Some Arsenal fans reckon that Arsene Wenger is entirely to blame for his side’s clueless performances this season but others believe the players need to start looking at themselves.

After another 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Thursday night, fans are once again struggling to work out who to blame for the current state of the club. While Wenger should shoulder the brunt of the blame, seeing as he’s the man in charge who’s supposed to motivate the players and give them a definite plan ahead of a match, the players also appear to have completely given up. They’re not blameless.

Although Arsenal’s performance during their second defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side in five days wasn’t quite as horrendous as the Carabao Cup final, it was still disturbingly lacking. It was a stark reminder – as if we needed another one – that Arsenal are miles behind the rest of the title contenders. Not just in terms of actual points (30 behind City) but in quality as well.

Some Gooners believe that the blame lies squarely with Wenger. The 68-year-old is the manager and, if he’s not motivating the players, that’s his own fault. Arsenal have quality players – the Frenchman just doesn’t know how to use them.

On the other hand, more and more fans are turning on the players. It’s one thing not being able to match up to City in terms of quality but when some don’t appear to even want to be on the pitch, it’s a problem. Surely, they should want to play well for themselves as a matter of personal pride?

As boring as it is, I’m right in the middle. While I do think that Wenger is mostly to blame for the state of Arsenal right now, I also think that the players need to take a look at themselves, because this has been happening for a year now.

Also, the Arsenal board need to be aware that they’ve cultivated an environment in which the manager seems untouchable, which has had it’s repercussions. Players potentially feel as if they have to resort to extreme measures to get a new coach in.