Arsenal are flying high in the Premier League at present, sitting pretty at the top of the table after 31 games.
For what seems like an eternity, the Gunners were a shadow of their former selves, with the odd FA Cup win the best their fans could hope for.
And even after Mikel Arteta took the reins, Arsenal continued to go through the motions for a while, and progress appeared slow.
Until last season, that is. All of a sudden, everything clicked for the Gunners, and they gave Manchester City a solid title race right until the final stages.
And despite the disappointment of just falling short, Arsenal have only got better and better. Now, they’re still firmly in contention for the title.
One of the most impressive things about the current Gunners crop is their defence. They’ve conceded a mere 24 goals in the league this season, six fewer than second-placed Liverpool.
Arsenal’s defence was pretty rickety in recent years, but last season, with William Saliba bursting onto the scene, it was much improved. And this season, it’s got even better.
Back in 2004, when Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles didn’t lose a single league game en route to the title, they conceded just 26 goals in the campaign.
This is something that Pat Nevin has touched upon in the latest BBC Football Extra newsletter.
What has Pat Nevin said about the Arsenal defence?
The BBC Sport pundit believes the Gunners have “re-learned” how to be “miserly in defence” as was the case 20 years ago, but also labelled them the “new Arsenal”.
He wrote: “There is an old adage in football, good defences win you titles. With the free scoring of Manchester City and Liverpool in recent years the phrase has fallen slightly out of favour, but should it?
“Top of the table Arsenal have scored the most Premier League goals so far, but they have also conceded the fewest.
“In five of the last six seasons, the team that shipped the fewest goals has won the league.
“The outlier was when City won it conceding a single goal more than just one other team, that was Liverpool who were second.
“Being miserly in defence is as a good a marker as scoring the most goals and Arsenal have clearly learned this, or re-learned it. It used to be their stock in trade during their old ‘Invincibles’ days.
“There are a few ‘tells’ that you can see this season. First is their nastiness at corners against. They fight, grab, bully and snarl every time at every opponent.
“This is the new Arsenal, happy to add ugly defending to their beautiful flowing attacks.
“The muscular clean sheet defensive performance at the Etihad was a classic example and another came against Brighton at the weekend.
“Three-nil up in the 91st minute, it wasn’t just Gabriel’s goal-saving, body-on-the-line block that was so impressive, it was the way he and his team-mates celebrated it.
“If you thought soft Arsenal were just about to crumble like last season this was the definitive answer.”
TBR View
It’s great to see Arsenal boast a watertight defence that reassures not only the rest of the team, but the fans in the stands too.
As an Italian of a certain vintage, I clearly remember the Italy side that won the 2006 World Cup.
And you got this feeling that, even when the opposition threatened, you actually felt a sense of calm and reassurance because you knew the defence was so good.
That’s sort of what it’s like now with the Arsenal team, and it’s a great feeling to have.
But obviously the whole reminiscing thing only really applies for tournaments which have passed, so let’s see – and let’s hope – that the Gunners continue to do what they’ve been doing, at the front, at the back and in midfield.
The post 'Used to be their stock in trade': Arsenal have now 're-learned' something the Invincibles used to do - BBC pundit appeared first on TBR Football.