Positives & negatives from Arsenal's FA Cup penalty shootout loss to Man Utd

Positive #2: Raheem Sterling lively

His performance was rough around the edges and his decision-making process still lasts an age, but Raheem Sterling at least looked lively as a 40th-minute substitute. That's a modest positive, but a silver lining nonetheless with Saka and Jesus on the treatment table.

Sterling's problem remains rust, but it's a problem largely of the manager's making. Arteta signed an experienced winner who looked set to be a very useful squad body. The only problem is Arteta doesn't rotate, so being a squad player in his team means an extended spell in purgatory.

It's why Sterling has so often appeared off the pace in an Arsenal shirt. He at least grew into this game, eventually showing some of the same short-area quickness and appetite to attack the ball that made him prolific for Manchester City.

Arteta must hone what Sterling does well and hide what he doesn't, because the 30-year-old can still provide some priceless solutions up top.

Negative #2: Martin Odegaard out of sorts

Speaking of purgatory, Odegaard is experiencing some of the chicken and egg variety. He's missing Saka, the go-to target for most of his passes, but Odegaard hasn't adjusted his radar to become the supplier for any new attacking heroes.

It's what Dennis Bergkamp or Cesc Fabregas would have done, but Odegaard is showing why he doesn't quite belong in the same category as those great providers. His deficiencies mean Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard et al are being starved of service.

In Odegaard's defence, he remains an isolated figure as a rare species thanks to Arteta's lopsided squad construction. Namely, as an artful midfielder defined more by what he does on the ball than by any industry out of possession.

Odegaard struggling to find his wavelength as a conductor is damaging his confidence. You only need look at the tame penalty he saw saved for proof Arsenal's skipper has lost his swagger.

He can't waste time finding it, or else a team already bereft of imagination and verve where it counts will grind to a halt at the key moment of the season.

Negative #3: Kai Havertz going through a rough patch

While Odegaard rebounded from his penalty miss in normal time to find the net in the shootout, Havertz saw his effort saved. There was something fitting about the costly error in the way it capped a truly miserable outing for Havertz.

The German is going through a rough patch that might have reached its roughest point based on how many chances he spurned. Havertz isn't a natural finisher, but his instinctive confidence is deserting him too often in front of goal.

Taking chances requires being calm in areas where others are usually frantic. Yet, Havertz looks as if his mind is still racing whenever a chance comes his way.

The frontman's inability to slow the game down at the business end of the pitch underlines Arteta's failure to enhance the attacking riches in the summer.

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