Friday, March 29, 2024

Report: West Ham 3-3 Arsenal (inc goals)

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Ozil, Iwobi, Alexis, Welbeck

Subs: Cech, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Chambers, Ramsey, Giroud, Walcott

Arsenal went 2-0 up, down to 3-2, and got it back to 3-3 to take a point against West Ham at Upton Park this afternoon.

The Gunners were unchanged from the team that beat Watford, meaning Arsene Wenger resisted the temptation to bring back Petr Cech with David Ospina keeping his place in goal.

There was a blistering start from the home side, Lanzini heading just wide after a Cresswell shot bounced across goal but the flag was up for offside. Andy Carroll picked up a 4th minute yellow card for a nasty challenge on Laurent Koscielny which left the Arsenal skipper needing a few minutes of treatment.

Arsenal had some early moments, a couple of breaks that didn’t quite come off, and an Alexis cross found Elneny but his shot was blocked by Iwobi. In the 14th minute West Ham had the ball in the net but again the offside flag went up – luckily for us as Hector Bellerin appeared to be playing them onside.

The Hammers fury at that decision was exacerbated when the Gunners went ahead just minutes later.

After Nacho Monreal went down in the box, the referee played on, the ball came back in, Coquelin fed Iwobi,  he slipped it through to Mesut Ozil, and the German beat the offside trap then the keeper. 0-1.

The home side looked to get back into it, and with the crowd channeling their inner Stoke muppets – shrieking for everything – they won a couple of free kicks in relatively dangerous areas. Arsenal’s defending was solid however.

At the other end Alexis forced a save from Adrian, and it was the Chilean who doubled the lead in the 34th minute. Alexis drifted to the left, Coquelin picked out Iwobi, he lobbed a beautiful ball over the top for the Chilean, who found himself with just the keeper to beat. And beat him he did with a shot into the bottom corner. 0-2.

Carroll tested Ospina with a shot he saved, then fumbled, then got at the second attempt, and it looked as if Arsenal would take a nice lead into the break. However, two goals in two minutes from Andy Carroll totally changed the complexion of the half.

The first came from a cross from the left, the Arsenal centre-halves were nowhere and he ran onto it, outjumped Monreal who was at least trying, and planted a header into the bottom corner. 1-2. Then in injury time, Ospina punched a corner away, Noble put it back in and when the ball rebounded to him off Gabriel, he fizzed a shot in off the thigh of the Arsenal defender to make it 2-2.

Seconds later the half-time whistle went and what should have been a chat about how to keep the lead became something very different.

Wet Ham made a change at the break with Emenike coming on for Tomkins as Slaven Bilic rearranged, and early on had a penalty shout waved away, and another goal disallowed. Carroll did foul Koscielny, but the communication between the defender and Ospina was poor, the keeper failed to take it, Payet put it in the net but the goal didn’t count.

It was temporary pain for the Hammers though as a minute later they were ahead. Antonio burst past Monreal down the left, he crossed to the back post, and Carroll out-jumped Bellerin to thump home a header. 3-2.

It wasn’t working for Arsenal, prompting Arsene Wenger into a change, Aaron Ramsey replacing Francis Coquelin. There was more danger from West Ham with the impressive Payet, and they sat deep to deny Arsenal any space. Giroud came on to replace Elneny, and from a corner Monreal had a shot cleared off the line.

There was a equaliser in the 70th minute though. After a corner was cleared Ramsey crossed it, Ozil crossed it, Welbeck touched it, it came to Koscielny and he put it into the top corner from close range. 3-3.

A bad slip from Gabriel could have proved costly but for a Monreal interception, Giroud saw a header arc over corner of bar and post, and the game had a bit of an edge with some tasty tackles on both sides going in.

There was a chance for Alexis to shoot with his left foot inside the West Ham area but he cut inside and lost it. Arsenal then made their final change with Theo Walcott coming on for Danny Welbeck. It was hectic stuff in the final minutes with plenty of pressure from a team with Iwobi and Ramsey in midfield, but couldn’t fashion much in the way of chances.

Payet shot over as we went into 3 minutes of added time, Monreal blocked a shot, and we had two chances to put a dangerous free kick at the end but didn’t.

