5 things that have gone wrong with Arsenal's season

#3 They’re out of the FA Cup

Ben Brereton helped Nottingham Forest to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on Sportskeeda suggesting that Arsenal still had a good chance of winning one of the domestic cup competitions. Well, they’ve still got a good shot at the Carabao Cup as they’re in the semi-finals and are set to face Chelsea in the first leg of that tie this week.

The FA Cup, however, is lost already after a shocking third-round loss to Championship side Nottingham Forest. While the result was a shock, for anyone who actually watched the game it perhaps wasn’t too surprising as Forest outclassed the Gunners throughout.

A 4-2 loss to a side who currently sit in 8th position in the Championship and don’t even have a permanent manager right now (academy coach Gary Brazil currently acts as caretaker)? How did Wenger allow this to happen? Well, for one, Wenger clearly either underestimated Forest as an opponent or simply decided the FA Cup wasn’t worth making a real push for. Either one would’ve been a mistake.

To underestimate Forest based on their position in the league is almost understandable, but they also have a couple of the best young players in the Championship – Kieran Dowell and Ben Brereton – as well as solid veterans like Michael Mancienne and Armand Traore. And Wenger’s decision to play a lot of fringe players (Theo Walcott, Matheu Debuchy) as well as a lot of inexperienced youngsters (Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Ashley Maitland-Niles) cost them dearly too.

And so Arsenal have essentially thrown away a chance at winning a big trophy this season – something that could’ve sweetened the fans if they miss out on the top four again.