Mikel Arteta could scarcely have wished for a more whirlwind introduction to life as Arsenal manager.
Ten weeks into his new role he has seen it all: the glorious highs of victories over major rivals, the crushing disappointment of an unexpected European exit and the gruelling new year fixture list that comes with competing on multiple fronts. He may be a relative managerial rookie but Arteta has completed Arsenal 101.
Arteta arrived at the Emirates Stadium on December 20 with the delight and enthusiasm that inevitably comes with a first shot at the big time. He would not be the first to be ground down by the harsh realities of management, particularly after the devastating exit from the Europa League at the hands of Olympiacos.
Yet less than 48 hours on from the first true low point of his tenure Arteta is as certain as ever that he and Arsenal have made the right choice.
"I love the responsibility, I love the challenge," he told football.london. "I'm so excited about what we can do at this football club.
"I'm very convinced that the way I want to do it is going to work. I don't know how long it is going to take, or the time and the resources but we will find a way to do it."
Why is he so convinced? "Because I can see the way they reacted, I can see the belief they have in what we are trying to do and if it's like that the processes normally work really well.
"There are several factors we can't control, we can only control what we can do and we have to insist on that and we have to generate belief."
It perhaps has proven easier for former Arsenal captain Arteta to settle in an area he has such deep ties with.
He and his young family have found a new home in London with his two children at new schools following Arteta's departure from his job as Manchester City assistant.
"My wife has done it for me," Arteta admitted. "I haven't had much time to do all this and put the kids in school. There's been a lot of things going on.
"But I'm really enjoying it. It's been a big challenge to get a new job, such a big job, to move to another city and get to know everyone again even if there's a lot of people that are still here.
"Then I have to try to lead the players and put a lot of energy into that. I'm still very excited. It was a massive disappointment the other night but I think we are in the right process."
On and off the field Arteta has certainly made his presence felt at Arsenal, making clear to the first-team squad that there are standards of behaviour, application and commitment that are non-negotiable under his tenure.
Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos have already fallen foul of their manager but it is to Arteta's credit that he has proven to be firm without being unyielding, bringing both players back into the fold once they had proven they had learned their lesson.
Thursday's defeat to Olympiacos was a hammer blow to the morale of an Arsenal side that had just begun to build winning momentum under Arteta but the cloud hanging over London Colney since does at least come with its silver linings. A manager who prior to the winter break was taking charge of a game every four days will know have time on the training ground to set deeper foundations for his players to build on.
"We have had to deal with a lot of situations in this period and it's been a great learning curve for me in terms of where the club is at the moment and the players we have, knowing about the squad," Arteta said.
"But there will be weeks now where we have more time to work and prepare ourselves better than what we did instead of being game, recovery, pre-match then game again. But what happened still hurts a lot."
Even if the fixture list does ease Arteta's intensity is unlikely to follow. "I don't think it's possible to switch off," he said.
"At the moment with the fixtures we've had and the things I want to implement and the things that have to be done here, we'll have time in the summer to do that but at time we'll have to reflect on what we've done.
"But I don't need that breather. At the moment I still have a lot of energy and I'm fine."
