Arsenal (0) 0 West Ham United (1) 2

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Thursday, 28th December, 2023. Kick-off time: 8.15pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, (Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar) Marquinhos, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Ethan Nwaneri.

Yellow Cards: Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 74%

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook

Fourth Official: Rob Jones

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Craig Pawson; AVAR Ian Hussin

Attendance: 60,261

Unfortunately, for tonight’s derby, Kai Havertz is suspended after accumulating five yellow cards, and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fábio Vieira, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber remain unavailable due to injury. We cannot afford to slip up tonight here at the Emirates against West Ham United. If we win one of our next two matches, then we are guaranteed to be top of the Premiership on New Year’s Day, so there is all to play for.

The visitors kicked off proceedings, and right from the start it was extremely lively, with James Ward-Prowse firing a shot at our goal which went flying over the bar. That early attempt woke us up, as we applied constant pressure on the West Ham goal. We were finding lots of space in the visitors’ defence and we were playing with lots of confidence. On the thirteenth minute, the visitors scored through Tomas Soucek but there was a VAR check as it seemed to be that Jarrod Bowen kept the ball out of play; VAR checked it, and the goal stood, sadly, which was completely against the run of play. This controversial goal appeared to shock us briefly, but we managed to get back into the game pushing and hunting earnestly for that elusive equaliser. After a bad foul on Gabriel Jesus in which we were awarded a free-kick that went absolutely nowhere, we recovered the situation very well, but our dominance in possession was not leading to shots on goal. On the half hour, a Bukayo Saka header which was heading for the goal was tipped over the bar by Alphonse Areola which led to our corner that was cleared by the West Ham defence. A lovely ball by Oleksandr Zinchenko found the head of Ben White, which went a couple of feet wide of the mark, and a couple of minutes later, some superb ball work in the visitors’ penalty area found Gabriel Martinelli whose shot went wide. Declan Rice tried to spark an attack but ran straight into a wall of blue shirts, as the visitors were tightly packing their defence. With four minutes of the half remaining, a clever pass by our captain Martin Ødegaard found Bukayo Saka, whose shot hit the inside of the post and rebounded out and into play. In the five minutes of injury time, it was a case of us applying yet more pressure on the West Ham goal but with no luck whatsoever, and so we went into the half-time break unjustly 0-1 down.

We started the second half with only one thought, to start scoring goals and to win this important match. After some clever play by Gabriel Jesus, we won a corner within a couple of minutes of the restart, but a nasty clash between Leandro Trossard and Mohammed Kudus left our man in a crumpled heap on the ground; fortunately he was able to recover quickly and carry on playing. We kept passing the ball around and moving forward, and a superb twenty yard effort from Declan Rice clipped the top of the West Ham crossbar. Nine minutes after the restart we were two goals down when a corner from James Ward-Prowse found the head of ex-Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos, whose header found the underside of the bar and went into the net. The goal certainly invigorated the visitors, who started to bring the match to us with some urgency. However, we were still on the hunt for goals, with a double substitution being made by Mikel Arteta, with Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Martinelli. A couple of minutes later, a superb Reiss Nelson cross found the head of Gabriel Jesus, whose header went over the bar. We were finding it extremely tough to break down the visitors tonight, despite having the lion’s share of play. Mohammed Kudus fouled Gabriel Jesus, but the Eddie Nketiah free-kick was overhit and went out of play. Reiss Nelson received our first yellow card of the evening for a silly tackle, and still we kept coming forward. A long range left-footed shot by our captain went wide of the goal, and a low Declan Rice shot was blocked by the West Ham defence. Leandro Trossard was replaced by Emile Smith-Rowe with twelve minutes on the clock remaining; Bukayo Saka was brought down in the West Ham penalty area, but a VAR check denied us a penalty. and we carried on regardless, looking for that elusive goal. A shot from Emile Smith-Rowe was easily picked up by the West Ham goalie and with four minutes of the game remaining, our frustrations were there for all to see. Eddie Nketiah tried to score from an overhead kick, but it was easily saved by the goalie, as was a superb Martin Ødegaard shot, which he tipped around the post. In injury time, the visitors created a barrier across the pitch to stop us scoring, and despite more attempts by our team to score it was not to be. Declan Rice tripped Emerson in our penalty area; the penalty was given, and David Raya saved extremely well from Said Benrahma, and seconds later, referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle for full time.

All in all, it was a very disappointing evening for us in every way. How on earth does a team with seventy-four per cent possesion, thirty shots on goal (eight on target) not score, let alone win the match? How can that be? We just could not convert our dominance into goals, quite frankly, and bearing in mind that there are just six points separting the top five in the Premiership table tonight, and there is no margin for error. We have to be more ruthless in front of goal, and if that means that Mikel Arteta is going to have to get someone in the January transfer window, then so be it. However, it is still possible for us to be top of the Premiership on Sunday afternoon, if things go well against Fulham, but we certainly have to do better than we did tonight.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, 31st December at 2.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

Morning! Hoep you are enjoying the gouch between Christmas and New Year. Boredom is finally broken as we get to go down The Arsenal tonight, Although I am unimpressed by the 8:15 kick off – another decision made for the TV audience.

Arsenal’s Twitter account has rattled the Cockney rejects with a simple picture of Declan Rice:

Check out the replies on the Tweet from the club. Those Essex Boys have had a proper heads gone over it. Maybe they are finally learning that, despite their posturing, we were the winners with the Rice deal.

We clearly did not over pay and have ended up getting a player that has improved so much this season that he is now the best in the world.

Saying that, West Ham have been decent this season, and I do not really understand the clamour amongst their fanbase to get rid of David Moyes.

Moyes saved west Ham from relegation in his first season back with the club. They had gained just 1 point from 18 before he was appointed.

