Mikel Arteta, something of a specialist in the art of finishing second, this year introduced more bite to his annual wistful Emirates Stadium ritual of saying things would be different next season.
A year ago, he conjured something rather beautiful out of finishing behind Manchester City, taking the microphone from the Emirates stadium announcer after the team had signed off in the sunshine against Everton, and telling the people: ‘You started to believe. You started to understand what we had to do. Don’t be satisfied. We want more than that.’
Arsenal’s social media team tweeted a gorgeous black and white video clip of Arsenal’s players that day, entitled ‘Keep Believing’.