Arsene Wenger’s facing the biggest test of his reign

Arsenal may be assured of their place among the Premier League's top four this season but Arsene Wenger must today face the realisation his side are a country mile from surpassing both Manchester United and Chelsea at home or in Europe.

Question marks have to be asked as to whether the club have moved forward in the last 12 months because the same issues are still at the crux of their shortcomings. A lack of experience, midfield bite and strength in depth have all contributed to four trophyless seasons.

Going 21 games unbeaten in the League is one thing but that spell includes defeats to a patched-up Roma side, Chelsea in the FA Cup and twice to United, all of which indicates a gap yet to be bridged between the Gunners and the pinnacle of the game.

It would be easy to blame Kieran Gibbs for the eighth-minute slip that swung this tie inexorably the visitors' way but equally relevant is what that unfortunate moment represents.

Arsenal started this match on the front foot as the home side with the initiative to attack - just as United did at Old Trafford - but whereas Sir Alex Ferguson's side ended the opening exchanges one goal to the good in the first leg, the Gunners found themselves two down.

Perhaps the United boss summed it up best, looking to praise his own side but inadvertently striking on the defining difference between the two teams.

"What you saw is maturity in our performance," said the Scot. "We were not overcome by Arsenal's start to the game. They were so aggressive and attacking. The ball was moving, everyone was moving, the crowd was going and we still tried to play our football out of that."

Where Arsenal wilted at Old Trafford and could quite easily have been on the end of a hammering, United produced an educated and cultured response to the home side's fast start that presently looks beyond the Gunners in the biggest matches.

It began as a sea of red flags but ended with a swathe of empty red seats. Arsenal came flying out of the blocks and it was United's first attack of note that forced Gibbs to slip as he adjusted to meet Cristiano Ronaldo's first-time cross, allowing Ji-Sung Park to scoop the ball over Manuel Almunia.

Barely minutes later, Ronaldo earned a free-kick with an easy fall under a challenge from Robin van Persie and then struck a trademark 40-yard dipping effort that fooled Almunia with its swerve and pace.

Having started the match needing to score twice, suddenly that requirement was doubled and a shell-shocked Arsenal side simply never recovered their composure thereafter to muster even a reasonable fist of it.

"The most disappointing thing is that we don't feel like we've played the semi-final of the Champions League because we were out of it after 10 minutes," said Wenger (left). "We were caught by a team who have the art to kill and take advantage of mistakes."

There was a startling lack of a response from the home side and Ronaldo added a third, after a superb flowing counter-attack involving Park and Wayne Rooney, before Darren Fletcher was harshly sent off for a tackle on Cesc Fabregas, enabling Van Persie to drill home a penalty that gave consolation only in the scoreline.

"I felt the fans were really up for a big night and to disappoint the people who stand behind the team so much hurts really," said Wenger.

"But over the two games, United deserved to go through. We had a good opportunity to come back and I believed we would have done it but overall they were the better side."

Although it would be churlish to claim the squad need a wholesale makeover given their undeniable potential - William Gallas and Gael Clichy were sorely missed last night - certain players, chiefly Theo Walcott, must soon progress into the world beaters they threaten to be.

There are, of course, reasons for optimism, not least in the stunning start Andrey Arshavin has made at the club, but a look at the respective benches - Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby and Denilson versus Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs - just highlights the yawning gap in resources. Part of the reason behind the Premier League's dominance in Europe is the depth of talent at their disposal and the Gunners' inability to match this goes a long way to explaining why they fall short at home and abroad.

"The problem for someone like Arsene Wenger and myself is the longer you are in the game, the more labels you have got attached to you," said Ferguson. "Whether it's success or failure - there's no grey area. If you are not winning, you are useless. If you are winning, you are the greatest."

Although Wenger's place in Arsenal's history is assured, the lack of European honours leaves his legacy open to suggestion as a man whose bloody-minded adherence to attractive football on his terms may ultimately deny him the biggest prize of all.

He now faces another summer attempting to hang on to his top stars with little left to play for as fourth place is a virtual certainty. They say the table never lies and few could argue it is an accurate approximation of where Arsenal are at. Now, surely, it is time for Wenger to face the truth.