Arsenal 3-1 West Ham Utd (25/08/18)

[IlGallo]

we managed just 75% pass completion ... that means we gave the ball away 1 in 4 touches

No it doesn't

[fmgod]

Just got in, had ridiculous seats in the Arsenal end, could hear the players, I thought we were class, gutted so many chances, big problem for me was Hernadez's bread and butter is meant to be fox in the box, last 20 there was quite a few balls in that box just begging for a finish

We were unreal, so many chances, good football but we're too attacking, we need to reign it in, that's our downfall we need a Big Sam/Moyes Pellers hybrid, seriously need to add a cb in or play the most boring defensive midfielder who takes pleasure in sitting back and defending

Big issue was when Arnie went off, we lost out target man as he was a nightmare for their defenders, Hernadez offered them no threat, we need Antonio up top and then Yarmelenko, as we just lost anyone holding the ball up, winning headers

Too many beers so bullet points

Fab was fab
Masuaku technique wise is like Kate Upton but description making of Kerry Katona
Sanchez is a bang tidy player, should start for me, does everything well.
Fredericks is a head down player ala Antonio
Diop did well and he was tackle/assault in the first half for the book was masterful, exactly what he needed to do
Snodgrass is a no for me, he looks slow too
Arnie top marks, should've done better with a few
Andersen is hot air, looks good, good to watch, no substance though

On a down point

Antonio just no, athlete, not a footballer
Wilshere - What does he actually do, for all this he sprays the ball, I thought Sanchez was just as composed and sprayed just as well if not better

Next game I would go Arnie, Perez, Yarmelenko

Sidenote went the york before the game, was fine, went there after thought I had walked into middle class fest, was waiting for someone to say "chaps were chinos" and meet someone called "tarquin"

[HammerInMaryland]

Really impressed with Fredericks, Sanchez, Anderson today. They played so well.

I am not as dismayed by Diop as many. He will find his footing.

Wondering why Yarmo is not getting a better look.

Think Wilshere will find his footing and have a good season.

Worried about Arnie, seems to be getting battered early on this season.

Bring in Cresswell, Perez, and Yarmo for next weeks game.

[TommyHammer]

Can't believe Snodgrass didn't put that chance away when he was one on one with Cech in the first half.

[kayahammer]

But for better finishing we might have won that.

Pleased with the performance

[Puff Daddy]

One other thing I noticed from this match was a complete absence of a jogger in our midfield.

[ballantine]

Not that I expected anywhere near to CL, but 10-14th !!!!

In the inimitable words of one John McEnroe....you can't be serious...

so about the same as last year, with 100M spend ?????

:shock:

I think we'll end up midtable, yes. But with better football and a very enjoyable last half of the season.

The money spent this year started covering the cracks from years of underfunding. We are at least one summer window away from being really good.

[hammerman11]

we played better without noble in the team. the big issue is the injury to arnie, if its serious we are in big trouble as Hernandez offers nothing on his own so we will need to adapt our system yet again.

yarmolenko must be fit soon to start in place of Snodgrass who is hot and cold. just not good enough overall.

onto wolves who will give us mqny problems as they did city yesterday.

[The Old Man of Storr]

Can't believe Snodgrass didn't put that chance away when he was one on one with Cech in the first half.

Possibly took one touch too many when he could have shot first time - Arnautovic being in an offside position may have put him off , nerves , whatever - he desperately needs to get on the scoresheet to get his confidence up - Having said that , you've got to be in the right place to score and he was .

All in all a much better performance from everyone and as a West Ham Supporter that's what we were all looking for .

The wins will come .

[hammerman11]

soon I hope but the next fixtures don't look likely

wolves h
everton a
Chelsea h
man utd h
brighton a
spurs h
Leicester a

I cant see any easy games there . wolves looked good against city and will attack us next weekend
everton brighton and Leicester away are three hard away matches where we might get a draw at brighton. cant see much against Leicester or everton

Chelsea man utd and spurs at home are worse ! a draw at best against united ?

can easily see us winless after 10 games and bottom on around 3 points !

hope I am wrong !

[Bend it like Repka]

MOTD is a joke ain’t it, not showing some of our big chances.

As someone who didn't see the game live, but popped in on the board to read the match comments, I was a little confused watching MOTD last night.

The impression I got is we should have scored plenty 1st half but the highlights showed very little.

I assume they took a hatchet to our efforts.

[hammerman11]

They always do !

[Rio]

Walked out of there angry but proud.

Can’t believe we didn’t get at least a point. We really need to be more clinical.

Excellent performances from Fabianski, Sanchez, Fredericks & Arnie.

Diop, Balbuena & Anderson did well.

Snodgrass while decent on the ball, makes Noble look like Usain Bolt. Really do not need to see him starting league games unless we’re injury hit.

