Watching Arsenal capitulate against Aston Villa in their opening English Premier League game of the season, there was this familiar feeling of "Oh no not again" as well as "Well this was expected" ringing around the stadium as well as everyone watching around the world.
The result should not and probably did not come as a surprise.
Arsenal went into the game with a threadbare squad, after Arsene Wenger yet again decided to keep his money safely tucked away in the ever-increasing coffers at the club.
One world-class target after another has slipped through the fingers of Wenger this summer in what has probably been the most frustrating of transfer windows in recent memory.
Is it because the players don't trust the Arsenal project anymore, or is it the Frenchman just being his usual stingy self again and refusing to meet the rival clubs' demands for their players?
How different the opening day of the season could have been, had Wenger acted on some of the targets repeatedly mentioned in the transfer window.
With Gonzalo Higuain, they would have had a potent striker, who would perhaps have been more effective that Olivier Giroud, even of the Frenchman scored the opening goal.
Marouane Fellaini or Lars Bender could have given Arsenal that physicality in midfield they so lacked, with only Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere there against Villa.
Why is Wenger so adamant on not playing a midfielder of the Patrick Vieira or even Gilberto Silva mould?
The defence would have been much more sturdy and assured with a couple of strong center-backs in the squad as Thomas Vermaelen remains sidelined for an indefinite period - and now with Laurent Koscielny suspended, Wenger will have to turn to Bacary Sagna to fill in the position, a ridiculous prospect for a club like Arsenal in only the first weekend of the season.
We have enough money to compete with any side in the world for world-class players Ivan Gazidis said before the start of the transfer window.
What a load of lies, the Arsenal fans will be saying now as the manager and the board have yet again, for the umpteenth time, shortchanged them.
Sure, there are still about two weeks remaining in the transfer window, and Wenger might just make a few astute signings.
But, the fact of the matter is, Arsenal should not have found themselves in this position in the first place - the signings should have brought in early so that they could have integrated with the squad and made a bright start - so important nowadays.
Wenger has played the more competition in the transfer market card in the last couple of weeks when asked about the lack of signings - but if according to Gazidis, Arsenal can compete with anybody for any player, that surely should not be used as an excuse should it?
