3) West Ham have lacked a creator since Dimitri Payet’s exit
Although Dimitri Payet last played for West Ham in the first week of 2017, he is still the third-best chance creator in the Premier League having created 74 chances in the first half of the season. Only Christian Eriksen and Kevin De Bruyne have created more.
In the current squad, Manuel Lanzini has tried to fill in for Payet but those are very big boots to fill. He maybe West Ham’s next best creator but has only created half as many chances as the French midfielder who moved back to Ligue 1 with Marseille in the winter transfer window.
As a result, the Hammers have been dire and the game against Arsenal was no different. In all, they created only three chances of which just one opportunity led to a real threat on goal – which was confidently dealt with by third-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Andy Carroll, who has been a thorn in the flesh of Arsenal in recent seasons, had just one shot on goal that was blocked. With an inexperienced 24-year-old ‘keeper in Arsenal’s goal, West Ham will kick themselves for not testing him enough.