In his second season, Moyes took West Ham to 6th in the league – their highest finish since 1998/99. This would see West Ham qualify for the Europa League.

2021/22 would see Moyes take West Ham to the Europa League and finish 7th, ensuring back to back European qualification. A hyear later he would win them the Europa Conference League – their first trophy in over 40-years!

For the first time in their history, they are playing in European competition 3 seasons in a row, comfortably topped their Europa League group and sit 7th in the league (above the likes of Newcastle, Brighton and Chelsea).

Yes, they were thrashed at Anfield in the League Cup, but Moyes had to shuffle his squad after illness went through the camp.

Moyes is clearly a good manager, but West Ham fans seem to think they are bigger than him. Those same West Ham fans thought they were better than James Ward Prowse when he joined. They act like they are Arsenal or Liverpool, when they are not even a Tottenham or Newcastle.

History shows they are a mid-lower league team who get relegated as often as they have finished top 6 since the Premier League came into existence. And for those saying “there was football before the Premier League”, you’re right, and West Ham were not even a “founder” member of the Premier League. They did not join until the 1993/94 season.

Their fans need to be careful what they wish for – both in owners and managers. They are no different in size (considering fan base, trophies and history) to a Leeds United, and look how their fans have suffered over the years due to being so poorly run.

Getting in a Steve Cooper or a Graham Potter will not suddenly make them a top 6 team. In fact they will probably take West Ham backwards as they look to implement their style of football on the club.

Considering the financial wealth of the traditional big 6, and the new wealth of Newcastle, the likes of West Ham, Aston Villa, Brighton and others are basically playing for 8th. Anything above that position should be considered a huge success!

Be careful what you wish for Hammers fans…sack Moyes and you could be back to those lower-mid table finishes and relegation battles with no Europe!

Ahead of the game, Mikel Arteta has given West Ham the credit they are due, saying: “They are a really good side. They’re really well coached and when you look at the success that they had last year and how they’ve played this season, they’ve shown a lot of consistency.

“They’ve beaten Spurs and Manchester United – that tells you everything about the difficulty of the game tomorrow. We’ll have to be really, really good.”

Nothing has changed injury-wise, with Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira still out. The first 2 are expected back in January, just as the African Nations and Asia Cup are starting! Kai Havertz also misses the game due to suspension.

I would not be surprised if it is (almost) the same XI as what faced Liverpool last Saturday (the players have had an 8 days break) – the only change being Leandro Trossard coming in for the suspended Rice.

I do wonder whether Arteta might rotate a little more with Fulham on Sunday. But then again, playing Saturday,Thursday, Sunday is not an unusual workload for a side like ours that are used to playing twice a week.

West Ham will not be easy, and we will have to be careful of those counter attacks. Mohammed Kudus is a fabulous player and could cause Olexsandr Zinchenko real problems on our left hand side (and with Tomi and Timber out, we do not have thise more defensive options).

UTA!

Keenos

In public, the message is clear from The Arsenal: No one leaves.

But a bit like the summer, the feeling is that if a bid comes in for one of our fringe players, and they decide to seek first team football elsewhere, then the door is open. And that includes Hale End trio Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.

Mikel Arteta has shown during his time at Arsenal that if a fringe player wants to depart for first team football elsewhere, then he will not stand in their way.

It was a lesson learned with Ainsley Maitland-Niles when Arteta blocked him departing. We ended up with a moody player who did not want to be here, and whose training dropped off so much he became unpickable. We ended up losing around £25m in transfer fee due to the situation.

Last summer, Matt Turner had the opportunity to become a Premier League first choice keeper with Nottingham Forest. He took the chance and Arsenal replaced him with David Raya.

Whilst we are in the title race, and it would be crazy to let anyone go, it is also wrong to keep hold of players who play so little, and sacrifice the transfer fee.

Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Nelson could generate in excess of £100m in transfer fees combined. and you would probably only need to buy one player to replace them. A striker.

Eddie is the only man of the 3 that has played any significant minutes in the Premier League this season – 839 at the time of writing.

There has been plenty of talk already about us targeting a new striker in January (Ivan Toney, Dominic Solanke), so if Eddie left, you have to assume we would have a replacement lined up.

I do not think people have realised how little Smith Rowe and Nelson have played in the last 18 minths. The pair have played a combined 170 minutes this year. Last year it was 368 minutes across the entire season.

Whilst both are favourites amongst the fans, I think it is fairly clear that they could leave and it would not weaken our squad. There place – as very fringe wingers – would be taken by Gabriel Jesus if a new striker joined.

A better number 2 (or new number 1), would give the option of playing Jesus on either the left or right if 2 of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard were out injured.

Say it was Toney we signed to replace Eddie, we could have a front 3 of: Jesus Toney Trossard. More than enough to beat most teams. And all 3 of those are better than Smith Rowe and Nelson.

There had been a feeling for time that Smith Rowe could play more centrally, but even there he has a battle for games.

Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard are now clearly our “number 8s”. They are backed up by Fabio Vieira (who is also an option on the wings). Vieira is expected to return to the first team squad in January.

A new striker would also give us the option to play Jesus deeper, similar to the role Julian Alvarez undertakes for Manchester City. There is also the option of playing Declan Rice further forward (with either Thomas Partey or Jorginho taking up the deepest midfield role). If Partey leaves, I would expect us to recruit someone who can cover both midfield positions.

We currently have a first team squad of 25 (including Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny!). 3 departing and one top, top player coming in would see our squad size reduce to 23. But it would feel like a reduction in quantity and an increase in quality.

Whilst Smith Rowe and Nelson are part of the first team squad, neither are really playing enough for their departure to be missed. The pair plus Nketiah departing could finance a move for a top striker could be what pushes us over the line this season.

The door is open for them to leave depart in January…

Keenos