They are Premier League champions and may well retain their title but Arsenal will never set pulses racing outside north London.
Gunners players, coaches and fans will not care and why should they? They waited 22 years to lift the title and if they go back to back, why would any of those supporters worry about how they did it?
This stuff matters, though. Especially this season, which is already in big trouble due to the Manchester City cheating verdict.
Fans are disillusioned by the ongoing saga and the wider game needs a spectacular team to celebrate. Sadly, where once we had Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles, we now endure Mikel Arteta’s Unwatchables.
Yes, their defence is fabulous, as demonstrated when Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa made goal-saving challenges late on. They do that bit much better than anyone else and you can only admire it.
But for a club who has spent so much on players, where is the spark? Where is the flair? Where is the magic, the wow? It was somehow fitting that their winner from Noni Madueke should take a huge deflection off Forest defender Jair Cunha. Scruffy, not stylish.
Arsenal leaped back into second in the Premier League after victory over Nottingham Forest
Noni Madueke came off the bench to score an 80th minute winner for the Mikel Arteta’s side
In the first half, their best effort was a Gabriel back heel that hit his team-mate Konsa and nearly rolled into the Forest net.
One area you cannot question Arteta is in his use of substitutes. Madueke’s strike made it 24 goal involvements from players off the bench for Arsenal since the start of last season. The five-subs rule is a huge advantage for wealthy clubs with expensive squads but you still need huge skill to make the most of it.
Still though, Arsenal feel like a team reaching success by spreadsheet rather than artistry. The best of Europe, like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, thrill with their attacking play. It would be lovely to see Arsenal match that, even sometimes.
They have apparently hired a creativity guru to bring innovative practices and out-of-the-box thinking to their bid for multiple honours this season. Perhaps Arteta should ask German Castanos if he can unlock a well-organised defence, as this was beyond his team for much of this encounter.
These are unsettling times for Forest, who competed impressively but are still without a win or a goal at home all season. Oliver Glasner was hired at huge expense in the summer and the start has not been as owner Evangelos Marinakis would have liked.
Starting the day six points behind Manchester City, Arsenal brought back some of their main men, with Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka restored to the starting XI while Arteta preferred Eberechi Eze to Madueke on the left. Eze would last only 45 minutes, however.
In the absence of their main creator Morgan Gibbs-White, who did not train all week due to a muscular problem, Forest set up cautiously. Without a league win at the City Ground since April and with only five points on the board, Oliver Glasner could not risk a hiding at home.
In the opening 15 minutes, his team had barely 20 per cent of the ball and completed only 24 passes inside the Arsenal half. Crucially, though, Arsenal were not stretching Glasner’s men.
Arsenal may have gotten the job done but they have become Mikel Arteta’s Unwatchables
So carefully are Arsenal’s build-up patterns planned that, at times in the first half, we saw Rice on the right of a back three, and Havertz in the left-back spot. Full-backs Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori stepped into midfield but still Forest stuck to their task.
Midfielder Xaver Schlager was everywhere and at the back, Murillo did not miss a trick. Though often imprecise, Liam Delap did not allow Gabriel or Ezri Konsa a moment’s peace.
Indeed Forest had the first chance as Nico Dominguez, who replaced Gibbs-White, seized on a poor pass from Calafiori. Delap collected Daniel Munoz’s deflected cross and teed up Dan Ndoye for a shot that was tipped around the post. Attempting to meet Neco Williams’ corner, Murillo clashed with Konsa and suffered a cut to his face.
Unable to break through in open play, Arsenal turned to one of last season’s old set-piece favourites. Saka swung over the corner, Calafiori flicked it on and Gabriel backheeled the loose ball goalwards. Luckily for Forest, it hit Konsa and rebounded favourably.
That was about as good as it would be for Arsenal before the break and when Schlager was treated for a head injury, Arteta summoned his players for a mid-match briefing.
Just before the interval, Rice brought down Delap with a clumsy lunge. Williams’ free-kick hit the wall and as players jostled, Bruno Guimaraes hit the deck holding his face. Arsenal ball, danger averted. ‘Are you City in disguise?’ howled the home fans.
It had been desperately poor stuff from the champions though and it was no surprise to see Arteta sprint down the tunnel when referee Michael Oliver blew the half-time whistle.
Ineffective again, Eze was hauled off by. Huddled in his training jacket for the second half, Eze appeared lost in thought.
Right-back Jurrien Timber made a massive impact for the Gunners off the bench
Arteta’s team made just as little impact during the first part of the second half and midway through it, he sent for three more subs. Mikel Merino, Jurrien Timber and Victor Gyokeres were his selections from the £300m worth of talent in reserve, as Havertz, Guimaraes and Ben White made way.
Timber nearly made an immediate impact when he burst into the box from the right and fed the unmarked Rice, whose finish from 15 yards was woeful and did not even test Sels.
Arsenal’s breakthrough arrived when Jair Cunha’s clearance only reached Rice, who transferred it to Madueke. The England winger charged into the box and when his angled effort clipped Cunha’s left thigh, Sels had no chance to stop it.
Forest would have their moments but could not take them. Callum Hudson-Odoi found fellow substitute Chris Wood only for the forward to delay his aim, allowing Rice to race back and make a crucial block.
There was still time for Murillo to glide in from the left and beat Rice with an outrageous piece of skill. Instead of the net, though, the Brazilian defender fired into the Trent End and when Konsa blocked another effort from Delap, Arsenal were home.
