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Arsenal beat West Ham to show there is a lot of work to do. by Konstantin Mitov
Happy Sunday lovely people at Arsenal. Wow, West Ham was a lot tougher than I expected. I was really sure that we would have a great time, but instead we barely got 3 points.
We were never really in control of the game. We fight to break your line and create opportunities. Fortunately we scored 2 and that gave us the win, but we desperately need more creativity in midfield.
Despite all the attacking talents up front, I can easily see how Auoar is our main summer target. A little message of toast appeared during the second half, highlighting that West Ham had 8 chances to 1 in that half alone!
We not only need midfielders who can create chances, but also add goals to the team. We once again demanded our forwards to do the job and it looks like they will have to do it all season long.
It was great to see Lacazette score again, and if he can get to the 20 goal mark, that would be great. Eddie also pushed him with a vital goal that is great for the confidence of our strike force.
However, in the back, things were not looking very good. For all the defenders we have, the 3 we pulled out yesterday hardly helped their cause. I have to say that Kolasinac was atrocious. I’m surprised that Arteta even chose it. Maybe he wanted a left-handed defender on the left in the back 3, but Sead’s performance was summed up when he was released from the left and tried to cross the ball and went for goal kick. The guy can’t defend, can’t attack, and he’s full of mistakes. I’d be surprised if it was here at the end of the window.
The other 2 did not bathe in glory either. It seems to me that there is a communication problem with Gabriel, because of his English or perhaps there is still a lack of synergy in the back. In the West Ham goal, we had Holding who was trying to tell Gabriel to score Antonio, but instead he was running towards the man with the ball.
Then Holding realized too late that he had to mark it and a bright cross opened it to us, because we allowed it. Rob is another Arsenal player who is too inconsistent. What closed the door to his loan to Newcastle was our injury problems.
This back 3 is not the best and we really miss a leader like Luiz. We also miss Tierney and AMN, who are vital to creating space in our game. I honestly think we miss Elneny as well as Ceballos even though his assist offered little to our game overall.
However, the 3 points are what matters in the end and somehow we get there. Beating these types of opponents will be vital as United, for example, were eliminated by Palace and the race for the top 4 will probably be the most difficult of all. I think these kinds of performances should be used to keep calm and realize that we have to spend more and work more on the training ground.
Liverpool added Jota and Thiago, two solid signings. And just like last season where we started with an away win followed by a tough one at home, we will head to Anfield next in the league and this will be a good test of the reality of where we are.
In the meantime, let’s go to Leicester. It is not the easiest place. It’s just the EFL cup and changes will be made, but last season we struggled with them and it’s important to show that we can overcome them and also keep the winning flow.
In the end, 3 points were important and let’s see where that takes us.
Konstantin
