Arsene Wenger appeared a man in denial after his hapless Arsenal side were knocked out of the League Cup by a fourth tier English club who avoided relegation to non-league soccer by only six points last season.
Before an Arsenal side close to full strength had been humiliatingly defeated on penalties by Bradford on Tuesday, Wenger complained that the dressing room facilities were not what his team were accustomed to.
Arsenal then played like a team who did not fancy any aspect of a freezing midweek night against committed opponents who fully deserved their victory.
Asked afterwards if he was embarrassed on an evening when his team, who with the exception of Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere created pretty patterns but failed to generate any real urgency or penetration, Wenger apparently saw no fault with his players.
“You feel embarrassed when you don’t give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated,” he told Sky Sports.
“I cannot fault the effort. We have put the effort in (and) have given absolutely everything until the last minute. It was a typical English cup game and Bradford got on top of us in the end.
“We missed three penalties – that’s a lot to take.”
English bookmakers reacted with a far less charitable verdict, giving odds of 4/1 that Wenger will be the next Premier League manager to lose his job.
William Hill quoted odds of 4/6 that Arsenal, who have not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, will not win another under Wenger.
Wenger, who a decade ago used the League Cup as a proving ground for his unlimited pool of youthful talent, took advantage of playing their next league game on Monday to play eight of the team who beat West Brom last Saturday.
They still could not defeat a Yorkshire side who have tumbled down the divisions and his team’s glaring deficiencies will add to the fans’ frustrations and a growing belief that the Wenger model has finally broken.
Wenger has been in charge at Arsenal for the past 16 years.
He has a commendable commitment to balancing the books, spending less on buying players than the club makes on sales.
However, the result has been a steady exodus of the club’s best performers, including Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, with Theo Walcott set to become the sixth first team regular to leave in less than two years.