Little by little, Mikel Arteta is shaping the Arsenal first-team side into something resembling his own image.
Purposeful, dynamic and professional are all words that could be used to describe the current squad.
There’s a long way still to go of course, but the Spaniard is setting down the ground rules at the Emirates Stadium and leaving no one in any doubt that he means business.
This former Gunners great wants to take the club back to the promised land and by doing things his way, the north Londoners may well be on the right track.
In Arsene Wenger’s final years at the club and fairly quickly after Unai Emery’s hire, Arsenal were written off as being too soft.
Perhaps that was something that stemmed from the management downwards, but we’ve seen in Arteta’s handling of the Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil situations that he isn’t a manager that will be walked over.
If he can mould the squad to how he wants, bringing in players that share his enthusiasm for hard work and the ‘team before I’ mentality, then it might not be too long before we’re talking about the north Londoners in reverential tones once more.