Arsenal sample some Samba as Arteta releases the handbrake

Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette and Fulham’s Michael Hector battling for the ball in Saturday’s Premier League match at Craven Cottage Picture: PA

Mikel Arteta was criticised for being tactically too negative when he finished last season with a gritty victory over Premier League champions Liverpool and lifting the FA Cup via safety-first defeats of Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley.

That reaction to a pragmatic approach was harsh on the managerial novice charged with restoring confidence and pride to one of the most notoriously mentally fragile Arsenal sides in recent history. How would people had reacted had he left his leaky defence exposed to more ridicule?

And the Arsenal manager was at pains to explain the beautiful game is safe in his hands as he embarked on his first full season in charge of a team with a thrashing of newly-promoted Fulham, who were fortunate to concede only three goals.

Arteta fielded a new-look defence, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno restored for Aston Villa-bound Emi Martinez behind new central defender Gabriel. And it was Arsenal’s latest boys from Brazil who set the tone as Gabriel and Willian rivalled each other for man of the match on a double debut day to remember.

Physically impressive defender Gabriel was immense as the 15th Brazilian to sign for Arsenal, joining in a £27m deal with Lille, following shortly on from Willian, a free transfer from Chelsea.

Still to come into the selection reckoning are prodigious teenage forward Gabriel Martinelli and father figure to the south American quartet David Luiz. At 33 and seemingly error-prone, Luiz has his doubters, but when Arteta surprisingly awarded him a new contract at the end of last season, he was rewarded by exemplary and influential performances in an impressive and trophy-winning season end.

He would have featured in this match but for a neck injury as Arteta hopes to find a winning combination by mixing youth and experience. Explaining why he thinks the maturity of Willian and Luiz will rub off on his young Gunners, he said: “We expect that to happen as we need a mix. We have a lot of young players with big talent and futures but need the right players around them to learn from.”

A serial trophy winner at Chelsea, Willian wants similar success in north London, Arteta says. He struck a free kick against a post and provided an assist for the Arsenal goals from Alex Lacazette, Gabriel and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s wonder finish to an outstanding team move.

Arteta added: “Some players, when they have won everything in the game, have a full stomach but Willy has the feeling he wants more and to do it at a different club. He showed in this match how much he wants it and how hard he will try in order to achieve that.”

Willian is a proven performer so possibly the most impressive debut was that of Gabriel, an inexperienced 22-year-old who Arteta had hoped to ease into action had he not had a mini injury crisis in defence.

“He had not played a match for six months and hardly trained with us, but we followed him a lot and knew he had special qualities which he would be able to adapt to the Premier League.

“I don’t have to name them all because I think you saw them all in that match. But one of them was his character, his personality on the pitch. For a boy who does not speak the language to come in and do what he did is a big credit to him.”

Arteta was raised as a player at Barcelona and was heavily influenced by Arsene Wenger when he captained his Arsenal side, so it is no surprise he wants his team to score goals as much as keep them out. But he cautioned supporters not to expect samba skills every week – however many Brazilian he selects. “The DNA of this football club is to be entertaining and is how I was raised as a footballer,” he added, “so I can’t see it any other way. But we also need to be efficient and adapt depending on the opponents as the thing I like most is winning. I want to get the team to a level as high as they can perform and time will tell where that leaves us at end of season.”

Fulham manager Scott Parker hopes there will not be many more days like this on his club’s return to the top flight as he bids to introduce more players of quality to avoid a drop straight back down — and give his existing ones the confidence to bounce back from setbacks.

“It is a constant message I am driving home — that you can’t let mistakes and defeats scar you,” he said. “The last time in this division did not go well and we were defensively poor at times but this is a redemption for them, a chance to prove themselves.

“We have brought in the keeper Areola and a long list of players who need more time. They can help us move forward. When that time is right and when the new players are up to speed, we will look at it as they are here to take us forward.”

FULHAM: Rodak 6, Ream 4, Hector 5, Odoi 6, Bryan 5, Onomah 5 (De Cordova-Reid 75), Cairney 5, Reed 6, Kebano 5 (Zambo Anguissa 63), Cavaleiro 5, Kamara 5 (Mitrovic 63).

Subs: Areola, Knockaert, Le Marchand, Christie.

ARSENAL: Leno 6, Bellerin 6, Gabriel 7, Holding 6, Tierney 6, Maitland-Niles 6, Elneny 6, Xhaka 6 (Ceballos 79), Willian 8 (Pepe 76), Aubameyang 7, Lacazette 7 (Nketiah 86).

Subs: Macey, Kolasinac, Willock, Saka.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh 6.