Arsene Wenger began November insisting Arsenal ’s annual curse would not strike again.
He faces Bournemouth on Sunday in the final Premier League match of the month still looking for his first top-flight win in it, after back-to-back draws at home to Tottenham and away against Manchester United .
It is a familiar story for a club who down the years they have seen several title campaigns come off the rails at this time.
Former Gunners including Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn still talk about November being unlucky.
Fourth-placed Arsenal could be six points off the title-race pace at kickoff, and cannot afford to lose more ground.
Wenger offered a simple solution at his pre-match press conference.
“You can put in your head we are in December and play football,” he smiled. “But there’s no mental block.
“We’ve played good teams in November. And we have lost a bit our drive going forward, but we have to focus on the quality of our game. That has nothing to do with the month you play.
“But at the moment, we haven’t lost. We had difficult games: Tottenham, Man United and of course Paris Saint-Germain [in the Champions League on Wednesday - also a draw]. It’s three difficult games in a row, but let’s see how we finish November.”
Arsenal did begin the month with victory away to Ludogorets in the Champions League (though they trailed 2-0 in that and didn't lead until a great 87th minute goal by Mesut Ozil), but Wenger cannot pretend it has been a happy period.
As for the reasons why, the dressing-room talk used to be about it being a bad month, which then puts it in the heads of the players.
This year, they have also been without Santi Cazorla because of an Achilles injury.
Wenger hinted that it’s about now that players feel tired, after three months of the season.
“In November, you see the first signs of players who need a little breather, especially in areas where you fight and run a lot,” said Wenger. “I try to combine both to give players fresh legs and also get around the fact that Santi’s not there.”
But Cazorla is not there and they miss his ability to set the tempo and break down opposition defences.
What has been almost as obvious is that, despite costing £34million in the summer, the Spaniard's fellow midfielder Granit Xhaka still cannot get a regular game.
Aaron Ramsey has played on in the centre of the park via an injection in a broken toe, and was not happy at being played out of position on the left at Old Trafford last Saturday.
Another midfielder, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, was even less pleased not to get a start against PSG.
There are selection dilemmas and problems for Wenger when, a month ago, Arsenal looked bang in form, full of confidence and genuine title contenders.
Then, November kicked in.
Wenger, leaping to the defence of Xhaka, said: “If you look at Thierry Henry at the start when he came here, he was not playing. He did not play until November. He was as well 23 years old [Xhaka turned 24 in late September]. We are in November - maybe we were in a bad period at the time!
“Xhaka needs to adapt, then we need to find the balance, we have the positional play, he plays in a deeper-lying midfield position, he passes through the lines. He needs to adapt to the way we play and the tactical pace of the English game.
"I am confident he will do very well.
“People want you to buy players but when you buy them we only have 11 and not 22 and they feel sorry for the 11 who do not play. But you want them to compete and convince you that they can get in the team and that it becomes obvious they have to play.
“I believe we have to find our game back.
"We didn’t lose, but if you do not create chances, that will not last.
"It’s important that we find our simplicity, speed and pacy combinations back. We missed that fluency, that security in our decision making that made us dangerous in the final third.”