Four uncomfortable Arsenal conversations we must have after PSG defeat including Odegaard woe

When the tie is finely poised, it can sometimes be difficult to have tough conversations about the drawbacks from the first leg, and in the case of Arsenal, it could be that everything that I write can be thrown out in just over a week - I hope it is.

However, after PSG scored, the energy and noise that was delivered were suddenly extinguished.

One of the brief frustrations was that the pre-match Tifo which had been spoken about was… to be blunt, poor.

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Instead of an inspiring sight, it sadly became a meme for supporters of other clubs. A good idea, poorly executed – which was something of a theme of the evening.

The first issue was the obvious gulf in the midfield, which was felt most withoutin the team. We can look at this a number of ways when it comes to frustration, and the first is with the Ghanaian himself.

That yellow card in Madrid now looks incredibly silly, more so than it was at the time. We all knew that the win had been somewhat muddied with the booking, and everyone felt the impact before the fact.

On the night, Arteta hinted that in the first 15 to 20 minutes, the side had an issue that had to be corrected. For me, that was in the middle of the park as huge spaces opened up between Declan Rice in the six and both and Martin Odegaard, who were pressing up.

It allowed PSG to transition with threat and spread the play to isolate the players, which ultimately contributed to the first goal. Arsenal addressed this issue, and only toward the end, when desperate for the equaliser, were they opened up.

I’ve mentioned the name of the other element to this Gunners angst, Odegaard. While there were signs in the last few matches of improvement, this was not a good enough contribution from the club captain.

It felt at times like he was just a passenger on the field while the PSG contingent of Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz all were heavily influential in the game. Those who have given up on Odegaard and want him gone, well, they’re extreme in their views.

But, that said, there should be nothing stopping Arsenal from looking at the position in the summer to find competition. When you see a player like Eberechi Eze having such an impact from midfield, it shows an edge that the team lacks.

Speaking of signings, that brings us nicely to the third element. PSG brought on more than £100million of attacking talent in the second half in Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos.

Arsenal waited until the final minutes before came on. A talented player but still just 17 years old, while their only attacking signing of the summer, , was an unused substitute.

Yes, Kai Havertz and are both injured, but the latter was already out in January. That winter window continues to look utterly horrid, and the absence of a permanent sporting director might save the club from serious scrutiny, but it remains a failure and could have been a difference-maker for Arteta to have something different to come off to make an impact.

The last one is that despite all the talk of how it has been refreshing to escape the ridiculousness that the officials have dealt to Arsenal this season. That ended on Tuesday night.

The officials at the completely lost control of the game, made it a stop-start nightmare and lowered the threshold to a point where inconsistency in decision-making was inevitable. However, there was one moment which was frankly disgusting to see.

Bukayo Saka fairly wins the ball from Nuno Mendes, making a good challenge, getting the ball and coming away with it in a huge gulf of space, which would have been a major chance. The linesman wildly waved his flag for a foul, and I cannot blame Saka for getting a booking for kicking the ball away; it was maddening.

Then at the end of the match, the already yellow-carded Achraf Hakimi brings down , stopping him from getting into the box. The way the season has gone for the Gunners, were the shoe on the other foot, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a second yellow brandished – here it was not.

After asking Arteta for his thoughts after the game, he said he felt it was clear and wanted to say no more. While it is easy to get bogged down in these negatives after a defeat, Arteta is right in what he says: it is just half-time.

Arsenal could have been out of the tie with the chances PSG had at the end of the game. They may look back on those with regret in the same way we have so much regret right this very moment. A week to go, and a Paris revenge story would be very sweet.