West Ham v Arsenal Player Ratings – Did anyone play well?

The portents are not good when a title chasing team blow a two goal lead two weeks in a row. Whereas last week the question was whether it was a point gained or two points lost, this week it is undoubtedly two points gone astray.
 Similar to last week the team lacked a ruthlessness required to kill a game when an opponent were looking as vulnerable as West Ham did. With the crowd getting on the players back, West Ham resembled a whipped dog cowering from the possibility of another beating. But Arsenal succeeded in transforming them into a savage beast through their own haplessness and lapses of concentration.
Here are my ratings:
Ramsdale (6) Should have done better with the second goal and made a couple of flaps at the ball. This gave the opponents a smell of blood and offered the Hammers hope when we needed to quell it.
White (6) Great assist for the goal, but from there on offered very few contributions to the attack. Was occasionally out of position in defence.
Holding (6) Worked manfully to hold the fort when the team were under pressure. Has done well since coming in, but it’s still hard to dispel the feeling that there’s a mistake looming.
Gabriel (6) Got through another immense amount of work due to the midfield going missing. Was naive to go to ground for the penalty and can partly share the blame for the Bowen goal. Nevertheless made some very important interventions and handled Antonio well.
Tierney (6.5) Had the inevitable task of dealing with an in form Bowen and was equal to it. Made quite a few meaty tackles to stop the West Ham winger. Lost concentration for the goal though. Couple of nice deliveries when on the front foot.
Party (4) Had a nightmare. I’ve mentioned it multiple times, but when this man ticks the whole thing runs smoothly. Unfortunately the reverse is also true and he can carry the bulk of responsibility for inviting West Ham back into the game.
Xhaka (6.5) Had a lot of dirty work to get through as the team collectively collapsed. Was plugging holes all over the place thus negating his attacking contributions.
Odegaard (4) Hasn’t returned from Norway after the international break. Took his goal well, but was almost a liability there after as his passing was unusually awry.
Martinelli (6) Lovely assist for the goal and contributed his usual effort in defence and attack. But you can’t do it on your own, and that was how it looked at times as he was the only forward offering threat.
Jesus (5.5) When he scored it looked set up for an exhibition of the Arsenal box of tricks. But when the game turned was incapable of affecting the game in any fashion. Spent more time in deep midfield than as a striker such was his desperation to make something happen.
Saka (4.5) Quite possibly his poorest game in an Arsenal shirt. Definitely his poorest of the season. Was ineffective from the tenth minute on.
Although it was a poor result in the context of the game, what was more worrying was that it was an even poorer performance. But then maybe it’s exactly what they needed?
It’s definitely All or Nothing from here on in.
I’m interested to hear how you rate it. ….
Peter Doherty
Tags west ham v arsenal

18 Comments

  1. Martinelli and white best of a bad bunch .
    Odegaard ,Xhaka , saka and Tierney worst of a bad bunch .
    Odd substitutions in the second half .

  2. @ DK
    Disagree with you on Tierney but agree with the rest. Partey was the worst as it started with a misplaced pass in the first few minutes and then steadily went downhill.
    I really felt Jesus should have taken the penalty.
    But to be frank I did not think either were penalties as Declan Rice had a hand ball prior and Antonio was about close proximity to an incoming shot.

    1. Tierney lost Bowen and did exactly the same with Antonio when he hit the post ,apart from one last ditch sliding tackle he offered nothing going forward or in defence,hopefully Zinchenko is back Friday .
      I agree on partey but he’s been a beast all season and rarely lets us down and I would have definitely not took him off for Jorginho,who again offers little when we need a goal .
      I would have keep Jesus on and replaced odegaard with trossard .

      1. We will have to agree to disagree on KT and Partey who I felt needed to be substituted.
        I agree with you about Jesus staying on. Saka + Odegaard off for Trossard and ESR. What is the point of Fabio Vieira?? Our midfield was the problem.

  3. Maybe Onuachu would give us another way to make chances. He could be available at a bargain price if Southampton get relegated and I believe he’d be willing to sit on the bench

  4. Your first line of your Jesus summary sums up what went wrong ” it looked set up for an exhibition of the Arsenal box of tricks “. They relaxed and thought it was too easy, where was the captain going around the team and telling them the attitude was all wrong. I can imagine what McLintock or Adams would have said.

  5. Plenty of blame to go around for this loss. They looked great at first, dominating going up 2-0. Then switched off for some reason.

    Arteta was correct about possession without purpose, just passing the ball around. Unfortunately he brought on Jorginho and Vieira to do more of the same.

    How does a woeful Vieira continue to get chances while ESR rots on the bench? Last year ESR was like a super sub, impacted matches when he was subbed in. This year rarely gets a sub appearance.

    Compare that to watching Vieira get bullied and do nothing with his chances. He should be loaned next year, simply not ready for the PL. At least he only cost half what Pepe did, so there’s that.

    Have to be ruthless now; drop underperformers, quicker with substitutions, and have a plan B ready to go.

    We dropped 4 points in crucial part of the season, now the pressure is turning up and requires a perfect end run to the season.

    Trying o remain positive, but not confident the lads can gut it out; just have not seen it on the pitch when pressure mounts.

  6. Looking at the games we have lost and drawn my observation is that we are lacking experience against tough opposition or teams that play to stop us. Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard, Nketiah and Nelson are very good players but none has the experience and robustness that Lacazette used to demonstrate before the arrival of Arteta. With Lacazette we could have won games against Everton, Liverpool and West Ham. The last quarter of the season really needs experience to see out games. How we let go Lacazette for free leaving us with many inexperienced players is still a puzzle. Some can argue about his lack of goals during the last season but it was mainly due to lack of games or not getting enough minutes.

