WE CAN DO IT AGAIN !

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From invincible to vulnerable

When Arsenal went to Old Trafford a year ago this weekend, they were the champions, League leaders and unbeaten for a record-breaking 49 games... Defeat that day was the catalyst for a spectacular fall, which has seen them beaten three times already this season, including by relegation-threatened West Bromwich Jason Burt explains the reasons behind the dramatic downfall of Arsène Wenger's 'Invincibles'


On a beautiful summer's afternoon at Barnet FC last July, Arsène Wenger was wished good luck for the coming season. "Thank you," the smiling Arsenal manager replied after watching his side beat the Conference champions 4-1 in a friendly. "We'll need it."

Everyone who heard him remarked upon it. Wenger was in a good mood, as he was at the Amsterdam Tournament a couple of weeks later, looking forward to the challenges ahead. They seemed the words of a confident, playful man. Now, barely two months on, those words seem strangely prophetic.

Today, at Highbury, Wenger's Arsenal face a vibrant Manchester City having suffered three Premiership defeats already and finding themselves 14 points behind Chelsea, the reigning champions. Wenger accepts that he and his side are now considered more vulnerable than at any time during his eight-year reign at Highbury, declaring that last Saturday's defeat to West Bromwich Albion was all the more damaging, "because we raised a lot of questions" about the strength of his squad.

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