West Ham orchestrate their own demise at the Emirates

It hasnt’ been all too often when West Ham can travel across London and boast that they were the better team against Arsenal. Despite that fact, the Hammers undid themselves and can only look inward for not grabbing a result.

There has certainly been some progress in how West Ham are playing since the rousing match at Anfield. With three points stripped off of Southampton to follow, the Hammers were certainly on the right track. Now, though, after a disappointing result at Anfield, is it time to go back to the drawing board?

The most damning stat in this loss was the shots on target for the Hammers. A whopping six balls were sent on Bernd Leno‘s goal, yet no goals were produced. This stat shows that of the chances the Hammers had, they were either not capped off with quality, or weren’t dangerous in the first place, but still, that volume should produce results.

Jarrod Bowen seemingly started the match off on the right foot with a booming shot from outside the 18-yard box that forced a save from Leno early. The keeper pushed the ball onto the post just in time, nearly allowing the opening goal just a few minutes in. Aaron Cresswell‘s corner delivery was flubbed and the second opportunity was wasted.

It was a strong start but not capitalizing with a better setpiece on an Arsenal defence that is quite suspect is a chance gone by, and one that could have deflated the game early on.

Next was the corner kick that managed to find Issa Diop. The back post header from Diop fell right onto Michail Antonio in front of Leno who wrapped his leg around the ball and somehow missed the net from two yards out. The ricochet off his knee bounded the ball away and another glorious chance was missed.

Lastly, the two-on-one with Michail Antonio and Sebastien Haller was a comedy of errors from both players. A brilliant counterattack spurred forward by a terrific Pablo Fornals through ball sprung the attack. However, Antonio’s indecision and delay would see an easy square ball opportunity gone with Haller unwilling to adjust his speed to help his teammate out.

There were plenty more opportunities wasted by the Hammers who only have themselves to blame for not getting a win or at least a point at the Emirates. It is by no means the time to rethink the team selection, but it should be the time for some soul searching as there is no time left for moral victories.