The second half of Arsene Wenger's managerial career has had more written about it than it's worth. All it takes is a glance at the two Arsenal stars that never were - Wilshere and Giroud - to summarise it. 

For the past few seasons - the years in which Arsenal have noticeably declined - Giroud has been the Gunner's star striker. He can score bicycles and scorpions, flick effortless through balls and boast a minutes-to-goal ratio to rival Thierry Henry. 

But he'll still only score 16 goals a season. He won't strike fear into opposition defences, far less pressure a team for 90 minutes. He's better than Niklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh, Eduardo Da Silva and Yaya Sanogo, but he's not good enough to win the league. 

For the second half of the Wenger era, Jack Wilshere has been Arsenal's archetypal superstar midfielder. He can dribble through multiple opponents, see passes 90% of the Premier League can't, hit crosses that defy logic and crunch sliding tackles.

But he'll be constantly injured, and as soon as he hits a rich vein of form, he'll drop off. Like Arsenal he'll struggle against the big sides, switch off defensively, miss clear opportunities and fail to show either leadership or strength against adversity.

He's better than Denilson, Mikel Arteta, Emmanuel Eboue and Mohammed Elneny but he's not good enough to win the league. Together, Wilshere and Giroud will score goals like this - Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta have never crafted a goal more beautiful.

That was 2014, and three days ago Wilshere and Giroud did it again. 

Perhaps that it happened in the Europa League against Red Star Belgrade, and not in the Premier League is a metaphor for Arsenal's continued decline. But for Arsenal fans nothing's really changed, and that's the problem.

Under Wenger - 'Le Professor' - Arsenal are theoretically fantastic, but practically underwhelming. They're one of the richest clubs in the world but they're unwilling to spend, they have an amazing stadium but no atmosphere, an invincible manager who can no longer inspire and players who are capable of perfection, but are not even brilliant.

They've had chances to change - Robin Van Persie and Alexis Sanchez have torn at the seams - but unfulfilled potential is woven into the fabric of Arsenal. At some point this season, whether it's winning the Europa League or FA Cup or 9 out of their last 10 games, Arsenal will show the sort of promise they do with goals like those. 

However, they won't win the Premier League, and when Wenger leaves or Wilshere and Giroud finish their Arsenal careers, these goals will be all they have to show for the amazing talent they both had. 

That's the pain of loving Arsenal. It's a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.