Mikel Arteta watched his Arsenal side demolish PSV Eindhoven in a new-look system (Image: Getty)
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta may have been fretting about finding a No. 9 for the rest of the season after blanking against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Less than a week later, the Spaniard has five. The 7-1 thrashing of PSV Eindhoven put to bed questions about their attack as they ran riot in the Netherlands. Arteta watched on with delight as his clinical side put the sword to their woeful Dutch opponents, who made a hash of their defensive work at the back and were heavily punished. Martin Odegaard scored twice, with Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard, Mikel Merino, Jurrien Timber and substitute Riccardo Calafiori all found the net in a record-breaking win.
It was Arsenal's biggest-ever away win in the Champions League, surpassing their famous 5-1 win over Inter Milan 22 years ago. Merino led the line from the off and showed his killer instinct in front of goal with a cool, slotted finish into the far corner. But there was evidence to suggest that Arteta is experimenting with a fluid system where four or five players rotate between themselves to take turns as the No. 9.
Mikel Merino started up front and slotted home Arsenal's third of the night (Image: Getty)
For the second goal, 17-year-old starlet Nwaneri popped up inside the six-yard box and hammered home. A pure poacher's finish. Merino's goal was one seen every week in the Premier League; a composed, neat finish into the corner. Then Odegaard followed up on the rebound from Nwaneri's cross like any striker would. Even Calafiori sprung the offside trap to latch onto Odegaard's pass and slide one past goalkeeper Walter Benitez.
Four out of the seven goals were scored from inside the box, and all by different players. It's this shared responsibility that Arteta has hinted at before - he doesn't see it as simply being Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli's burden to bear to score goals. It's a team effort, and their performance in Eindhoven reflected that.
Wayne Rooney certainly noticed. The Manchester United legend knows a thing or two about being a striker after bagging 253 goals for the Red Devils. And the England icon pointed out how Declan Rice - who didn't score but had several chances - took over from Merino in that role after making intelligent runs into the box.
Ethan Nwaneri thundered home from the six-yard box with a poacher's finish (Image: Getty)
"This is what I was talking about with Rice, he was making this run time and time again tonight," Rooney said, working as a pundit for Amazon Prime Sport.
"He becomes the No. 9, follows the play and now he's in the middle of the goal. He's very unfortunate not to get a tap-in [before Odegaard scores] but that's what really impressed me.
"Those forward runs and his presence in the penalty area... I haven't seen it that much from him [before] but I thought he was fantastic."
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Declan Rice didn't score but caught Wayne Rooney's eye with his runs akin to a No. 9 (Image: Getty)
Much was made about Arsenal's failure to sign a big-name striker in January. And there is an argument to be made that Ollie Watkins might have won them some vital points to keep them in the title race if they stumped up the money Aston Villa wanted.
But the best managers have backup plans up their sleeves in the event of the worst injury crisis - and the rotating No. 9 between Merino, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri and even Trossard worked a treat for Arteta.
It could prove to be a turning point as they attempt to chase down Liverpool, starting against Manchester United on Sunday. As for their Champions League hopes, this was a statement performance that would've made their rivals take notice.