In the end a draw from a game we put ourselves into a brilliant position in feels like too little, and once more we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves for dropped points.

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Bob Davis

FFS. If you can’t defend a 2-0 lead then you don’t deserve to win the game.

You give a tall striker like Carroll all the space he wants, he will punish you and that’s what he did.

Gabriel had a game to forget. I would have played Mertesacker to mark Carroll instead. He should be fresh and ready to play now.

Need the teams above us to drop points now.

The season’s over with, just try and finish above Spurs!

Crash Fistfight

Can’t see that happening now. We’ll probably drop points against Man City (who, look like they’re starting to click now that de Bruyne is back and Kompany is not far behind). We needed to win this to put pressure on them. They can draw tomorrow and we’d still be behind them if we win our game in hand.

legrande

I actually think the West Ham game is our hardest of the run in and not Man City. Hopefully we would have a good rhythm before that game and boss them as they don’t get too physical.
Heres to hoping Spurs slip against Man Utd and our game in hand against the Baggies puts us level on points…rest is up to us though. I still think theres a slight ray of hope…just slight.

Alexisshorts

Trouble is, a draw from this game should’ve been acceptable if we’d beaten Swansea at home.

GunnerdareMAcedonia

My thinking was 1 draw and one win against city or westham games and and the lead we had today it had to be win but wit bottle to a draw. I’m not saying we have a chance now to win the title but win all our games before city and see what happen and we can do it the hard way win it ate city the will be distracted wit CL if they progress, so if Leicester lose tomorrow nothing is finished. let see.

Pearson

All that’s left to play for is St Totteringham’s day

Eissek

The thing is the defence had been playing well as of late so really there was no need to make any changes.

lollo

even if the defence was playing well before this game , Mert should have started to match Carol for height

Alex L

If mert had started today and we’d conceded all of the keyboard warriors would have been on here screaming about how he wasn’t fast enough and how could wenger be so stupid as to start him…

aaagh

Wenger’s teams have become mentally brittle over the years. Its why we’re so frustrating to watch. After the match he will no doubt say “I thought we showed good mental strength to come back” but at this stage its like he’s repeating the refrain in order to make it true. I don’t know what the solution is seeing as it looks like he’ll continue as manager, but seeing another Wenger team underperform is like groundhog day. Its depressing really.

Maniac

Amazing how we managed to let basically the same goal in not once, not twice but three times. Complete failure to close down the cross and no awareness or marking on the 6’3″ striker sticking out in the box. Congratulations, we made Carroll, yes, Carroll, look like a world class striker today.

Pearson

We also made Man “Untied” look god and we mad Swansea look like a Premiership team.

Alexstratz

You start building a team from the back, not from the front. In our case we haven’t had a real defense in years. Mertesacker is too slow, Gabriel is shit, Koscielny is only good for the PL but by European standards he’s not exceptional. Only this year have we solved the goalkeeper problem, yet we don’t play him in an important match like this one. Come a new transfer window, everyone is crying for this striker, that attacking midfield, saying things like “we don’t need defenders, that would disrupt the Koscielny-[Insert limited CB here] partnership.” Stop looking for the attacking… Read more »

David C

agreed Bob, not sure what Per has to do to win his spot back. Gabriel is almost trying too hard and is an accident waiting to happen. Payet made him fall over about 3 times with his fakes as well.

We were quite lucky because West Ham had a good ruled offside as well….

Boy oh boy, not the way defend at all.

Witoldo

Missed Petr Cech, I thought.

GunneRonnie

With all due respect to Ospina who’s done quite well recently, Cech would have made the difference today. The fact is, when you are fighting to become champions, you cannot leave a champion like Cech on the bench.

TC_42

Gabriel not good enough.

Also, when Petr fucking Cech is fit, you play Petr fucking Cech.

Goon

I can see why Ospina started. He didn’t play too bad. Deflections from Gabriel directed the ball towards the net on two occasions. I think we need a defender this summer and a striker. At least we are scoring. Gabriel can be erratic and I don’t think he has the calmness.

