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The last few weeks has seen us claw a 6-point deficit back from a 5-point lead and it's got me thinking in terms of the whys and the wherefores.

Hot on the heels of last weeks Question Time, this week I find myself in Tomorrows World (groan!), peeking into the future and contemplating what I think lies ahead in the next few years of life as a Gooner.

Many have written this season off, finding it hard to look beyond the current stage of the Champions League and a second place (possibly even third) in the league, and who can blame them. Personally, I was brought up to fight to the bitter end, and so I find it terribly difficult to throw the towel in any kind of ring.

So although this season ain't over for me yet, our recent dip in form (bar the fantastic character shown at Bolton this weekend) has got me thinking, and I've been looking for positives that are worth writing home about.

I'll start with the not-so-good first of all.

I'm sure I will, at the right time, write up a seasons review, however for me the recent dip in form is down to two things - experience and luck (or put another way, the lack of both). The former you can do something about, the latter, you've got no control over - it's the former I'm more interested in.

When you're younger, things tend to happen to you, rather than you influencing things around you. When you're older, you are still susceptible to random acts but experience gives you the authority to take control as soon as that becomes possible.

This season, lots of things have happened to this young team, some good, some not so good, and others just plain bad.

This season, this young team saw a terrible injury inflicted on one of their own team members. In that game, they found character and spirit to lift themselves up, and turn a goal deficit into a 2-1 lead, only to drop 2 points due to an uncharacteristic gift from a usually dependable left-back, combined with a really bad refereeing decision to award a penalty.

This season, this young team led the league for just over 60% of the time, something they haven't done before - they will have learned from that.

This season, this young team looked to be cruising with just 10 games to go. After four draws and a loss, they're now 6 points behind the leaders Manchester Utd.

This season, this young team, if they do not win the league, would've lost it on the draws, of which there have been too many. This has happened to them for two seasons now.

Even as late as yesterday, the young squad learnt that it is worth never giving up. To be 2-0 down at half-time, down to 10-men, away at a cold, rain-soaked ground at which Arsenal hadn't won a league game for a long while, they still managed the comeback of the season to win 3-2.

Once something has happened to you, experience will ensure that you remember both the pattern of events that led up to the occurrence, as well as what you did or didn't do right after it occurred.

And experience comes with the ability to spot the patterns that lead to consequences.

So what's the point I'm making?

Regardless of what happens in the next two months, whether we win the league, come second, third, fourth or worse, this young team, has learnt more about football and life this season than the rest of the top-four teams put together.

This season has been a massive improvement from the last two seasons, and next season, they will come back older, wiser and much stronger than ever.

They will understand, that it only takes one or two mediocre performances for the whole season to come crashing down.

They will know, that they should never underestimate any opposition.

They will understand that with 15 seconds to go, it is better to force an acquaintance between the ball and Row 'Z', rather than trying to make a pointless through pass and risk disaster.

When they go 1-0 up at a place like Chelsea, they will better control the park, and not give the opposition the chance to come at them.

They will know, that for their own sake it is better to always push for an early goal rather than concede and keep chasing 1-1 scorelines.

They will understand, that even if they go 2-0 down, there is always a way to get back into the game.

They will know that no team in the premiership is a push-over, and that for 37 games, they'll have to be at their very best.

They will understand, that they need to start shooting from outside the penalty area.

And although they are still, just, in the title race, this season has been more about the team finding out how good they are within themselves. And if you'll excuse me another analogy, this season has been more about the left jab, before the right hook. Next season, this team will have more authority, and will take control in more games than not.

When you combine all of the above life experiences, with their sheer innate talent, their speed and their athleticism, you begin to see a different picture than what is the current doom and gloom.

This young squad has gained tremendous experience, and shown great character and spirit in the last couple of seasons. With time, this will convert itself into unquestioned self-belief, and then, things will start to get interesting, very interesting indeed.

The brilliant thing is, in the short-termist world that we live in, these facts are mostly flying under the radar, and still the pundits and football writers don't recognise this at all. Indeed, they point to the recent bad run as proof that this squad is not capable of mounting a winning campaign.

For all who yet haven't seen the future or who have but need a bit of cheering up, let me don my Tomorrows World hat (cough) and point something out to you:

Whilst Fergie is waiting for his second European title so he can retire a legend and leave Manchester Utd with all their debt, and Chelsea are spending their way through players, 2½ head coaches and management by committee, and Rafa keeps rotating himself in and out of Liverpool boardroom skirmishes...

...Wenger the master alchemist, is slowly, quietly, and deliberately, constructing a monster right before our very eyes.

And when this beast is complete, with strength, with speed, with life experience, with talent, and with youth all very much tools in its arsenal, it will leave all who encounter it in absolute awe.

Mark my words.