Arsenal top four battle: Where is the progress under Arsene Wenger?

Arsene Wenger was smarting when he sat before the press to do his post-match duties on Sunday evening. “Very disappointed”, “It is not pleasant”, “Very frustrating”, “Regret” were some of the phrases and words the Arsenal manager used in the shadow of the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.

It was the first time Wenger had acknowledged publicly that his side’s title race was run - even though he must have known it privately. In January, winning the league was a real possibility but though the Frenchman continued to believe, the rest of the football-watching world had cottoned-on to the fact that the old script would play out again as February turned to March and Arsenal picked up one point from a possible nine. Then, as the days got longer, so did the odds on the Gunners.

Now, following Sunday’s draw in a match Arsenal dominated in all the statistical columns except for the crucial one, it’s back to the yearly yearning to finish in the top four. The mood at the Emirates as the full-time whistle sounded was a cross between weary resignation and bitter anger. The mood is unlikely to be lifted by qualification for the Champions League. With West Bromwich Albion (in 14th place) next on Thursday, followed by Sunderland (18th) on Sunday and Norwich (17th) next weekend it should be a fait accompli anyhow. Should…

The concerns of Arsenal followers are well-documented - their disgust at not having won the title for 12 years, the lack of spending to strengthen the squad (Wenger didn’t buy an outfield player last summer and only Mohamed Elneny in January), the high ticket prices…the list goes on.

But the real worry should not be the 12-year wait for a title (there was a stadium to pay for, hence the sales of some key players to some key rivals), it should be more the lack of progress over the last three years since Wenger has been largely freed from the financial handcuffs that the Emirates came with.

In 2013-14, the first season they could really say they held on to their key personnel post-Emirates, Arsenal won 79 points, the following campaign they amassed only 75 and this season in the unlikely scenario of them winning all five remaining games it will be 75 again. Hardly giant strides of progress despite the addition of two world-class players in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez who were a notch above their team-mates on Sunday.

Wenger, though, sees development where few others do. “Personally, I believe that this club has moved forward a lot in recent years,” he wrote in Sunday’s match day programme. “The team is moving forward as well and we still have something to add to be more dominant and more efficient.

“I hope in the next two or three years, Arsenal can become a dominant force again in the Premier League.” As each season ticks by, and the same storyline unfolds, those hopes looks increasingly forlorn.