I currently live in Canada, yes. I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in Dubai, hence the rather sentimental username (despite the deep reservations I have about that place now). Still, I digress.
As a theoretical reply to your assertion that a winning mentality cannot be built without a long history of winning, let's imagine that today, our midfield was comprised of Eriksen, Dembele, Lennon....and Roy Keane. In-his-pomp Roy Keane, obviously, before he declined and faded away. Everything else remains the same. Would the outcome have been the same? Would Keane have done nothing as Walcott did his little pantomime gig while being stretchered off? Would he have ignored Rose's error as most of our players did, and just gotten on with it? Would he have resignedly shrugged when that Monreal tripped Walker in the area and Clattenburg immediately signalled 'play on'?
I suspect you already know the answer. None of these things would have changed the immediate physical reality of the game: we would have remained 2-0 down. But I suspect that in the first instance, Keane would have chewed out Rose and, more importantly, bucked him up by chewing out other people for not providing passing options to him. In the second instance, he would probably have wandered over and started a fight with some Arsenal player and they would have to be separated by the referee. In the third instance, he would probably have sprinted to Clattenburg before yelling furiously inches from his nose while going steadily redder in the face. Additionally, based on his endeavors at United, I suspect that whenever we would slack off in said hypothetical game, Keane would angrily bark at the players to toughen up before launching himself into a blood-and-thunder tackle on some poor Arsenal slob,drawing a cheer from the away fans and seemingly giving us some much needed impetus.
And how would our players react to such things? The same players who resignedly accepted the result and these incidents within the game would probably have a) backed him up when he started said fight, causing a scrum that would have to be separated and at the very least shaking up Arsenal's gloating players a bit, b) gone running to the referee with him, because that's what you do as a team, back each other up, and c) played with increased intensity after the blood-and-thunder tackle because that kind of crowd-raising moment affects more than just the crowd: it affects the players as well.
And when all our players are playing like that, fighting like that, and are desperate to win like that....surely that is a winning mentality personified?
This is all theoretical, of course it is. The likes of Keane, Mackay and Viera are impossible to find nowadays. These men drove their clubs forward using their own iron wills, and instilled winning mentalities almost single-handedly. But it doesn't need a history of winning to find a player like that, nor does it need a history of success to find a revolutionary manager who can instill that sort of thing in you from the get go: see Ferguson at Aberdeen, Brian Clough at Derby (sacked the tea ladies when he caught them laughing after a defeat), Antonio Conte at Juventus (won the league unbeaten in his first season, ending years of Juve underachievement) or Quique Sanchez Flores taking Atletico to their first European trophy since 1962 and nearly securing another in his first season managing them, and this after horrific 2009-2010 season they had.
You do not need to win to instill a winning mentality: if that were the case, the top clubs would be the top clubs forevermore. Football history is cyclical partly because of this factor: unfancied teams learning how to win without winning in the first place, be it via an inspirational player or a no-nonsense manager. I don't know precisely where we can find either at the moment, but I'd suggest that in the absence of either of those two, showing a bit more fight, giving the ref a bit more stick, pumping up the fans with a few more full-blooded challenges, riling up a few more Arsenal players instead of trudging away as they sneer at your retreating backside....I'd suggest these things would help.
