If it's any consolation to Arsenal fans, flip the table upside down and it makes for better readings.
A 2-0 reverse at home to West Ham yesterday has left Arsene Wenger's side temporarily bottom of the Premier League and punctured the air of progression made at the end of last season and during pre-season, but like Petr Cech, the Gunners will improve.
'Hope you like my present, Arsene...' #PetrCech #ARSWHU pic.twitter.com/Z3fCl67aTH
— Newstalk's Team 33 (@teamthirtythree) August 9, 2015
But from watching the team on Sunday and at the tail end of 2014-15, part of that improvement needs to see Santi Cazorla restored to the deep-lying playmaker role he excelled in during Arsenal's brilliant run during the second half of last season.
Instead, the Community Shield success against Chelsea and the defeat to the Hammers saw Cazorla placed on the left side in a slightly more peripheral role.
A player of the Spaniard's technical quality and attacking versatility is more than capable of having an influence in a wide role, but as last season showed, the 30-year-old had started the form the basis of a formidable midfield pair with Francis Coquelin (and Aaron Ramsey to their right).
Cazorla's heat map of influence according to leading stats website Squawka.com. Click here for more.
Of course, Cazorla still spends plenty of time drifting centrally when out wide, but as the stats showed, he made more passes to left-back Nacho Monreal than any other team-mate which hints at a lack of influence centrally.
Cazorla's positioning was a point I put to former Chelsea and Ireland defender Paddy Mulligan when he joined Oisin Langan and I on the Monday Rewind podcast.
Listen to Paddy's full analysis of the weekend's action with Oisin and I via the Monday Rewind podcast:
"Cazorla plays his best football in central midfield, when he's allowed to get on the ball and control things. He's reliant on other players getting him the ball. He's the one who supplies the ammunition so why not go and use him," said Paddy.
"That's why I couldn't understand Wenger's team selection yesterday - good or indifferent - and then Cazorla goes missing. He gets fed up because he's playing wide and gets isolated from the game for far too long. You've got to get him back in central midfield."
Petr Cech's nightmare debut continues - here's how @DaveMcIntyreNT saw the Hammers' second https://t.co/o3ohIPoquO #offtheball
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 9, 2015
Cazorla in the middle provides better balance. It means Aaron Ramsey can still make the runs he has become excellent at making with the Spaniard and Coquelin behind him.
But Alexis Sanchez' return could well see Cazorla restored to his best position.
Key stat from the weekend
Aside from Arsenal's stage fright, Liverpool managed to banish the memories of a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Stoke in May by winning 1-0 against the same opposition on Sunday.
It was far from an impressive game to watch and I would still have question marks over the midfield balance provided by the pairing of James Milner and Jordan Henderson (a point Paddy expands on in the Rewind) not because of quality but due to their similarity.
But it was new striker Christian Benteke who was also worth watching to see how Brendan Rodgers aimed to utilise him.
And one stat stands out. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet made the most passes to the former Aston Villa target man (8) with defender Martin Skrtel making seven, showing how Benteke will have a "direct" influence for Liverpool stylistically.