Wenger out banners? Seriously? Idiotic Arsenal fans, I’m sorry to say.

spinner

Before you call them idiots, remember you have your opinions and they have theirs.
They have paid their money, going to matches home and away – they have every right to express their views. Why don’t you go to matches with a banner supporting Wenger?

PB70

Spinner, why don’t you go to matches with a banner stating: ‘I have an opinion because I am at a match and not on a message board, therefore I am allowed an opinion. Others who are not attending this match are not allowed an opinion on my banner and when they call me an idiot (which I obviously am) using their own banners, I will post on a message board with my objection to their opinion and ask daft questions to make my point about how others have the right to express themselves – only if they attend matches.” That’s… Read more »

spinner

Where did I say you only have an opinion if you attend matches? Oh yeah, I didn’t.
Oh well, if you want to carry on being a prick then go ahead.

bodiroga

Having an opinion is fine and welcome but these guys with the banner are crossing the line. We have heard their opinion, have taken notice. What’s with the provocative repetition? They seek to enforce their opinion with cheap exhibitionism. Would almost term this behaviour as a fascist practice. More importantly, it shows a complete lack of values and loyalty in terms of the fans. Whatever your opinions/ideas about the manager, his departure from our club should be respectful. He has done more for us than what Kopp has done for dortmund, look how they treat him for example. It is… Read more »

Anup

Hear hear!

Let’s show some respect.

PB70

Spinner, “They have paid their money, going to matches home and away – they have every right to express their views”. You’re right – you didn’t outright state it, but that’s just semantics as you obviously want Wenger out so you defend those with banners – fair enough. However, many of us have the right to think and state you are idiots whether we attend games or not. So if your argument is ‘why don’t you go to …..’ , please – piss off. The OP showed his support for wenger/the team with his comment here and does not need… Read more »

78/79/80

I think the point about Cech is that he would marshall the defence better than Ospina not necessarily that he would have saved the goals directly. If he was fully fit it really is bemusing that he didn’t play. The only reason I can see is that Wenger wants to have two good keepers available next season either that or he’s just too stubborn to make obvious choices (or Cech is not 100%).

JB

Gabriel – shocking
Nacho – absolute mare of a game

Glaswegian Gooner

Worst late season capitulation in Arsene’s reign. A quintessential later Wenger-era performance, in fact. The most pathetic bunch of bottlers since… the last Arsenal team that ¤¤¤¤ed up around February/March. It’s merely the natural culmination of Wenger’s decision last summer to stick with a team that has consistently shown it has neither the character nor the quality to go all the way in a proper title race. We have been shocking pretty much all season. This squad needs a clear out from top to bottom, and if the owner’s were serious about achieving success they’d be reevaluating the manager’s position… Read more »

Le Jim

The thing is, it’s not even a late-season capitulation. We’ve been getting shit results since Christmas, and shit performances since November. That’s a shit 2/3 of the season.

LG

I agree yet we’re still in third! The premier league is hard! Not because there are teams that are better than us just most teams aren’t that much worse than us. When you’re Arsenal (or other top sides tbf) teams always fancy the upset, and play with no fear. Especially when they smell weakness like in Chelsea’s (fucking brilliant) capitulation. Teams suddenly realised they weren’t all that and piled into them. Totnum and Leicester are underdogs themselves and have got an easier ride. It’s a theory but with refs, other teams, the media etc. it only has to be a… Read more »

Pearson

I think a manager can get past his sell by date. There are only so many things a manager like Wenger can say or do to motivate the squad. At some point they have heard it all before. He chooses players of a certain temperament, personnel that he relates to, ïntelligent boys”, you can’t throw teacups and boots around the dressing room with this lot. If we had a teacup thrower and a few loose cannons in our squad we would have beaten Manchester “Untied” and Swansea. Our team is technically very good and with our “quality” we should do… Read more »

H2k

That is what you call a typical Arsenal performance. Today reminded me of so many games before. Defence getting bullied by attack. Caroll, who could have got a red today. He didn’t. This angered the team, made them lose focus, get nervous, make mistakes.. Then to compound this, West Ham players were going to ground easy. This broke up the game so there was no rhythm, and allowed West Ham to take mini breaks to reorganise. Whenever there was a decision called by the referee, West Ham players started swarming the referee. Caroll at West Ham Costa at Chelsea Kane… Read more »

