3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle

Negative #3: Gabriel Martinelli regressed

Martinelli had been offering hints he was finally ready to become the consistent match-winner Arsenal need. Sadly, those moment now look like little more than a tease based on how he fared at Newcastle.

The Brazilian was still direct and willing to cover large chunks of the pitch rapidly. What Martinelli missed was some nuance to his attacking approach.

He too often ran into traffic. His movement was all straight lines and not enough variety. Angled runs and a greater willingness to drift into unfamiliar positions made Martinelli an easy target.

Forging a quick and simple path to goal has long been the defining feature of Martinell's game. He'll need a few more ways to win if he's ever going to turn potential into true stardom.

Positive #3: It's a long season

Finding positives from a third-straight league game without a win is no easy task, but the silver lining is on the calendar. The Gunners are just 10 matches into a campaign that's supposed to result in the long (long)-awaited end to the much-heralded Arteta 'project.'

There are good reasons to be cynical about that happening. Like Arsenal's increasingly aimless use of the ball. Or a defence showing the strain of having to carry a pedestrian team.

Those are not insignificant problems, but many issues can be resolved across 28 games. Tactical tweaks can be made, new on-pitch partnerships can form and fringe players can emerge as surprising and timely contributors.

Arsenal are likely to need all of those things if they continue dropping points at this rate during the pre-Christmas slog. Doing so will remove the margin of error and demand a near-perfect second half to the season just to keep pace with Manchester City and Liverpool.

That's a tall order, but what else is there to do except hope for the best?

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