THERE is no denying that things seem to be slipping in the wrong direction for Arsenal, but it’s far from over yet.
In just 180 minutes of football, the Gunners have been dumped from both domestic cups and seen their quadruple chase slashed to a double bid.
Arsenal fans know that this is all too familiar, with their side seemingly crumbling at crunch time once again.
But Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Southampton could, in some ways, turn out to be a positive for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Things took a similar turn the last time Arsenal won the league, during their famous 2003/04 ‘Invincible’ season.
That star-studded team appeared to be cruising towards a treble, until they were knocked out of both the FA Cup and the Champions League in the space of three days.
Defeat to Manchester United in the cup and Chelsea in Europe, saw Arsene Wenger‘s side devoid of confidence with a crucial Premier League clash against Liverpool on the horizon.
That double blow reared its head in the first half of the Liverpool game, with the Reds 2-1 up at Highbury at the break.
For a moment, it all felt like Arsenal’s entire season was falling apart around them – in a similar vein to this year’s campaign.
Up stepped Thierry Henry, who inspired Arsenal to an incredible 4-2 win with an unforgettable hat-trick to keep their unbeaten run alive. The rest is history.
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This Arsenal team need to use the hurt of these two domestic dumpings to fuel a special ending to their campaign, too.
They’re without an Henry of their own, not least because Bukayo Saka still remains out injured for the Gunners after withdrawing from international break.
But perhaps they have someone elsewhere in their ranks that could step up to the plate and inspire this squad to get over the line.
On Saturday, 16-year-old Max Dowman was arguably Arsenal’s best player and unbelievably appeared to be the only attacking spark for the visitors at times.
It would be a surprise if the teenager was the one to drag the Gunners over the line, but stranger things have certainly happened.
Hidden amongst the misery of Arsenal’s back-to-back cup exits is another potential positive.
The Emirates outfit have avoided having to squeeze even more domestic fixtures into an already hectic schedule.
Had Arsenal advanced to the semi-finals, they would have needed to find a spot to cram their home Prem game against Newcastle United into.
Instead, Manchester City will need to rearrange their fixture against Burnley, potentially giving Arsenal another chance to widen the gap over their title rivals.
Had you asked any Arsenal fan at the start of the season which trophies they would like to win, the Premier League and the Champions League would have been top of that list.
Waving goodbye to the domestic cups allows Arsenal to put full focus on the trophies that their fanbase believe are the most important, and the ones they would get the most kudos for lifting.
It also means there are two less games to play, something Mikel Arteta will be particularly pleased about in the midst of a season that has been plagued by injuries.
Arteta has struggled to balance his squad’s minutes this term.
That was clear when nine of his 11 most-used players by minutes played pulled out of international duty with injury during the break.
Stars like Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are all on track to play over 4,000 minutes before the season is over.
And even though Arsenal went about raising the floor of their squad in the summer transfer window, Saturday’s Saints nightmare showed that their rotation players are still some way off their first choice stars.
Fortunately for Arteta, he welcomed Leandro Trossard, Gabriel and Rice back into training today after recent injury concerns.
But the Spaniard is still without Saka, Timber, Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Sporting.
When the Arsenal boss was asked if his side’s exit from the cups could be a blessing in disguise, he said: “I don’t know.
“We are out, so now while we are out, we have still that pain.
“But when that pain goes, we have to use the time that we’re going to have in the best possible manner to maximise every result that we have, to be better. That’s it.”
