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Publication date: Saturday, September 19, 2020 10:51 AM
This was a victory in the London derby much less pleasing to the eye than his opening day triumph in Fulham but immensely more satisfying. As highlighted by Mikel Arteta’s reaction to the final whistle.
The Gunners were well below average against a West Ham team that displayed flashes of character that many doubt they possess. Indeed, David Moyes will make the short trip home feeling once again exhausted, but this time, he would be justified. The Hammers deserved one point and if they had taken their chances they could have taken three.
That was the reason for Arteta’s enthusiasm when Michael Oliver ordered the late siege of West Ham to be stopped. The Arsenal boss has seen this team shoot points with gay abandon during his reign and for too many years before his appointment. Winning ugly is not a trait that anyone would associate with old Arsenal these days, but Arteta is seeing some evidence that his side is forming a backbone.
Video: The reaction of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after the final whistle against West Ham. [Sky] #afc pic.twitter.com/APcd0DQBnX
– afcstuff (@afcstuff) September 19, 2020
Why was Arsenal so discolored? Cruising at Craven Cottage last week may only have increased their confidence, but the Emirates hosts looked somewhat disoriented during the first half which ended in a soft draw.
Mitigation may come in the Kieran Tierney-shaped hole on the left side of Arsenal’s defense. The Scottish star suffered a hip injury in the warm-up and his absence was deeply felt. Or rather, it was barely covered by Sead Kolasinac.
Tierney and Ainsley Maitland-Niles completely baffled Fulham last week, with the former starting as one of three center-backs but drifting to the flank, while the latter playing as a full-back floating toward the center. Maitland-Niles’ performance demonstrated why Arteta vetoed any plans to sell out the England international, while Tierney’s display, coupled with the gaping hole he left on Saturday, further enhanced his status as perhaps the second most important player in Arteta.
Tierney is only behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in that ranking and in his first game since committing his future to Arteta’s Arsenal, the captain suffered from the lack of cohesion that had developed by the Gunners’ left. He put up the first goal for Alexandre Lacazette, but Aubameyang spent most of the night feeding on scraps as Kolasinac and Bukayo Saka struggled to deliver something close to the same kind of serve.
Arteta tried to make Kolasinac and Saka feel more familiar in their surroundings by reversing Arsenal’s form to a back quarter and both seemed more at ease after the break once the coach had a chance to guide them where they were going wrong. But a change in formation failed to bridge the gap between the quality offered on the left flank by last week’s starters versus this week’s substitutes.
Besides tactically, Arsenal did not seem as technically adept as they appeared in the first week of the season. West Ham’s hustle and bustle may explain some of the Gunners’ profligacy of possession, but there was nothing particularly notable in the visitor press other than how favorable it compared to what we’ve seen so often from these Hammers before.
Yes Arsenal do not want to reach Lyon’s sale price for Houssem Aouar So Arteta needs to be hopeful that somewhere in Kia Jorabchain’s Rolodex is the number of a similar midfielder who can take the ball in the half-turn and break defensive lines as stubborn as West Ham hinted they could be.
As Arteta admitted, “a lot of problems we create ourselves,” but what was most telling was the fact that the manager could barely stop smiling as he said it. “A few months ago we were drawing that game,” he added. And very often they would have lost.
There are very encouraging signs coming from the Emirates in the first weeks of the season, but they are still not enough to shake off the feeling that calamity is just around the corner. Getting Tierney in shape, and keeping it that way, along with some smart deals in the next fortnight, will certainly go a long way toward getting Arteta and fans comfortable.
Ian Watson
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