There was a moment midway through the first half of Arsenal's game away to Manchester United when Mikel Merino saw the space open up in the left channel and made the run. It was the right run and he received the ball inside the penalty box.
It was what happened next that was revealing. The makeshift striker had isolated his marker and had the opportunity to square up Leny Yoro. Succeed in beating him and he was in. Instead, Merino played the percentages and checked back.
It was not wrong, per se. Merino picked out Declan Rice and the shot eventually came in from Thomas Partey. Even so, it was impossible not to wonder how this simple passage of play might have gone very differently with a natural centre-forward on the pitch.
Merino had only one shot. It came from his other touch inside the penalty box that afternoon. "The efficiency in the last 20 metres was not good enough," said Mikel Arteta. In fact, Merino had more touches in his own half of the pitch than in that particular zone.
As a front three, the starting forward trio of Merino, Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard had nine touches inside the Manchester United box between them. For context, Bukayo Saka is averaging nine touches per game in the opposition box on his own this season.
Without Saka providing that thrust out wide, and with Gabriel Martinelli only introduced from the bench for this game, the absence of a true striker is only underlined. Merino's goals against Leicester were welcome but doing that consistently is another matter.
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"He came on and got two goals against Leicester and they were good finishes but you are not going to win the Premier League with him up front," former Arsenal favourite Paul Merson told Sky Sports. "He looks lost up front. He does not give you a presence."
Merino does bring qualities. He is actually enough of a presence to score in the air and on the occasions that he dropped deep to link play, that aided Arsenal's dominance. But that lack of penetration in behind made this easier for United's defence than it needed to be.
That is not on Merino, perhaps not even on Arteta, who is trying to find tactical solutions to what is a personnel problem. But, as exemplified by that moment 25 minutes in at Old Trafford, it is a clue as to why Arsenal are going to come up short again this season.