There is an unshakeable feeling watching this Arsenal side, as they make a fourth attempt at lasting the distance in a title race.
In the 2022-23 season, they battled inexperience. A year later, Manchester City went unbeaten from December 6 onwards. Last season, injuries were the biggest obstacle.
Now, though, the excuses are over. It has to be this season. The sense is Arsenal's real fight is with themselves and their own past. At the moment, it is a fight they are losing.
The Gunners need no reminders of the weight of history on their shoulders but they are getting it every time they step onto a pitch.
At Molineux on Wednesday, the Wolves fans followed the pattern of opposition supporters chanting "second again, ole ole" at the Arsenal players, as has been the case for weeks. Even the Wigan fans had a go when 4-0 down.
For the majority of this season, Arsenal have been able to rebuff accusations of bottling and mental weakness. The previous failures came with context and this season the table backed up the fact everything was in place for them to succeed.
After a 2-2 draw with Wolves, having been two goals up, all bets are off. This was a pathetic performance, the kind to shake belief and reframe opinions. It was as bad as Arsenal have produced this season and considering the context one of the very worst of Arteta's tenure.
Bukayo Saka declared after the match that "it's still in our control", with Arsenal five points clear of Manchester City.
The problem is they have played a game more. The problem is it is also in City's hands, as Arsenal still have to go to the Etihad Stadium in April. The problem is the Gunners have won two of their past seven league matches.
Arsenal have had chance after chance to put this title race effectively to bed over the past six weeks. Instead, they have repeatedly stumbled, allowed City back into it, and now piled the pressure on themselves. It is only going to get harder from here.
The Gunners were astonishingly bad on Wednesday against one of the worst sides in Premier League history.
In the second half against Wolves, Arsenal completed fewer passes than their hosts, who have won once in the league all season. They registered just one shot on target in those 45 minutes.
Even when Piero Hincapie doubled their lead shortly after half-time, Arsenal "never got a grip and dominance of the game", as Arteta put it.
They had gone 2-0 up in little more than first gear and that seemed to only cement in their minds that no more than that was required.
Arteta spent much of the second half screaming at his players to calm down and keep the ball but there was no technical security from his players, no calmness. To not kill the game, having been a goal up after five minutes and two to the good with an hour played, was unforgivable.
Santiago Bueno scored a brilliant goal from distance to pull one back and the panic only grew from there.
Arsenal have got away with holding onto narrow leads many times this season - against Wolves and Brighton at home and away at Bournemouth, to name a few - but that has not proved sustainable.
That is now seven points dropped from winning positions in 2026. Champions are ruthless but this Arsenal side are far from that at both ends of the pitch.
The air of nervousness was clear at Molineux, right through to the panic when Gabriel and David Raya both tried to deal with an aimless cross in stoppage-time.
The ball was spilled at the feet of Tom Edozie to finish. Arsenal are the first side to be top of the Premier League and let a two-goal lead slip against a team in the bottom three.
No wonder Arteta had little interest in defending his players from questions over their mentality.
"I think any question, any criticism, any opinion, you have to take it on the chin today," Arteta said in his post-match press conference.
"That's it. Any bullet, take it, because we didn't perform at the level that is required. So anything that anybody says can be right, because we didn't do what we had to do.”
Arsenal's result will have given City a further jolt of belief and it has also guaranteed they face an even more raucous atmosphere this weekend.
They make the short trip for a north London derby against Tottenham, who will be smelling blood and the chance to well and truly derail Arsenal's title hopes.
Arsenal's dismal showing at Molineux has effectively turned the derby into the football equivalent of a referendum on their mentality. It is the ultimate test of what they are made of.
Arteta is now facing four days that could define the season, a season that will define the Spaniard’s tenure. It is on a knife edge and galvanising the squad for a trip to Spurs is one of the biggest challenges Arteta has faced as manager.
Victory in the lion's den would be a timely, and much-needed, show of character.
More dropped points, though, and Arteta's side will be in danger of imploding. The "second again" chants would be deafening. They might also be prescient.