Miranda

Spot on about every manager knowing how to play us. This is Wenger’s weakness. In the good old days, when we had the best team and the average manager was an old English tactical dinosaur, it didn’t usually matter that we always played the same way, at least not in the league. Now the Premiership has become more like the CL, however, in that most managers are tactically astute and select and prepare their teams to get the better of a particular opposition, our predictability is being exposed again and again. Wenger is still living in the pre-tactics English era,… Read more »

Gooner

Classic Arsenal. At least one more season of this….

moonie

This season is just the perfect example of classic Arsenal.
Blowing chances and leads, losing easy games, bottling big games, ridiculous red cards, injuries and fuck all in the transfer window.
Did I miss anything ?
It’s all a joke.

Burger

I was out today and couldn’t watch the match. Checked in and it was 2-0. Checked the score later and we were 3-2 down!!

At least my other team secured the title today

Burger

For the record I meant Adelaide United got the Australian title on the final weekend.

Highs and lows of football in one day.

Pearson

Do you attend away games with Adelaide United?
= 10000000000 frequent flyer miles per season.

...why?

If poor Joel Campbell left the fullback the way Alexis Sanchez did today he would’ve been taken out to the woods and shot..

Chris66

Alexis has been a disgrace of late. Yes I know he scored but all season we have been criticizing whoever plays in the right wing position for not working hard enough to cover the full back and stop crosses coming in. Theo was crucified for it last season against Spurs and Oxlade has been consistently lazy in doing that part of the job. Now we switch Alexis over and time and again he was ball watching when Cresswell has all the time in the world to pop one on Carroll’s head (via the clown Gabriel). Mr “heart and soul” Sanchez… Read more »

Flashmob

2 months out (because of an injury) is not a “winter break (including a nice beach holiday back in Chile)” A lot of us tend to forget about that our players are just humans as everybody else… By the way… In the last 7 games he had 4 assists and 3 goals. He became predictable on the left but still able to perform on the right… I’m sure that it would difficult to name anybody with similar qualities in the PL (…and as far as Pedro concern: In EVERY season Alexis spent in Barcelona – He gave more assists and… Read more »

Bananaman

Forget leaving the full back for a minute. He gets paid 140k and doesn’t have the balls to shoot at an open net with his weaker foot. Should be sacked or have his wages cut by 50%.

Fucking professionals my arse.

A Yank

100% on Wenger.

They play the tall guy who can do ONE thing.

You respond by leaving your tall CB and tall keeper, who isn’t afraid to come off his line to clear a cross (oh and who happens to be Petr Cech… you know the lone signing you made last summer), on the bench. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How such a smart man can be so stubborn and impervious to induction is baffling.

spinner

Don’t question him, how many football matches have you managed?
He built this club, remember.
Don’t worry, the spirit is good and what is important is how we respond in the next game.
And I’m warning you in advance not to complain about the lack if summer signings, you must know there is no value in the market and we should only buy players who are top top quality.

aaagh

Wenger has done more for this club than most other managers have done for other clubs. BUT he did not build Arsenal. We were champions before and during his reign and will be again in the future after he has left. No disrespect meant to Arsene but let’s not exaggerate it either.

spinner

Sorry, I stupidly assumed that people would be able to see the sarcasm in post. Obviously I was wrong.

PB70

No need to be sorry – we can’t all be geniuses who’s every word drips with the sarcastic joy of being a total douche-nozzle.

