Arsenal didn’t look like title contenders in West Ham loss

LONDON — The debate over Arsenal's ability to manage a Premier League title race has just intensified.

Having failed last season despite taking an eight-point lead at the start of April, the main challenge this time around for manager Mikel Arteta was to evolve the Gunners into a more robust proposition to keep pace.

There have been clear signs of progress in that regard this season, but the manner in which Thursday's 2-0 defeat to West Ham will raise familiar questions over whether Arsenal can triumph in what threatens to be a struggle to win. several to become champion.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga and more (US)
– Read on ESPN+: Ranking of favorites in all European competitions

A dispute will continue over the first goal as the ball may have drifted out of play when Jarrod Bowen pulled it back for Tomás Soucek to score after 13 minutes. VAR official Craig Pawson took a long look, but no camera angle could conclusively overturn the decision on the pitch and a goal was awarded.

Regardless, Arsenal lacked the composure associated with serial title winners. Their defense – which led to Gabriel Magalhaes knocking the ball past Oleksandr Zinchenko to give Bowen a chance to pounce – was calamitous on the first goal. Their response in possession was even more disturbing. Wasting chances on one side and conceding another easy goal on the other was a recipe for disaster.

Pre-match talk of a summer signing coming back to haunt his former club came to fruition, but not in the way expected. It ended up being a night to forget for Declan Rice as former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos scored his first Premier League goal with an excellent header in the 55th minute.

Having excelled for his new club time and time again this season, Rice endured the jeers of West Ham fans for the last 20 minutes or so following his £105million summer move to the Emirates Stadium. Rice's form was a big factor in Arsenal's apparent turnaround but, in a moment that perfectly sums up their regression here, he awarded a penalty in stoppage time, bringing arguably the biggest cheer of the evening from the outside. Few seemed to care that David Raya saved substitute Saïd Benrahma's spot-kick as the final whistle came seconds later.

Arteta has rightly praised the family atmosphere of late, given the transformation from the toxic disconnection that provided the soundtrack until the end of Arsène Wenger's tenure – but there was one tension in the air against the Hammers which did not dissipate all evening. .

Arsenal's play lacked the maturity we expected, perhaps most evident in their play in the final third. Gabriel Jesus headed the ball in the 66th minute and Martin Odegaard forced Alphonse Areola into a fine save at the end, but there was little else of note despite recording 77 touches in the West Ham surface – the most since 2008-09 in a match. only Premier League match for a team that failed to score.

Bukayo Saka (who hit the post in the first half), Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah all recorded shots on target in the final 12 minutes, but none of them required anything more than a simple save of Areola. Arteta, however, thought he had created enough to win the game.

“When you look at everything we generated in the game, to see the result is very disappointing,” Arteta said. “But they were better than us in both areas. They had two shots, with three penalties. We had 30, I don't know how many touches in the area, how many situations, how many scoring chances and we have” I didn’t make it. In football you have to do better if you want to win.

“It's like that. We have to try to generate. If we don't score with 30 shots, then we have to make 50 or 60 to try to score. That's the only thing. I can't imagine a game where “There are more touches in the box, more dominance and fewer situations for the opponent against a very good West Ham team. But today it wasn't enough to win the match.”

Their failure in front of goal will also only strengthen the argument that a new striker is needed in January.

“All we have are the players we have, the players I like the most,” Arteta said. “What we have to do is try to get better situations, more training, increase confidence and that's it. They did it. [before]”.

West Ham and their manager David Moyes continue to defy expectations. After winning the Europa Conference League last season and selling Rice for a record fee, they now find themselves in sixth place with 33 points, the highest figure they have ever collected at this stage of a season. Premier League. No wonder Moyes has suggested the club are 'preparing to talk' about a new deal, with his existing deal expiring at the end of the season.

Thursday was West Ham's first victory in the match since 2015 and, more remarkably, Moyes' first away league victory at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United in 73 attempts.

“Football is played in many ways and tonight we played the part that maybe doesn't get talked about as much,” Moyes said. “Brilliant defense. We did a good job against Arsenal tonight. They had a lot of ball, too much for my liking, but we did a great job.”

Asked about his team's aspirations for 2024, Moyes added: “We are not one of the top teams. We are trying to get back up and make the team grow.”

Arsenal, meanwhile, are in a different place. They believe they can be the best team. But this defeat showed that there was still work to do.