There were plenty of talking points to come from Mikel Arteta’s first game as Arsenal head coach.
The Boxing Day draw with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium did mean it’s now just one win across all competitions since late October for the Gunners - a run which stretches under three different coaches.
With that said, supporters did take some positives from the 1-1 draw.
Granit Xhaka impressed in central midfield, as did Lucas Torreira, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the first goal of Arteta’s reign while Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka showed signs of promise.
Speaking after the game, Arteta was impressed with the attitude of his players.
"I'm very pleased with some of the things I've seen in terms of attitude, character, the passion we showed and the fighting spirit the team showed,” he told reporters.
"(It was) spot on. Probably better than I expected over 90 minutes.
"A lot of things happened in the game that we prepared and they (the players) understood them.
"They tried to take them on board and we liked the final product."
What didn’t go unnoticed amongst some Arsenal supporters was the performance of Ainsley Maitland-Niles against the Cherries.
Whilst Saka who was expected to take up spaces on the opposite wing when the Gunners wer in possession, Maitland-Niles was used more as an inverted full-back in the absence of Hector Bellerin.
And fans have noticed that Arteta might have borrowed a ploy from Pep Guardiola’s playbook as that is how the Manchester City has used Kyle Walker.
Take a look at what’s been said on Twitter...
