Arsenal: 4 talking points from Nottingham Forest horror show

Arsenal got exactly what they deserved as Nottingham Forest claimed a 1-0 FA Cup third round victory on Sunday night to dump the visitors out of the competition at the first hurdle.

Mikel Arteta took his side up to Nottinghamshire with nine players absent for a number of reasons, with it confirmed prior to kick-off that Folarin Balogun and Granit Xhaka had tested positive for Covid.

There were other absences with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Emile Smith Rowe both injured, while the quartet away at AFCON also, obviously, weren’t available.

They didn’t miss much.

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Arsenal: 4 talking points as Mikel Arteta’s side are dumped out of the FA Cup at the third round stage

One of the worst first halves seen for quite some time trudged on with Arsenal offering nothing of note against their Championship opponents, barring a few pop shots from distance that went wide.

Forest didn’t create much either but at least showed quality defensive organisation and determination, and with the Gunners carrying over their abysmal display into the second half it was only a matter of time before the moment everyone knew was coming did arrive.

A counter-attack from the hosts saw the ball moved out to Ryan Yates on the right hand side. It required a fine delivery from the midfielder and an equally measured finish from Lewis Grabban to score, which is precisely what the pair provided.

For just the second time in a quarter of a century, Arsenal exit the FA Cup at the third round stage. They didn’t deserve the 1-0 defeat. They deserved to lose by more.

1. Arsenal’s Best Followed by Arsenal’s Worst

Fans have been purring for the past week. Even having fallen to a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester City, the buzz around the club has been unavoidable with fans invested in the team, its identity and the direction they’re heading in.

That performance against the champions was the best under Arteta. This performance against Nottingham Forest was the worst under Arteta.

While there were wholesale changes, the team put out on Sunday was one more than capable of winning that match. But not necessarily winning the match, they were also capable of not being absolutely, unequivocally atrocious.

It was, by a country mile, the worst performance of the season. And there is little reason to understand why. Yes, there are multiple players out for a variety of reasons, but one need only look at a team containing Benjamin White, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Sambi Lokonga and Martin Odegaard and see there are no grounds for excuses.

Across 93 minutes of agony, there are, quite literally, no positives to take. None at all. You can study that performance for years on end, do a Masters in it, and will still fail to extract any morsel of positivity. Arsenal went from their best showing in years to being spineless, static and uninventive.

There are few words.

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