In the Premier League universe, existence and results sometimes recur, and continue to recur, in self-similar form and in an infinite number across infinite time. If that is the definition of eternal recurrence, or, in an earlier notion, Kala Chakra, the idea of an endless cycle of existence, it applies to Chelsea-Arsenal.The fixture is not a linear experience, but a cycle.

The cast and the scenario seemingly never change, and neither does the result, except when Robin van Persie enjoys a vintage 90 minutes, but the Dutchman now withers away in the periphery of European football. At Stamford Bridge, Arsenal were miscasts yet again last weekend. They were bullied into submission by a Chelsea full of confidence and full of talent. Arsenal’s capitulation was as predictable as it was tragic.

Once the epitome of avant-garde football, Arsenal are in danger of becoming a self-parody: every season is a neat, but frighteningly identical reproduction of the previous campaign – a domestic top four finish juxtaposed with European elimination in March. But those disappointing results hide the ever-lasting promise of a footballing renaissance, a revisit to Arsenal’s heydays. In fact, it portends despair and, ultimately, exasperation.

Arsenal are in danger of becoming a self-parody

The North London club are still capable of producing fine moments of footballing ecstasy, albeit less regular – think a full-throttle Alexis Sanchez, a defence-splitting pass from Mesut Ozil or that flabbergasting goal from Oliver Giroud. At the same time, Arsenal can be infuriating, as they were with their trademark collapse against Chelsea.

And so, Arsenal face another February jinx, after a traditional November dip. The same old questions surface: Is Sanchez more motivated than the other Arsenal players? Why was Ozil so indifferent in yet another big game? Who will stay fit until the end of the season? The all-encompassing assessment tends to be far simpler: Arsenal have no backbone.

Have Arsene Wenger’s men become incurably self-defeatist? This, in turn, warrants the killer question: Is it time – whisper it – for Wenger, who transformed Arsenal into a respected contemporary institution of footballing delight and who sticks to his purist principles, to go? More amicably phrased, will the Frenchman leave his darling club at the end of the season when his contract expires? It is a question worth pondering.

The Arsenal manager has been assailed, vilified and crucified by a legion of detractors for being a perpetual choker, an inveterate dweeb, and a ne’er-do-well. They lambast Wenger for his failing grand plan, for blindness in the face of countervailing evidence and for impenetrable stubbornness. Ultimately, they impute that Arsenal and Wenger only continue to falter, a cardinal sin in the zero-sum game of the Premier League.

Whisper it, but has Wenger’s time come?

Was Arsenal 3-1 defeat Wenger’s Waterloo (not that the Frenchman was ever much of a great strategist)? In his post-match press conference, Wenger confirmed that he had been offered a two-year extension but said that he needs to feel more appreciation if he is going to sign it.

That sums up the caveat to Wenger leaving Arsenal: The Frenchman, who had a say in the design of the home dressing room at the Emirates Stadium, who was even involved in picking the cutlery for the canteen at Arsenal’s Colney training complex in London, is unchallenged at Arsenal. In the corridors of power at Arsenal, the “Wengerocracy” governs, without much opposition.

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Silent Stan? Arsenal’s American owner, Stan Kroenke, has little appetite for change, let alone for root-and-branch reform by sacking Wenger. Arsenal is a fine business as far as Kroenke is concerned. CEO Ivan Gazidis, who is not friendly with Wenger, may not even be in a position to force Wenger out of the club. Gazidis lumbers on with his chats of a sustainable future.

But is it for Arsenal, who should, in earnest, the sum of their parts, achieve more? The ever-approaching denouement of Arsene Wenger’s career is one of the great dramas of our time, because in this world of post-truths and post-modern vulgarities, he remains an otherworldly figure, a character set in an Oscar Wilde novel. When he deems the time right, Wenger will leave Arsenal, but for now time moves in cycles.