West Ham’s loss to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup was not unexpected. But their lack of attacking desire was fairly hard to stomach.
When West Ham are reaching quarter finals of cup competitions, it’s not too bad. Obviously in a season where they’ve struggled to get out of the relegation zone it can be a distraction, and it’s understandable the first team weren’t played. However to surrender with a whimper is a disappointment.
When I wrote the article suggest Moyes should rest key players, I was expecting others to step up. However what we were treated with was a team full of players who did not want responsibility. Collins was strangely absent from the game, Hart was showing his lack of gametime and Chicharito was abandoned up front. For me Masuaku was the only one to really leave the game with any sort of glory.
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If ever a stat could sum up the game it’s this: Arsenal had 8 shots, we only had 1. Through 90 minutes we were only able to get one shot on goal. And that wasn’t even from open play. Our solo shot was a Cresswell freekick that didn’t really threaten. It’s understandable that some of the younger players may not have been able to step up, but the senior players have no excuse.
Ayew was of particular blame for me, because in the absence of Antonio, Arnautovic and Lanzini he was the chief creator, tasked with linking a solid midfield with the fox in the box that is Chicharito. But he did none of that, and as a consequence the Hammers were toothless.
Carroll was also very poor. Given that he has been out of the team for a while, I would have expected energy and a desire to prove himself. What he did was walk around aimlessly and head the ball to no-one in particular, without even jumping for the ball. Quite simply it was a dire showing from the big man.
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And that was the worry. If you’d told me we were going to lose 1-0 I would have shrugged and moved on. But to lose without any fight it a real worry for Moyes. It shows he doesn’t have too many players he can rely on in the squad, and January may see quite a few moves.