It is difficult to imagine how bad things have to get at Arsenal before the offer of a two-year contract extension to Arsene Wenger is withdrawn.

The board of any other club with genuine ambitions of competing for the game’s biggest prizes would have begun to scrutinise the ongoing value of a manager who had spent £85million in the summer only to look further away from Premier League and Champions League success than ever.

There is tension within the squad and on the terraces. Only around 200 supporters joined the march from Highbury to Emirates Stadium in opposition to the idea Wenger could stay beyond the end of the season; far more damning were the thousands of empty seats inside the ground, revealing a fractured fanbase infected with apathy and anger.

The vast majority rallied behind their team as Theo Walcott led from the front, scoring the opening goal and driving his side forward as they attempted to become the first team in Champions League history to overturn a four-goal deficit, against Bayern Munich of all teams.

Yet the game turned on Laurent Koscielny’s dismissal as Greek referee Tasos Sidiropoulos — who has attracted controversy in his homeland for a series of questionable decisions — interpreted the Arsenal defender’s challenge on Robert Lewandowski as a dishonest attempt to win the ball, prompting the triple punishment of sending off, penalty and goal.

Thereafter, Arsenal crumbled. Wenger did his best to deflect attention from another capitulation by heavily criticising the referee to the extent a UEFA charge is possible. But it did not mask the bigger picture; blaming the officials here was a little like complaining about the paint peeling or the water boiling when the building is on fire.

Wenger’s legacy is in danger of going up in flames.

Nobody could take away the revolutionary impact he had on Arsenal but for all the forward strides made in his first decade at the helm, it is becoming virtually impossible to argue he is not now holding them back.

This was the biggest aggregate defeat for a British club in the competition’s history. It was also the Gunners’ worst home defeat in 19 years, dating back to November 1998.

Wenger has stated his preference is to stay at Arsenal beyond the end of his current deal — which expires at the end of the season — and those closest to him believe he is stubborn enough to ride out what is surely now the most tempestuous spell of his 21-year tenure. He feels the job is not finished. He feels his methods do not require any adjustment or modernisation because they received eternal validation during the hugely successful first decade in charge.

His iconic status at the club has enabled him to determine the timing of his own departure. As tough as it is to suggest, especially for a man so personable and dignified, that can no longer be the case. Arsenal cannot be about him and him alone. Cyclical failure over a number of years warrants pressure applied from above.

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Wenger keeps up the public pretence that he is subjected to the same checks and balances as any other manager but he was consulted prior to the appointment of his own boss, Ivan Gazidis, and is deferred to on all footballing matters by majority owner Stan Kroenke. Who really holds Wenger to account? Kroenke is absent for the majority of matches, appearing at the Annual General Meeting each year to go through the motions of appearing engaged in club affairs.

Gazidis effectively runs the club on a day-to-day basis but he has previously spoken about the benefits of operating without a conventional power structure, opting instead for round-table compromise rather than a hierarchical chain of command. The club have inevitably been built to Wenger’s will. It is the reason why talk persists that perhaps two or even three people will need to be appointed to fill the void Wenger leaves when he departs.

But the void above him at the moment is the more immediate problem. How can Kroenke justify a new two-year contract given the current climate?

The present perception is that he is happy ticking along as a top-four club — with the occasional small domestic trophy as a welcome but optional supplement — reaping the financial stability Wenger’s record of consistency has guaranteed until now.

Gazidis has previously insisted the club are more ambitious than that but where is the evidence?

“F*** off Stan Kroenke, get out of our club,” sang a section of supporters last night. The American businessman has failed to engage with fans. He has also recoiled from engaging with media, as has Gazidis.

Wenger, for all his faults, fronts up after every disappointment. His argument is becoming flawed and tired because his is a sole voice fighting against the tide of negativity.

Whether it is from Kroenke or Gazidis, fans deserve to hear a clear vision for the future of the club, not platitudes and anodyne projections trotted out at an AGM.

If they truly believe Wenger deserves a new deal, explain why. Come out and share some of the burden

They have hidden behind Wenger for too long. He is a lightning rod for criticism. Much of it is deserved but the suspicion remains that Kroenke and Gazidis refuse to put their heads above the parapet in the hope that the storm passes and Wenger can steer them to sunnier climes.

It is a type of self-preserving loyalty that has helped facilitate Wenger’s longevity in recent seasons but the doubts about him have reached unprecedented levels.

The absence of leadership above Wenger means that when he falters, the club look rudderless, as they do today. That simply should not be the case. Blindly continuing to offer him a two-year deal only reinforces that conclusion.