Positives & negatives from Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to West Ham

Arsenal limply surrendered the initiative in the Premier League title race after a tame 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham United. Jarrod Bowen's goal was all the visitors needed to better an Arsenal side shorn of ideas in the final third and vulnerable to pace and power on the flanks.

Mikel Arteta's too-long revered project at Arsenal suffered a hammer blow thanks to Bowen's decisive, 44th-minute goal. The result makes ending a Premier League title drought of two decades plus that much harder, maybe even impossible.

Arteta doesn't have anyone to blame but himself. Not after successive transfer windows where he failed to address the lack of creativity and cutting the edge at the business end of his squad.

Those failings were laid bare by a West Ham back line comfortably stable in the face of ponderous Arsenal forward play. Instead, the Hammers were the ones meting out the punishment going forward.

They exploited failing full-backs and a disjointed defensive shape. Left-back Riccardo Calafiori was scorched by multiple West Ham raids down his flank, before substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly proved he's not a natural full-back by felling Mohammed Kudus and drawing Arsenal's fifth red card of the season, 20th overall on Arteta's watch.

No excuses this time. No dragging the PGMOL over the coals. Lewis-Skelly deserved to walk, and Arsenal deserved to let a golden opportunity to put a nervy Liverpool under genuine pressure slip away.

Positives & negatives from Arsenal's 0-1 defeat vs. West Ham

Positive #1: Arteta actually under scrutiny

Nearly five-and-a-half years of unchecked power propped up by a lemming-like subservience to the "process" has left Arteta almost immune to criticism, but the tide could be turning. Staring down the barrel of a fifth full season without silverware should prompt serious questions about Arteta's stewardship of the club.

He's spent millions and millions on HIS players to perform HIS tactics. Be under no illusions. Arteta has been the driving force behind everything that's happened at Arsenal since the calendar turned on the 2010s.

The problem is there's been very little in return. Sure, there's a new pre- and post-match anthem. The odd journo has cashed in on the so-called revolution with a few books sales, but Arsenal has been subjugated to one man for a single FA Cup win, a return to the Champions League and a few decent results against the big boys.

In other words, roughly where the club was in 2016.

Progress in name only should have Arteta answering questions. Like why hasn't he signed a striker since Gabriel Jesus? Why did he ship out creative midfielders Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira without replacing either one? Does he see a connection between next-no rotation and the proliferation of injuries this season? And what's with all the full-backs?

Shining a spotlight on each of these issues is essential if Arsenal are going to transform from nearly men to winners. Starting with addressing a blunted attack.

Continued on the next slide...