This is a team / squad / group of maturing young men that is coming together (maybe I should rephrase that). The skill and technical ability were always there. The defensive teamwork, especially, is improving. Right now the work ethic and a new-found unity of collective defending plus the effort has suppressed some of the quality. Only some of the quality mind. The quality is there in fits and starts right now - but its not quite the free-flowing silky Arsenal we know and love because it’s got tougher, more gritty, has more bite and players generally are more liable to take one for the team, so to speak.

If anything we're winning ugly because the mean streak has arrived with the physical strength of slightly older players strutting their stuff with a growing confidence backed by more muscle. They can hold their own and they can do battle on equal terms but also knowing that they usually have more class in reserve than any opponent. Wenger's incredible patience is beginning to pay off. The will to win may still be somewhat intermittent and the ability to carve up negative sides still too erratic, but we're getting there.

The space we find away from home exceeds that which we find at our gaff and this is a problem that as yet has not been resolved but the signs are good. Our season is beginning to offer some real hope. We are not yet consistent enough to maintain a serious challenge but I do believe that we're getting a whole lot closer to doing so. Any team that strings a run of five or six winning games together now could quite easily go clear of the pack this season. And it could be us. I'm not saying it will be, but grinding it out is the way to go, the way to build momentum.

Chelsea clearly do not have a deep squad, United do not have a very deep squad, City have yet to show themselves to be a serious threat, Tottenham have yet to learn how to cope with two serious competitions at the same time. We've not shone yet but are just as capable of doing so as the rest, as soon as our lads realise this they could fly.

What's important next is that the belief will come with results and should we hit the top spot there will be a new collective willpower that has grown over a long period of time. How we cope with the top slot, should we reach it, is the next challenge and I think they'll be fine. With a fit squad, and we're getting there, the competition for places will intensify. It is starting to do so now, I don't see a stronger bench in the Premiership, do you? Rosicky, Walcott and van Persie on the bench with Vela and Bendtner not even in the squad. As an attacking force I don't see a stronger group around.

The adage that we'll not win anything with kids belies the patience shown by Wenger. The kids are growing but the production line is still in place, the conveyor belt of Brady, Bould and Banfield are still providing the goods - what was once Gibbs and Wilshere will soon be Emmanuel-Thomas and Lansbury. I'm optimistic.

Had the Chavs won this weekend and we'd lost the gap would have been eight points. They didn't win, we did. Keep the mouth shut and let the actions speak louder than the words. We have a team that has almost come of age. The next step is the hardest. The next step requires the belief of the fans as well as the team. They almost believe and it's down to us to provide that belief.

Get in there.