Eissek

You say that like Mert hasn’t made plenty of mistakes this season. And really its understandable why he didn’t change the defence because the team had been defending fairly well recently. And as the saying goes if its not broken…

A Yank

Well if you’re looking at Mert and Gabriel and making a decision by “Hey which of these is less likely to make a critical error leading to a goal?” then you’re already failed at your job. And given the money in the bank and the TV money coming in, there’s no excuse for not having someone better to pair with Kos. Also, you have a defender who has a non-coachable asset (tallness) that can help neutralize the opponent’s strength (also, tallness). All things being equal, not-brokenesss isn’t the criterion I would use for picking the team (or making an early… Read more »

Bananaman

Being tall doesn’t neutralise Carrol
Well not in Per’s case cos he’ll get bullied by Carrols much greater strength and power and desire

4thplacetrophy

You say we’ve been defending well recently but, that was against a very poor Everton team on the day and an even worse Watford team. Having said that there was no way of knowing Carroll would have started the game as he hasn’t been recently. Turns out Sakho was injured. I definitely think Mert would’ve been much better to defend against Carroll but hindsight is a great thing. I can not defend the decision to not play Cech though, i’m so disappointed, baffled and angry! He commands the box a lot better and the game could’ve been very different. Such… Read more »

1971

Well maybe, just maybe he’s spoken to his medical staff who have been monitoring Mert and Cech 24/7 and made a decision based on facts? Could be huh?

A Yank

Fact! No fitness problems for Cech.

https://twitter.com/PhilippeAuclair/status/718804373602742272

Don’t know about Mert but maybe, just maybe the manager got it wrong today.

Alexstratz

Wenger doesn’t know how to coach or buy defenders. He delegates to Steve Bould who brought Gabriel in… Really, someone needs to come in and take control of the defensive situation while leaving the attack to Wenger. I’d take someone from the Italian league. Tactical discipline and no nonsense defending please.

leroy

i’ll agree he could use help tactically with the defense (you can’t zonal mark against andy carroll. two of his goals were against bellerin and nacho who are 6 inches shorter), but don’t suggest he can’t buy them. koscielny. bellerin. monreal. to name a few recently. all three bought for a pittance, and have arguably developed to be among the best in the league. and if we look back since he joined, that list is much much longer.

Pearson

Playing Ospina and Gabriel against Carroll was a stroke of genius

Geezy

Ospina did a damn good job. Nothing he could have done to prevent those goals. Gabriel is another story.

Title lost. Another year fighting to top 4. It is what it is.

Mootilated

My God, how a professional football team be so bad at defending for over 5 years is beyond me.

Crash Fistfight

Great game for the neutral.

Unfortunately I’m not a neutral 🙁

Dapper dan's feelin sad

Typical Arsenal. We were top of the league, then we choke until all hope is lost. Then we somehow play well and win games, after a glimmer of hope is restored we immediatly choke again. No more Wenger please, he cant win the league if he and HIS players choke at the very sight of some pressure.

Im done, see you next season!

Petit's Handbag

Gabriel’s our worst centre half since Stepanovs. He is truly awful.

moonie

He’s been piss poor since he came to Arsenal, but just because he has pace people clammer for him to be played ahead of Mert.

spinner

Where are the deluded ones who were saying we would win all our remaining games?

Yes, you know who you are… stop hiding.

...why?

Yeah, fuck them! Being optimistic and shit

Shmitty

Fuckin hell Gabriel….. directly implicated in all three goals for Caroll, I believe. If I wasn’t sure about him before, I definitely would be today. But if I was being honest, the result is a bit fair, considering the work WH put in. Sanchez looking better than before. Not 100%, but getting there! More lovely stuff from Iwobi, and a great shift again from Elneny. Really enjoying those two at the moment. And really, I’m not that worried about Ospina, he’s done fantastic. And he’ll be displaced soon enough by Cech, so giving him a bit of playing time and… Read more »

Boilermaker Gunner

There is no Mrs Wenger now ; maybe a mistress Wenger
Those two shots that hit Gab were on target ; these crosses should’ve been blocked early. For the first Coq didn’t close down aggresively enough. The early crosses/ from midfield were the issue. In the opening 30 mins no cross from the touchline was successful. Caroll stood off the fullbacks.
The goals were similar to Kane at Spurs away last year , Zouma at Chelsea away
I didn’t understand why Walcott came on – its like raising a white flag

Pearson

Wenger is too clever to get married. Pity he doesn’t set out his football team the same (smart) way

Crash Fistfight

Before everyone rues the decision not to play Petr Cech, I don’t think he would’ve claimed any of the crosses that resulted in their goals today.

