The memories of toil and falling short take time to be erased.
Arsenal under Mikel Arteta have been superb of late. Top of the Premier League table and battling in the Champions League quarter-finals, feats even the most ardent Gooner will not have fathomed say two years ago. The north London club finished fifth in the league in May 2022, for instance.
That was before two consecutive eighth-placed league finishes. And then last season, although utterly dominant for months, the Gunners were tripped up by Manchester City for the league title at the finishing line.