Lacazette the leader
The hangover from Mikel Arteta's decision to strip Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was still pretty raw going into Arsenal's game against West Ham.
The 32-year-old had eventually been relieved of his duties after his latest "disciplinary breach," and was omitted from selection for Wednesday night's match in order to allow him time to recover from the news.
As soon as the story broke questions began circling social media over who exactly would be the Gabon international's successor as skipper.
Gabriel, Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard were the names who seemed to garner the most support among fans on social media, but as it was Arteta chose not to name any one person in particular.
"Well we have the leadership group and we have different players who have been nominated to be captain, in the last game it was Laca, we had had Granit who has been captain as well, so we will follow that," he said.
"It is a really unpleasant situation and it is not the moment to make any rash decision. That leadership group is really strong, it is the one that communicates with myself and the coaching staff and with the club in a really strong and clear way and we are going to continue that.
"That is one of the decisions we make, to make that group a little bit better and try to educate them and try to get the right feedback all the time and build the trust and a strong culture around the club.
"It is working really well so we will continue to do that."
This does make sense as Alexandre Lacazette is the club's vice captain and by-passing him in selection the new permanent holder of the role would likely have risked alienating another experienced member of the squad.
The Frenchman wore the armband on Wednesday as he has done on several occasions in Aubameyang's absence in recent seasons and put in a performance befitting of the role.
A captain's job is largely ceremonial when you boil it down to the technicalities, but when it comes to things like putting pressure on the referee, talking to younger players and protecting teammates, few are more proficient in the Arsenal squad than Lacazette.
This was on full display against West Ham as he charged over to remonstrate with Anthony Taylor after Vladimir Coufal had put his forearm across the face of Tierney, ultimately leading the Czech defender to receive his first yellow of the night.
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Arteta was quick to praise his number nine's display on the night.
"Well he’s the next in line and he’s taken it the way everybody saw today with such pride and commitment," the Spaniard said. "I’m really happy again with the way he played."
Ideally Lacazette would have been able to top off his exemplary performance with a goal from the spot, but there is very little that's ideal about the captaincy situation at Arsenal right now.
It is probably fair to question the wisdom of giving the armband to a player who is almost certainly leaving in the summer, but for the here and now he is probably the best player in the Gunners squad for the role.
With Aubameyang's return date still unconfirmed, and players scheduled to head off for AFCON at the end of this month, it seems the Frenchman is set to be Arsenal's leader for a while to come.
Magnificent Martinelli
After a difficult 11 months following his return from a lengthy knee injury, some people were starting doubt whether Gabriel Martinelli was actually as good as we remembered him being.
The Brazilian had hit double figures in his first senior season at Arsenal, but since returning last December he had seen game time limited largely to cup competitions where he had not quite managed to catch the eye in the same way.
What a difference four games can make though.
Starting with his volley against Newcastle, Martinelli has set about grabbing this opportunity he has been given in the first team with both hands, and with increased maturity in his play, he looks far more capable of keeping his place this time around.
Aside from the obvious energy and directness to his play, the 20-year-old is now playing with his head up far more often, and learning to pick and choose his moments when he can be at his most dangerous.
His passing on the night stood at an impressive 90% - compared to just 56% in the defeat to Everton - while his xG was up at 0.99 showing how complete his attacking performance was.
As well as this the Brazilian led from the front being defensively sound, winning the most tackles of any Arsenal player and coming second only to Lacazette for successful pressures made.
He was another unsurprisingly singled out for praise by Arteta who was keen to pick up on how much the youngster has progressed in recent weeks.
"Certainly, it was one of the best in every aspect of the game," said the Spaniard when asked if this was Martinelli's best performance under him.
"Physically he’s growing, today he was cramping again, and he needs to mature on that side of the game.
"But his overall understanding of the game is much better. He’s able to put some gears into his play sometimes instead of doing everything 100 miles per hour. But the energy and the quality he shows up front is top."
Martinelli always had the talent, but for him the next step was a question of being smart enough to know when and how to use it most effectively.
It's taken some time - and he's by no means done developing yet - but the Brazilian is starting to look like a real asset to the Gunners first team attack once again.
