West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis | Premier League 2019-20

Arsenal got the better of West HamUnited 3-1 at the London Stadium to end their barren run and accord Freddie Ljungberg a bit of breathing space. The victory moved the Gunners up to ninth spot on the Premier League table and only a point behind North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

The game started extremely sluggishly with Arsenal passing the ball around at an extremely slow tempo. Consequently, they failed to muster anything substantial as West Ham grew into the game.

The hosts then caught the visitors with the proverbial sucker punch when Angelo Ogbonna got in between Arsenal’s defenders to nod home. The Gunners didn’t manage a single shot on target in the first half as the home side went into the break with a one-goal cushion.

After the break, the North Londoners turned the screw slightly and pegged the Hammers back in the 60th minute, courtesy Gabriel Martinelli. Nicolas Pepe popped up with his first league goal from open play three minutes later to hand the visitors the lead.

The Ivorian then set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to add further gloss on the score-line and put the result well beyond doubt.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game.

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#5 Kieran Tierney’s injury adds to Arsenal’s woes

Kieran Tierney went off injured

Before the match at the London Stadium even began, Arsenal were dealt a setback as Hector Bellerin suffered an injury in the pre-game warm-up. Consequently, the Gunners had to field Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the Spaniard’s stead and install Sead Kolasinac as a substitute, despite the Bosnian earlier being left out of the squad due to a groin niggle.

And, the North Londoners’ evening turned pear-shaped when Kieran Tierney picked up a hand injury in the opening 45 minutes. On first glance, the injury looked serious and might rule him out for the next few weeks. And, if that proves to be the case, Arsenal could find themselves in even more turmoil, something that many felt wasn’t achievable, considering their wretched recent record.

To put things into perspective, the Gunners, who are already missing the services of Rob Holding, might have to go into the encounter against Manchester City with their first-choice full-backs absent, meaning that their under-fire rear-guard might be put under extreme strife.

More worryingly though, if Kolasinac were to pull up stiff after the London Derby, Arsenal might have the unenviable task of calling upon a non-regular left-back.

Over the past few weeks, everything that could’ve gone wrong for the North Londoners has gone wrong. And, just when one felt it couldn’t get any worse, their annual injury crisis decided to tap their shoulder and mark its presence.

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#4 West Ham nudge ahead in a dour first half

West Ham United nudged ahead in the first half

West Ham arrived at the London Stadium having won only one of their previous five league games whereas the Gunners hadn’t managed a victory since the match against Bournemouth on the 6th of October.

Thus, one would’ve expected both sides to spar a touch at the outset before trying to impose themselves. And, that is exactly how the opening 45 minutes transpired as both teams at times, looked afraid to put the opposition to the sword.

Arsenal dominated possession for large swathes of the first half and ended up with 65% possession, 328 passes and a pass accuracy of 85%. Yet, the visitors never really threatened the Hammers’ defence as their approach play seemed pedestrian and was highly insipid.

More worryingly, the North Londoners didn’t have a touch of the ball in the opposition penalty box until the 33rd minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang teed up Mesut Ozil, only for the German to tamely head over the bar.

Additionally, they were quite awful playing out of the back as West Ham pinched the ball on numerous occasions and the Gunners could’ve found themselves staring at a greater deficit had the hosts been slightly more adventurous.

The Hammers, meanwhile, picked their opportunities to attack judiciously, meaning that they didn’t particularly aid the game as a spectacle, although they stuck to their tactical plan to exploit Arsenal’s deficiencies.

And, ultimately, the home side nudged ahead when they capitalised on some lackadaisical defending, thereby creating an opportunity for Ogbonna to finish off Pablo Fornals’ cross.

Thus, through the course of the first period, both sides had highlighted why they’d been lacking in confidence prior to the encounter. And, while one outfit regained a tad of hope during the half, the other was only plunged into greater darkness.

#3 Do Arsenal even care about defending anymore?

Xhaka was again poor defensively

Over the past decade and a bit, Arsenal and their defensive frailties have been well-documented and they’ve been laid bare for witness rather regularly. Thus, when the Gunners finally bid adieu to Arsene Wenger, the Emirates faithful longed for a more defensively sound side.

Yet, a year and a half later, they still find themselves at similar crossroads with plenty of evidence pointing towards an inexplicable spiral downwards. And, while the North Londoners emerged with three points from the London Stadium, their shortcomings at the back again hogged the limelight.

