The situation for Arsenal could have been so much worse by now if it was not for the fact that almost every other club with hopes of winning the Premier League this year was also having problems. Only Chelsea have really lived up to the billing.
So while Arsenal have dropped way behind the league leaders, we have not found ourselves too far away from the top four and that infamous Wenger trophy is still well within our grasp. And the way our performances are getting better and the results are starting to come makes life look a lot rosier in the Arsenal camp.
Unfortunately, however, it looks like our rivals are getting their acts together at the same time as the Gunners. We did Manchester United a big favour last week, of course, but it looks like they are going to take full advantage after they produced their best performance of the season in comfortably beating Hull City. Even our turncoat striker scored and looked more like his old self.
Man City are looking good again and if Chelsea do slip up, it looks like City will be the team to benefit. Liverpool are still looking like they have a hangover from last season but the results are starting to come for them, a narrow win keeping them in touch with us, while Tottenham, I hate to say, looked good as they beat Everton and stayed level on points with us.
So while Arsenal have been lucky that our rivals have not really punished the slow start, there is still a lot of hard work to do and if we slip up again, we probably will not get away with it again.