Arsenal 2-0 West Ham: 4 major positives for Arteta’s side

Normally when Arsenal win we try to add some balance to the discussion and pinpoint where there were negatives in the performance. It’s all positive on this occasion.

Well, not entirely positive, since rarely ever is a 90-minute display faultless, but there were only minor notes to pick up from the 2-0 win over West Ham and they needn’t be discussed at length.

Did Arsenal sit back a bit too much when they missed the penalty? Perhaps they did, yes. It’s also worth remembering that the were facing a side above them in the table who’ve beaten Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks. There was naturally going to be some hesitancy.

That would be nitpicking. Arsenal have faltered on every occasion presented to them this season to move up the table against top opposition chasing for Europe (note: Tottenham were not top opposition at the time), so to have left this game two goals to the good and with a clean sheet is only going to warrant praise galore.

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham: 4 major positives from Premier League win as Arteta’s side move up into the top four

Mikel Arteta has overseen some fantastic wins during his reign just as he’s helped manufacture some hopeless defeats. This firmly classes as the former and as far as a complete performance, it’s got a strong case to be top of the whole pile.

Sitting in the top four looks great. Supporters are well aware that the constant cancellations of Premier League matches for the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United have helped in that regard, but purely from an optics point of view it has to instill some real pride in the manager after the start to the season.

Of course, it’s now about the consistency.

Up next is Leeds and then Norwich. One side is battling relegation and the other have nine fit senior players, just lost 7-0 and are, probably, battling relegation. With six points surely on the agenda, the positives to draw from Wednesday will put Arsenal in good stead.

1. The Comfort of the Win

It really did feel comfortable. It felt, above all, complete.

West Ham didn’t really lay a glove on Arsenal. Recording an xG of 0.08 in the first half and 0.37 overall, it fell to Pablo Fornals to have their best chance of scoring when he curled an effort just wide of the post. Their only other major chance was handed on a plate to them.

Arsenal controlled this game for longer than they’ve controlled any this season, excluding, perhaps, Newcastle at home. It was intense from the first minute. They didn’t give the visitors any joy playing out from the back with a well worked pressing an counter-pressing system and every single one of the back four left with a piece of Michail Antonio in their pocket.

At half-time the concern was whether the energy levels could be maintained. It took only two minutes for the pressure to tell.

Arsenal kept their foot on the gas, with clever combination play down both flanks as the full-back and wide players stood off and pressed in perfect symmetry, while West Ham breaks were snuffed out in the middle of the park.

There was an aforementioned wobble/easing of the pedal briefly after the penalty miss, but it’s understandable against opposition of this quality as well as factoring in that Arsenal haven’t been leading against a top four side all season long.

Few sides will leave a match against West Ham dominating as much as Arsenal did.

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2. Arsenal Dominated the Midfield Without Being Brilliant

Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka had good games. They didn’t have great games, nor did they have poor games, they had good games.

And even despite not being at their best they managed to control a midfield featuring one of the finest double pivots in the division. Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice dovetail excellently, offering a formidable shield in front of the defence with threat in transition and in the opposition box.

Rice in particular is a magnificent carrier of the ball in transition. He showed splashes of that against Arsenal, but was mostly left defending his box.

Xhaka was everywhere on Wednesday. Handed this freer No. 8 role with Partey as the single pivot – this game was a lot more 4-3-3 than it may have looked like – he pressed high, intercepted and tackled all over the pitch. But he still wasn’t great.

Slowing down moves with the usual split second too long on the ball, that can be put down to match sharpness even if history suggests it isn’t. Just that touch too sluggish in key moments when the pass was on, he nonetheless owned the midfield alongside Partey.

It was visibly noticeable with each minute of the game that Partey was getting his confidence back. Like that Simpsons sketch where Bart freeze frames Ralph’s heart breaking, Partey gradually put his stamp on proceedings and got across the turf with more elegance.

Yet he too wasn’t at his best. When neither of your central midfielders are nearing their peak form but can dominate two of the best in the division, the you know something is going right structurally.

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3. Fierce Competition With Martinelli and Smith Rowe Form

Not actually to the death, more like fight to get on the teamsheet. Doesn’t have quite the same punch though, does it?

Opting to stick with Martinelli from the start was a brilliant call from the manager. Smith Rowe is back fit but with the quantity of fixtures to come there is no urge to be rushing him back into action when the Brazilian is performing as he is.

Seeing how much the Hale Ender was missed against Everton’s low block will surely have tempted Arteta’s hand, mind you. He stuck with Martinelli, though, and it paid off with one his most mature and well-rounded performances for the club. Perhaps the best of all.

As if Gabi getting the goal wasn’t special enough, to have Smith Rowe come off the bench and grab the clincher was near enough the perfect ending. These is two players who are part of a quartet that is locked in fierce battle with one another. It’s absolutely brilliant to be having this level of competition between young players.

Martin Odegaard was superb again, Bukayo Saka was on another level and the aforementioned duo showed their goalscoring prowess, among other traits. If Nicolas Pepe actually existed (it looks so hopelessly over for him, unfortunately) there could even be five competing for these roles.

Arguments over who deserves a spot in the team instead of who is the least rubbish are the healthy discussions this team has needed.

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4. Responding to the Aubameyang Captaincy Drama

The unavoidable elephant in the room. Or more like, the avoidable Panther staying at home, there was no shying away from the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shaped cloud hanging over this match.

Yet from the first minute to the last there wasn’t a moment where it came to mind.

Backed by a superb Emirates crowd that was slightly reduced amid the growing worry over the new COVID variant, this was a group of supporters and a team focussed solely on the task at hand. The professionalism of the side under those circumstances was magnificent. As much as it may not bother certain sections of the fans – even though they’ve been witness to this curse for a frightening number of years – it could easily have affected the players.

Aubameyang is for most their friend and their colleague. However, whatever sympathy or lack thereof for him was put to one side the minute they crossed that white line.

After the game Martinelli was even quizzed on it during a post-match interview – which was a nonsense question to ask a 20-year-old doing his first ever such interview by himself – and he responded in a mature manner just as the rest had done on the pitch.

It’s impossible not to fall back on the word ‘unity’. It’s Arteta’s favourite term and based on Wednesday night’s showing, you know why.