Eze-Arsenal-Gyokeres-Merino-Saka-Raya-Hincapie-White-Odegaard-Gabriel-Konsa
In all fairness, Arsenal came into this international break needing a break.
Sure, we may only be five games into the Premier League season but that 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion was a disaster.
REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Mikel Arteta's men will have better days but it presented a fabulous opportunity for many of the squad to go away and reset ahead of a big October for the Gunners. They cannot many more results like that one on the south coast.
This month, they most notably face Harry Kane's Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They will do so buoyed the return to form of Viktor Gyokeres, in particular.
The biggest winners from the international break for Arsenal
The vast majority of the Arsenal squad were in action for their respective nations over the break but for the lesser-spotted Gyokeres, he enjoyed a fabulous time with Sweden.
Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via REUTERS
The centre-forward has been alienated from the starting XI for much of the new campaign to date. He has only played 29 minutes in the Premier League thus far and is yet to score.
Therefore, he entered the Swedish camp low on confidence. Well, how quickly things can change in football. Gyokeres scored four goals in four matches for his country and is bang in form. It's precisely what Mikel Arteta needs with Kai Havertz having picked up an injury while playing for Germany.
That said, the route to regular football will not be easy. That's because Mikel Merino also had a phenomenal international break with Spain.
He scored in a 3-1 win over Czechia and then rounded off his period with the world champions by scoring twice, including a classy last-gasp winner, in a 2-1 victory over Croatia.
REUTERS/Vincent West
Just who the manager decides to replace Havertz with will be interesting. Merino offers a similar set of qualities but Gyokeres is certainly the more clinical and powerful of the two.
The biggest losers from the break for Arsenal
For Havertz, this was a nightmare international break. He suffered a robust tackle in a game with the Netherlands and had to be withdrawn. The initial prognosis is that he will miss a few weeks of action with a hamstring problem.
REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
Sadly for the Gunners, the German was not the only player to pick up an injury over the break. Christos Tzolis had to miss the last week and a bit of the Greece camp after sustaining a hamstring injury that is set to rule him out of October's action. Furthermore, defender Ezri Konsa was sent home from the England camp early with a dead leg.
Speaking of the Three Lions, it has not been a happy three week period for Eberechi Eze.
Truthfully, Eze's selection in Thomas Tuchel's squad came as something of a surprise. After all, he has not started a Premier League match this season and the England boss has made a point of picking players who are playing regularly for their club.
Has Eberechi Eze been worth his £67m transfer fee?
The former Crystal Palace man has still appeared off the bench on a frequent basis but starts have not been forthcoming. He has only started in the Champions League and Carabao Cup this term. In those two games, he has not set the world alight.
He had just two of Arsenal's 26 shots away at Napoli and while he did provide an assist for Max Dowman's opener against Ipswich in the cup, an assist is perhaps overselling it. He simply laid the ball off to the teenager who then did the rest, dancing between the defence before finding the net.
Eze's performances were similarly drab for England over the break, with his performance against Czechia in 3-0 win on Tuesday night drawing criticism.
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ESPN wrote at full-time that he 'once again looked uncomfortable in the side and failed to make any real impression.' They further noted that Eze 'lacks the punch of Gordon in attack.'
The worry for Arsenal long-term is that at Wembley, the 28-year-old started the game on the left flank. He has played all of his minutes in that position this season and has not made any sort of positive impact.
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Eze vs Czechia
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Key passes
Crosses
Shots
Shots on target
Successful dribbles
Fouled
Possession lost
Duels won
Eze failed to supply a single cross or key pass while all three of his shots were blocked by Czech defenders. He also won just five of his ten ground duels.
Over the summer, Arsenal desperately wanted to sign a new left winger. They did so in Tzolis but the desire was to supplement that arrival with the acquisition of a world-class talent. Eze's England colleague Morgan Rogers was looked at, as was Vinicius Junior.
REUTERS/Eva Korinkova
On the evidence of Eze's early season performances, that is no surprise. He is not a left winger and his performance for England this week only served to prove that point.
In all honesty, just a year on from his arrival at the Emirates Stadium, he should be finished in an Arsenal shirt. He's not good enough to play on the left for England or the Gunners and an upgrade must be sought the moment the January transfer window opens.
He will always have that amazing hat-trick against Tottenham to savour but that is about as good as it has got for the attacker since he moved from Selhurst Park to north London.
Arsenal's Christos Tzolis vs Brighton
Arsenal's Christos Tzolis vs Brighton