    Another are of concern is the leadership in the team. For crying out loud how did Arteta chose Odegaard as the captain ahead of Tierney and players like Ben White. How did Jesus got ahead of players like Partey in the leadership ranks during the offseason? We are lacking a leader who can rally the team when the chips are down. Odegaard will never be that kind of player.

    Watching Willock playing for Newcastle whilst we have the immobile Xhaka is really an eye sore. You can’t have a box to box player who is so slow.

    Odegaard is full of tricks and flicks but those work against small teams where you get space and time. Against tough opposition he has been very average indeed. Smith Rowe is definitely a better player IMO.

    To progress we need a better leader than Odegaard and an upgrade on him and Xhaka. We also need some experience upfront to help the kids.

    1. Simba, i agree with almost all what you’ve written. I didn’t think there are gooners who think like that .
      – What wrong has ESR done really. Odegard needs to be rested. I don’t know what Vierra offers better than ESR?
      – Xhaka is immobile and I agree. I’ve never liked his play pliz. Yet he plays behind the strikes
      – We need a towering strike and I agree, who will score high balls and corners, Nketiah like. Unfortunately Arteta style is Spanish like , where you play spectacular football.

  7. No doubt about it, our lack of of pace ,energy and physical presence in midfield is coming home to roost.Alex Ferguson was right when he emphasised the need to defend from the front and in midfield.Compare our midfield trio, who unfortunately flopped against West Ham with the four deployed by Man City,Rodri, Stones, Gundagon and of course KDB, and you can appreciate what Ferguson meant and how important it is to exercise control in that area with a view to protecting the back 3/4.As it is we simply do not have powerful defensive or box to box midfielders to replace our trio and as a consequence our back four is exposed more than it should be.To be fair to our trio, they have done better than I expected this season aided and abetted by the talented Zinchenko,who ,had he been fit, I would have played at the expense of Saka, who quite frankly is struggling .Tactically, Arteta seems determined to prove his way is the only way, but he will hopefully learn that there are occasions when a more cautious approach may hear fruit.Two successive away draws is not the end of the World but the confidence of the players is ebbing away and does not bode well for the “crunch” match against the current champions.Had Rice been in our side to support Partey I am pretty sure we would have won the game comfortably, and hopefully this can become reality next season.When I talk about defending from the front, Martinelli is an example of what it is all about .He is to be commended for his prodigious efforts to regain possession and his boundless energy on and off the ball.

  8. Re Jesus “Spent more time in deep midfield than as a striker such was his desperation to make something happen.”
    I swear he was doing that before we were in any real trouble at least. I didn’t like it – not sure why he was dropping so deep, but it seemed like he felt like he needed to because his teammates weren’t up to it, and i think it transmitted nervousness.
    I see partey as our most important player and that’s by far the worst I can remember seeing of him. The way he gave up the ball to rice was so casual. Had he played to anything like his usual self, I expect we’d have held on to the win. Very sad but as others have said, he’s been incredible this season – we just can’t afford another off day from him.

    1. Yea i noticed that in the first half when we were 2-nil up he was even behind partey at one stage collecting the ball .

  9. It’s all about learning from your mistakes. This is a matter of a coach. It’s unacceptable a second match in a row, the same nonsense. Arteta had to wake them up, they seem to have been riding for a while now Rod, and a laziness, which really reaches the limits of apathy. You also have to make decisions, when they are for the good of the team, brave ones. Example. Saka has been showing for a month now Very tired, with a steep decline in his performance. Not bad to start as a substitute. Since he doesn’t shoot. And I’m not saying that because he missed a penalty. Thomas was on another planet yesterday, and When a change came out, his face soured. After all, what is going on? The team is not above everyone? Did he think he was playing well and was wronged? Odegaard, honestly, creates a lot of questions for me here And time. Undeniably he has potential, he has proven it, but he is not stable. There are times when there should have been a change from 60, and he stayed in because there is no one Another one, with a corresponding class. There is fatigue ok, but you cannot win 2-0, the candidate for relegation, and due to lack of seriousness and laziness, and immaturity, resurrect him and He even threatens you with defeat. As unacceptable as the players are,Arteta is all the more responsible. He can’t wake them up, many times you have to shout, get angry, give them the awakening they need…not just clapping all the time, ok It doesn’t matter, let’s move on. The work is also brutal. I remember Alex Ferguson … in the good days of United … such things were not allowed to happen. He was in the press all the time. Shut up, 90 It’s minutes, it’s not even eight hours. We went for the championship, and in two games we gave up four points for free? He cuts the legs with two goals in the head, he continues and ends them with a third. So simple.. he doesn’t go around the opponent, without attacking, it’s ridiculous. And this Arteta He mentioned it yesterday…but I don’t know who he is addressing? He should have put these things into practice for the footballers, since he sees them, not telling us about them…After the holiday. Let’s go for the championship after so many And they are spilling the container of milk they collected, all year long, kicking him. I think they haven’t fully realized what exactly is going on….and that’s Arteta’s fault. He learned well next to Pepe, but some things that have to do with psychological handling depending on the situation, he still has to take many tests

  10. Without Saliba we are leaking goals like a sieve.

    This is not to say Holding is not a decent defender but he has no chemistry with Gabriel, Party and the rest of the core players. Clearly a coaching problem that Arteta needs to address. The earlier the better.

  11. @Marty
    Right on the money.How did the whole team not wake up from their dreamy state for three quarters of the 90 minutes.
    We drop two points in the most ridiculous way.
    Supporting the team is so heartbreaking for me.

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