The Gunners' 4-0 defeat at San Siro demonstrated that the 28-year-old Netherlands striker will need to look elsewhere for silverware during the prime years of his career

VAN PERSIE'S 90 MINUTES

HAS PASS BLOCKED

3'

"Arsenal look a little lost for words in the aftermath of that stunning strike. Robin van Persie wiggles through inside the Milan box on the left but his attempted pass from the byeline is blocked by a sliding defender, and the hosts have the ball back." MOVE BREAKS DOWN

24'

"Van Persie swings a free kick in towards the left post from 35 yards or so out, but the attack evaporates to nothing once Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati had the ball in his hands from Laurent Koscielny's weak header." FORCES ABBIATI INTO ACTION

66'

"Thierry Henry passes left to Robin van Persie, who takes a touch then drives a low shot to the left of Abbiati. The Italian leaps down to pull off a fine save, tipping the ball wide for an Arsenal corner. Improvement among the Gunners' attack, but one swallow does not make a summer!" TAME EFFORT 76'

PENALTY APPEAL WAVED AWAY 81'

"Robin van Persie is tussled to the ground by Ambrosini but the Dutchman doesn't get the spot kick he cries for."

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By Oliver Platt AC Milan demonstrated, quite brutally, that Arsenal are flawed in more than one respect. In defence, the Gunners could not live with Zlatan Ibrahimovic Robinho and Kevin-Prince Boateng , who all scored. In midfield, not one player made a significant impact in an attacking or defensive sense. In the end, they unsuccessfully turned to a 34-year-old playing his last game of a loan spell at the club and an exciting teenager for inspiration.It is just one game, and it should not be forgotten that Arsenal climbed to fourth place in the Premier League at the weekend, a finishing position that would secure Champions League football for another season. But just as comfort can be taken from the bigger picture following the Milan defeat, so can the realisation that this Arsenal team is a long distance away from challenging for the two honours it most covets.Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, among others, have time on their side and may yet go on to achieve great things as Arsenal players. But the star of this team, Robin van Persie, is 28 years of age and the fiasco in Italy will surely have triggered questions in his mind concerning the wisdom of spending the prime years of his career at a club mired in a long period of transition.In Milan, Arsenal faced a team that has fallen from grace since reaching Champions League finals in 2004-05 and 2006-07. Arsenal's demise, despite spurts of revival here and there, arrived around the same time; the Gunners last won a trophy, the FA Cup, in 2005 and reached the Champions League final themselves the following season.Under Massimiliano Allegri, though, the Serie A giants have re-emerged, and on Wednesday evening they played at a level far beyond that of Arsenal. Arsene Wenger must have hoped that by this point, like Milan, the Gunners would be beginning to emerge as title contenders domestically and at least as promising outsiders in Europe. Here, they were swept aside like a team that must have played above themselves to even progress past the group stage.For all Arsenal's young talent, Wenger has repeatedly shown himself to be unwilling to spend large sums of money on players over the age of 25. Only one such player, Andrey Arshavin, has cost more than £10 million since the signing of Sylvain Wiltord in 2000. Wenger prefers, instead, to part with smaller fees when addressing positions of weakness in the hope that a suitable young player can eventually step into the role. Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos, all signed in 2011, are good players that filled a need but they are not top class.While this policy is followed, Van Persie cannot be expected to stay at the Emirates Stadium. Wenger must surely realise that his continued presence can only be counted upon as a bonus that keeps Arsenal around the top four positions while the core of tomorrow's side continues to grow. That growth has, unfortunately, taken too long. Partly due to the departure of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal's progress has ground to a halt.The Netherlands striker was the only glimmer of hope on the most miserable night in Arsenal's European history. Supported by a cast that included Walcott, who looked out of his depth, and Thierry Henry, playing his last match before returning to the somewhat more forgiving arenas of Major League Soccer, Van Persie tested Christian Abbiati in the second half with one perfectly executed volley that the Italian goalkeeper did well to palm away.If any doubt remained, this result will have surely confirmed to Van Persie that Arsenal cannot match his ambitions in the timeframe he requires. Wenger, without doubt, should be credited with the development of one of the world's best strikers but unless he is prepared to accelerate Arsenal's progression, he cannot expect any player to spend his best years playing for a side that, on Wednesday night, learned that glory remains a distant prospect.