They say good things come in threes, and that idiom certainly rings true for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
After hanging up his boots at the end of the 2015-16 season and bidding an emotional goodbye to the Emirates crowd, Arteta received a lukewarm welcome back three years later, taking on the poisoned North London chalice that had claimed Unai Emery only a few weeks before.
Another three years later, and the revered Spaniard has led Arsenal to the top of the Premier League table with a five-point buffer over Manchester City, where Pep Guardiola taught him the ways before the student sought to become the master.
Stepping into the gold-plated shoes of Arsene Wenger was a bridge too far for Emery, who left the club in a total state of disarray after being given the boot, but those upstairs and on the turf had hardly covered themselves in glory either.
Fast-forward to December 2022, and Arsenal are guaranteed to sit at the summit of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time since the 2007-08 season, but Arteta's journey has experienced its fair share of roadblocks threatening to derail his five-step plan.
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The former Everton lynchpin was not a total novice to the managerial landscape before being hired by Arsenal in 2019, having stepped in for the suspended Guardiola during a Champions League tie against Lyon in September 2018, which ended in a 2-1 defeat.
The fresh-faced 37-year-old - whose hair barely looked like it had been touched since his playing days - was understandably not most Gooners' first-choice appointment, with some demanding the immediate success that either Carlo Ancelotti or Massimiliano Allegri could possibly have promised.
However, the powers-that-be had a vision, and Arteta was the lead protagonist. For his first game in charge of the Gunners - away to Bournemouth on Boxing Day 2019 - the Spaniard inherited a disjointed squad with only a handful of survivors still around at London Colney.
Of the 18 players selected for the matchday squad at the Vitality Stadium three years ago, only Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe have survived Arteta's ruthless period of culling. Nicolas Pepe is still around - albeit on loan at Nice - but the Ivory Coast international's record £72m signing marked one of a few notable blemishes from the pre-Arteta eta.
No hints of sentimentality were shown to players that Arteta had shared a dressing room with only a few years prior to taking the job - Mesut Ozil found that out quickly enough, and not even Hector Bellerin, who captained the side on seven occasions under Arteta, was immune from the chop when it became clear that upgrades were needed.
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Guardiola's protege stamped his authority on the team as soon as he signed that dotted line, highlighting his desire to only recruit those with the same "respect, commitment and passion" that he possesses, as uncovered by the insightful All or Nothing Amazon Prime documentary.
Forget the three strikes and you're out rule, one strike under Arteta and you would be consigned to the fringes. The Spaniard did not hesitate for a second before dropping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a North London derby for lateness - a move that could have had serious ramifications had the Gunners not run out 2-1 winners in March 2021.
Prior to their well-documented falling out, Arteta and Aubameyang's relationship was symbiotic. During the dark days of Arteta's reign where a creative outlet was lacking, a long ball from Kieran Tierney up to Aubameyang was sometimes the best route to goal for the Gunners.
That tactic culminated in an FA Cup and Community Shield success for the North London club, making Arteta the first Arsenal manager since George Graham in 1986-87 to win a trophy in his debut season, but such a formula was hardly a sustainable one.
While experimenting with his best formation, Arteta dabbled in a three-man backline during Arsenal's run to an empty Wembley for the 2020 FA Cup final, where even defenders deemed 'uncoachable' such as David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi raised eyebrows with their steadfast showings.
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Arteta's passion was infectious, but his yearning to restore Arsenal to the glory days of the noughties was even more so, and his energy rubbed off onto his players very quickly indeed. Case in point, the redemption arc of Granit Xhaka.
Being booed by your own supporters must be one of the worst feelings for a professional sportsman or woman, and against Crystal Palace in 2019, Xhaka was in no mood to accept any hostile taunts from the Emirates crowd, firing back at the crowd with his own set of unsightly gestures.
Not a single soul expected Xhaka to wear the Arsenal shirt again, but all that Arteta asked for was six months. Six months to convince the Switzerland captain that he belonged, and Xhaka accepted that proposal as Jose Mourinho's Roma continued to monitor developments in the background.
While slowly managing to improve his standing with Gooners, an extremely quiet contract extension in 2021 signalled that Arsenal were aware that not everything was rosy between Xhaka and the fans, especially with the midfielder still possessing a propensity for ill discipline and red cards.
However, transforming Xhaka into a goalscoring number eight has worked wonders for Arteta, who has overseen the unwanted Swiss star's metamorphosis into one of Arsenal's most crucial performers, which typifies the project that the Spaniard has been working on over the past 36 months.
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When negotiating with a player, Arteta ostensibly wants to make it clear that he will only welcome new faces who are prepared to leave any egos at the door and would die for the shirt. It is fair to say that every player at the Spaniard's disposal now fits that description to a tee.
Xhaka's monumental rise from the doldrums has no doubt been helped by a fit-again Thomas Partey, who has seemingly banished his perennial injury problems to do the dirty work as Arteta's number six, allowing Xhaka to foray forwards and unleash his fearsome left foot.
Gunners fans still hold some apprehension over the future of William Saliba, but amid unwavering criticism for failing to give the French starlet a chance before this season, Arteta has arguably managed his development perfectly, and he enters 2023 having been one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League season so far.
Much has been made of Arsenal's "pulling power" during their barren period with no Champions League football, but convincing Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to leave behind the world of guaranteed success with Man City demonstrates Arteta's specialities in building relationships with his crop of stars.
Getting players on his side has been one thing for Arteta, but the ex-Barcelona product has worked his magic in harmonising the club from top to bottom. The club's owners, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, are not exactly held in high regard following the European Super League debacle, but Josh Kroenke is a firm believer in Arteta's abilities and can often be seen with a beaming smile on his face at the London Colney training base.
Working in tandem with Kroenke and Arteta is another ex-Gunners midfielder in Edu, who has also had to bear the brunt of Gooners' frustrations if a proposed move for a big-name target does not materialize, but the Brazilian has now been promoted to the club's first-ever sporting director amid apparent interest from clubs elsewhere.
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For all the years of dissatisfaction at boardroom level, Arteta has played a major role in reinventing the club's strategy. Chiefs hold no reservations over pursuing a transfer target if Arteta gives them the green light - such is the confidence in the 40-year-old's footballing brain.
The #Artetaout brigade welcomed a plethora of new members towards the end of 2020, but Arsenal had committed themselves to a long-term project when hiring Arteta, who himself has committed to a new deal until 2025 while Barcelona and Man City supposedly line him up as a future head coach.
We may have been waxing lyrical nonstop about Arteta's achievements over the past three years, but he above anyone else will be keen to stress that he is yet to really achieve anything. After all, two eighth-placed finishes and one fifth-placed standing is unacceptable for a club of Arsenal's calibre.
Arteta will hold the unwanted honour of ending Arsenal's 25-year European streak, and the naysayers will point to the last time that Arsenal were top of the table at Christmas in 2007-08, where their season soon fell to pieces in the wake of Eduardo da Silva's horrific leg break.
In eerily similar fashion 15 years later, another newly-acquired Arsenal striker who has made an immediate impression is also set for a lengthy period on the sidelines, as Jesus prepares for a three-month rehabilitation period from knee surgery.
There can be no real comparison with the nature of Jesus and Eduardo's injuries, but a lengthy period without his star striker will provide the latest significant test to Arsenal's new-found mettle. Whether Arteta can indeed achieve the unthinkable and lead the Gunners to Premier League glory remains to be seen, but calls for the Spaniard to pack his bags are rightly quietening down.
