Arsenal’s only positive from surprise FA Cup defeat

It was a night to forget for Arsenal on Sunday. It was performance lacking attitude, aggression or tactical intelligence. Positives were few and far between. There were none, in truth.

Crashing out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle stings. To do so against Championship opposition with a starting lineup capable of more than matching their opponents extends the disappointment.

Was there anything to draw comfort from? Not really. But if we’re digging deep and twisting narratives on their heads, then perhaps the relief of not having to see some of the backup string of players feature for a while is one of them.

Mikel Arteta has been heavily backed in the transfer window since he took charge. Last summer was a club record spend for a single window and for any rebuild of this magnitude the amount of work required can’t be understated.

Arsenal’s only positive from atrocious FA Cup defeat is bidding farewell to some underperforming squad players while the transfer window is open

A team has been built that fans adore and truly believe in. Just beyond that exciting group is a cliff face.

Knowing there is a club who are prepared to offer an actual financial package to sign 30-year-old Cedric Soares who has two and a half years left on his deal is some of the most refreshing news to come out of this window. Knowing that Arsenal are woe to let him go for concerns over the other options in reserve is not.

Another performance lacking quality in some of the most basic elements of the game, if this is one of the last matches where Cedric plays for Arsenal then there is at least some solace to draw from that.

Rob Holding started the game relatively well, only to gradually worsen as the match progressed. There is no FA Cup left, so at least Gabriel is set to be a mainstay in this team for the overwhelming majority of the season to play out.

In attack the lack of a central axis meant Arsenal had no way to build through the middle. While Alexandre Lacazette changed little after coming on, Eddie Nketiah’s role up until that point was mere human presence as opposed to physical presence. He offered nothing.

And, to top it all off, Sead Kolasinac came on with a couple of minutes remaining as Arsenal sought to salvage an undeserved equaliser. Like an itch you forgot you had, he keeps turning up to remind you of something you’d hoped was long gone.

This Arsenal team is an album with punchy tracks that flow elegantly from record to record. The B-side is leftovers pieced together to bulk up the song list. Holding is fine and Nketiah can be alright, but the less we see of many of the reserve options the less likely we are to see a repeat of Sunday.

While it’s not a positive as such since the end result remains early FA Cup elimination, at least it provides some respite.

The transfer window remains in its infancy, use that as a positive.