It says a lot about the progression of this Arsenal team that after a seven-day period in which they have smacked Tottenham and Bayern Munich and drawn with Chelsea, they are still not fully satisfied.
In the doldrums of the Europa League under Unai Emery, the Gunners have enjoyed a wonderful few years of development and they are now in the box seat to win the Premier League and Champions League.
While their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday did mean that Manchester City bridged the gap to five points, the last seven days must still be celebrated.
Merino-Arsenal-Eze
It's not often you beat Spurs 4-1 and defeat Bayern 3-1 in the space of a week. Given the emotional highs of those games and the physical exertion needed to pick up a cracking pair of wins, it was perhaps understandable that they looked a little fatigued against Enzo Maresca's side.
Still, enough of the excuses. Mikel Arteta's men simply weren't good enough against Chelsea at the weekend.
Why Arsenal failed to beat Chelsea
Against Spurs, Arsenal didn't really have to suffer at any stage of the game. Against Bayern, they were met with a tricky first half before coming alive in the second period.
Chelsea, however, were a bridge too far. At present, alongside City, Maresca's troops are Arteta's closest challengers and demonstrated why, with ten men, they could well be up there come May.
chelsea
Moises Caicedo's red card aside, the Blues were brilliant. They have enjoyed quite the week themselves, beating Barcelona just a few days ago in Europe.
Neither side were as free-flowing as they were last midweek, however, but Arsenal certainly made things hard for themselves.
While Mikel Merino popped up with yet another vital goal, leaping high to head home Bukayo Saka's cross, at the back, things felt rather more chaotic than they have been this term.
Why? Well, the visitors were missing both Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba. Gabriel has been out of action since the international break but Saliba's absence from the squad was more surprising.
The Frenchman picked up a knock in training, meaning that Cristian Mosquera partnered Piero Hincapie at the back.
Arsenal weren't carved open at will but there was far more hesitance and less security at the back than normal. Hincapie and Mosquera have both proven to be astute signings but they have largely played either alongside Gabriel or Saliba so far, not together.
Well, it very much looked like a new pairing. Mosquera, while he was not awful at the Bridge, did look shaky at times and lacked the ability to progress the ball and penetrate passes into the middle of the park as Saliba does.
Mosquera-Arsenal-Enzo-Fernandez-Chelsea
All of that culminated in a rather frustrating performance. Arsenal are usually the set-piece kings but Chelsea nearly beat them at their own game.
Trevoh Chalobah's opener came from a corner. He beat Declan Rice to the ball and glanced it past David Raya.
Defensively, this was a more rugged display than we've been accustomed to, but against ten men, the Gunners didn't show much in attack either.
Arsenal player ratings vs Chelsea
GK - David Raya (6/10)
RB - Jurrien Timber (6/10)
CB - Cristian Mosquera (5/10)
CB - Piero Hincapie (6/10)
LB - Riccardo Calafiori (5/10)
CDM - Martin Zubimendi (5/10)
CM - Declan Rice (8/10)
CM - Eberechi Eze (6/10)
RW - Bukayo Saka (7/10)
LW - Gabriel Martinelli (4/10)
CF - Mikel Merino (7/10)
Why Arsenal's attack struggled against Chelsea
In the past week, goalscorer Merino has performed admirably as a leading centre-forward again. Just how long he'll have to do it remains to be seen; Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus were back among the subs for their trip to west London.
That said, he has knitted things together brilliantly. It cannot be a coincidence that arguably two of Arsenal's best displays of 2025 came with a Kai Havertz-like presence up top, rather than Gyokeres.
That's not to knock Gyokeres at all. The Swede, while guilty of missing chances at times, has slowly but surely started to understand what's required of him in Arteta's tactical shape and system.
Merino, on the other hand, makes it look seamless. He brings others into play and he allows space for Eberechi Eze to thrive in central areas. It is no wonder the England international scored a hat-trick against Spurs.
Even if he has improved those around him, Gabriel Martinelli struggled at the weekend on his return to the team.
Martinelli-Reece-James-Arsenal-Chelsea
The Brazilian scored that goal, darting past Manuel Neuer in midweek, but on his first start since returning from injury looked a shadow of the player in-form Leandro Trossard has proven to be in recent weeks.
In the words of Arsenal writer Connor Humm, Trossard has "arguably been the best winger in the Premier League this season" and they missed him on that left flank on Sunday.
Martinelli doesn't have the same technique or style as Trossard. He's flashier, more electric and explosive. He's less nimble in tight areas. That's fine, it's good to have a different profile of player.
Against Chelsea, however, that's probably what Arteta needed. Martinelli was hauled off after just 57 minutes having done very little to influence play in the final third.
Martinelli vs Chelsea
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Key passes
Crosses
Successful dribbles
Shots
Possession lost
Tackles
Duels won
Stats via Sofascore.
He had just one shot, an opportunity that Robert Sanchez got down well to his right-hand side to save. That, though, was the Brazilian's only effort in the entire game.
He could only manage 16 touches, 37 fewer than Raya, while he also didn't win a single duel. Remember the famous phrase from Arsenal's All or Nothing documentary? "When I lose a duel I am upset," Arteta once cried. It's likely he would have been upset with Martinelli's display here.
Arsenal-Martinelli-Fofana
Neither he nor his replacement, Noni Madueke, created one key pass, while Arsenal's number 11 only managed to play five total passes in nearly 60 minutes on the field.
Martinelli may have only just returned to full fitness but when Arsenal face Brentford in midweek, he must drop to the bench. It's time for Eze or Madueke on the left.
Chelsea-Arsenal-Premier-League Related
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