Arsenal Vs West Ham United: 5 things we learned – Worst performance of the season

3. This is why the back-three doesn’t work

This might have been the worst first-half performance of the season, and I include the 4-1 first-half defeat to Liverpool just two weeks ago. Slow, lethargic, lacking in creativity and impetus, West Ham United controlled the match. That is damning.

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Arsenal’s primary issues came from their inability to move the ball through the midfield. Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were utterly isolated, feeding off scraps, neither wing-back was able to usher the play forwards down the flanks, and both Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi were horribly unathletic and lethargic in midfield, offering little to no option for the back-three to play into.

Now, while the individuals played the system poorly, there is also blame to be apportioned to Unai Emery and the back-three system. Using it limits the control that you can exert in midfield. You have to compromise on numbers somewhere in the pitch because of the third centre-half, and it often tends to be in central midfield, as was the case here. It was no surprise that they could suddenly move the through the midfield when they switched to a back four in the second half.

That lack of presence in midfield before the substitutions, however, cost Arsenal dearly here. They could not play out of pressure whatsoever. The three centre-backs had nowhere to play to. The attackers were starved of service, with a long punt eventually resulting in another West Ham attack. That is not a good way to win a football match.