"It will all be alright in the end," the saying goes. "If it's not alright, then it's not the end." Arsenal fans go into the Christmas period with plenty of time to ruminate on this maxim, at the end of a week which has left their title credentials withered on the vine and their most expensive player looking little more than a product of the obscenely bloated transfer market.
Once, £43 million would have bought a relative guarantee—if not of success, then consistent contributions at the very least. Few £43 million players go missing when their team's season begins to pull apart at the seams.