However, unless Arsene Wenger's men can overtake Chelsea and Manchester United in the last stages of the race for the Premier League title, they will end this season empty-handed. Again.
Their defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday when Lionel Messi scored all four goals in Barca's 4-1 victory left them chasing an improbable, but still possible, league title.
But there is no doubt they lack the cutting edge of some of Wenger's earlier sides at the club. No-one has quite matched the influence Tony Adams used to exert in defence or Patrick Vieira in midfield or Thierry Henry in attack.
Despite some wonderful approach work, and dazzling goals from such talents as Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin and occasionally Theo Walcott, Arsenal have lost the killer touch that they once possessed, most notably in their Premier League and FA Cup Double-winning campaigns of 1998 and 2002 and when their "invincibles" went through the League season unbeaten in 2003-04.
"When we decided to build the stadium I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth," he said at the time.
"I also felt the best way to create an identity with the way we play football, to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together.
"I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities, and with a love for the club. It was an idealistic vision of the world of football."
