Arsenal: 4 positives from crushing Brentford defeat

The morning after a defeat is always sobering. The morning after a defeat to a side who looked stronger in every department despite it being their first ever Premier League fixture is soul-crushing. Arsenal are in a bad way.

Goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard secured a thoroughly deserved victory for Brentford who had prepared for Friday’s festivities in perfect fashion. Thomas Frank had done his homework.

Arsenal’s weaknesses are plain to see. Yet setting your team out to exploit those chasms in the papier-mâché armour is a different story: Ben White’s aerial weaknesses were exposed, Pablo Mari was run at repeatedly and the wing-backs forced Arsenal into positions of reduced threat.

The better team won without any shadow of a doubt.

Arsenal: 4 positives from crushing Brentford defeat as Mikel Arteta oversees woeful Premier League opening day performance

Seeing as how nobody gives Arsenal a rat’s chance in hell of claiming any points off of Chelsea and Manchester City in the next two Premier League fixtures, losing so comfortably to a newly-promoted side goes down as additionally damaging.

How fitting, then, that Amazon’s All or Nothing cameras will have caught every moment in glorious high definition for all of a football affiliation to sit back and either laugh at or weep over.

There isn’t just ‘work to do’ for Mikel Arteta and co, this is leaving your dissertation to write eight minutes before the deadline with nothing but a crayon and a slab of rock to do it with.

All in all, pretty glum. So how on earth is there anything positive to talk about? Why even try and extract anything joyous from such distressing mediocrity? Well, finding light in the dark is what will keep most supporters sane during these concerning times. We must try.

Here is what was positive(ish) from Friday’s horror show.

1. Albert Sambi Lokonga Showed Glimpses of His Talent

Nobody, barring the obvious few, had a strong game. Albert Sambi Lokonga struggled on Friday, like so many others.

But we saw glimpses of his talent to offer some reassurance.

The first half was especially tough for him. Operating in a deeper role, the passing lanes for him were mostly limited to feeding Xhaka on the angle, who proceeded to find Tierney wider left. Brentford had choreographed their press cleverly with the right timings of their movements causing all sorts of issues for the backline. Sambi, however, dealt with it better than most.

Not offering much on the ball, what he did off it shone through. Positionally he was always available for the pass, and in a defensive sense he plugged the right gaps to limit the Bees’ options. This was noticeable when Bryan Mbeumo had a pass inside the penalty box sniffed out by some proactive positioning.

In the second half Arsenal began relying on the Belgian to offer them creativity and progression. Assuming possession he had a couple of delightful half-turn motion where he received the ball under pressure and pulled away from his markers, trying to carry Arsenal up the pitch.

Not everything was perfect, but there was one neat ball into Bukayo Saka that resulted in Tierney having a shot at goal that stood out. For a first Premier League outing in what was a collectively dreadful performance, Sambi showed little signs of teething issues with the transition from the Belgian league. Positive early signs.

2. Emile Smith Rowe Has Matured – And is Still Class

The plan this summer was to build around the likes of Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Kieran Tierney. They’re still stood in an empty room. There are no walls, a half-built floor and rain is dripping through the hastily applied tarpaulin.

At least those three are still very, very good footballers. And they’re only getting better.

Smith Rowe was the standout performer alongside the Scot on the night and with the rest of the team faltering and struggling to impose themselves on proceedings, it was the former doing his upmost to kick Arsenal into life.

Donning the No. 10 for the first time in the division, it may have just been the number, or that everyone else looked so inadequate alongside him, but there was a real sense of maturity from the 20-year-old.

Arteta will have already spoken to him of his importance to the team, but it was the manner with which he conducted himself – as he has done throughout his time in the side – that had an air of leadership to it. It’s remarkable (frightening) to have someone of his age be this vital to the team.

Looking across those on the pitch, you’d have easily mistaken him for being 28 years old with nine seasons of Premier League football under his belt. This is very much his team now, and he showed it.

This is going to be a huge season for Smith Rowe.

3. Arsenal’s Best Players Are Tied Down

Straws clutched.

This will not be the last game this season where Tierney and Smith Rowe are the standout players in the team. It is set to be a weekly occurrence.

Thus, we can count our lucky stars that both of them are on long-term contracts signed this summer. Goodness gracious how reassuring is that.

Who else shone? Saka did. Equally, he has three years left on his contract and on the top of any to-do list should be tying him down to a new deal. That is utterly paramount.

But for now, the three best players are only leaving this football club if outrageous money is on the table. No pitiful £30m bids from Aston Villa. There is some solace to take from that. One of precious few things to go right this summer was getting Smith Rowe and Tierney tied down.

Seeing how head and shoulders above the rest they are is reflective of how far off Arsenal are from being competitive again and having those three here for more years, at least in writing, goes down as one of the minor positive elements to eek out of Friday night.

However, it’s pointless if they’re all on their own.

4. Brentford Defeat May Force Serious Transfer Action

So, yes, how brilliant it is that Arsenal have secured the futures, or at least the values, of their best players. Now go on and do the rest.

Edu was in attendance on Friday as he saw what can only be described as a calamity. The targets to acquire this window won’t have changed following the loss, but the negotiating and penny pinching may have to be shelved for serious financial action. KSE need to be phoned up. Maybe they will have been.

Considering the scale of the defeat and the meekness of the performance, action in the transfer market can’t be left late. No games of chicken with other clubs.

If the squad produces that against a newly-promoted side then how will they fare against the European Champions and the Premier League title holders in their next two games? It’s a terrifying thought.

Such was the abject nature of everything about Friday night that nobody, if there really was anyone left, can be under any illusions that things will improve without wholesale changes.

Hopefully someone got a serious kick up the backside.