More important was that our players were so slow to close down crosses, even after having conceded from 2 in the first half. Surely you must know that they’re not going to play the ball in behind you – just charge down the crosser ffs!

PS – thought Welbeck had a really poor game today – it was obviously just not his day, as he’s been much better in previous games

zizou

A self Destructionist, we are

Gunnerlocutor

So much to like in attack. So much to loathe in defense. There is no way in hell that Wenger allows Bould enough room to coach. Arrggh.

legrande

We make Mediocre strikers look good….our defence.

2016/2017 aka My 1 year Sabbatical

The Arsenal Way: Snatching defeat and draws from the jaws of victory since 2006.

Can’t wait for the Post Wenger era. I’ve witnessed enough of his naïveté to last me a lifetime.

MadMatt

Sadly our season has boiled down to finishing above the Spuds

moonie

Like that’s going to happen this season.

Simaldo

A game that showed our good and bad qualities, why were a top 4 team but not a title winning one.

No problem playing an unchanged team as the last couple of games have been our best performances of the season.
Signing a dominant Centre Half must be the priority in the Summer as in my opinion neither Mertesaker or Gabriel are good enough.

nikos P

Looks like Arsenal like being third or fourth best…. they have only themselves to blame. Where is the fighting spirit…. what is the coach doing…nothing it seems…. they playing without esteem….. a coach is a manager and he should act like one…he has the biggest blame of all…

...why?

If poor Joel Campbell left the fullback the way Alexis did today he would’ve been taken out into the woods and shot

...why?

Shite, sorry!

Brent

Everyone on Gabriel ( rightfully so) but no one on Iwobi for his giveaways including the pass directly to a west ham player that led to the second goal. Yes, he’s talented offensively but his overall game needs work.

Walcotts cross straight to the keeper to end the game sums up his whole season.

Alexis refusing to use his left foot and losing the ball sums up his.

Ken

So you want fans to lay into a 19 year old, just promoted to the first team, who MADE US 2 Goals today on his THIRD EVER START, on top of the 2 OTHER GOALS, IN HIS FIRST 2 STARTS EVER AT SENIOR LEVEL? Makes sense

Clock-End Mike

It feels bad, getting just a draw after bossing the first 40 minutes or so and leading 2-0. I’m angry too, we should have won after that start. I know nobody wants to listen to reason after that emotional roller-coaster, but may I offer a note of calm? I always thought a draw at West Ham would be a good result, and that was what I predicted before the match. I’ve also been predicting since we won at Everton that Arsenal can win the title with 22 points from the last 8 games. Now, though, we _do_ need to win… Read more »

Trez

The title is gone!!!!
Leicester WiILL NOT LOSE 3 GAMES. its impossible.

Clock-End Mike

If Leicester lose away at Man Utd and Chelsea, and draw 2 games (West Ham? Everton?), they’ll finish on 77 points. So will Arsenal if we win all our remaining games. And we’ll probably have the better goal difference after those results. I agree it’ll be close…

And if then Spurs draw just 2 of their remaining matches and win the rest, they’ll be third with 76 points.

It’s not impossible.

spinner

Mike, next you’ll be telling us Aston Villa can still stay up – they need to win all their games and hope Newcastle, Sunderland and Norwich lose all their games.

It’s not impossible.

Trez

They will MOST likely get a draw against maure and chelshit.
They’ll beat west ham and everton no question. They’re notthe type to throw away a 2 goal lead.

spinner

Even if they lose 3 games and we win all remaining, we will still be a point behind.
Some deluded kids on this website still thinking we have a chance.

PB70

What happens is they lose 2 games and we win no games? Even that will stump a maths guru like yourself.

dggunner

people are frustrated, not angry.
furthermore how can you even think that the team in its current condition could win our remaining fixtures.That’s no reason.

Clock-End Mike

Clearly, optimism isn’t popular with Arsenal fans these days.

Naija Gunner

Wenger says we should judge him at the end of the season, am still waiting till then!

