For all their talk of learning from the shock defeat against Bradford City in the League Cup, Arsenal were consigned to the same fate in the FA Cup when Blackburn came to visit last weekend.
The FA Cup was Arsene Wenger's most realistic chance of ending the club's eight-year trophy drought, but the Emirates Stadium faithful were treated to yet another painful, insipid display.
It puzzles me how the Gunners could possibly have approached the match with such a nonchalant attitude when their standing in the Premier League table is a clear indication of how poorly they have performed this season.
Perhaps they were simply taking cues from their French boss.
While Wenger's supporters will argue that the team put out against Rovers possessed sufficient quality to win the tie, it was a big mistake for the Arsenal boss to have rested so many of his key players.
He undoubtedly did so with Champions League opponents Bayern Munich in mind but, as we saw during the week, the Gunners' chances of seeing off Jupp Heyncke's side were never more than remote.
Knowing how desperate the supporters are to add to their silverware, Wenger should have invested more into the FA Cup, a competition his team stood a much better chance of winning.
The Frenchman could have started the likes of Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott to secure Arsenal the lead before taking his stars off in preparation for their Bavarian opponents.
They might still be in the running for that trophy had Wenger not misjudged the situation.
Arsenal cannot afford to lose any of their remaining league fixtures or they risk backing themselves into the corner of having to win the Champions League to qualify for the competition next season, a scenario that, following the loss to Bayern Munich, has little to no chance of happening.
The Gunners may be given some respite when they play Aston Villa today but, should their manager decide to tinker with his line-up once more, Christian Benteke might just twist the knife further.
Unlike Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea did splendidly in their cup ties last weekend.
The Premier League giants play each other at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, with more on the line for Roberto Mancini.
Pressure from the media has intensified following the opening up of a 12-point deficit between his team and league leaders Manchester United but the Italian has not done a bad job.
Sir Alex Ferguson had his ranks strengthened considerably over the summer and the blue side of Manchester are now paying the price for not following suit.
However, Mancini has dealt admirably with injury blows on top of losing key players to the Africa Cup of Nations and deserves to remain at City, even if they finish the campaign empty-handed.
The same cannot be said of Mancini's opposite number this weekend, Rafa Benitez - Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas must be pleased that he no longer has to deal with a trigger-happy chairman. His Spurs side have been thriving in recent weeks, hanging on to fourth place in the table thanks to the form of Gareth Bale.
Tottenham's upcoming opponents, West Ham, are probably scratching their heads over how to stop the flying Welshman, but even a solution to the Bale problem might not be enough to get them a win.
Although Spurs have become heavily reliant on the 23-year-old's magical displays, double-marking Bale would simply free up other Tottenham attackers to do the job in his place.
Former Liverpool and England player Steve McMahon is a football expert with Fox Sports' The Verdict, on at 7pm on Monday