I also think this is tough to do because if you take this season just on face value, you'd have to say that it is as good a season as we've had in quite a number of years. However, it feels like such a missed opportunity, in my opinion, to really make a run at the Premier League title with all of the turnover last summer for the top teams.

Our inability to address our biggest needs over the last 3 transfer windows since losing RVP has really left our squad depleted to its bare bones at this stage thanks to the injuries we've suffered. You just can't expect to stay in the title race over a 38-game season with the type of inactivity we've shown in the transfer market, no matter what level of turnover there is for other top teams also vying for that title.

The things that will immediately stick out to any Arsenal fan that must be addressed going forward is what in the world is going on with our team when it comes to facing the top teams, and what in the hell is going on in training, preparation, etc., that leads to so many injuries. I think those two things are overriding storylines for our season, no matter what happens the rest of the way. It is simply inexcusable to lost 6-3, 5-1 and now 6-0 away to the teams you're trying to beat for the league title.

But I honestly choose to evaluate this season on the positive, and my evaluation is solely based on whether or not we win the FA Cup.

If we do win the FA Cup like we really should do, then that is a big monkey off the back of Wenger and the players and should give us great momentum heading into the summer transfer window and into the start of next season. Ending that 9-year trophy drought should be top priority, and we have a golden opportunity to do that.

And I for one would savor that FA Cup win as it would be my first trophy as a Gooner! I started following Arsenal in 2006 during their run to the Champions League final. I loved the way they played, and I loved watching Thierry Henry. Unfortunately for me, I never got to watch Henry in an Arsenal shirt for very long, and we've never enjoyed that level of success since The Invincibles era that I missed.

Of course, even if we win the FA Cup, we might still finish in 4th place in the league standings, which is a position we've grown all too familiar with over the past several seasons. However, in my opinion, what 4th place might look like this year is not like any 4th place we've taken in recent seasons. It's conceivable that by finishing 4th this year, we could be closer points wise to 1st place than 5th place, which shows just how tight it is in the Premier League in 2013-14.

We are currently sitting on 62 points through 30 games this season, which is 9 points ahead of last year's pace when we were at 53 points at the same stage. If you look at our remaining 8 league games, we will probably be the favorite to win outright in 6 of those games, with Everton being a toss up and then being underdogs against Manchester City next weekend. If we do add 18 points to our total, then we finish at 80 points. That is good progress from the 73 points we took a year ago to also finish in 4th place.

Just for reference sake, below are the places 80 points would have earned in the last few seasons, which puts into a much different perspective what this kind of season could have earned our club in that time. Arsenal's actual season finish is in parentheses.

2012-13: 2nd (4th)
2011-12: 3rd (3rd)
2010-11: 1st (4th)
2009-10: 3rd (3rd)

Long story short, that's how I choose to evaluate this season. Just ask yourself whether or not we have made progress from exactly 1 year ago after we lost 2-1 at Spurs and seemed hopelessly out of the Top 4 race.

I truly believe we have progressed as a club since that time. Spending big money on a player like Ozil is a glimpse of what I think could be in store for us again this summer, especially since we keeping hearing all the public statements from Wenger, Gazidis, etc., about how we're finally now positioned to compete financially with most all of the other top clubs around Europe. The new Puma kit deal and other new revenue streams coming into the club might provide us the kind of funds needed to strengthen the squad in a profound way.

This summer will tell us a lot about how much we will have progressed again when we are sitting here 1 year from now and evaluating 2014-15. Will we still be in the race for all of the competitions (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup)?

This post was edited on 3/23/14 at 10:05 pm