Mental strength – two words guaranteed to make any Arsenal fan laugh or shake their head. But against Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday we saw actual mental strength from this Arsenal side.
2. One off?
So, the next questions we ask are, was that a one-off because it was Wembley and a big side?
Are we going to see the same sort of performance against Leicester City or are we going to revert to type with a slow, ponderous start that gets the fans agitated?
Or are we going to come out and actually go for it? Going to act like this is a side that wants to win things? That wants to restore some pride? That wants to claw back the deficit, if not on Chelsea, then certainly on Spurs?
We’ll know on Wednesday night whether what we saw at Wembley was simply a bunch of players who just wanted to get to a final and weren’t actually playing for Arsenal or if they are now a team that have finally caught themselves on.
Have they realised that they are not a bunch of special princesses who don’t deserve special treatment, that they can’t exist in this Premier League wrapped in cotton wool and that Arsene Wenger cannot protect them from the wrath of angry Arsenal fans anymore
In just 48 hours or so, we’ll get the answers to some of those questions at least.