Arsenal resilience has developed ahead of schedule

The first green shoots have emerged. From justified concerns regarding squad-depth adequacy to persistent scepticism in some quarters about their mettle, the situation at Arsenal is often portrayed as a sort of corporeal Jenga, with the club always precariously balanced and one false move away from being plunged into despair.

However, the Gunners’ gradual climb up the Premier League table has defied such bleak expectations.

With each passing week, they are showing a remarkable ability to adapt to conditions at the highest level, which suggests their anticipated future developments may be already taking shape.

Concrete examples of this resilience have manifested in response to key injuries during the campaign, including Ramsdale’s withdrawal for the win at Villa Park. His absence was just the latest occasion when Arteta has had to shuffle his light pack, after coping without Takehiro Tomiyasu for much of the year as well as multiple Covid diagnoses, while Granit Xhaka recorded just 81 minutes of football between late September and our pre-Christmas trip to Goodison Park.

Positive Arsenal responses to mounting pressure, injuries and adversity indicate that the club have quickly developed much-needed resilience

Although enforced changes might have at least sparked a wobble, the commendable efforts of each replacement have allowed the team to march on unfazed, accumulating an impressive 31 points from the last 13 Premier League matches and maintaining a performative consistency that still sees us leading the charge for the top four.

The group’s quick maturation is further evidenced by a dramatic upturn in away form as Arsenal have registered five consecutive victories on the road for the first time since 2015. They have repeatedly demonstrated precocious grit and perseverance in adverse circumstances – notably against Villa and in both games against Wolves – to grind out crucial wins.

Of course, this is something for which the players themselves deserve great credit. But such swift adaptation is also a testament to Arsenal’s meticulous recruitment policy as, in addition to identifying those with the desired sporting attributes, they have also found some big personalities with the mental fortitude and diligence to help us navigate through what has been an extremely turbulent period in our history.

As they continue to answer critics and showcase their talents on the pitch, this young group are fast restoring a feel-good factor to the club and are well on their way to becoming the forces of nature we have long suspected they would.

Whether or not it leads to a happy ending in May remains to be seen but, as the process draws ever closer to the endgame, there is plenty to whet the appetite.