The week in five words
Typical Arsenal, blowing it again.
What went well
The first 40 minutes against West Ham were an extension of what we saw against Everton and Watford. Arsenal played well and cleverly, exposing the Hammers' backline time and again. Alex Iwobi got two assists and the goals from Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez put them in the perfect position to go on and win the game.
Having then fallen behind, you could be kind and say they showed some character to come back into it, but the reality is that they should never have let that happen in the first place.
What didn’t
It’s the eighth time this season Arsenal have conceded three goals or more in a game
When you’re 2-0 up and go down to 3-2 in eight minutes of play, you have to question the team’s concentration. Rather than seeing the first half out by playing sensibly, they left themselves wide open to the kind of attacks that Andy Carroll thrives on.
There wasn’t enough pressure on the men supplying the crosses, and the central defensive pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel was unable to cope with the balls coming into the box. The Brazilian in particular seemed completely befuddled by what was going around him.
It’s the eighth time this season Arsenal have conceded three goals or more in a game and Arsene Wenger’s admission afterwards that a season-long inability to deal with the aerial threat of their opponents begs the question of why he hasn’t done more to solve that particular problem.
All in all, a classic case of Arsenal putting themselves in a great position, then self-destructing.
Quote of the week
Speaking after the game, Arsene Wenger said of Carroll's threat: "We should have made life a bit more difficult for him. On the first, second and third goals, we were a bit naive defensively."
Just the three goals then.
The need-to-know facts
- Andy Carroll is the first Premier League player to score a hat-trick vs Arsenal since Wayne Rooney in August 2011.
- Carroll’s hat-trick was the fastest in the Premier League this season at seven minutes and 14 seconds (between first and third goals).
- Mesut Ozil has scored six times for Arsenal this season, his best return in a Premier League season for the club.
- Alex Iwobi has scored twice and assisted another two goals in his first three Premier League starts for Arsenal.
- This is the first time in the Premier League since November 2012 (vs Fulham) that Arsenal have led by two goals and failed to win the match. That game also ended 3-3.
Video of the week
Winner of the week
Two assists for Alex Iwobi highlighted his growing stature and confidence. You could point to the fact he conceded possession in the build-up to the first West Ham goals, but those were a small part of a much wider failure on Arsenal’s behalf. The 19-year-old created goals for Ozil and Alexis and ended up playing out the game in central midfield as Wenger threw on every forward he had to get a winner. He is a light in the relative darkness.
Loser of the week
There were individuals who played poorly at Upton Park for Arsenal, but in the end these are Arsene Wenger’s players, bought, picked and trained by him. These kind of results, these pathetic capitulations, have been part and parcel of his teams for the last 10 years. The players are different, the assistant manager is different, the coaches have changed along the way – Wenger is the only constant and ultimately it’s his job to manage his team before and during games. On that basis, he failed on Saturday.
More features every day on FFT.com • Arsenal