The first goal came about when Arsenal failed to clear their lines sufficiently, meaning that the Hammers recycled the ball and created a crossing opportunity. Subsequently, Ogbonna got a run on the static defenders as he powered home the header, albeit via a massive deflection.

Rather alarmingly though, the Gunners, at times, lacked the desire and the stomach for a fight. On numerous occasions, the West Ham players waltzed past them while the visitors were just content to dangle a leg, as if to show that they tried making a challenge.

Moreover, several of their players ducked out of strong challenges with the opening goal perfectly embodying that fact. Despite Ogbonna finding himself in space, the likes of Calum Chambers, Granit Xhaka and Maitland-Niles abysmally turned away from the flight of the ball.

Sokratis too, was quite woeful defensively, courtesy his failure to apply the requisite pressure and his tendency to either drop too deep or get too tight to his man.

Also, after giving away the ball countless times, the Gunners’ players didn’t showcase enough hunger to win the ball back and atone for their errors.

The past fortnight has seen Arsenal fans endure sleepless nights discussing about the club’s prospective search for a manager and the subsequent philosophy that he might bring to the table.

Yet, if they keep foregoing the defensive aspect and fail to portray the right attitude required for Premier League games, even the footballing gods, let alone a world-class manager, might not be able to save them from impending doom.

#2 Where are West Ham headed?

Is Pellegrini already on borrowed time?

Back in the 2018 off-season, West Ham signalled their intent of returning to the higher echelons of the English top-flight by unveiling Manuel Pellegrini as their new manager. Subsequently, many thought that they might become the first club to break open the traditional ‘Big Six’.

However, a dreadful start to last term meant that that dream was nipped in a bud, although they redeemed themselves a shade as the season drew to a close. Unsurprisingly, the sanguineness in East London reached a crescendo during the 2019 summer, especially considering they’d splashed the cash on some top-quality footballers.

Yet, with each passing game, the Hammers have contrived to evaporate that optimism with a string of uninspiring performances. And, whenever they’ve managed to turn up in games, they’ve ceded the initiative, only to rue it later.

Even against Arsenal, the hosts were quite good for the opening hour. They kept the ball well and were implementing their game-plan to the tee. However, once Martinelli opened the Gunners’ scoring, West Ham unravelled rather spectacularly.

The ailments that plagued the visitors in the opening 45 minutes suddenly seemed to impede the Hammers as their offensive play lacked ideas and the team was bereft of any belief. Most disturbingly, once the going got tough, the hosts seemed consigned to their fate, rather than trying to plot an escape route.

Thus, one couldn’t help but question where West Ham were actually headed. While they’ve showcased immense trust in Pellegrini so far, they’ve just not been good enough recently and the Chilean’s expansive style of football might have degraded the East Londoners as an outfit.

And, that, could be the hammer blow for the former Manchester City manager.

#1 Martinelli and Pepe spare Arsenal’s blushes

Martinelli inspired a stirring comeback

Arsenal produced a dire first-half display with that performance even competing in a rather elaborate list to be termed the most rudderless 45-minute showing in 2019-20. However, after the hour mark, the Gunners flicked a switch and churned out three goals, meaning that they eased the tension surrounding the club, albeit only marginally.

Martinelli, starting his first league game of the term, conjured another brilliant performance as he was a bundle of energy for the entirety of the encounter whereas he also portrayed the requisite composure to tuck away his chance. More impressively though, the Brazilian’s positive mentality rubbed off on his teammates as his tendency to keep searching for openings ultimately convinced his peers to adopt similar modus operandi.

On the other flank, Pepe perhaps turned in his most complete performance in an Arsenal jersey. The Ivorian looked bright after the break and was a constant threat on the right-wing. And, he capped off his display with a sumptuous goal and an equally sublime assist for Aubameyang.

Also, Mesut Ozil orchestrated proceedings in the second half as the Gunners began turning the screw. The German kept finding spaces in between the lines and troubled the West Ham midfielders, with Declan Rice, in particular, finding it hard to deal with his movement.

Thus, courtesy a goal-laden nine-minute spell, Arsenal had managed to restore some sort of normality to a fortnight that has often smacked of ridicule and mediocrity.

And, though a win against struggling West Ham wouldn’t particularly send shockwaves across the footballing fraternity, it certainly is enough for the Gunners at this juncture, especially with the perilous predicament they find themselves in.