Arsenal will reflect on what was a strange Premier League campaign and rue a period of the season which cost them the top four finish -- their safety net for so many years.
As sure as grass is green and water is wet, you could put your house on the Gunners finishing in the Champions League places. Some have pointed to the lack of preseason preparation, when they went into the opening weekend of 2016-17 short of central defenders and still in need of a striker, as the moment when the crucial points were dropped.
Losing 4-3 to Liverpool in their first match of the season, then missing out on the top four by a point to Jurgen Klopp's men, brings that fixture into sharp focus. But Arsenal had plenty of time to make up for that.
Anyway, if lacking players isn't necessarily an excuse, it's definitely a reason, so when you lose games after you've made your squad complete it feels even more costly and more careless.
Going into a home game against Watford in January, the Gunners were second in the table, eight points behind Chelsea but with a game to come against the eventual champions. What should have been a home banker turned into a nightmare, as they went down 2-1, and it sparked a genuine collapse.
Between Jan. 31 and April 30, when they lost 2-0 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane, Arsene Wenger's side won just 11 of the 33 points available to them. They lost to Chelsea and to Liverpool again, as well as slumping to pitiful defeats away at West Brom and Crystal Palace.
So, as frustrating as the opening day was, it was this period that did the most damage. Not just to finishing in the top four, but also to the idea that Arsenal might challenge for the title.
Beat Watford, then beat Chelsea -- not an easy task of course, but one they achieved at home back in September -- and the gap would have been five points with 12 games of the season left.
That week could have been pivotal and opened up the title race. Instead, Arsenal -- as they have done so many times -- capitulated.
When you look at how the table finished, it shows just what they inflicted upon themselves. They were so close to pulling it back, and they're the first team in Premier League history to have won 75 points and not qualify for the Champions League.
Being a point away from the top four masks the real issue. It's the 18-point gap between themselves and Chelsea that is the real marker of the season. The last time they finished further behind the title winners was in 2012 when there was a 19 point margin between them and Manchester City, who won the league with 89 points.
It's little wonder that Arsenal fans are desperate for change, for something different. Which, ironically, is what they'll get next season when it comes to their European football.
The Europa League is the poor relation in comparison to the Champions League, both in terms of finance and prestige, but it might be refreshing in some ways. How many more times can fans take a round of 16 exit, after seven successive years of exactly that?
Some of the clubs involved might be unfamiliar, but next season's competition will include the likes of Milan, Lyon, Marseille, Villarreal and perhaps even Manchester United should they not win Wednesday's final against Ajax.
It's a chance to win something and qualify for the Champions League the following season. It's a tournament Arsenal should take seriously -- there's no call to be snobbish about it.
A long overdue European trophy would be very welcome, even if it's not the one everybody truly wants.