West Ham vs Arsenal, 1-2: Full time thoughts, analysis and player ratings
The Game
I am a personal fan of the kids who play in the Carling Cup, but sometimes you have to admit that some of them still lack in experience and the substitutions made by Arsene clearly showed that important players can bring important results.
Not that Jack Wilshere had a bad game, far from that, but Fran Merida failed in anything he tried and substituting him was the only way to end his misery out there.
Another key to the game was shifting Carlos Vela to the left and moving Eduardo to the middle. They started the other way round in the first half and that, simply, didn’t work out. Glad to take a small revenge after being called all sorts of things for calling Carlos a pure left winger in the match preview.
Enjoy the photo, Dudu and Carlos have a special chemistry during FA Cup games. And by the way, we face Stoke City, away from home, in the next round.
West Ham vs Arsenal: Eduardo and Carlos Vela
Match Video Highlights
Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.
Player Ratings
Fabianski: 7,5 – Brilliant save to keep us in the game in the second half and an overall brilliant performance. More and more a contender for a regular place.
Silvestre: 4,5 – Completely lost his marker who went on to give West Ham the lead and was Diamanti’s favourite target throughout the game.
Gallas and Vermaelen: 7 – Worked their socks off for the whole 90 minutes, surging forward when required in those tense moments of the second half.
Sagna: 6 – Looked very uncomfortable on the ball, mostly because he was closed down straight away. And unfortunately, when he had space to cross, he rarely delivered a good one.
Merida: 4 – Poor Fran failed in anything he tried this afternoon. He will learn from this though, that’s for sure.
Song: 7,5 – A little clumsy in some of his first touches and seemed to lose his head in the first half, but what a player to have in midfield. And now I can official say it: you’ll be missed big boy.
Wilshere: 6,5 – Apart from not clearing the ball and gifting West Ham two golden opportunities, Jack did well in midfield, winning important free kicks and doing well when called into action.
Ramsey: 8,5 – What a player he is, Aaron. Those 20-some games promised by Wenger look so little now, he deserves more.
Eduardo: 6,5 – A much better second half and that goal was so like the old Dudu. Made his presence felt when he was needed the most.
Vela: 7,5 – It is clear as water he’s not comfortable in the center. A complete different player, in the second half, when he was shifted on the left, causing all sorts of trouble to the West Ham defense. Involved in both goals, the cross for the second one had to be THAT perfect, and it was.
(Subs)
Nasri and Diaby: 7 – Changed the game these two. Watching Abou race backwards to win the ball in midfield was another clear example of how changed the Frenchman is. Was so relieved to see him back on his feet after that horrible challenge from Jimenez and glad to see the Chilean quick to apologise.
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I was wating all day for this Chris!! Jajaja
Another great analysis. In wednesday we’ll be 1 point from Chelsea, who sure will drop ponits without drogba, kalou, essien, etc……And of course I’m agree….Vela should play on the left, I’m even going to put my line.up for wednesday:
—————————————————Almunia—————————————————
——————————–Gallas—————————–Vermalen——————————
————Sagna——————————————————————————-Traore—–
———————————Nasri—————————–Diaby————————————-
———————————————-Ramsey———————————————————
—————Arshavin————————————————————————Vela———
————————————————-Eduardo——————————————————
Or even using the 2nd half line up.
Gracias.
I love to leave it late.
Just like Arsenal
Does anyone know why Rosicky wasn’t in the squad today? After he played on Wednesday I thought he would at least get some work in today, but didn’t see anything about his being injured. What about Walcott, how much longer is he going to be out? Between Walcott, Rosicky and Eduardo I am afraid I don’t think any will really contribute much this season, though I do have to say this is longer than I though Eduardo would play without getting injured.
I think eduardo will come back. I think hel be around enough to contribute and could be back to his old self by next year.
Unlike rosicky and walcott hes not naturally injury prone. He didnt miss games much before he joined us (from the looks of his stats at least), and even judging by the speed of his rehab he looks pretty well put together.
Walcott and rosicky are injury prone. Maybe walcott is still growing or something, hes trying to bulk up and i guess that can cause injury. Rosicky has always been like this. He was one of the brightest talents in europe once upon a time but injury has ruined his career to a large degree.
I was quite disappointed with the lineup thrown out there by Wenger and knowing he would bring in the likes of Diaby and Nasri I felt it would have made more sense to start one and switch them at the half to have a bit more experience on the pitch throughout the game. We were lacking any consistency and fluidity until the substitutions were made and looked to fall into the same trap Man U did earlier in the day.
I do agree that Merida struggled for the most part, but 4 is a bit low IMO. You can see his class at times (same with Wilshere), but you also see loads of inexperience and physical maturity needed for both of them. Kind of reminds me of Ramsey last year when thrown into important matches (although he usually had a better supporting cast) and look what kind of player he is becoming.
