Young Guns on front foot propel Arsenal into top four

Arsenal 2 West Ham United 0 
Premier League 
Wednesday 15th December 2021  8pm   

It was certainly a match in which Arsenal needed to make a statement, given West Ham’s position above them in the table, and the club’s aspirations to start closing the gap that has seen a series of disappointing finishing positions in recent Premier League campaigns. Additionally, further exorcism of the recent poor displays away from home was required.

The performance last weekend against Southampton saw the flickers of recovery, albeit against relegation contenders, and Arteta stayed consistent with his team selection, even if the opposition was a far tougher proposition. Emile Smith Rowe remained on the bench, and it feels like Kieran Tierney may have simply been held back to ensure maximum fitness and now appears to be the first choice left back once more. The contribution of Gabriel Martinelli justified his continued selection, and Arteta has a nice problem now, with three youngsters vying for the wide attacking positions, one of which the now former club captain is, in theory, also a contender for, should he ever return.

Let’s briefly assess the Aubameyang situation. His appointment as the captain was based on reputation as a player rather than obvious leadership qualities. And one suspects there have been a number of unreported indiscretions which culminated in his not returning from his trip abroad in time. It is possible that his landing in the UK on Thursday morning might have made him unavailable for the Southampton match due to COVID regulations, although in honestly, the rules change so often, that may not be the case. Whatever the truth, a new club captain doesn't have to be appointed until the summer and decisions over a number of players are resolved. At present, all that is required is for Arteta to pick one for each match to call heads or tails and Lacazette is the default option. If he does not play, then it will likely be Granit Xhaka. As for a club captain for the long term, you’d have to imagine Kieran Tierney would be the popular choice amongst the fanbase.

Tierney is a nod back to the Arsenal spirit of past times, and on that note, four days late, the club paid tribute to the great and sadly departed Ray Kennedy before the match last night. It was a genuinely shocking oversight by someone that this didn’t happen at the weekend, but a sad indicator that the people in charge of these things at the club now have no feeling for its history. They’d probably struggle to name the 1971 team. Very, very sad and damn right disrespectful.

The attendance at the game was about 45,000, with plenty of empty seats visible, especially in the upper tier. A midweek evening game on TV in December is never going to be a full house, but add in the COVID passport checks and an understandable reluctance amongst many to risk catching the virus (traveling on public transport being more dangerous than actually being in the stadium) and in honesty, I expected an even lower crowd. The COVID passport checks were random, most people were not asked, and it didn’t seem to delay the flow at the turnstiles. Mind you, I got in about 30 minutes before kick-off, not wanting to take any chances. I didn't get the impression that there were significant hold ups though, as most people seemed to be in their seats for kick-off. People certainly made an effort to get there early.

The first half was generally positive. Arsenal certainly had more attacks and demonstrated purpose going forward, feeling less ponderous, with Saka a real handful. Tierney and Martinelli came mighty close to scoring, in spite of the Hammers’ well-organized resilience, with Declan Rice such an obvious key man. In honesty though, the lack of their two first choice centre backs probably made the difference in this game.

Early in the second half, the breakthrough came with Martinelli outpacing the back line to take advantage of a Lacazette assist and finish with the aplomb of Thierry Henry, low into the far corner. Game on, as West Ham came out of their shell and Arsenal were pinned back for a short time.

At one point after the goal, Odegaard played a daft ball into the space outside Arsenal’s penalty area that was gleefully picked up by Bowen, who almost equalized with his shot. The Norwegian was replaced by Emile Smith Rowe a little after, but it was a real let-off, given he had space to take the ball forward instead of playing a pass that invited trouble. Individual errors at Old Trafford – including a rash challenge from Odegaard –cost points. He has talent, but his decision-making needs to mature quickly.

Talking of rash challenges, Coufal, on a yellow, made a hash of an attempt to intercept the ball in his own area to bring down Lacazette, and got his marching orders to add insult to the award of the penatly. Martinelli seemed to want to take it, perhaps thinking his captain might have been hurt in the challenge. Laca pulled rank and regretted it. His spot kick might have been close to the post, but the pace and height made it savable by Fabianski. Apparently, all these missed penalties of late have not actually cost any points. Not sure of the truth of that, but very fortunate if that is the case. It can’t continue though, so something has to be done about the quality of the spot kicks. Hit them high and hard is my general preference, with the proviso that the likes of Xhaka and Partey are not let anywhere near them. We’d be seeing Chris Waddle-type efforts going into orbit.

The goal that sealed the game was a thing of beauty, once Tomiyasu had done the ugly stuff and won the ball in a tussle. Saka picked it up and sent Smith Rowe away. With confidence, he carried the ball into a shooting position and picked his spot. Maybe he should be taking the penalties instead. Gooner journalist Matt Scott tweeted after the game – “In ESR and Saka we have the ball-carrying finishers we haven’t seen since Pires and Henry”. Fair comment, and a delight to see. After that, I had no problem with Arsenal playing the keep possession ‘arc of doom’ with the ball traveling from one side of the pitch to the other, and little intention of going forward.

West Ham did have a go, but two down, they eventually ran out of steam and Arsenal displaced them in the top four. Leeds and Norwich away, Wolves at home to follow. These are games that – if they are approached with the same attacking intent – can bring a much-needed stash of points before a tricky start to 2022. Of course, a lot depends on the whole virus situation, with so many players testing positive, and even the prospect of a January lockdown with behind closed doors matches returning, even if enough players are testing negative. This little burst of momentum might be curtailed for reasons beyond football’s control, but let’s just hope that isn’t the case. If you were to pick a season not to be playing European football, this could turn out to be the right one.

A quick note to finish here that my old writing partner Alex Fynn has a few remaining copies of the 2016 edition of our book 'Arsenal: the Making of a Modern Superclub' to sell at £5 plus £3.50 postage to UK addresses. He can send abroad but the shipping will be more than the cost of the book – inquire anyway if you can live with that. This is now the only way you can get a copy as it is sold out from the publishers and no longer reprinting. Reply to this tweet - if you want a copy or email me at gooner.ed@gmail.com for details of how to make payment.

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