'Inevitable' - Arsenal verdict delivered by pundit after West Ham loss as 'problem' is identified
Arsenal were beaten in the Premier League this weekend
Arsenal lost 1-0 at home to West Ham this weekend. Winger Jarrod Bowen scored the Hammers’ winner at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners weren’t able to break down the visitors and slumped to a disappointing loss. They remain 2nd in the Premier League table behind Liverpool but the gap is getting bigger.
Mikel Arteta’s side are back in action on Wednesday with an away trip to Nottingham Forest. They then face a Champions League clash against PSV.
Danny Murphy delivers Arsenal verdict
Speaking on Match of the Day, pundit Danny Murphy has highlighted what he thinks is Arsenal’s main problem at the moment: “I think it’s inevitable that any top team missing four of your forward line and Odegaard will be lower than you’ve been on these numbers. But for me, the bigger problem has been their discipline. They’ve had five sending-offs – more than anyone else – and they’ve dropped ten points in those matches.
“That’s the gap from them to the top, so people are talking transfer window, fair enough, but the bigger problem for Arsenal this season has been discipline. That’s a huge amount of points to drop.”
It was well documented in January that the Gunners needed to bring in a new striker. They have a whole host of players in attack who are out injured at the moment and that has left them short of options.
Arteta’s side needed to bring someone in to plug a gap up top. However, they didn’t end up getting anyone through the door and stuck with what they have.
That has come back to haunt them and they are unlikely to win the title again this term. As Murphy alluded to, discipline has also been an issue and they have had numerous red cards over recent times.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was given his marching orders against West Ham and will now be suspended which isn’t ideal. The 18-year-old has been a bright spark for the Gunners recently and his absence will be missed.
What now for Arsenal?
Arsenal will want to bounce back from their loss to West Ham with a win at Nottingham Forest. It will be a tough test for them though at the City Ground.
Speaking after their defeat to West Ham, Arteta said: “First of all, congratulations to West Ham for the victory. We’re very disappointed with the result and as well the performance for the last period of the game because we really wanted it and showed that we really wanted it, and it becomes really difficult with 10 men. Today, we were not at the levels and standards that we have to hit to be much better than the opposition.”
He added: “We have to go through the pain of defeat and a big part of the performance as well. That’s what we’re going to need on Wednesday, to put in a different performance and win the game.“Let’s go through the pain; let’s analyse, look at ourselves in the mirror and on Monday we go again.”