Is Arsenal's Season Over After Just Seven Games?

It was over a year ago that Arsene Wenger sold Thierry Henry to Barcelona.

Many people thought that he had ruined Arsenal's chances of the Premiership trophy, especially when he didn't replace Henry with another big name.

Many were saying that Tottenham could finish in the top four ahead of Arsenal.  I even remember predicting that they would finish as low as seventh.

"The Professor" proved us all wrong and Arsenal got off to a flier—only falling away from the title race in the latter stages of the season.

This season, people were a lot more careful in predicting Arsenal's fortunes.

Emmanuel Adebayor had proved himself to be a decent enough replacement for Theirry Henry, and players like Cesc Fabregas were getting stronger every year.

However, it has not gone to plan for Arsenal so far.

In some games they have looked like their usual sublime self—such as the 4-0 win over Blackburn—but the very next week they look like a completely different team, losing to Hull.

They don't have the consistency to mount a title bid this season.

Is it too early to be saying that?

I don't think so. You can't win the title in the early stages, but you can lose it.

Arsenal has lost to Hull and Fulham so far, two teams predicted by many to be fighting for Premier League survival. Two losses in seven games is not good enough to win the title.

Two losses in 38 games and you would still struggle.

In Arsenal's "Invincible" season, they went the whole season unbeaten in the league. The following season Chelsea won the league after only losing one game.

That's how good you could have to be to win the league.

Recently, that trend has dipped slightly, with Man Utd winning the league the past two years while losing five times in each of them.

But with Arsenal already having lost two—and still yet to play Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United twice each, and tough derbys against Tottenham—their chances of going the rest of the season only losing one or two games is very slim.

In my view, their hopes of a successful Premier League campaign are over already.

They could still make a success of this season if they succeed in Europe, and maybe if they win the FA Cup, or even the League Cup.  But they don't look like the strongest team in Europe and there will always be surprises in the cup competitions.

Am I being a bit too harsh? Perhaps.

After all, they are still fourth in the league, only four points off Liverpool and Chelsea, and they recently led the table.

But with such big matches to come, and such an inexperienced side, I can't help but feel that Arsenal's Premier League title hopes are over already.