Arsenal: West Ham draw a microcosm of the entire campaign

For Arsenal, the game seemed not to begin until after Tomas Soucek had secured West Ham’s third goal in just 30 minutes’ time. At the London Stadium, the Gunners were outmaneuvered, outgunned and outworked, until a slice of fortune right before half-time helped to change the fortunes of the match for the visitors.

With the own-goal credited to Tomas Soucek, the second goal, was also an own goal, this time by Craig Dawson. And so, despite having scoring no goals themselves, technically speaking, Arsenal needed only one further goal to bring them level.

Yet West Ham had chances to put the game out of reach once again. While they could not accomplish this with even with Michail Antonio, not to mention the various other opportunities his teammates had across the second half, West Ham are still firmly in the top six hunt, while Arsenal will continue to require assistance towards that end.

Alexandre Lacazette’s beautiful header, straight from the foot of the much-maligned Nicolas Pepe, tied the match and ultimately sealed a point a piece for each London club.

Jekyll and Hyde: Arsenal versus West Ham

One point is better than none, and keeping the Hammers from three points is also a positive. However as Mikel Arteta said himself, the club currently has, “two faces”, and this must be remedied for the sake of European competition, whether from the Premier League or the Europa League.

The first half could hardly have started any worse, while the second half was a much better example of the type of play Arsenal wish to demonstrate match-in and out. Yet in a season marked with consistent inconsistency, the Gunners’ draw was the clearest example of the dichotomy that exists in north London.

Letting up three goals in just a half an hour is embarrassing, yet clawing three back, by whatever means, across the next hour is absolutely impressive as well. While it likely wouldn’t have been possible against a team with more experience and resolve, there is no shame in staging a comeback against any club, no matter the perception.

Martin Odegaard was key to this, as was Emile Smith Rowe, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe, and Calum Chambers. On a day where Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang had another off day, a three-nothing deficit was not a death sentence for the club’s ambitions.

What is shameful, however, more so than leveling a match you were previously not in, is the initial hole that Arsenal left themselves lying in with only 30 minutes gone. Dropping two points is hard for a team that expects more from themselves, but dropping all three would’ve been discouraging for the Gunners. They currently sit among a cluster of other teams all vying for a top six position and European competition; Tottenham’s win on Sunday makes Arsenal’s task all the more difficult.

But the club have been doing this all year: winning games that you might not expect, losing games you might not expect, and playing up and down across months and months of matches across four different competitions. The Premier League is important, of course, and we will get back to discussing it in but a moment.

Balancing Europa League with Premier League

The Europa League continues, and with it, hopes of Champions League football remain.

Arsenal have somehow managed the luckiest of the draws, meaning that should they get passed Slavia Prague, who are in the midst of an investigation of racism from their last round match against Rangers. From there, the Gunners must expect to face their old boss, Unai Emery, currently coaching Villarreal against Dinamo Zagreb.

While Emery is a master at bossing in this tournament, Arsenal have the better players and should be hungry to demonstrate that their old boss simply misused them during his time at the Emirates.

This sets up the possibility of facing one of three teams in the final of that competition, Roma, Manchester United, or Ajax. Of those three teams, I personally would rather face Roma but all three would cause tough games for Arsenal; balancing the race for this and Premier League success is still an act worth attempting, however.

Consistent Consistency for Arsenal? For a Change?

While this is all sorting itself out, Arsenal still find themselves with nine matches to play. The toughest of those games remains Liverpool to begin April, Everton to end the very same month, and Chelsea in the middle of May. This means that six of the nine games should be three points, meaning that 18 more points should be what we expect from this team at the minimum for the rest of the campaign.

Will that be enough to shepherd the club into European competition without a Europa League title? Perhaps.

Should Arsenal prove themselves capable of some consistency across these final three months of the various football campaigns, there are still rewards to be won and earned. Arteta’s third trophy, the one that likely would’ve bought his predecessor more time at the post, would propel the Gunners into the Champions League, into more economically secure company, and into the stratosphere’s that the best clubs exist in, and lure players into.

But one way or another, it must get done. The Europa League would be acceptable to be in once again, but Arsenal need to be in the Champions League. While it may seem improbable, it is not impossible by domestic routes at this point in the season; the UEFA Europa Conference League would be the easiest competition to win for the club, but would also be somewhat embarrassing.

Across these last nine domestic games, 18 points must be the floor. Anything higher than that and I think the club can reach a top six position. Anything worse, and every Arsenal supporter will become exclusively reliant on a European trophy to lift their club to the next level, from whence they’ve been separated from for so long.