Arsenal's League Cup loss to fourth-tier Bradford City wasone of the lowest moments of Arsene Wenger's tenure and leaves the clubscrapping to avoid an eighth straight season without a trophy.
In the aftermath of penalty shoot-out loss at a wintry Valley Parade, Wenger was typicallybullish, congratulating Bradford on their achievement and insisting he couldnot fault his players.
That the upset occurred in the League Cup, and not theprestigious FA Cup, took some of the edge off of Arsenal's disappointment, butthe British press were unanimously scathing in their verdict.
"Humiliating" was the adjective universallyapplied to the result on the back pages, while The Times claimed Wenger was"walking on thin ice" after the latest setback in what has alreadybeen an extremely trying season.
Wenger's decision to field a strong line-up only increasedthe embarrassment.
The Arsenal manager has habitually used the League Cup toblood young-team graduates but he made just three changes to the side that beatWest Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Saturday, only for his senior players to let himdown.
The Bradford humiliation caps a miserable year for Arsenal,who lost top scorer Robin van Persie to Manchester United in the summer andhave fallen as low as 10th in the Premier League this season.
Wenger told shareholders at October's stormy AGM that thereare "five trophies" for Arsenal to aim for -- the Premier League, theChampions League, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and Champions Leaguequalification.
Already out of the League Cup and 15 points behind United inthe league, Arsenal do not seem sufficiently well-equipped to challenge for theChampions League either and once again face a battle to secure a top-fourfinish.
Hopes of success in the FA Cup, meanwhile, rest on whetheror not they can come through their third-round tie at Swansea City next month,having already lost at home to the Welsh side earlier this month.
Seven straight wins in February and March helped Arsenalsecure third place last term, while they went 16 games unbeaten in the secondhalf of the 2010-11 season and 21 games without losing in 2008-09.
Arsenal's next four games are all against teams in thebottom half of the table, and while Wenger refuses to be ruffled by recentsetbacks, the headlines will not get any kinder without a drastic improvement.
