Arsene Wenger has Arsenal in seventh heaven but they can still learn from Jose Mourinho and Manchester United

It is time for Arsenal to enjoy the golden glow of Autumn and keep the goals pouring in. They’ve earned it. Next up after the 6-0 hammering of Ludogorets in the Champions League are Middlesbrough at home on Saturday.

After that they are away to Sunderland. Those are two fixtures which, on the current form of both sides, offer Arsenal six handy ‘ticking over’ points of the kind managers of the elite clubs know form the bedrock of any serious title challenge.

Planted around those two Premier League dates are an EFL Cup tie at home to Reading and a return trip to Ludogorets in Bulgaria.

With confidence so high among the players after seven straight wins Arsenal should glide merrily through to the beginning of the November and really begin to feel good about themselves.

We’re in one of those periods when you begin to wonder how it is that Wenger’s dedication to expansive attacking football and style hasn’t carried all before it in recent years.

Actually, however, we know why.

Still, amid all the goals in north London - Swansea were beaten 3-2 last weekend - the most important lesson of the week for Arsenal should be the one delivered by Jose Mourinho in Manchester United’s defensive masterclass at Anfield.

More of that from Arsenal down the years and they might not be waiting for their first league title since 2004.

They could even try it on like this when they go to Old Trafford and Wenger comes up against his tormentor Mourinho on November 19.

We know they can get tough in this way as they did it so memorably when they won 2-0 at Manchester City in January, 2015. No championship was ever won without grinding out a few results. Arsenal need to embed that in their DNA alongside their love of flair and daring.

Few at the Emirates would complain – and certainly not those who enjoyed the successes of the George Graham years at Highbury.

The ability to get tight, close down, shut up shop and frustrate opponents is as critical and admirable a part of football as any other.

Many supporters have, in fact, been imploring Wenger to appreciate this more during the past decade although he seems to have been moving further and further away from entertaining any such beliefs in recent years.

It is about time the new keyboard warriors of social media who pass so much judgement on football learned this fact rather than preening themselves and stroking their own egos by endlessly declaring their love for the Beautiful Game.

Do they imagine that football is there to be enjoyed? It is far too big, deeply-rooted and intensely followed for that.

Any proper follower of the sport understands that there is as much stimulation to be gained from watching one side challenge the other to break them down.

It requires an appreciation of organisation, resolve, mentality and grit as well as ability. If everyone played like Barcelona, they wouldn’t be special, would they?

Of course, the Liverpool versus Manchester United game was over-hyped. But that’s what modern fans seem to want. At least on the global scale, they do. Did anyone seriously expect Mourinho to go along with the plot just to keep the customers happy? And thereby lose his first trip to Anfield as United boss?

You have to admire his determination to do things his way and play grown-up football rather than pander to the PlayStation generation, who just want tricks, flicks and wonder goals.

Unhappily, amid the celebration of the rout of Ludogorets, Arsenal still managed to plant a seed of doubt about their ability to adopt a comprehensively hard and cussed mentality.

Rio Ferdinand was spot on to condemn the player’s broadcast of the grinning selfie photograph they took in the dressing room after the game. Wait until you’ve won something big was Fedinand’s message. And he should know.

The 3-0 defeat of Chelsea stands out as a major achievement for Arsenal so far this season. Its part of a superb run of form. Let’s see, though, if they can be as tough as they need to be when they face Spurs at home and United away successively next month.

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