The fact that Steve Bould said Andre Santos had done a "fabulous" job after the left-back was schooled by Jefferson Farfan and Astuto Uchida for the entire 90 minutes, pretty much sums up the state of affairs post-international break at Arsenal.
Yes the game of soccer is a team game, but at the end of the day it is 11 individuals on the pitch that make it that team, and for Arsenal on Wednesday night against Schalke, in their own turf at the Emirates, the 11 individuals failed to step up.
Klaas-JNan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay scored for Schalke in a deserved 2-0 victory for the German side.
It is tough to criticize Santos too much, because defending is not part of the Brazilian's game, and time and again he has been found out - which is probably why he should never be used as a left-back. Had Farfan and Uchida found better end products, the game would have ended 4-0 to Schalke.
"I think he's done fabulous, coming in," Bould said of Santos. "It was tough, they had two very good players, their two best players, down that side. It was a tough game for us."
Like the Norwich game, Arsenal failed to create a single clear-cut chance, and the trend is a little worrying for the Arsenal assistant manager, who was in charge of the game as Arsene Wenger endured the last game of his three-match touchline ban.
"We haven't played anything like we can, I think that's the big disappointment," Bould said. "We haven't performed today. We lack a bit of confidence, for whatever reason, but it's a tough competition and they are a good side in all fairness.
"They beat Dortmund at the weekend and played really well. A 0-0 would have delighted us I think.
"We looked jaded, I don't know why that is. Coming off the international break we haven't performed really. I don't know if that's the reason but we definitely look jaded. With the ball we lack a bit of confidence. (Not creating chances) is not what we want, it's not what we're accustomed to. We normally create chances and at the moment we're not, so we have to correct that."
Arsenal have lost two-straight games after giving away the first goal now, and Bould hopes to see the Gunners on the front foot in the weekend's game against Queens Park Rangers. "I think scoring first will be a major plus for us at the minute," he added. "We've got behind in I think the last five games and to keep coming back is tough at times. We might need an early first goal, it wouldn't half help."
On the injury front, Arsenal will be boosted a little bit with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere expected to be named in the squad for Saturday's game, although Theo Walcott is still recovering.
"I'm not sure about Walcott, the other two might be considered," he added. "It's not set in stone yet. We might (need that), one or two need freshening up I think."
