There are few better settings for Arsene Wenger to prove his vision can become a reality once again.
Arsenal’s beautiful game left Wembley enthralled as Wenger rewrote the history books by becoming the first post-war manager to win the FA Cup six times.
Yes, you did hear right. The Frenchman is back to setting records and winning trophies. After some of the criticism from the Wenger-out brigade, it is all too easy to forget he is the Gunners’ most successful manager.
It seems a distant memory when, in December, Arsenal fans shouted abuse at Stoke railway station after a defeat and that “Thanks for the Memories – Time to Say Goodbye” banner. They are creating new memories.
The magic of this team is they combine style and entertainment with being ruthless, are stronger mentally and definitely have the chance to do something even more special.
Gallery: Arsenal win the 2015 FA Cup
Wenger appears finally to have found a balance between attacking football and a more solid defence. At their peak, Arsenal are surely the best team to watch in the country.
But the question remains whether they can win the title again playing their open, expansive and attractive football against the pragmatism of Jose Mourinho, Manchester City’s millions or even Louis van Gaal’s philosophy.
That is why the second half of the season – including an eight-game winning run – was not significant just for fans. It also convinced the players they can do it. It restored their belief.
“I think we’ve seen that since January,” said Wenger. “We’ve made progress on the mental side and on mastering our games and on being less naïve and better balanced and knowing what to do. We were in a bad position in January. We were seventh and not many people were predicting we would finish the season like that.
“We still have things to do, I’m conscious of that. But I am conscious as well that mentally and tactically we’re stronger. And the technical quality is not bad.”
Wenger’s teams have always had technical quality. From the brilliance of Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie.
But recent teams had a soft centre, were too easy to beat and came up short in the big games.
Now they have retained the FA Cup, finished third and seem to have discovered a potent mix of style and steel. They were 12 points short of champions Chelsea but form since January suggests they can compete for the title next season.
They were painfully inconsistent in the first half of the season, good going forward but struggling to defend.
Francis Coquelin has added steel to the midfield, Santi Cazorla’s deeper lying role has been as influential as it was at Wembley while Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have lived up to their big price tags.
Wenger added: “Chelsea had a very balanced team with quality everywhere. I think we made up ground at the end of the season.
“Now it’s about the start. We come here for the Community Shield and will have a little bit of a better view of what’s going on.
“I feel we’ve moved forward and people think always it’s about buying but it’s about cohesion as well and cohesion is a very important factor that’s often underrated.
“We have to keep that cohesion and maybe add quality.”
Villa could not lay a glove on Arsenal on Saturday. Theo Walcott got the opener, Sanchez added a second just after half time, and Per Mertesacker and substitute Olivier Giroud completed a rout.
It is hard to remember a more one-sided final since Manchester United beat Millwall 3-0 in 2004. Millwall had just finished tenth in League One. Or maybe Arsenal just made Villa look second rate.