Vonnie

Wenger sends out a team with no height against Andy Carroll and everyone slags off the players as bottlers. Gabriel is not nearly good enough for Arsenal, I’m hoping the stories that we’re looking for a central defender are true because Gabriel is a liability and this time he got in the way to score them two goals, one off a massive deflection, and one where he impeded Ospina who had it covered. Per may be a bit slow but at least he’s not consistently stupid. I don’t know why Walcott was on the bench and Joel Campbell wasn’t. That… Read more »

PodB

Sunderland 2 Leicester 1
Spurs 1 MAN Utd 3
Arsenal 3 West Brom 0
Fuck me, we’ve made up 4 pts

Trez

This is why we will never win the league under Wenger.
I understand ospina has been great, but why would you start him against a team as good on set pieces as west ham? Look at the shit goals we conceded. Poor defending.
What sort of “big team” loses a 2-0 lead as easily as we did today? I knew west ham would be tough, but not go and lose a 2-0 lead.
The defence as a whole was shit today.
Alexis needs to fucking shoot with his left foot.
The title is officially gone now.

Vonnie

The goalkeeper wasn’t the problem, he had no chance with the goals, and he would have saved one of them if Gabriel hadn’t taken him out. Petr Cech would have made no difference.

spinner

Did you say you still reckon we’ll give Leicester a run for their money?
You need to increase your dosage Mike.

Dial square

The final fucking nail

Alexstratz

We keep saying we need this world striker here, that world class striker there but has anyone one of us actually thought that the most urgent problem to fix is our defense? We scored 2 against United and we opened the score against Swansea but we lost those matches. Tell me how it is our finishing that’s the problem?! I have never ever felt assured when we are defending, no matter who is at the back. Have a look at our defenders: Mertesacker too slow, Gabriel too error-prone for a defender at 25, Koscielny good enough but I’ve been reading… Read more »

Gary Baldy

Although, later on I have praised Kos for getting another important goal for us ( preventing a horrendous loss ) I have been a little concerned about his for this season. He has been out of form overall and at times inconsistant within games.

But it wasn’t about him today, it was that West Ham didn’t let us settle on the ball for large parts of the game, even when we went ahead. Our passing was a little off all game. We seemed better with both the starting midfielders off.

I AM ARSENAL

Anyone look closely at Iwobis performance i missed the game…

steve

Title chase over. Now back to our struggle to get our hands on that 4th place trophy we so cherish…hoping we fail at that too. WENGER OUT!!!

moonie

Wow. I want Arsenal to reassess the whole Wenger situation at the end of the season too, but to hope that we don’t finish at least 4th. Some fan you are.

Tony Hall

Normal service is resumed then … More comedy defending from Gabriel and Kos. And I read on here recently that some people thing Gabriel is better then the BFG ? A team with the mental strength of a teabag Yet another self-destruct Only Arsenal could make Andy Carroll look like Ibrahimovic You can forget any chance of finishing above the spuds now and I guarantee not only will we not buy the players we need in the summer, 12 months from now we will be fighting for 4th yet again yet another implosion in the league … Tired of this… Read more »

Oz

Well that bloody match completely summed up our season: we had the opportunity to win it, but due to various factors, from lack of skill to even pure laziness, we threw it away. What is unforgivable is two minutes from the end of the first half, the team just relaxed, thinking they could walk it out until half time – and West Ham scored two goals. We have had the most injuries ever this season (a recurring problem that costs us each season yet has still not been addressed by the management) and all of the players that have come… Read more »

Tony Hall

Yeah but they won’t though …

Paul

This:
Sanchez not good.
Mesut not good.
Iwobi believing his own press.
and that’s it really…

spinner

Paul, now is not the time to talk bollocks.

Paul

They weren’t good today…

GH

Disappointing result considering our first 40 minutes but another fantastic performance from Iwobi

Gary Baldy

Thank God for Kos !

He has scored some exceedingly important goals for us, this was at least a draw he gave us. A loss would have been unthinkable despite us really needing a win in this one.

Dan D

Very controversial this but I still don’t think he’s a championship winning central defender. Very good player but not tough enough or consistent enough to marshall a title winning defence.

Where the fuck were both him and Gabriel fir goal number one for example? Playing Andy Carroll you surely know as a central defender that you have to compete with him and keep his whereabouts in the pitch as one of your top priorities but he was left unmarked apart from a desperate Monreal attempt to stop him from banging in the first.

steve

Title over. Now we can go about struggling to get our hands on that 4th place trophy WENGER so cherish….hoping we fail at that too. WENGER OUT!!!

