Quote Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur View Post
This is where it gets ridiculous. You set the parameters of the argument and choose to focus on a date range I never mentioned or even originally referred to.
I've given my analysis of how I see things overall in Wenger's time with us. Roughly 3 phases. 1997-2004 we were in the top 2. And the 2004 side was way better than the 1998 one.
Then there was 2 years of rapid decline to 2006 where from the dizzy heights of 2004's Invincibles we were just barely hanging in the top 4.
Since then it has been pretty stagnant although I do agree with HCZ about slow rot which if we lose Ozil and Sanchez this summer could finally see the whole house fall down.

If you're arguing that we've declined since the glory years then, well, duh! No-one would dispute that, I certainly never have.

Let me show you what I’m referring to when looking at another decline since we can both can agree that we’ve dropped off from the title challenging days. This is about what we’ve seen in recent seasons and I’ll give some context.

2016 – 2nd - 71 points
2017 – 5th – 75 points
2018 - ??
If your argument is that we are in another period of decline then my stance on that is "maybe". But the '??' means it's impossible to tell right now. No-one would sensibly claim that the years from 2014-2016 where we 'charged' from 4th to 3rd to 2nd were ones of progress. A drop from 2nd-5th could be the start of a decline and we're not exactly setting the world alight this year but we're well in touch with the top 4 so it remains to be seen how this season will pan out.

It’s worth noting that you’re not speaking to someone that has predicted we’d drop out of the top 4 each year.
Then I don't know what our quarrel is. My argument is against those people who have been saying that we've been in decline for the last 10 years. The facts don't bear that out.
Whether we're in decline now...that is certainly plausible but I'd suggest the data isn't there to state that definitively yet.
I'm not "dressing it up" as a blip, we simply can't tell whether it was a blip until this season finishes and we know where we ended up. This season so far is not exactly encouraging though.

By standing still we get left behind. It’s as simple as that and that’s without me even getting into the whole tactical side of the things and the repeated errors we see from the club and manager.
Well, I agree with that. And the real decline has been in terms of how enjoyable it is watching our games. Which is part of why I don't.