Arsenal lost for just the second time all season on Thursday night, falling afoul of a resurgent PSV side that put them to the sword in a dominant 2-0 display in Eindhoven.
And pundits were quick to dissect the performance from Arsenal, with former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole claiming that the Gunners still have 'work to do' to compete with the continent's best sides.
The north London outfit fell to a scintillating second half performance from the hosts, with Luuk de Jong masterminding the victory for Ruud van Nistelrooy's side from the bench.
As part of BT's coverage of the Europa League clash, Cole said: 'When Mikel shows that to his players and the details and the fundamentals - if they nailed that down they come away with a point or three. There's more questions than answers tonight.
'I don't want to be too critical to this group of players because they've been very enjoyable but today is a reminder that there's still work to do and a way to go.'
And ex-Gunners defender Martin Keown added: 'I don't want this to derail his team - five people missing and five subs on. Strength in depth not quite there but as long as they can learn from that, they'll use this as fuel going into the Forest game.'
Dropping points for just the third time in 2022-23, Arsenal looked off the pace on Thursday evening in Holland, and struggled to find a response.
Despite five substitutions, Arteta could not find enough of a spark in his side to turn the game around, although all is not lost for the Gunners in the Europa League.
And the defending for the second goal - in which Aaron Ramsdale came to punch clear a corner but mistimed it horribly - came under heavy scrutiny from Keown.
He stated: 'Why is (Kieran) Tierney picking up De Jong? I'm shouting at the tv - Ramsdale goes for a big haymaker he should be going with a straight arm. I'm not sure why Tierney is going against him (De Jong). Holding should've helped him out.'
However for Cole the concern was whether a draw at the weekend followed by this loss could derail Arsenal's momentum.
He added: 'Everyone's been patting themselves on back, good mood up until now. Arteta will now have to lift (Albert Sambi) Lokonga and (Rob) Holding - he might need them soon especially if (Thomas) Partey gets injured.
'Different challenge to his management now. He will need to lift the team, do the basics well and now get the result at the weekend. You don't want this to affect them going into the weekend and the league now.'
A victory would simply have sealed qualification in top spot a game early - something they have every chance of successfully wrapping up against Zurich next time out.
But before that Arteta's side travel to Nottingham Forest on Sunday for the final game in what has been the club's third busiest month in their entire illustrious history.