Wenger sure Arsenal’s ruthlessness will return
A draw away to West Ham United is not in itself the catalyst for any major crisis, but Arsenal are again drifting dangerously following what increasingly looks like another false dawn last month.
Midweek wins for most of their direct rivals for Champions League football means that they have slipped down to seventh in what is an admittedly congested Premier League table beneath Manchester City. Most worrying, though, is both their away form (two wins in nine) and a third consecutive game in which they have failed to win despite dominating possession.
Indeed, Arsenal were ultimately within inches of losing to a West Ham team who are finally gathering some semblance of momentum under new manager David Moyes after Javier Hernandez’s 90thminute strike cannoned off the underside of the crossbar.
Arsene Wenger had tried to tackle his visiting team’s attacking problems by altering both the formation and personnel, with Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud starting for the first time in the Premier League this season in front of a flat back four.
West Ham, though, were largely comfortable in absorbing an utterly predictable direction of attack that was summed up by Danny Mills in the BBC commentary box. “Arsenal are like a funnel, straight through the middle, no width whatsoever and it makes playing them very easy,” he said.
Wenger, who substituted Alexis Sanchez in the 82nd minute, also pointed to a lingering hangover from losing 3-1 against Manchester United despite 33 shots. “The chances we missed have had an impact, but we must focus on the quality of our game rather than not being ruthless,” he said. “It will come back by not making it too much of a problem. We go through a patch where there is a difference between what we create and score. It won’t last. They defended well.”
Moyes could not disagree but, after beating Chelsea on Saturday and also almost holding Manchester City to a draw, believes that a foundation has been established. “We are trying to change the mood and the results have given us a platform,” he said.
While Arsenal rotated, West Ham were unchanged and happy for the visitors to take an immediate hold of possession as the five creative players behind Giroud soon began interchanging passes and positions. The sacrifice was defensive and Arsenal’s weakness on the counter-attack, especially down Hector Bellerin’s right flank, was also soon evident. Arthur Masuaka had sprinted clear into space vacated by Bellerin and his precise cross was met by Marko Arnautovic, whose downward header beat Petr Cech. Moyes was celebrating, but the offside flag had been raised after it emerged that Granit Xhaka had just stepped out sufficiently with the four Arsenal defenders.
Wenger’s men might have been struggling to translate possession into clear chances but Wilshere did begin positively with his crisp passing. Sanchez, who was again oscillating between misplaced passes and creating Arsenal’s best chances, did then release Alex Iwobi down Arsenal’s right. Iwobi had held off Masuaka’s challenge and also beaten West Ham goalkeeper Adrian with a powerful and quickly taken low shot, but the ball bounced to safety off a post.
West Ham remained content to defend deep and were actually the more incisive team on those rare moments they did break forward.
Manuel Lanzini had sprinted into space down Arsenal’s right that was partially vacated by Bellerin. Xhaka again tracked back and was the last defender but, rather than make any attempt to make a conventional tackle, he opted to impede Lanzini in a clumsy attempt to see the ball out of play. It was an incident that would surely have provoked a foul just about anywhere else on the