Arsenal 3-0 West Ham: Match report and views

West Ham faced Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night in a Premier League clash.

I wasn’t expecting much out of the game and was proved right. Most fans were pessimistic, but retained hope of an improved performance after 4 losses on the bounce.

Here is my review of the game, and a view on what is going wrong for The Hammers currently.

First Half

The first half reminded me of a school playground match, West Ham were the year 7 new kids, Arsenal were the year 11s. They were stronger all over the pitch, every time we got the ball, we looked scared and kicked it straight back to the Gunners.

It was only a matter of time before a goal went in for the home side, we somehow held on till half-time and went in 0-0 at the break.

Slaven Bilic welcomed Michail Antonio back from injury, it was clearly a rushed decision as he looked tired from the off, and was well off the pace. With Swansea to play on Saturday, resting him till then seemed a more sensible choice.

When you face a team like Arsenal, who dominate possession most of the game, it means you will be chasing the game a lot, which is not good when you’re returning from an injury lay-off.

Second half collapse

We came out in the Second half and it was the same story really, couldn’t get more than two or three passes together, the whole team sat so deep and Arsenal dominated from the off.

58 minutes in and Ozil crossed a ball into a crowded penalty area, the ball went straight in, yet again another mistake from Darren Randolph in the West Ham goal. From then on our heads dropped and that was it.

There was one moment when we looked like getting a goal, Lanzini controlling the ball on the half way line and running past three defenders before smashing a shot, but he only managed to hit it strait at the keeper.

Carroll injured yet again

Theo Walcott just like Ozil loves playing against the Hammers, he scored the second goal of the game in the 68th minute, again easy for them really, some decent play down the left, a ball into the box and there was Walcott to tap home.

Andy Carroll then went off with a suspected hamstring injury – rumours are that he could be out for the rest of the season.

Sakho returns

A positive not for West Ham was that of the return of Diafra Sakho, the striker has had a horrible time with injury this season, returning after a back injury away at Arsenal was always going to be tough. He ran about not really doing nothing, in truth he didn’t even touch the ball, but it is minutes under his belt and I hope he can stay fit for the remainder of the season.

However there was nothing to stop the Arsenal tide. Arsenal brought Oliver Giroud on to the field of play with 20 minutes remaining, he came on and scored a lovely solo goal, he got the ball on the edge of the area, and curled it pass our hopeless keeper. That was is for us 3-0 all over, a terrible game, we were awful.

What went wrong

The Hammers lack leaders, we lack a player that can put his arm around you but also give you a clip around the ear when you’re doing wrong, a Roy Keane type, a winner. The lack of desire and passion in the club is worrying, not one player really seems bothered about losing.

Mark Noble is our captain and when the final whistle went, he just walked straight off down the tunnel.

The club doesnt deserve the fans it has

The West Ham fans our amazing, every away game we sell out our allocation, home games are always packed despite the uncertainty at the moment. Last night we out-sang the home support all game, even at 3-0 down!

Next: 5 stats which show West Ham should ditch Bilic

The amount of money and time people spend on the club is incredible, it’s just a shame the players can’t show the same passion on the pitch.

Next up we face Swansea at home on Saturday, just like Hull they are fighting for their Premier League survival, so we must be at our very best, it’s a must win game for both clubs really, so it could be a cagey affair.