What the hell is wrong with Arsenal? Gunners' stupidity and search for conspiracy will undermine their run to the Premier League title – and Mikel Arteta is to blame

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When Arsenal first left Highbury and moved into their lush Emirates Stadium palace, they started to come in for a new kind of criticism when swathes of trophies at first failed to follow that path across Ashburton Grove.

The loss of, and inability to replace, core figures of steely resilience like Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Sol Campbell coincided with defensive fragilities creeping in. It became an easy stick to beat the Gunners with – they were there to be had, you could get at them, they're too soft, and other such adages without too much nuance.

Mikel Arteta, across nearly half a decade of management back in north London, has sought to reverse that long-standing narrative. For the most part, he has succeeded and made Arsenal one of Europe's meanest teams, but they are now threatening to unravel their hard work and slip over to the wrong side of the dark-arts horseshoe.

Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth largely came about because, for the third time already this season, Arsenal had to play a large portion of the game with only 10 men. William Saliba's sending off for a last-man tug on Evanilson was deemed a red card-worthy offence after a VAR check and the Gunners ceded total control of a very winnable match.

These dismissals, however, aren't the result of a conspiracy and nor are they acts of martyrdom, as much as those of a red-and-white affiliation would like to believe.