{"id":8656,"date":"2023-11-01T23:06:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T23:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8656"},"modified":"2023-11-03T09:38:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T09:38:04","slug":"a-night-to-forget-as-arsenals-understudies-fail-to-impress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=8656","title":{"rendered":"A Night to Forget as Arsenal\u2019s Understudies Fail to Impress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sometimes one feels one is fated not to win and everything seems to go wrong. This was one of those nights for Arsenal as they stumbled to a hugely disappointing defeat in this Carabao Cup last 16  tie. Arsenal\u2019s record in the League Cup, which has had many guises since it\u2019s inception in 1961, is not stellar and tonight it was hard to decide if we actually wanted to forge forward towards a Wembley final or to free up space in a crowded programme where we are already recording more injuries than is healthy for our chances in major competitions. I\u2019d like to see the League Cup as a  pre-season competition. It would generate interest and income and provide sides with a chance of an early  season trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I heard Smith Rowe had missed training my heart sank. I like the lad but he is fragility itself and one has to wonder whether someone so injury prone can ever be factored into Arteta\u2019s long-term plans. He missed out today. We went with a side that showed wholesale changes from Saturday\u2019s cakewalk against Sheffield United. White retained his role as did Kiwior, Gabriel provided some steel and Zinchenko started at left back but, as is his way (under instruction), rarely played there. Our midfield looked lightweight. Jorginho, about our eighth captain of the season, played alongside Vieira and Kai Havertz was no 10. Hat-trick hero Eddie Nketiah retained his place with Nelson and Trossard on the wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We looked the dominant side early on with West Ham, formerly one of the most creative and productive developers of football talent in England content to sit back and go long. An early chance from a free kick saw a good header from Havertz flicked over by Fabianski. A corner at the other end was more productive but not for us. Bowen drove it in and Ben White flicked it past Ramsdale who was clearly being fouled . No VAR meant that the chance of a referee like the hapless Simon Hooper getting the decision right was minimal .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Ham 1 Arsenal 0 – White (own goal), 16 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havertz moved into a threatening position immediately afterwards but failed to develop the opportunity and Nketiah should have done better after Zinchenko turned the ball across the area. But Arsenal\u2019s build up play was ponderous and repetitive and lacked the thrust that a Saka or \u00d8degaard might have provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half-time:<\/strong> West Ham 1 Arsenal 0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after the interval Bowen was slipped through a static defence after Jorginho\u2019s hesitancy gifted dangerous possession to West Ham. Ramsdale made a fine save and White scooped the ball off the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly afterwards, Kudus fastened onto a long ball, beat the weak challenge of Zinchenko (a left back, really?) and with Gabriel more intent on avoiding handball, flashed a shot into the far corner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Ham 2 Arsenal 0 – Kudus, 50<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Smith called the two goals soft and avoidable and the game highlighted just how inadequate some of our second string players are. One\u2019s heart went out to the faithful Arsenal fans who had trekked to Stratford in indifferent weather to watch a team that were failing to match the physicality of their opponents. Poor Havertz (I\u2019m not sure if I refer to his quality or am invoking sympathy for his seeming inability to add anything of real quality to the team) wandered round like a lost sheep. I genuinely cannot think of an Arsenal player who has been such a waste of money thus far (and I\u2019m including Pepe who was far more exciting on his day). He lacks personality, has no obvious defined role and cannot possibly be worth anything like \u00a365 million. That he is by far our best paid player is frankly ridiculous!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it wasn\u2019t Havertz\u2019s fault when Bowen returned a White clearance with a fierce shot that deflected off Kiwior and found the corner of the net. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Ham 3 Arsenal 0 – Bowen, 60 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damage limitation was the name of the game both in terms of the scoreline and ensuring that we didn\u2019t suffer injury to key players . Several of us have doubted the quality of the likes of Vieira, Kiwior, Nelson, Jorginho and Zinchenko and this game underlined the need to keep our best players fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta had already brought in Rice and Tomayisu before he added Saka and Martinelli on 65 minutes. Frankly one wonders if it was worth it, Progress in this cup would only force us to consider who to play going forward. We have much bigger fish to fry but we also have to accept that the squad has two quite distinct levels and this was highlighted as West Ham sat back and Arsenal huffed and puffed to little effect. Declan Rice was his usual industrious self. This was an embarrassment he could   have done without but his attitude was spot-on. He certainly can\u2019t be accused of lacking personality<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some football matches can seem to last an eternity and this was one case in point. Both teams would gladly have packed things up after an hour but it gave the West Ham faithful the rare luxury of a comfortable victory over their London neighbours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard replaced Nketiah on 79 minutes in a change that by this stage seemed fairly pointless and I prayed for deliverance from injuries and that this neutered performance would not hinder our momentum when the league resumes at Newcastle. \u00d8degaard forced Fabianski into a decent save at his near post but our rhythm was non-existent despite the injection of quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard then raced through in injury time and finished past Fabianski underlining both his talent and attitude. If only Havertz, Trossard and Vieira had replicated a fraction of that drive or quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Ham 3 Arsenal 1 – Odegaard, 90 + 4 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Score: West Ham 3 Arsenal 1 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So concluded the most forgettable of nights and our thoughts go out to the Arsenal faithful including some of our own who had made their way to East London. We don\u2019t yet know if this result was an irrelevance or an indication of vulnerability that may lead to a decline in our fortunes. The quality and consistency we have shown so far leads me to believe it is the former. Exiting to Brighton had little effect on our season last term and much may depend on how resilient we are at Newcastle on Saturday. Certainly it is ammunition for those who feel the squad is uneven in quality and one hopes that if we can afford to strengthen (and wasting \u00a365m on Havertz compromises that aim), we can maintain a challenging position with tough games to come at home and in the Champions League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to pour another drink and to hope that this was an aberration and nothing more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes one feels one is fated not to win and everything seems to go wrong. This was one of those nights for Arsenal as they stumbled to a hugely disappointing defeat in this Carabao Cup last 16  tie. Arsenal\u2019s record in the League Cup, which has had many guises since it\u2019s inception in 1961, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8656"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8661,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656\/revisions\/8661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}