Arsenal's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday evening was vintage Mikel Arteta.

It's a far cry from the days of the swashbuckling football of the Arsene Wenger days, but that isn't how the Gunners do things now. By boasting the best defence in Europe, they know they will rarely concede.

It allows them to be patient in attack and wait for a moment to secure a 1-0 win. They would, of course, prefer to score more goals, but it is very often how things play out at the moment.

Since becoming manager of Arsenal in December 2019, Arteta has overseen 32 1-0 victories in the Premier League. You cannot say it isn't sustainable; they have won the title playing this way.

Alas, improvement is needed in the final third ASAP. For Eberechi Eze, the signs are worrying. He's not offering enough on the left flank.

How Eze failed to deliver against Nottingham Forest

That hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur last season was special. A Hale Ender, a boyhood Arsenal fan, had put Spurs - the team he rejected last summer - to the sword. It was picture book stuff.

Yet, we have not seen that level of performance on a consistent basis at the Emirates Stadium and his form in 2026/27, in particular, has been abject.

Now, say what you like about his performances, but he is not a left winger. He has played exclusively in that role this season and it has not gone well.

Sure, Eze scored against Lille last midweek, but against Forest, he was hauled off at half-time after a first-half performance in which not very much went right.

Speaking after the game, the boss said: "I wanted something else, and we needed a different sort of profile on the left-hand side. I'm here to make decisions. A few days ago, he [Eze] played and scored a goal, and could have had two or three against Lille. He had some really good moments. Today was different because what the game required was different. We felt we had to change it and that’s what happened."

Well, damningly for Eze, the man who replaced him - Noni Madueke - was the eventual match winner. The former Chelsea winger's dynamism was exactly what Arsenal needed in the end to get over the line.

In comparison, Eze did not have much to his game. He didn't have a shot, complete a key pass or cross. He gave away the ball too frequently too, successfully finding a teammate with just 69% of his passes.

Why Eze is a big problem for Arsenal

Alarm bells have been raised on several occasions this season, not least when they entered the new campaign without having replaced a number of their forward players.

Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard had all departed with only Christos Tzolis arriving.

Now, with the Greek out injured, the duty has fallen upon Eze to be the main man on the left. It is not going well.

That said, sadly, we shouldn't be surprised. The England international has never looked comfortable when occupying that position and it was from that role that things began to unravel last season.

Indeed, the game against Forest on Sunday was not the first time Eze has been subbed at half-time. Let's revisit a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa last season. He came off at the break after failing to track the run of Matty Cash at the back post in the build-up to Villa's opener.

It took the former Crystal Palace man a long time to get back in Arteta's good books. After this, he may struggle again.

This was a real opportunity for the 28-year-old to stake his claim but he has not taken it. How supporters must be wishing they had got their hands on Vinicius Junior or Morgan Rogers over the summer.

With Tzolis the only out-and-out left winger in the squad, Eze has become a big problem.

Why Eze isn't the only Arsenal player fearing for his place

The work performed by Andrea Berta in the summer of 2025 helped Arsenal win a Premier League but it is now rightfully being called into question.

Not a single player signed a year ago is now a regular started. Kai Havertz has usurped Viktor Gyokeres in the pecking order while the likes of Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera are viewed as back-ups.

Martin Zubimendi has also fallen behind his teammates after initially looking like one of Berta's best signings.

He arrived from Real Sociedad to the tune of £60m during the Sporting Director's first window at the helm. For much of last term, the Spaniard was exceptional.

Of the outfield players at the club, only Declan Rice played more minutes than Zubimendi last season. Yet, the longer the campaign played out, the more tired he became, the more his performances dwindled.

That was until eventually Myles Lewis-Skelly came into the middle of the park and made that position his own.

Compared to Zubimendi, the young Englishman offers more from a progressive point of view. He's phenomenal at evading the press and punching passes through the lines.

Zubimendi is safe but he is by no means any sort of slouch. He's still a fine midfield player. Yet, with Lewis-Skelly now back in the picture and with the arrival of £75m man Bruno Guimaraes, it is difficult to see how the World Cup winner gets back into the side.

Even Guimaraes has had to settle for a regular place on the bench since arriving from Newcastle United. If the Brazilian is finding it difficult to get in ahead of Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi certainly will too.

While suggesting he leaves immediately is pushing it, it would not be a surprise if he was one of the players, alongside Eze, who was made available next summer.

For a campaign, the 27-year-old was largely exceptional but Arsenal now have two players who are more complete midfielders; both Guimaraes and Lewis-Skelly look a class above.