It's undoubtedly been a bad few weeks for the club. Speaking to a friend before the United match I suggested that the previous five weeks had been the worst I'd seen us consistently play as a team in the 15 years I've been going to Arsenal. And after the match, we remain pointless in 2012.
But I do think people have suffered from raised expectations.

The thing which everybody forgot was that it was hardly a great Arsenal side which challenged so strongly until March last season.
Tears were spilt on deadline day 2010 over a refusal to buy a veteran keeper; the centre half whom everyone insisted we signed turned out to be not much cop; the side as a whole was very dependent on Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri in the first half of the season, Robin van Persie in the New Year.

Blackburn Rovers 4 Arsenal 3
For all I said that it was time pressures which precluded me from blogging as much as I used to, it's also that I don't really see the point of writing the same thing over and over again, especially when other people are also writing the same thing.

Man United 8 Arsenal 2
A terrible, terrible performance brought a terrible, terrible result. Make no mistake, this was the nadir of Arsene Wenger's time in charge.
For an hour we were outclassed but somehow were in the game at 3-1 down. Then we removed our holding midfielder and put an attacking player on to try and get a result, and conceded five goals in half an hour.

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2
It's not as bad as some people are saying it is, but it sure ain't great either. By my reckoning, the choice for the holding midfield role against United is between Francis Coquelin and Craig Eastmond. It's hardly encouraging.
But equally, if you wanted an example of why spending tons of money isn't necessarily a good thing, look at Liverpool on Saturday: for 65 minutes against a very poor Arsenal side all they created was a couple of headers which were easily saved by Szczesny.

Arsenal 1 Udinese 0
Let's get one thing clear: the media reporting of this match was distinctly odd.
We were without our best player through suspension, and Arshavin didn't play. We had to deal with two defensive reshuffles in the course of the game because of injury. And crucially, Udinese played very well, with Chesney making a string of excellent saves.

Frankly, I might as well just cut and paste different bits from match reports from last season.
Apart from better defending, everything I watched today I've seen before: Arsenal denied a perfectly good penalty; Arsenal player sent off in ridiculous refereeing injustice; Joey Barton being a Grade A tosser.

Better late than never I guess, my review of last season...
Five myths about where it went wrong...
1) 'Arsene's management of the team is completely inept'
You know, I might have some time for people who say this - or similar things - if they'd been saying this in January and February.

Spurs 3 Arsenal 3
It's a point I've made over and over again in the time I've been writing this blog, but I think it's worth pointing out this week: you don't win the League by beating your closest rivals. Yes, it helps. But when the success of your League challenge is predicated on beating Liverpool, Spurs and Man United in successive games, then something has gone wrong earlier in the season.

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1
Even the guy in the row behind me who wouldn't shut up had stopped. After Van Persie's free-kick had been claimed by Reina, it looked like the game was up, like the title was gone.
The fourth official had signalled eight minutes of injury time, and though we had only played five minutes, we hadn't created a chance of note.

Blackpool 1 Arsenal 3
That was the week that was - a tumultuous week in the history of Arsenal Football Club.
To be frank, the most notable thing in a business-sense about Arsenal was that it hadn't been sold at this point - in a sense, it's the perfect investment, a team which delivers solidity and consistent qualification for the Champions League, together with a club which routinely makes a profit.

Frankly, I'm a little bored of reading about Arsenal at the moment.
Bored of reading about the supposed lack of mental strength and character, but more than that, reading about how Arsenal have collapsed, out of three trophies in two weeks, and with a League challenge which is floundering.

Arsenal 0 Blackburn 0
This was, in short, a dreadful day. Without wanting to come across all Myles Palmer, I started eating lunch and West Ham were 2-0 up; by the time I finished it was 4-2 to United.
Watching the highlights of that match in the pub before our match, I was once again shocked by Lee Mason's refereeing.

West Brom 2 Arsenal 2
Apologies for the lack of blogging recently...
Life has become manic and I've become lazy. It clearly hasn't helped our form, although my brother would say I'm not supporting the club well enough.
The point about Denilson...
Is that he isn't playing particularly well at the moment - he isn't showing the form he's capable of.

Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1
There's been a lot of rubbish written about this match, and it's worth debunking some of it...
Myth No.1: Van Persie's red card wasn't a turning point
In the first half of the game, Barcelona managed one goal - a goal which was entirely of our own making.