Remember when the Premier League burst out of lockdown in June and Arsenal fans quickly wished it hadn't?
The very first day back and a miserable 3-0 drubbing by Manchester City. An error-strewn display in the rain exemplified by David Luiz being complicit in Raheem Sterling's opener before being sent off.
Outpassed, outclassed. 33 per cent possession, no shots on target. Mikel Arteta sheepishly accepting the commiserations of his former boss Pep Guardiola at the final whistle.
Four months later and the picture looks altogether very different.
Arteta's Arsenal are the ones enjoying the feel-good factor. Three wins from four to begin the new Premier League campaign and progress in the Carabao Cup that included a penalty shoot-out win over Liverpool. Thomas Partey finally delivered close to the transfer deadline.
More significantly, the clear emergence of an Arteta philosophy and signs of a more settled Arsenal team comfortable with how they're playing and with what they're trying to accomplish.
Over at the Etihad, there are growing fears Guardiola's City are becoming trapped in a downward trajectory.
Defensive flaws were once again exposed - and ruthlessly so - when Leicester won 5-2 there a few weeks back. Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United then hunted City into submission last time out.
Sure, City have played a match fewer than most but they're 14th with four points from nine. It's early yet but they already trail Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea in the standings.
Guardiola will be bristling to get back to action after a fortnight of international games but the prospect of his old right-hand man Arteta and his rapidly improving Arsenal is unlikely to offer much comfort.
It was always likely that Arteta was going to be influenced by Guardiola's highly effective way of setting a team up on the football field.
But even back in 2014, as his playing career at Arsenal wound down, Arteta already had a clear vision of how the teams he coached would play.
'I want the football to be expressive, entertaining. I cannot have a concept of football where everything is based on the opposition. We have to dictate the game, we have to be the ones taking the initiative and we have to entertain the people coming to watch us,' he said.
Remind you of anyone? It sounds very similar to Guardiola's outlook and this before Arteta spent three years learning from him at City.
Having settled into the Arsenal job he accepted last December, having drawn a few too many games as he decided on his best XI, having taken a tough stance against the likes of Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi, Arteta is getting there.
He's taken aspects of the Guardiola blueprint and combined it with a practical edge depending on the opposition and the circumstances.
Arsenal can't rival City's squad, nor do they have the financial muscle at the moment to do so any time soon. But as their upturn in results and last season's FA Cup triumph are showing, they've found a good way to play with what they have and it's working for them.
There were clear signs of Arteta's plan coming to fruition during their 2-0 win over City in the FA Cup semi-final and bear in mind this was just a month after their capitulation at the Etihad.
One is the high press. Guardiola is the manager who once challenged his Barcelona players to win back possession inside six seconds or else drop 10 players behind the ball.
It's the same at City, who don't give you a moment's peace, forcing the mistakes. But Arteta has his team putting in similar amounts of leg work to put opponents under pressure.
It was effective pressing by Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that panicked the City back line during the first-half at Wembley.
Arsenal couldn't take the particular chances that resulted but it eroded the confidence of City's defenders. A taste of their own medicine, if you like.
But the press remains a work in progress. Arsenal's isn't yet as sharp as Jurgen Klopp's famously claustrophobic one at Liverpool, or even City's, but it's getting there.
Then there is Arsenal's new-found assurance when passing out from the back. 32 per cent of Arsenal's possession has been in their own defensive third so far this season.
It's something that can go horribly wrong - and Arsenal twice gifted City chances during the early minutes of the semi-final.
But their assurance grew and the opening goal, scored by Aubameyang from Pepe's excellent cross from the right side, stemmed from David Luiz dribbling the ball out of defence after a succession of passes in their own box.
In matches against the likes of City and Liverpool, who employ such a relentless press, it's often possible to pick out players in abundant space if you can break out the trap.
For that goal, City had pushed forward so high and Hector Bellerin was left completely free on the right, finding Pepe who found Aubameyang.
The combination of Arsenal's own high press and confidence in their abilities to play out from the back form two central pillars of Arteta's way of playing.
This Saturday, we can expect Arsenal's defenders to effectively lure City forward, committing too many players, and then look for the space behind.
Indeed, since Arteta's first game in charge last Boxing Day, Arsenal have scored 11 goals in the Premier League following a sequence of 10 passes or more. There have been 77 such sequences already this season, second only to Chelsea with 81.
There have been other good examples of late - in the FA Community Shield win over Liverpool, Aubameyang's early opener started in Arsenal's own box.
Liverpool's players hared forward as soon as it became clear Arsenal were passing out from their keeper. But Arsenal's defenders were assured enough to find the outlet and they countered brilliantly to score.
Likewise Aubameyang's goal in the 3-0 opening weekend win at Fulham and Alexandre Lacazette's opener in what ultimately was a 3-1 loss at Anfield in the league.
This sure-footedness in playing out from the back - even from keeper Bernd Leno, who has been involved in the build-up to two goals this season - is translating into a better record in the games that matter.
Arsenal's record against other members of the so-called 'Big Six' had become torrid in the late Arsene Wenger era and under Unai Emery. They were frequently accused of bottling it in the biggest games, especially on the road.
But under Arteta, things have started to improve and it bodes well for this Sunday, when a trip to the Etihad might not carry the fear factor it had back in June.
They beat an admittedly free-wheeling Liverpool in the league late last season, plus City and Chelsea in the FA Cup. Liverpool were overcome again in the Community Shield, so recent form is good.
What's interesting is that in those games Arsenal have averaged just 36.4 per cent of possession. We're seeing a greater cutting edge when they do get the ball, a speed of movement from back to front when opportunities arise.
The old accusations that Arsenal played too many passes around the opponent's box without penetrating have gone.
During their time working together at City, Guardiola was always seen as the grand visionary with Arteta the training ground nuts and bolts man.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that all along Arteta did have his own philosophy - some parts similar to his mentor, others different, others tweaked a bit - and we're starting to see it come to fruition. Now for another acid test.