Arsenal: Mikel Arteta turning Gunners into contenders

It has been a great start to the season for the Gunners, who have won their first four games of the season for the third time.

In 2003-04 they won the title and in 2004-05 they finished second.

Even though Mikel Arteta said they were in for a "long, long marathon", fans are still optimistic that they will win the title.

Arteta has overseen change at the club during his three-year reign, which would be a big step forward if they were to qualify for the playoffs.

He has been in charge of the club for 100 games and the contrast between his first 50 and the second is amazing.

What has changed at the club?

A shift in mentality is the most visible difference.

"We're all so hungry to win each game, that's why we're so upbeat after the latest victory," said the England forward. We are going to do this for the entire season.

Alan Smith said there was a belief that had been building.

It hasn't been the most challenging but it has been flawless. They look at the harder challenges and are confident in their abilities. It was a learning curve last season, but it will bode well for a great season.

In the win over the newly promoted side, the belief was shown as they came from behind to win.

There was a danger Gabriel would allow his mistake to consume him when the Brazil defender moved back into position for the kick-off.

Instead, captain Martin Odegaard's persistence, along with a bit of luck, led to a swift equaliser, as well as a strong reaction from the team.

Gabriel redeemed himself with the 85th-minute winner, making sure he was first to the ball in a scramble from close range to give the Gunners all three points.

There was a lot of celebration from the stands at the stadium, with injured Oleksandr Zinchenko jumping into Gabriel's arms in a show of unity at the club.

My brothers kept saying "let's go" even after I lost the ball. Gabriel said that his team-mates helped him.

He scored the winning goal after coming back from a 2-0 deficit. The team's character is shown in this picture. We lift people up when they make a mistake.

Arteta wanted to get the right culture and Saturday's win shows they are building something, according to Karen Carney.

What kind of person? It looked like it was a certain day. She said that it was not a great game but they got it done.

The effect on supporters and their confidence in the team is something to think about.

Winning like this is really nice. Arteta said how we reacted against adversity, the way we went about it, the team believed after we made a mistake.

We were able to do it because they wanted to win the match. Gabriel is looking after himself in a different way. I'm happy for him because he has the mental and physical strength to overcome those challenges.

Smith said that optimism is overflowing. The team is exciting. There are noise levels at the airport. I haven't heard it in a long time.

The top four will be the goal of the team, and I think they are a better team than last year. All good teams are judged on their performance in the European competition.

Arteta's 100 games in charge

• Arteta picked up 75 points in his first 50 games in charge (W21 D12 L17).
• He picked up 100 points in his second 50 games in charge (W32 D4 L14).
• Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp won just one more game during his first 100 games than Arteta has with Arsenal.
• Arteta has won the same amount of games with Arsenal as Ole Gunnar Solksjaer did in his first 100 with Manchester United, while the Spaniard has won one more than Mauricio Pochettino did with Tottenham en route to the same milestone.
• In his past 50 games, Arteta has won more than all of those three opposition managers during the same timeframe and earned just two points fewer than Solksjaer's Manchester United.
• To put it in perspective, the 32 games won by Arteta in his 51st-100th game in charge is just two fewer than Pep Guardiola did with Manchester City in his first half century of games at the club.