It has been a year that has promised so much. Yet, once again, Arsenal are in the thick of a nerve-wracking race for fourth place in the Premier League, when finishing at the summit was still a possibility up until a few weeks ago.
Fans have been playing the blame game ever since the opening day's shock defeat to Aston Villa, berating Arsene Wenger for his failure to spend (though he would give us Mesut Ozil a fortnight later).
The same occurred after the embarrassing mauling we received at Chelsea - which seemingly put to bed any title hopes - though looking back, a bit more character in response could have seen us in the top three at least.
Once Everton had well and truly put the championship dreams to the sword - leaving us in an entirely new battle for fourth with them - even more anxiety, depression and anger kicked in, despite still being in fourth and a great cup run that was, and is, looking unstoppable.
But who is really to blame? Wenger? The players? The board? All of the above? Gunnersaurus? The fact is, Arsenal's squad should never have been expected to win the title, and our promising early form, continuing from the last campaign, brought about a lot of false hope, and as a result, sheer heartbreak as we inevitably faded away.
I am not saying that we were never going to win it, nor am I ignoring the fact we have been in great positions throughout the year to have more influence on the destiny of the Premier League trophy. But looking at the squad, it is of no surprise to me that all the effort and success we had until February has only left us where we were this time a year ago.
You can blame Wenger or the untimely injuries of (most notably) Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey all you want - the whole point of the squad is to fill in when necessary - but not with the quality we have had standing in for Olivier Giroud, Ozil and the like.
I have got nothing against Kim Kallstrom or Yaya Sanogo - who I may have been a little harsh on during the traumatic ordeal of watching the FA Cup semi-final - personally, but they do not, at least right now, offer what we are missing.
Kallstrom will always be a strange signing. I am glad we got him, but he is just not an Arsenal player. I watched him against West Ham and he played more long balls than the whole team combined! He is not a beta version of Jack Wilshere or Santi Cazorla - he is totally different. So we become almost a completely different team as well - which may explain the dire first half I had to endure on Tuesday night.
The comprehensive 3-0 win over Hull City only emphasised this. Ozil and Ramsey made their first starts together for months and we look totally transformed - in a good way. That performance would not have looked out of place in November, as we were troubled a fair bit but pulled through confidently with a clean sheet.
But rather tragically, it did look out of place because we have not played like that for months. You wonder what damage those two alone could have done to our rivals had they stayed fit and sharp throughout - or if Wenger had a player or two lined up that were remotely similar to them to keep our style and momentum going during their absence.
I do not blame Wenger for much, but for that, I do. Though I am sure he had his reasons - Arsene is no fool. But I do not believe for one second that there was no one of Ramsey's ilk available back in January. He did try, of course, but perhaps spent too long trying to pursue Julian Draxler, who was supposed to solve all our striker problems as well.
What we must remember is, our team, if anything, have exceeded our expectations. This season has become a case of mistaken identity. I was expecting fourth even after the arrival of Mesut Ozil, but rather more getting there from fifth or sixth rather than from first.
The latter scenario is, of course, more agonising, but that does not mean Wenger should pay the price for that 'failure' with his job. Were we fully equipped to go for the title this year? No. Will we be ready next year? Qualify for the Champions League, keep our most prized assets and spend some dosh, and we bloody well should be.
Come On You Reds!
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