Arsenal 2021 review: best and worst moments of the year

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LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 15: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal celebrates after scoring their team’s second goal with Bukayo Saka of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on December 15, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) /

Best Performance – Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

The North London Derby might have been the best moment, but the best performance goes to the recent win over West Ham.

An encouraging trend across 2021 is that Arsenal’s ‘best’ performances keep being overtaken by ‘better’ ones. Very simply and very blandly put, admittedly.

That mostly boils down to the completeness of the displays. Across the year we’ve seen Arsenal improve in some departments and fine-tune aspects of their game, and the West Ham win was the finest example yet of them maintaining defensive solidity, controlling the midfield, being a threat from all areas and sustaining spell of pressure for long periods.

Having put in strong collective outings against weaker sides and then come up short against opposition above them in the table, beating a Hammers side who’d beaten Liverpool and Chelsea just prior was as good as we’ve seen from this team in 2021.

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