A much better performance and real signs of improvement shown. Onwards and upwards

[The Old Man of Storr]

Too many beers so bullet points

Fab was fab
Masuaku technique wise is like Kate Upton but description making of Kerry Katona
Sanchez is a bang tidy player, should start for me, does everything well.
Fredericks is a head down player ala Antonio
Diop did well and he was tackle/assault in the first half for the book was masterful, exactly what he needed to do
Snodgrass is a no for me, he looks slow too
Arnie top marks, should've done better with a few
Andersen is hot air, looks good, good to watch, no substance though

The only criticism of Fabianski I can lay at his door is whenever he pushes the ball away it always landed at the feet of an Arsenal player , maybe punching the ball might be better ? He's a great goalkeeper though , I like him a lot .

Fredericks - bit harsh , I thought he had a couple of clever moves yesterday , the best was when he pushed the ball neatly past the Arsenal defender inside their box and got a good cross in which Andy Carroll might have scored from .

Arnautovic - he's the reason why we're falling in love with West Ham once more but dear oh dear he could do with looking up on occasion , he had Antonio free but blasted into the side netting . Otherwise still Top Dog .

Anderson - Man Of The Match for me , carried the ball supremely well , quick , vision is superb , the best passer of the ball at West Ham and unlucky with a long range shot - Arnautovic and Anderson are going to be the next big thing at West Ham . The Double A - Shame Antonio couldn't make it the Triple A .

Diop - not sure Arsenal should have been his debut but Oxford managed it at a younger age , needs Premiership experience so needs to play , he'll get used to it and will be a great addition . Positioning was good .

[mumbles87]

Finally saw the game on MOTD

now its only from highlights so I didnt see the entire picture

we looked decent in them

anderson looked brilliant

arnie looked decent but wasteful

back line didnt look at fault for the first 2 but the 3rd was awful defending

then again like I said its only highlights you dont see the rest of the poor defending there prob was

[mrbluesky]

Diop was terrible - really poor positional play, making ludicrous moves to catch people offside when there are lots of our defenders in our box. Incredulous clearance of ball back into our own penalty area for their 2nd goal, caught wrong side when crosses coming in. I hope he's worth £20m sometime in the future because he definitely looked out of depth in the PL. Why aren't we playing Declan Rice? Is he injured?

If I recall Reid’s first few games he also looked lost at sea, hope to god Diop just needs a few games this season to get the speed of the league and an arm round him for support (unlike Reid who got f*** all from Upson).

Bring back Ginge and stick him next to Diop.

Or start Rice and Diop the next 10 games with Fredericks and Masuaku and see if they can gel and be our defence for the next 5 years. Could be fun to watch, if not a bit nervy at times.

Plenty of pace and skill, just not the experience yet...

[Wilko1304]

Honestly, right now, I can't see how we drop Snodgrass. He works so hard, covers the full back, links with others - the right side is secure because of him. Thought he was particularly good at playing in Fredericks and then covering the run.

Antonio for Yarmolenko is the move. Actually, I'd play Masuaku for Antonio and Cresswell at left back. Need two wide players who work back well, Masuaku's pace could be killer too. It won't happen, but could see it being very useful.

Interesting to see who plays against Wimbledon. Should be a good game for Yarmo, Perez and others to get fitness.

[bubbles1966]

Take Diop's shanked clearance out that leads to him deflecting in the second goal and take one of the numerous very good chances/positions and we win that game. In spite of their early season travails, Arsenal will be top 6 or thereabouts.

Easily the best 90 minutes so far under the new manager, and he has his team and style now.

No mucking about bringing loads of low intensity players back in, or shoving Anderson out wide, or putting Arnie out of place to accommodate Hernandez please.

[mumbles87]

Honestly, right now, I can't see how we drop Snodgrass. He works so hard, covers the full back, links with others - the right side is secure because of him. Thought he was particularly good at playing in Fredericks and then covering the run.

Antonio for Yarmolenko is the move. Actually, I'd play Masuaku for Antonio and Cresswell at left back. Need two wide players who work back well, Masuaku's pace could be killer too. It won't happen, but could see it being very useful.

Interesting to see who plays against Wimbledon. Should be a good game for Yarmo, Perez and others to get fitness.

I want to see us play fredericks Balbuena Diop Cresswell at the back to get them an understanding for the wolves game

[wizzo_66]

Good performance with some areas to tweak.

Masuaku exposes Anderson and doesn't allow him to start from the left and drift inside like Payet did. Sticking Anderson in the middle of the pitch from the off doesn't get the best out of him like it didn't get the best out of Dimitri, those runs FROM the left into the centre of the pitch, allowing a fullback to plug the gap.

Snodgrass doesn't offer enough overall, as steady as his performance was. He felt like an extra body rather than a strong contributor to the performance.

Really pleased with the centre back pairing and Fredericks.

Yarmalenko delivery was excellent, need to get him match fit sharpish.

Hernandez - not sure what we do with him. Not good enough in open play.

Sanchez has solved a big issue in having a player with discipline. I'd stick with him there and work on two midfielders who can play and pass ahead of him.