Arsene Wenger must accept that he's wrong

All the focus before this match was on disgraced former England captain John Terry and how he would handle being in the spotlight.

At the conclusion, it was Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who was left with most questions to answer.

There were no scandals off the pitch for the Frenchman to concern himself with, just the damning reality that another Premier League season is set to end in disappointment.

The taunts from jubilant Chelsea fans referred to Arsenal's failure to win any trophies in the past five years. Unless Wenger removes his stubborn streak the Gunners face several more years without the need for any Brasso.

Many pundits drool at the sight of Arsenal's passing football and wish for the day they are rewarded with holding the Championship trophy aloft.

However, the true title contenders, Chelsea and Manchester United, thrive on their predictability and, significantly, both have beaten them home and away this term.

The neat triangles and one-touch passing has always proved too good for the lesser sides in the top flight but against the very best, it continues to be found wanting.

Of course, that accusation has been heard many times before, as has Wenger's assertion that he has a young side that are not as experienced as the team's adversaries.

The domestic cup competions have been used as a breeding ground for the club's youngsters, yet it has left him with a squad that have got used to losing.

This part of the season was always going to be make or break as far as Arsenal's title hopes were concerned due to games against Aston Villa, United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

There is only one match remaining from the nightmare quartet and Arsenal have picked up just one point.

Due to an obvious inability to cope with the physical nature of the game, there is a very good chance it will stay that way come Wednesday night when they face a resurgent Liverpool.

The phrase "men against boys" has been used to describe Arsenal's shortcomings against the top teams in recent seasons. It may read like a cliche, but it is a reality when one looks on the pitch to see the Gunners' first team dwarfed in size by Chelsea's.

Wenger's refusal to sacrifice his principles by injecting some much-needed height and steel in his squad during the transfer windows means they continue to be lightweight.

The skills of Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin look sublime but when facing the muscle of Terry and Co it looks like they're being bullied.

For Arsenal to beat Chelsea yesterday, they were in dire need of trying something different.

Their pretty football was ineffective at home in November when they suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat to Carlo Ancelotti's side.

They dominated possession back then but Chelsea keeper Petr Cech spent most of the afternoon with the palms of his hands barely getting a touch of the ball.

Criminally, it looked like they had learnt nothing from the drubbing. Anyone who witnessed Chelsea's struggle with set-pieces at Hull would know that defending crosses into the box is still their major weakness.

Instead of picking Nicklas Bendtner to add some height and power up front, Wenger decided to go with another attacking line-up filled with pint-sized players. They won a succession of corners in the opening stages but caused no threat whatsoever because of a lack of a threat in the air.

While Ancelotti was happy to sacrifice Chelsea's normal style of possession football to rely on the counter-attack to get three points, Wenger's Arsenal looked a case of same old, same old.

The only surprise in his starting XI was the presence of Theo Walcott on the right wing instead of Tomas Rosicky.

Its main aim appeared to be to counter the attacking threat of Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole but as his side were 2-0 down inside 23 minutes, it had little benefit.

Wenger argued before the match that Walcott's future shouldn't be questioned and maintained he will be a great player but he looked woefully short of confidence, as did many of his team-mates.

Chelsea certainly didn't entertain yesterday but they are prepared to win ugly if it means finishing on top in May.

Their record against the other members of the big four is immaculate at present with four wins out of four and no goals conceded.

The moment Terry flicked Florent Malouda's corner for an unmarked Didier Drogba to fire home at the back post in the eighth minute, the game was over. Chelsea just waited to exploit the visitors' weakness at defending counter-attacks to double their lead.

It was all too easy as Frank Lampard found Drogba in loads of space once again and he dribbled across Gael Clichy and Thomas Vermaelen to fire past Manuel Almunia.

It was his 12th goal in as many games against Wenger's bemused players, just more evidence of the Frenchman's inability to change the script.

Arsenal fans resorted to lighting a flare to entertain them but it just symbolised their title hopes going up in smoke.