Weakened Arsenal pay the price at the London Stadium

West Ham 3 Arsenal 1   
League Cup 4th Round   
Wednesday 1st November 2023 7.30pm     

1 - All change – only four Arsenal players that started the weekend match against Sheffield United retained their places for this last 16 tie at West Ham. Their hosts themselves made five changes, although having lost at home to Everton the preceding weekend, there was an argument that David Moyes was looking at whether those who performed poorly in the league might be replaced by those who can only have played better last night. As for Mikel Arteta, the only real question was who he’d start from his first choice pool, so it was Ben White, Gabriel, Zinchenko and Nketiah who were selected. As expected, Ramsdale got his chance, Kiwior joined the back four, and the midfield trio were Jorginho, Vieira and Havertz. Nelson and Trossard played either side of Eddie. So on paper, it looked a strong enough eleven to progress, but on the pitch, the team didn’t really click.

 

2 - Three poor goals to give away – Okay, so for the first one, there is certainly a case that Ramsdale was impeded, but if your own player is going to head the ball past you, that’s a tough one to read, even if there was no restriction on your movement. The referee let it go, the goal stood. Is VAR even used in this competition? What Ben White was thinking only he can say. A normally solid defender compounded his error for West Ham’s third, with a headed clearance that went straight to Jared Bowen hovering on the edge of the area. There was no real challenge on him and although his strike was deflected, Ramsdale got a hand to it, right in front of him, only to see the ball deflect in. Yes, it was wet, but I think he’d have saved this if he used two hands. It wasn’t his finest display. For the goal in between it was kudos to Kudus, the player finishing well with a low shot after a challenge failed to come in. 

 

3 - Defensively, Gunners not at the races – This game was lost due to the poor defending on the three goals, with a variety of ways of cocking up the art of denying the opposition the chance to score. To think, Arsenal once had a reputation for a mean defence, although under Arteta those days seem to be a distant memory. The keeper and back four didn’t feature any players who can’t do the job to a very decent level – better than this, and they had Jorginho in front of them. It sure was a bad day at the office.

4 - Declan lauded, then booed – Initial appreciation and warmth from the home support for Declan Rice was replaced by pantomime booing when he actually touched the ball in play, although there was no venom in it. Rice departed because he had greater ambition than the Hammers are ever going to satisfy, he left them with their first trophy for 43 years, a European one at that (albeit the Conference League) and the club received a fat fee for him. He didn’t angle for the move but simply decided against signing a contract extension. Fair enough, and I seriously doubt there is any genuine vitriol for the player amongst the West Ham faithful, give or take the odd nutter on social media. Rice entered the fray after 56 minutes, replacing Jorginho with his team two goals down. It should have been Saka and Martinelli that came on from a strong bench, but by the time they did it was 3-0. Too late.

 

5 - Familiar faces – Fabianski and Mavraponos lined up for West Ham – it feels an eternity ago that these players were at the club. Mavrapanos was signed under Arsene Wenger, I think in January 2017. I recall he had ill luck with injury, after initially looking very promising. I doubt he ever played with any of the eleven that started for Arsenal. Fabianski is getting on and is apparently the second choice for David Moyes now. The Gunners didn’t get many shots on target to trouble him, and he dealt adequately with what he had to until the pit of second half injury time. Shame about things at the other end…

 

6 - Kai struggles on – This was a real chance for Havertz to impact the game, and he did see plenty of the ball. Yet, the effect was pretty minimal. Arteta will persist with him for a season, I am sure, but if he continues to disappoint, you can see this one ending in tears. Still, we’ll always have that 20 minute singsong at Bournemouth, eh?

 

7 - Just the ticket– I have no idea whether those at the side of the pitch were charged more than the £10 Gooners paid, but the low pricing ensured a full house. Sadly, many of the away support didn’t feel like they wanted to get the full value of their ticket and made for the exits long before the end of the game. Well, that queue to Stratford station is a killer, right? Especially on a wet and windy November night. Of course, we are accustomed to swathes of empty white seats when the home side have had a bad performance and with the game wrapped up, a good few West Ham fans decided to beat the rush also. 

 

8 - Worth the wait? – A decent finish from Odegaard gave those away supporters that stayed to the bitter end something to cheer about at last. It proved to be the very last kick of the game. 

 

9 - In conclusion - Bad news for the backup boys in that they are unlikely to be getting a start until the FA Cup comes around in January, unless there are some dead rubbers in the Champions League group stage. Mikel Arteta will be thankful for the small mercy of a midweek without a game when the quarter finals are played, which he will doubtless use to work on something with his squad. The manager uses domestic cups to keep his reserve / substitute players match fit and involved and is prepared to take the risk that might lead to defeat. There is little financial incentive to progress in comparison to the main two competitions, which is one of the main reasons so many clubs rest their stars in the earlier rounds of the FA and League Cups. Arsenal’s attack seemed to lack imagination and creativity. The role of the back up boys in cameo appearances from the bench in bigger games than this one feels about right. Nobody made a strong case for usurping one of the current chosen players, including Ramsdale who has had far better games than last night. Hopefully the return of a stronger team will lead to a better result on Saturday evening in Newcastle.

 

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