When our beloved club has exited the FA Cup in recent years, we have tended to either drop points in the Premiership or the team has gone on to fall out of the other competitions on offer.

The following is an example of our results after we have exited the FA Cup in recent seasons:

2003/04 Season
3rd April – Arsenal 0, Man United 1 (FA Cup Semi-Final)
6th April – Arsenal 1, Chelski 2 (Champions League Quarter-Finals)
9th April – Arsenal 4, Liverpool 2 (Premiership)
11th April – Newcastle 0, Arsenal 0 (Premiership)

2006/07 Season
17th Feb – Arsenal 0, Blackburn 0 (FA Cup 5th Round)
20th Feb – PSV 1, Arsenal 0 (Champions League 2nd Round 1st Leg)
25th Feb – Chelski 2, Arsenal 1 (Carling Cup Final)
28th Feb – Blackburn 1, Arsenal 0 (FA Cup 5th Round Replay)

2007/08 Season
16th Feb – Man United 4, Arsenal 0 (FA Cup 5th Round)
20th Feb – Arsenal 0, AC Milan 0 (Champions League 2nd Round)
23rd Feb – Birmingham 2, Arsenal 2 (Premiership)
1st March – Arsenal 1, Aston Villa 1 (Premiership)

2008/09 Season
18th April – Arsenal 1, Chelski 2 (FA Cup Semi-Final)
21st April – Liverpool 4, Arsenal 4 (Premiership)
26th April – Arsenal 2, Middlesbrough 0 (Premiership)
29th April - Man United 1, Arsenal 0 (Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg)
2nd May – Portsmouth 0, Arsenal 3 (Premiership)
5th May – Arsenal 1, Man United 3 (Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg)
10th May – Arsenal 1, Chelski 4 (Premiership)

After our exodus from the FA Cup against Stoke, we now play the likes of Villa, Man United, Chelski and Liverpool in succession. I think it is absolutely critical that we achieve a minimum of eight points from the twelve which are up for grabs. Failure to achieve this requirement, in my eyes will see the team fall short once again come the end of the season.

It doesn’t help matters when the side continues to struggle to pick up clean sheets, relying too heavily on Fabregas to drive the team onto victory, selecting below average players of the likes of Almunia, Silvestre, Traore and Walcott. (When Theo plays, it feels like we are playing with ten men, due to his inability to go searching for the ball when he is deployed on the wing, an incapability to beat his marker and his tendency to run without the ball. After four years at the club, he has yet to establish himself as a first team player. His best performances have come when he has either started games from the bench as an impact sub or on the rare occasions whilst operating at left attack).

I can (sadly) see the team going on a run similar to what we have achieved in the aforementioned seasons, after we have exited the FA Cup (although we did go on to win the Premiership after exiting the FA Cup in the 2003/04 season).