NOTTINGHAM, England -- The FA Cup was Mikel Arteta's making as a manager. Now he has to prove it doesn't matter.
Arsenal's abject 1-0 third-round exit to Nottingham Forest on Sunday was precisely the sort of performance he had hoped to consign to history, riddled with indifference and lacking the focus their hosts had in abundance throughout. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has gone from talisman to outcast because, according to Arteta, he failed to show the "commitment and passion" required. But if that is the benchmark, then several of the line-up here are in danger of their own spell in the wilderness after this.