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Saka and Smith Rowe selection headache
Martinelli wasn't the only youngster who impressed on the night.
Over on the right hand side Bukayo Saka also had a brilliant game, causing Arthur Massuaku no end of problems. Even when West Ham tried doubling up on him in the second half there was simply no stopping the England winger.
You get the feeling the final piece of the jigsaw for Saka to go fully stratospheric is finishing ability, but that certainly seems like he's getting closer.
His fellow Hale Ender Emile Smith Rowe seems to be having no problems in that department though, and came on to net his sixth Premier League goal of the season making him Arsenal's top scorer in the competition.
The pair's combination for that goal was another perfect example of their relationship on the pitch. The celebration after it - in which both laid down posing for the cameras showed how close they are off it as well.
It was a celebration they had tried after Saka's goal at Watford only to see that strike disallowed, and on social media after the game the pair saw the funny side of the situation, with Smith Rowe captioning a picture of it "finally" before his England teammate responded "longgg overdue."
It's this kind of chemistry that Arteta admires and values in his young players, and after the game he was keen to point it out.
"I think it helps because they know each other as well, some of them from the academy," said the Spaniard.
"The chemistry is there. I really like the link and the way the senior players are contributing and really enjoying helping those boys to raise in a context that at times has been difficult, but they’ve been really consistent."
As much as he may like what it did on Wednesday, he will likely be scratching his head over how to deal with selection headache such a cameo from Smith Rowe provides.
With a goal the England international has put his case forward to be started, but in his usual position on the left wing is Martinelli who simply has to play after his own sublime display.
Therefore playing Smith Rowe at Leeds on Saturday would require most likely dropping Martin Odegaard from the starting XI despite the Norwegian's recent impressive goal scoring run and decent performance of his own against West Ham.
Assuming Saka will start on the right this essentially leaves Arteta with three undroppables fighting for just two positions.
Arguably you could put Martinelli up front to get Saka, Odegaard and Smith Rowe in behind him, which seems like a good solution. However, with the focal point Lacazette provides to the side, Arteta has a really difficult balance to strike.
In fairness though this is the competition for places Arsenal were lacking last season. To view it as a negative would be a disservice to the quality of this impressive young Gunners side who finished the game with an 11 on the pitch that averaged just 23.36 years of age.
Arteta highlights Arsenal's next challenge
Aside from the selection headache, Mikel Arteta must also contemplate something that is slightly more difficult to get to grips with.
By beating West Ham on Wednesday Arsenal cemented themselves as having the joint best home record in the Premier League with Manchester City.
The fact that they are 12 points off Pep Guardiola's side in the overall table, would indicate that it is on the road where their problems lie.
Ahead of two consecutive away league matches against Leeds and Norwich, the Gunners have managed just two victories in eight matches away from the Emirates, conceding 16 goals and scoring just six.
Perhaps this is one of the things you have to expect when you have such a young side, but if Arsenal are to gain a top four spot then it's an issue they're going to need to address.
However, when asked about it after the game Arteta seemed to imply that the issue does not lie with his team's performances on the road at all, but instead their ability to get results.
"The performance isn’t the result," the Spaniard said. "For example, when we went to Old Trafford and played better than last year but we lost the game.
"That’s why we have to come away from those grounds when we get the performance with the results. That’s the next challenge."
It would seem the players share those sentiments. When asked about the team's troubles away from the Emirates this season, Granit Xhaka echoed his manager's sentiments that the team needed to be more robust in order to claim the points their displays deserve.
"I think we are looking much, much better at home, but of course if you want to be in the top four you have to win and you have to take points away as well," the Swiss international said.
"Hopefully, this starts on Saturday against Leeds. We have to improve away, we have to be more clever, more solid.
"We can’t play every time the same game at home and away, we have to be more clever and this starts from the experienced players to the young guys."
The 28-year-old is right and his experience will be key ahead of a crucial run of Premier League games now for Arsenal.
With other teams seeing games called off due to COVID, the Gunners have a real chance to put pressure on their rivals by getting important points on the board in the race for the final top four place.
