Unai Emery is giving Arsenal the spine they sorely lacked

This was a summer of big change for Arsenal. For the first time in 22 years, they had a new man at the helm. A new era. A chance for a fresh start.

While opening fixtures against Manchester City and Chelsea reminded the Gunners fans how far off the top the team really is, it also showed us why the club is different from its last iteration under Arsene Wenger.

Particularly the game against Chelsea.

2-0 down inside the first 20 minutes of the game and struggling to keep up with the movement of the Chelsea attack, the Gunners looked like they were headed for a drubbing. Arsenal fans had seen this movie many times before and dreaded at what it could've turned into.

Memories of a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool in Wenger's 1000th game in-charge must have been flashing through their minds. But then, something changed.

Instead of rolling over and trying to save face, the Gunners actually struck back, creating two glorious opportunities for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which he somehow managed to spurn before equalizing within the first half with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi.

To be fair, it was against a Chelsea defense that looked vulnerable, to say the least but the spirit showed by the Gunners showed their fans how Emery was beginning to influence the team.

This is not to say that under Wenger, Arsenal were unable to claw their way back into games. However, you could sense they had a notorious underbelly. One which was often exploited when they went down. Especially against teams that would come to the Emirates to sit back and hit them on the counter.

There was a sense of inevitability about it. Not under Emery.

The results that followed the opening two fixtures have shown that. A 3-1 win over West Ham, at the Emirates, in a London derby that could have been really awkward flattered the Gunners, but it also showed their mental resolve. After going down early on to a Arnautovic strike, the Gunners kept their calm and kept on plugging at visitors defense and simply outfought their opponents to win, albeit with the help of some poor finishing by the Hammers.

A visit to Cardiff followed for what should have been a tight but winnable game but soon turned into a slugfest. Despite leading the game on two separate occasions, Arsenal let the home side back into the game in typical Arsenal fashion. However, Unai Emery's side simply refused to give up. And they were rewarded with Alexandre Lacazete's late winner, which in previous years, might have not come.

This was followed by a 2-1 reverse at St James' Park to Newcastle side that, at least in theory, should have challenged the Gunners better than they did. Granit Xhaka's beautiful free kick and Mesut Ozil's 1st of the season meant yet another victory that was ground out with a strong will.

It has been the same story ever since. And to be fair, they have had their fair share of luck. Xhaka's freekick was magnificent and so was Lacazete's goal against Everton last week. They've even had some pretty questionable decisions go their way (see - Aubameyang vs Everton).

But they've kept at it.

Make no mistake, this Arsenal team is still trying to find its own identity under a new manager.

But it is for everyone to see that times are changing at Arsenal. No longer do they simply roll over when the going gets tough. This team fights for every point that is available.

For so long Arsenal's fragile spine has cost the team a chance at aiming higher than it did. However, as this budding season has shown us, their new manager is going about correcting the flaws that this team has so often had.

In reshaping the squad in his own image, Unai Emery is giving Arsenal the spine they sorely lacked.