one of belief, per the club's official site:

"

This had nothing to do with confidence. Of course there is confidence in the team. The recent results haven’t shown that but we’ve played against good teams and the recent results were 2-2 at Tottenham [Hotspur] with 10 men and a 4-0 win at Hull [City]. I don’t see why we shouldn’t have any confidence.

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The recent run of form undermines his comments. That statistic bears repeating: four wins from 14. If Wenger believes Arsenal don’t lack confidence, he is troublingly delusional.

Perhaps he’s just trying to keep the team's spirit afloat ahead of another difficult week. There is no letup in Arsenal’s fixture list.

First, they travel to Barcelona for what almost feels like a dead rubber of a game on Wednesday. Arsenal trail 2-0 from the first leg at the Emirates Stadium. The Camp Nou is an intimidating arena at the best of times, but overcoming that sort of deficit feels genuinely impossible.

Then, after arriving back in London in the early hours of Thursday morning, the Gunners must hurriedly prepare for a Premier League game at Everton on Saturday lunchtime.

Roberto Martinez’s side will be buoyed not only by their stirring cup win over Chelsea but also by a week’s rest. Lose that game, and real doubts will begin to emerge about Arsenal’s ability to finish in the top four this season.

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Per the club website, Wenger has insisted that his team can bounce back:

"

We have shown that we can always respond. This team has a great spirit and a very strong attitude. They play at the moment with the idea that you cannot afford any negative results. We can deal with that and we will deal with the fact that we have a good opportunity to show on Wednesday that we are up for it.

"

However, two more defeats could make a difficult situation almost untenable. Winning by three goals in Barcelona would always feel miraculous, but in the current circumstances, achieving a positive result at Goodison Park feels equally improbable.

As bad as things seem for Arsenal, they could be even worse in just one week’s time.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.