Dan D

That one 90 mins sums Arsenal up obviously this season but in the main for the last 8. Playing some great football we take a 2 goal lead but then sink into the oh so typical attitude of we are doing / have done enough all over the pitch. Next thing you know we are 3-2 down, conceding soft goals because we don’t work hard enough to stop the opposition playing to their strengths and haven’t been any good at defending really for ages now, not when it really matters. Finally we end up in the last 10 mins desperately… Read more »

nikos P

Shows how the manager gets the best of each player…….zero, pathetic, no esteem, some players are not worth the money they are earning

Alexstratz

Steve Bould brought Gabriel in. Bad call Steve, bad call.

David C

Break the bank and buy a guy like Hummels to solidify the back. Per on his last legs, Kos not getting any younger, and Gabriel might be a better squad option/depth on the bench. Chambers would have probably done better against Carroll today. We made Carroll look like the Tom Brady of soccer, haha.

Fatgooner

I suppose this is the end of our “title challenge”. This game kind of summed up our entire season in 90 minutes. We got well ahead, looked comfortable, nearly lost everything but then came back for a consolation. While watching this game I couldn’t give a damn about the result: the title was already long gone and were playing for our usual fourth spot. Even had we lost, qualification for the unwinnable Champions’ League was already more-or-less assured: with loads of easy games coming up Stan will get his European money next season. I loved both banners: they were perfectly… Read more »

Lula da Gilberto

Well that is the season well and truly over. Throwing away two goals against this West Ham side is not so bad. They seems to be able to do that to anyone. Trowing away three goals to Andy Carroll, is very similar fashion, that, however, is woeful. This whole season has felt like trying to escape a dawning reality that catches you at every turn. It is time for a serious rethink. This whole crap about ‘Leicester are top, its no surprise, they have good player…’ – they were almost relegated last season and have made a few exceptional signings.… Read more »

Campbell's Forehead

Wenger’s tactics have become so predictable that it’s astonishing. We seem to only have a plan A when we should have a plan B – why not go 4-4-2 in the last 10 minutes? It worked a couple of seasons ago in the FA cup so why not try it again? Andy Carroll absolutely bullied our defence so why didn’t he bring on Mertesacker to at least add a bit more height and physical presence. We’re a broken record and the same mistakes keep on happening every season. I’m a great admirer of Wenger and what he has done for… Read more »

Thoughtful Goon

It’s the hope that kills us! I said it before and I will say it again. Save your sanity Arsenal are not winning the league this season & I am not being pessimistic, it’s just the reality. Optimist will say we will win all our remaining games, for them I hope their sanity can be maintained. In the final post mortem, this will not be the game that costs us a title in a season where all other bona-fide rivals have failed. What has cost us the title is our spectacular ability to be consistently inconsistent. Had we taken the… Read more »

spinner

Thumbs up to FG.

All I can add is, come on Leicester City! The alternative to them winning the league is…well you know….I don’t want to even type it.

Fatgooner

Thanks. Like you, I’m a Leicester fan now. Let’s hope that the Foxes keep their heads and take the title that they richly deserve. The ultimate nightmare would be those scum snatching it.

PB70

I actually agree with both of you. You and spinner are insufferable whiners as it is, can’t imagine if Leicester slip-up…bunch of cunts winning the title and a bigger bunch of cunts using it to ratchet up the bitchfest.

Trez

Yeah like your optimism has helped us win the league since 04 right

warmgooner

WENGER OUT!!! pleaseeee im becking. Hes choose Gabriel when we are going against carroll. Hes playing Mertesaker when we are going against fast striker. He has lost his touch and is out of date. His choice of Ospina ahead of Cech also baffled me. Unless, Cech is not fully fit i wouldnt understand this in any circumstance. Mind you, Cech could have save two of those Westham’s goals. Also, Gabriel, this defender always makes a major mistake atleast in a game! and im not saying this after this match. Check my others comments, i have mentioned this many times. Hes… Read more »

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