Arsenal are genuinely on the brink of ending 22 years of hurt and honestly, good for them. Say what you want about how they've played this season, and plenty has been said, but being in the mix for the title in May is all that matters when the dust settles. The points are the points.
But let's be honest with each other here. This hasn't been the slick, Saka-tearing-fullbacks-apart, Martinelli-running-riot Arsenal of two seasons ago. This has been a grittier, uglier, more streetwise version. Some weeks they've looked like a team discovering how to win without actually being very good on the day. A lot of 1-0s. A lot of hanging on. A lot of Raya doing things that make grown men need to sit down.
And here's the thing though. That might actually be the sign of a proper title winning team. The great ones find ways to win when they're not at their best. Liverpool under Klopp did it. City under Guardiola built a factory for it. Arsenal this season have had to learn that lesson in real time, on the job, no safety net. That takes something.
The elephant in the room of course is what happened the last two seasons. Bottle jobs. Textbook ones. So forgiven if some Arsenal fans are reading this with one eye closed waiting for the other shoe to drop. That scar tissue doesn't just disappear. You don't forget blowing a title race twice just because May looks rosier this time around.
But Arteta has clearly done something different this year. The squad looks more mentally hardened. Less shiny, more reliable. Like they've swapped the sports car for a proper truck that just gets the job done regardless of the weather.
If they actually win it, and right now it looks like they might, it will have been earned the hard way. No flukey run. No gift from the fixture list. Just grinding it out week after week until the line arrives. Twenty two years is a long time. Even neutrals would have to respect that.
Let me know your thoughts.