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

Negative #1: No attacking edge

A paucity of options up top was inevitably going to catch up with the Gunners, but did it have to be so soon? The Mikel Merino supporting act that dented dismal Leicester couldn't sustain a full show.

Merino being asked to make the same transition from midfielder to striker Kai Havertz made under Arteta sums up how attacking quality has been an afterthought under this manager. That's why Arsenal shunned reinforcements in January, while other managers, notably a certain Unai Emery, acquired help in forward areas.

What Arteta's never been shy about is overplaying a winning hand. Just ask Ethan Nwaneri, the 17-year-old wide forward who looked tired and short of inspiration after a lengthy run of starts. Seriously expecting an academy graduate to salvage a title challenge was never realistic, but it's typical of the frog-hopping strategy too common at Arsenal in recent years.

It's been one accidental solution after another, rode until there's nothing left. Remember the back five? Remember Smith Rowe? Remember Havertz up top? All stop-gap solutions to problems Arteta helped create.

He couldn't manufacture a solution against West Ham because his sole creator had no support.

Positive #2: Martin Odegaard had a few ideas

He'll be pilloried for apparently abducating responsibility in key moments, but the truth is Martin Odegaard was the only attacking player in an Arsenal shirt with a clue. The scant few moments of inspiration in the final third were created by neat and clever touches from Odegaard.

Like the disguised and well-shaped pass in the box that teed up Gabriel Magalhaes to blaze over. Or the nifty back-heel to position sub Benjamin White to thrash a shot across goal from a narrow angle.

If the story looked depressingly familiar, it's because Arsenal fans have seen it before. Over and over. It's Odegaard or bust in the chance-creation department.

The unhealthy dynamic has been made possible by the composition of an imbalanced squad and a manager more comfortable with defensive solutions than progressive football. A pattern Arteta followed with his attempt to fix the creativity problem against the Hammers.

Negative #2: Lack of creativity

The stats make for grim reading. Just two shots on target and a mere one clear-cut chance created served as a brutal indictment of Arsenal's stymied forward line.

Being without Jesus, Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli was always going to sting, but the problem runs deeper. Deep enough to be identified as a root cause in the engine room.

Specifically, the Gunners don't have enough magicians at the tip of midfield. Sans Odegaard, where are the players who find angled runs with sly passes few others can see?

Where are the two-footed tricksters whose clever footwork can take a clutch of the opposition out of play in one moment? Where are the midfielders with the class, composure and appetite for finishing chances?

Those qualities are how teams maintain their firepower over the course of a long campaign when things get difficult. When opponents defend deep and in numbers.

Arsenal used to have too many of those. Back in the days when Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla shared time with Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian. Or when Cesc Fabregas was joined by Rosicky, Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin.

Arteta has pivoted the club too far in the other direction. Far enough to where it's Odegaard or a full-back like Oleksandr Zinchenko being asked to pull the strings.

Zinchenko couldn't make the most of a rare foray into midfield, per Sam Dean of The Daily Telegraph. A ploy that was a sign of Arteta's desperation.

Arsenal's problems in attack already have a long shelf life, but they are being compounded by growing frailties at the other end of the team.

Continued on the next slide...