I'm not sure this is the thing I would choose to call Mike out on his negativity. Like Fletch said, Arsenal has the money to challenge (they spend that money worse than a small club with finite resources). The opportunity was there. I'm not sure there are many Arsenal fans on this board that would say this season hasn't been a disappointment.
Winning things:
Arsenal isn't going to win anything this year. The opportunity was there in the league. I myself thought they would do it after my trip to England in which I saw three home wins in person, though the warning signs were there (they struggled against Bournemouth and Newcastle, to be honest). Arsenal has struggled ever since (clearly due to my absence). Dropped points after dropped points, missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Arsenal isn't even guaranteed a Top Four spot with City and United both nipping at their heals.
The Champions League was a rough draw in that you got Bayern in the group and Barca in the Knockout. Regardless, you've got to be disappointed with both performances. Arsenal didn't completely struggle with Bayern, in fact, beating them in the first match. It was those dropped points in the first two games that made following the Champions League performances painful. I didn't expect anything from Barca, but the fact that Arsenal was able to stay with Barca for stretches and create goal scoring opportunities leave me lamenting the lack of quality up front. The best teams in the world have guys that take their opportunities. They have a Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Muller(!!!!), Aguero. Even Vardy and Kane, who [Kane] I'd take over Giroud anyway, have been better than anything Arsenal has had.
Style of play
Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal has been known to play a pretty attacking style. Playing this way can make up for some of the results. I love me some good team goals with brilliant build ups. This year's team has struggled mightily to score goals at times. It hasn't just been about when the goals are going to come, it's been about how. There has been a severe lack of chances created, let alone chances taken. There's been a lot of slow side to side passing without a lot of inquisition. This makes it hard to see where goals are going to come from versus making chances and not converting them. That's been better lately with the insertion of Iwobi, but for large stretches of the season, this team has been a struggle to watch. I would say that this has been the most painful team to watch since the season after Cesc left. That first year with Arteta was like watching a team kneed bread for 90 minutes, Jesus. Heck, this team might be more frustrating because of the opportunity to win the league.
Play against Rivals
If you're not going to win the league, you at least want to beat your rivals or make progress as far as having better performances. Well, first and foremost, it looks like Arsenal isn't going to finish above Tottenham for the first time since 1995. That's failure in and of itself. They beat a subpar United side at the Emirates, a team that Arsenal has consistently struggled with, then followed that up with a cartoonish loss in which they gave up 2 goals to a debutant. I'll still give them progress on this due to past struggles. They lost both times to Chelsea. I don't want to speak about either of those games. I saw them beat City at the Emirates. It was a good performance. Arsenal have done alright against City over the years though. We'll have to see how that match at the Etihad goes. Also, Arsenal beat the club that looks like they're going to win the league twice. There's some good mixed with the bad.
Overall
The season has been disappointing. Arsenal isn't winning anything. They had a chance to take the league and fell off. They didn't progress any further in the Champions League. They played worse football. If it wasn't for the mighty struggles of the other "top" clubs, Arsenal might find themselves buried in the table. This isn't negativity, it's reality.
If we're looking for good, there have been good individual performances. Ozil has been good. Cech has been good when healthy. Nacho has established himself as one of the best fullbacks in the Premier League. Iwobi looks like he may be a gem. It hasn't been enough to lift the side though.
It's shitty to do a post mortem with plenty still at stake, but there's a ton of resignation in this thread already.