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The dreaded international break has officially begun, and great news, everyone: it's longer than ever before! Don't all cheer at once.
Arsenal head into the international break on a bummer. They didn't just get beaten by Brighton in gameweek 5; they were humiliated, with the only positive being that it happened during the 3 pm blackout in the UK.
Other than that shambolic display on the South Coast, Arsenal have been perfect, which is perhaps why the spineless performance was difficult to take.
Anyway, with a real mixture of emotions to start the season, here are five Arsenal players who have zero margin for error after the international break.
Arsenal players whose margin for error has already vanished entering the international break
1. Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres is Arsenal's Sisyphus. Except, unlike the Greek king, each time the boulder rolls back down the hill, Gyokeres is given less license to roll it back up.
Gyokeres has started the season poorly; it is not unfair to say that. It took. him a while to even get a shot in the team, but when he was given an opportunity, it took him longer to find his groove. He still hasn't found it, and Arsenal fans are growing impatient.
From the heavy touches to the lack of movement to make himself available, Gyokeres is already treading a thin tightrope. The goals he scored last season do buy him some time, but Arsenal fans can't ignore that that time is slowly running out.
Arsenal didn't invest in a new centre forward in the summer transfer window, meaning Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres are their two options. Gabriel Jesus was sold, so the competition for places isn't exactly hectic.
However, Gyokeres is closer to becoming Arsenal's third-choice striker than the first choice. Havertz has had a good start to the season, and Mikel Merino is more than capable of filling in through the centre of attack if he's needed.
Gyokeres is clearly low on confidence now, but he needs to fix it before Arsenal takes a more extreme measure. There is little margin for error when you're playing striker for the champions of England, but with one bad performance after another, Gyokeres is certainly not helping himself.
2. Eberechi Eze
Eberechi Eze has been tasked with playing at left-wing to fill the void left by Leandro Trossard's and Gabriel Martinelli's sales, but he has not done an adequate job of replacing the Arsenal cult heroes.
Eze, given his Premier League history and his price tag, should be at the top of the pecking order. It is the easiest Arsenal position to get into, after all. However, he is second fiddle to newcomer Christos Tzolis.
Simply put, Eze's performances have been wide of the mark. He has failed to stamp his authority on the game, and it feels like he's nothing more than a neutral bystander when he plays.
His one good performance of the season came against Aston Villa, when he changed the game after coming on as a substitute. Other than that, he has been absent.
He failed to make the most of the goal fest at Portman Road in the Carabao Cup, which would have been an easy way for him to make a mark. More is needed from Eze when Arsenal return to action, if he's even given the license to do so.
3. Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka is a regular starter for Arsenal but after a strong start to the season, his performances in the shirt have evaporated.
He was one of Arsenal's worst players against Brighton, but to be honest, he wasn't alone in hanging his head in shame there.
Saka has banked a lot of credit throughout the years at Arsenal, and fans are more optimistic about him than any other player. When he plays well, Arsenal tend to play well; that's how important he is. That said, he'll want to return to his form from the start of the season sooner rather than later.
There have been discussions on social media lately, with fans thinking a fresh approach for Saka is needed. Some have even toyed with the idea of altering his position so he can play more centrally in the attack - I don't think even Arteta would entertain that idea, though.
Of all the players in this list, Saka is the most likely to bounce back. We know what he's capable of, and we know how much he cares about bringing his A-game to Arsenal. His inclusion in this list will not last for long, but as his own harshest critic, he'll agree that he needs to start doing better.
4. Christos Tzolis
Christos Tzolis is a player who, like Saka, started the season well but has slowly deteriorated since his hot start. Unlike Saka, though, Tzolis doesn't have the banked credit that his counterpart on the other wing has.
Tzolis arrived with big boots to fill. Martinelli and Trossard were sold, with the Greek international tasked with replacing both cult heroes.
We saw in his early moments at Arsenal that he was a direct winger who only had an eye for involving himself in goals. Fast forward to the end of September, and we learned that he was simply playing against Coventry. That piece of context is vital, in hindsight.
Still, the signs are there. Tzolis is clearly capable of being a great winger for Arsenal, but he needs to return to that direct approach out wide.
Tzolis is not going to start every single week. He can rotate in and out of the team, particularly with Eze helping him out as a backup. This should keep him fresh, but from Arsenal fans' perspective, they need to see better from him when he's starting.
5. Kepa Arrizabalaga
Nobody wants Kepa Arrizabalaga to play. Whenever he's named in the team, the collective response is virtually the same: One big sigh.
However, that's exactly the fuel Kepa needs to turn it around. If Arteta goes down the route of starting Kepa in cup games, which seems to be the case again this season, then Kepa has a point to prove.
Illan Meslier is lurking in the shadows this season, which was not the case last time out. Any mistake that Kepa makes, and Meslier will be cracking his knuckles at the thought of getting into the team.
Kepa cost Arsenal in two cup competitions last season - the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. Arsenal are yet to play an FA Cup game, but in their sole Carabao Cup fixture, Kepa was the starting goalkeeper, conceding twice to Ipswich Town away from home.
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