It was a nightmare start for the Gunners in their 2015/16 Premier League opener with a 2-0 defeat at home to London rivals West Ham.
The Hammers netted their first goal of the season just before half time through Cheikhou Kouyate, before doubling their lead just minutes after the break, with a fine finish from Mauro Zarate.
Petr Cech didn’t have the competitive Arsenal debut that most fans would have hoped for, with the 33-year-old misjudging the ball which led to it finding the back of his net for West Ham’s first goal, and failing to keep out the long distant effort from Zarate in the second half, not helped via the poor defending.
So, what can Arsenal fans take from the disappointing loss?
Struggled to find an end product
Probably the most noticeable and frustrating thing to take from Sunday’s game. The passing and movement from the Gunners was good enough, but consistently failed to do anything useful in the final third.
Arsenal had plenty of chances, and came very close when Aaron Ramsey’s deflected shot looped over keeper Adrian, and came back out off the bar.
The fans, understandably, ended up frustrated, because there were a lot of chances where Arsenal could have shot, but instead opted to continue playing the ball around the edge of the area, trying to find a way of walking the ball in the net, but the Hammers were having none of it. They were strong, and very hard to break down.
Credit has to be given to West Ham because they fought hard throughout the 90 minutes, took their chances, and ‘keeper Adrian had a brilliant game.
Is Giroud a reliable main striker?
Everyone is, or at least should be, aware of the striker situation at Arsenal, with the majority of fans pleading the club, and praying Wenger brings in Karim Benzema especially, who has been heavily linked, or another striker that is capable of scoring goals on a regular basis.
Wenger has argued back that they are in no need of a striker, claiming the current strike force of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, and a bigger contribution of goals from the midfield is enough to mount a serious title challenge, and finally bring back the Premier League trophy to north London, and to the Emirates Stadium for the first time.
Today though, Giroud started as the main striker, and it’s fair to say he didn’t put in a performance worthy enough to back up Wenger’s argument. He was nowhere near as impressive or as deadly as everyone knows he can be. Walcott also came off the bench and was put out on the wide in hope he could help the team battle back, but despite his good run of form, he failed to do so.
Maybe it was just an off day for Frenchman Giroud though, but he certainly didn’t prove himself to be the reliable, consistent striker Arsenal desperately need.
Luck wasn’t on the Gunners’ side
Arsenal are the only team ever go a whole Premier League season undefeated. This shows that all teams, even champions, at some point or other are more than likely to lose and drop points. All teams are going to have an off day, and all teams are going to have them unlucky games where the ball just won’t cross the line or hit the back of the net.
After a brilliant end to last season, and an undefeated, perfect pre-season, one of those ‘unlucky days’ was surely around the corner for Arsenal, and annoyingly it landed on the day of the only game that really mattered.
A defeat certainly isn’t the end of the world, especially in the first game of the season, where it doesn’t really matter that much, but it’s worrying to see. On the plus side, the transfer window still remains open, and from the first few games, the manager can see where the team needs to improve.
During Sunday’s affair with West Ham, Arsenal came irritatingly close a number of times, but it either just creeped wide of the post, hit the woodwork, was blocked or saved, anything but actually end up in the goal.
No fighting spirit
Looking back at last season when Arsenal were trailing a goal or two behind at home, they would always seem to find a way back into the game, or at least try to until the final whistle blows.
The north London derby last season saw Arsenal go 1-0 down, but didn’t give up equalising, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain finally scored to make it 1-1. Another example would be Monaco at home in the Champions League, unfortunately Arsenal didn’t quite get back into the game, but they did get a goal back, again through Oxlade-Chamberlain – a display of fight and guts.
The point is that they rarely let their heads hang, they kept trying, fighting until the end, a lot of the time it worked, but today, as soon as West Ham got the second, all heads dropped. There seemed to be no passion, no desire, determination or effort within the team with around 40 minutes still left on the clock.
This really isn’t want anyone wants to see, especially in the first game of the season. If the Gunners want to be taken seriously as title contenders, then it has to change, they need fight within the squad to ensure they pick up all the points they can during the course of the season.
The Ox is getting better and better
There was one positive that came from Sunday’s awful result. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain once again impressed with a dazzling performance in the first half for the Gunners, he caught the eye of the crowd with his skilful runs and technical take-ons.
The Englishman was certainly Arsenal’s best and most exciting looking player on Sunday, and is definitely improving game after game.
The 21-year-old is one of England and Arsenal’s most promising young players. He scored the only goal against Chelsea last Sunday in a 1-0 win at Wembley in the 2015 Community Shield. He works hard for himself, works hard for the team, and contributes in attack. Alex can play in a variety of different positions including either wing, or centrally. He’s consistently involved in goals, whether he scores them himself, is involved in creating them, or assists them.
The Ox is definitely one for the future, and excites Arsenal fans. It’s surprising how old he is, because since joining Arsenal in 2011 he has improved at an unbelievable rate, and still has his prime years ahead of him.
Sunday’s game was poor, in any and every aspect it’s looked at, but hopefully it’s just a one-off. There’s not much point thinking too much about it, it’s the first game of 38, which means a whole season still lay ahead, drawing a line under it and moving on is the best thing to do, to improve and push on, starting at Selhurst Park next Sunday where Arsenal are involved in their second London Derby of the season, in a tricky game against Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace.
