Well, when compared to last week's romp at Craven Cottage this was an entirely different experience.
Of course, coming up against a somewhat callow, naive and inexperienced Fulham manager and team is chalk to the cheese of West Ham (for all that they were dreadful in their first game) and their craggy, experienced Manager, David Moyes. And, frankly, Arsenal were extremely fortunate to come away with all three points.
So what did I take from the game? Firstly, that Arsenal still have plenty to do in order to compete at, or even near, the top of the table. For all that Arteta has found, and drilled into the side, a way to play against the top sides - who will carry the game to Arsenal - there is still some way to go to solve the puzzzle of how to deal with hard-working sides who are prepared to sit deep and hit on the break. And West Ham can rightly feel somewhat aggrieved to have left The Emirates with nothing on Saturday, having dominated for considerable parts of the game. The major difference between the sides was clearly the finishing capabilities of the respective strikers.
Secondly, that plenty of work still needs to be done on the squad, with players needing to be moved on and replaced. And brought to the fore here, because of his sub-standard performance in this match, was Kolasinac. He only started because Kieran Tierney went down with a hip injury (not serious it transpires), and clearly Arteta did not feel that David Luiz was fit to play 90 minutes, nor that he wanted to blood William Saliba against such a rugged outfit as West Ham. But Kolasinac is simply not up to playing on the left hand side of a three, and has been overtaken by not only Tierney, but also Maitland-Niles and Saka for the left wing back position. So in this window we ought to see Kolasinac leave, as well as Sokratis. With likely three further centre backs to be moved on in the next year. The West Ham goal came about because the Serb failed to read Fredericks' run, and then Holding - also sub-standard in this game - found himself on the wrong side of Antonio.
There is also something lacking in midfield; which we all know of course. Seeing Arsenal overrun in there for long periods - sometimes losing possession due to inexcusable over-elaboration (complacency?) - is difficult to stomach. There's a shortage of numbers (with Torreira out of favour and surely on his way, lack of clarity on Elneny, and Willock needing further experience - and that's leaving aside all thoughts of Guendouzi). For all that Xhaka's numbers were tidy, and Caballos had the late assist, in general play there's an element of the light weight about the current setup. So whether it's Partey, or Aouar, or somebody of whom we are not aware, it needs to be made to happen by the time the window closes. Clarity on Guendouzi and Ozil would obviously also be helpful.
Up front Willian had a conspicuously quiet game, but the link play of Saka and the class of Aubameyang led to an easy opportunity for Lacazette for the opener (I thought that it was certain to be ruled out for offside)...
(Dani and Eddie have made it up...)
So I'm hoping for quite a bit of movement in the squad over the next couple of weeks.
The other main talking point was the penalty that West Ham were not awarded. II think that it should have been; especially in light of the ludicrous award at Old Trafford for a non-handball by Lindelof - two things to mention here are a) that's karma for Manchester United and b) have I not been complaining for months about Martin Atkinson?).
And finally, Leno. Not his finest showing in an Arsenal shirt and it did illustrate the concerns that some of us have about him. He made mistakes that we didn't see from Martinez whilst he was between the sticks, and it makes you wonder... but the die is cast, and we shall see.
Back next week. Thanks for reading; and stay safe, please.
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