There is a particular kind of silence that falls over the Emirates when someone mentions 2004. It is the silence of collective memory, of a generation of supporters who have grown up knowing only near-misses and what-ifs. On Friday, Mikel Arteta addressed that silence head-on.
"Let's break it," he said simply when asked about a statistic that haunts north London like a ghost. Five times since the Invincibles lifted the Premier League trophy, Arsenal have entered January on top of the table. Five times, they have watched the crown slip through their fingers.
A manager who refuses to look back
Arteta claimed he was not even aware of the dispiriting pattern before Friday's press conference. Whether that's true or simply a coping mechanism hardly matters. What matters is what came next.
"That's what the players transmit every single day when they're with us, training or in every match," the Spaniard explained. "You can see the desire, you can see the energy they put in, how much they want it, and that's what we need."
There is something different about this Arsenal squad. The 4-1 demolition of Aston Villa on December 30 was not just another win. It was a statement delivered with the kind of ruthlessness that championship teams possess. Villa had arrived at the Emirates riding an eleven-match winning streak. They left humiliated.
The January ghosts
The most painful of those five failures came three seasons ago. Arsenal led for most of the campaign before watching Manchester City storm past them in the final stretch. Arteta's players finished five points behind Pep Guardiola's juggernaut. It was the closest they had come since Patrick Vieira's famous penalty in Cardiff.
Now they stand four points clear at the halfway mark, with City held to a goalless draw at Sunderland while Arsenal were putting Villa to the sword. The maths looks encouraging. The history does not.
"There are still five months to go," Arteta acknowledged. "Take it day by day, enjoy that process of being where we are and go for it."
Bodies breaking, spirit intact
The human cost of this title challenge has been significant. Declan Rice missed the Villa victory with a knee injury sustained while playing as an emergency right-back against Brighton. The England midfielder took a knock in the first half of that match and somehow completed 90 minutes. His body paid the price.
"You get a hit, and during the game you are able with adrenaline, and because you are warm, to sustain that," Arteta explained. "But then the body reacts, and it reacted probably more than we expected."
Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Jesus have returned from their own absences, but the injury list has tested Arsenal's depth in ways that Arteta has described as "survival mode."
More than a statistic
Martin Zubimendi, one of the summer arrivals who has transformed Arteta's midfield, captured the mood after the Villa win. "We were playing at home and wanted to finish the year at the top of the table," the Spaniard said. "Aston Villa are a great team, tactically almost perfect, so we're very happy with the performance."
That tactical perfection was nowhere to be seen against an Arsenal side that dominated the second half with a ferocity that felt personal. This was not just about three points. This was about exorcising something.
The trip to Bournemouth awaits on Saturday. Then Liverpool at home. Then the relentless grind of a season that refuses to let up. Somewhere in the next five months, Arsenal will face a moment that defines whether 2026 brings glory or another chapter of almost.
Arteta, as ever, is thinking only about tomorrow. But the ghosts of January are thinking about him too.
