Despite that, Wenger maintained Arsenal as a top four club, qualifying for the Champions League for nineteen consecutive seasons between 1998 and 2017.
However, Wilshere says that came at a price, explaining: “Being totally honest, as a group of players we knew that fighting for for the top four was our level.
“Manchester City had just come through, spent a load of money on the likes of Nasri and Adebayor. Manchester United were still there with Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand.
“We knew that we were always going to fall short. “It was difficult for me at that time to listen [to the Invincibles comparisons].
“That was going on, but there were never any conversations between players where we questioned why Arsene was coming out with lines like ‘top four is a trophy’.
“I remember celebrating top four as success. It was difficult for fans to understand that because of the Invincibles.
“I remember one of my first pre-seasons and it was the year that Adebayor left, Kolo left. We were in Austria.
“I wasn’t part of the conversations but Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, Gallas going to Arsene and asking: ‘What’s going on? Where are we going with the club?’
“During my time at Arsenal, there were always those questions – where is the Patrick Vieira? Where is the Thierry Henry? Where is the Tony Adams? Where are the leaders?
“Especially when we threatened to drop out of the top four, and rightly so. We could have done with someone to grab us in those tough moments.
“While we were losing big personalities, we did replace them. We still had quality players, but were we challenging for the league? Probably not.”
One of Wenger’s most controversial sales was Van Persie to rivals Manchester United in the summer of 2012 for around £30m – one that still stings the Arsenal fan base now.
Wilshere continued: “I was surprised that Wenger let Robin van Persie go. I was disappointed but, being completely honest, that is probably the trajectory that Arsenal were on at the time.
“Robin knew that we weren’t going to challenge for the Premier League title for a few years.
“The reaction from the fans was quite visceral and rightly so. It was understandable. It hurt and there were definitely conversations between players about what was actually going on at the club.
“The hurt surrounding Robin’s departure was more of a personal one, because we knew him so well. He was the captain. He was a good leader and he set high standards. “As much as it hurt, he made the right choice, because he won the league that year.”
