It is hard to imagine Arsene Wenger’s contract being extended by two years to 2019 had Arsenal not won the FA Cup last weekend. What further bolstered Wenger’s case was the manner in which his side outplayed the best team in the country to win the silverware. Few would doubt that there was incredible promise oozing from the 2-1 win at Wembley.

But even fewer would argue that potential has never been a problem at Arsenal. They’ve had that in abundance since Wenger joined the club 21 years ago. On their day Wenger’s boys have been good enough to beat Barcelona at their peak.

Even so, 13 years since Arsenal’s last league title with the Invincibles -- eight of which had no silverware at all (2005-2013) -- is Wenger’s side any closer to winning the league? For, let’s make no mistake about it, anything less than a league win over these two seasons, would be deemed a failure, even at Arsenal where board expectations have been significantly lowered with fears of an even worse plunge should Wenger leave the club.

In the 13 years that Arsenal haven’t won the league, Liverpool have come closer to winning the title than them (twice), and Leicester City have famously won the league.

Arsenal’s second place finish in 2015-16 was misleading in many ways, considering that they were never in the run for the league win, with Leicester’s only challenge coming from Tottenham -- Arsenal’s local rivals that they managed to pip at the end. Barring the 2006 final, Arsenal haven’t come close to breaking the duck in the Champions League -- a tournament they won’t be participating in the next season for the first time in two decades.

So what was it about Arsenal’s FA Cup win, their third in four years, that convinced the board that Wenger (still) is the man for the job? A lot of Wenger’s reputation is owing to what he achieved between 1998 and 2004 -- before the rise of Chelsea and Manchester City. With the aforementioned three FA Cups all that Arsenal have to show since 2005 is Wenger the man to finally repeat what he achieved all those years ago.

There was probably more than just the FA Cup win that added two more years to Wenger’s stay at Arsenal. The trophy was a culmination of a strong end to the season for the club, which saw them win nine out of their last 10 matches. The board and fans would hope that Arsenal kick off from where they left off at Wembley as the season begins.

Arsenal’s change in fortune -- intriguingly just like Chelsea’s -- began with a formation change and reverting to three at the back. The 3-4-2-1 formation that Wenger deployed against Middlesbrough in April, the first time he has gone to three at the back since his debut season, has transformed the way Arsenal play. With perpetual question marks over Arsenal’s defence, the new formation seems to have shored up that front as well.

Even so, for Arsenal to even begin to fulfill all the promise that they showed at the end of the season, Wenger’s contract extension needs to be followed by similar signatures by key players. Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain each have a year on their contract and have been attracting attention from top clubs in Europe and England. More than the other two, it’s Sanchez whose stay at Arsenal would depict the ambition of the club. If he is sold, it’s unlikely that Arsenal would find a remotely similar replacement, especially without Champions League football. Ozil and Sanchez staying would be a statement that Arsenal are going for the Premier League in the coming season.

Wenger already seems to have found a way to make his defence tick, with Per Mertesacker, Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal complementing each other perfectly in the final. The midfield duo of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey perfected their partnership in the middle of the park, with the former shielding the back three, allowing the latter to go into more forward positions, eventually culminating in his winner to win the FA Cup for Arsenal.

But again, everything has looked perfectly in place for Arsenal in the past as well. While previous failures have been put down to the "youthfulness" of the side, the team that failed to qualify for the Champions League -- at a time when all five of their main rivals did -- was the "most mature" squad Wenger had.

Also, with the two Manchester Clubs reeling from unfulfilling season -- despite United’s pseudo-treble of second-tier trophies -- neither City nor United would be happy with a season without winning the league next season. So that’s at least three sides who won’t be satisfied with their seasons if they do not win the league from Chelsea.

With City having already started spending big, and United to follow suit, their squads would only get stronger. If Arsenal do manage to pull off the league next season, it might be the club’s greatest ever achievement -- next only to, perhaps, the 2004 Invincibles.

If the same old Arsenal continues, the 2017 FA Cup win could prove costly for the club in the coming years.