Arteta must drop 6/10 Arsenal star after Forest

And with that, Arsenal are back. The period between the last two international breaks of 2024 was a strange one for the Gunners and one that could, probably will, still haunt them once the season ends.

It all started with that dismal defeat at the Vitality Stadium. William Saliba became Arsenal’s third red card of the season and it all began to unravel from there. Mikel Arteta’s men drew with Liverpool and Chelsea but a defeat, a turgid one at that, against Newcastle was not good enough.

But rejoice, for Martin Odegaard is back and the north Londoners look like the side of 2022/23 again. That term they were short of Manchester City by five points but their football was swashbuckling, it was exciting, it was everything that this campaign hadn’t been, until Saturday afternoon at least.

Odegaard made his second start since an ankle injury during the first international break of the season back in September and he made a colossal difference. Arsenal ran away from the Emirates Stadium with a 3-0 win, dispatching Nottingham Forest who were made to look desperate in their efforts in the capital.

Arsenal’s best performers against Forest

Bukayo Saka scored a rasping opener in the first half before he turned provider in the second period, laying the ball on a plate for half-time substitute Thomas Partey to rifle the ball past Mats Selz in the Forest net.

Despite not finding himself on the scoresheet, it was skipper Odegaard who made the greatest difference to Arsenal’s attack.

Without him they have been awful in the final third, that’s putting it politely too. They have missed creativity, they have missed moments of magic and they have missed his passing range.

In short, the Norwegian is one of the finest playmakers in the league and he has shown as much since returning. Against Chelsea two weeks ago it was the midfielder’s delightful pass over the defence that led to Gabriel Martinelli’s opener.

This time, it was his neat combination play on the edge of the area that led to Saka’s goal. The two of them have combined excellently in Arsenal colours so it was no surprise to see the two in such an unplayable mood this weekend.

In total, he created six chances for Arsenal players to score from and left the field with a 90% pass success rate despite his willingness to carve out opportunities for teammates.

Try as he might, Ethan Nwaneri did try and steal the show late on. Appearing as a late substitute, he combined with Raheem Sterling before bagging his first Premier League goal.

In doing so, he became the ninth-youngest scorer in the division’s history. He is already the youngest player to feature in the competition.

That being said, despite a ray of positivity engulfing the Emirates Stadium, there was one man who underperformed on Saturday.

Arsenal’s poorest performer against Forest

There were some bold selection calls from Arteta on Saturday afternoon as the Spaniard left Declan Rice and Partey on the bench.

Gabriel Martinelli, despite his goal at Stamford Bridge, also found himself on the bench as Leandro Trossard started on the left. The biggest surprise, though, saw Kai Havertz among the subs.

In his place started Gabriel Jesus, a man who coincidentally hasn’t found the back of the net in a Premier League game since the Gunners last met Forest back in January.

Sadly, Jesus failed to add to his one goal tally for the campaign to date this weekend and put in a rather ineffective display that is unlikely to have Havertz too worried about his prospects of playing time in the immediate future.

It wasn’t that the Brazilian did too much wrong but in a match where Arsenal boasted so much possession, it was the former Manchester City forward who looked out of sync with his teammates.

It said it all that despite lasting the full 90 minutes, Jesus boasted just 36 touches of the ball, three fewer than goalkeeper David Raya who didn’t see much action either.

Jesus could manage just one shot and his only dribble attempt was a failed one too. Unlike Havertz, he wasn’t much of a duel winner either, leaving the field at full-time having won just two of his nine battles. It was perhaps unsurprising that he was handed a poor 6/10 rating by GOAL’s Charles Watts.

Forest have been exceptional at the back this season and Arsenal’s number 9 won’t be the only forward to come unstuck against the likes of Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic. However, he will have to do an awful lot more if he wants to be starting ahead of their big £65m signing from Chelsea.

It was perhaps better than we have seen from Jesus at times this campaign, but he should still drop to the bench for the trip to Lisbon against Sporting in the Champions League.