Silvestre gifted them their goal and if Wenger wants to have any chance in the FA Cup he should not play him again. He adds nothing to the squad when out there in my opinion.
To me this was Vela’s best half of football at this level that we’ve seen. First half was nothing special, but as the game opened up and some class was added around him you see what he could do. Looked much faster, stronger and more confident than in previous matches.
Eduardo did nothing at all until the header (which in some ways was a bit lucky, but still got the goal) and really should only be used in spot duty going forward. He has had his run with the five or six games in a row and just isn’t doing it for me. It’s time to give Vela a shot for a few games I feel.
Glad to get the victory after a very pedestrian first half and being down until late. Hopefully as we get players healthy we’ll be able to field a stronger squad at Stoke in the next round.
Arsenal’s match report gave Merida credit for the assist. Do they even know the difference between Vela and the spaniard?
Even commentators kept on confusing the two.
Carlos Vela had the 2 goal’s assists !! He showed that he deserves more opportunities, and that he would be able to help the search for Arsenal trophies in the near future and in years to come.
good report and i agree with the marks given.
alas we cannot throw too many youngsters, however talented, into the side at once.
and today there were one or two too many.
we badly need cover for centre back and right back and defensive midfield —- unless we (ok, he!) can find a top quality utility player who can cover all three positions?
Nasri’s ball control and Diaby’s runs were what was needed in the first half. Diaby looked so threatening every time he was in the final third. I agree with your ratings however I think I would rate Diaby and Nasri higher for the huge impact they made.
I very rarely give high ratings for “cameo” appearances though it sounds strange after I gave Cesc a 10 not long ago
Having said, I fully agree that those two were needed but some of the comments I read elsewhere were pretty much annoying, if you ask me, particularly on Fran Merida and Jack Wilshere, with many asking for these two to be loaned out to gain experience.
It’s not really asking for that, it’s the how. I rarely heard people asking for Theo Walcott to be loaned out. Now I’m sorry for mentioning Theo again, I like Theo as I’ve said in the Vote article, but I believe many are so quick to judge the “Carling Cup kids” that it’s becoming annoying.
It seems Denilson, Abou Diaby and others could not be criticised when they were not performing yet these kids, who are only 17-18 can freely be criticised and asked to be loaned out as if they are not an important part of the squad.
Fran failed today, granted and for many so did Jack(not for me), but what do you expect, that these two face West Ham away, without the support of Fabregas, Arshavin, Diaby and so on, and to do wonders?
I agree completely. Fran played poorly today, but has done well in the past. Song had some awful games for us a few years ago, so people would be foolish to criticise our young players too much.
Agree as well, wilshere played really well in parts, and if hed stayed on the pitch in the 2nd half after vela and edu had switched he might have done something significant. I think he has had a few bad games this year and for some reason some people will just believe hes not a good player any more until he scores again or something.
I beg to differ concerning Ramsey in SOME respects; of course he is a super talent, he made fantastic progress his finishing is proven by now as superb and he WILL be a great player for Arsenal, etc etc. HOWEVER as substitute for Fab, AS a play-maker that controls tempo, that calms things down or accelerates , creates space when needed, that is Marshals the field, sprays the game around deep, all this– he is still a long long way from filling in. it was really Song, again and by default, that took this upon himself to organize the game and try the killer passes on the ground or over the top( till Nasri and Diaby came in). For the rest I agree mostly, Fabianski is a brave keeper, his control of the box and crosses at the very least is by far superior to hesitant Almunia, and that is something we really need. Sagna’s crossing is (again) absolutely ludicrous, third rate, how many great great openings on his side, if we only had a decent crosser, who knows to time and place a ball straight to the head or foot or in front of keeper,what a difference it would make. Silvestre inability to recover makes him a serious liability when the defense line is high, MAYBE he could be useful as CD but not on the left for sure.I Disagree with those who are disparaging DUDU,he is a fantastic footballer( visible in his immaculate positioning, runs, quickness of reaction and vision and link of the game’s movement) my only serious worry about him is whether his weakened finishing is caused NOT by lack of sharpness, but is rather a physiological problem, i.e. some sort of loss of balance, power, backlift etc. It is weird, he looks very much the same player to me just a fraction slower/weaker/inaccurate in the finish which makes ALL the difference in the world for a player such as he. I believe and certainly hope that we are only understandably but ungenerously underestimate that he needs a tad more time, to make it good. There are not many like him in the league
may i suggest paragraphs next time just my two cents
!
Your comment about crossing is spot on. Look at the goal we got on Vela’s cross. Perfectly placed and weighted. I can’t believe how poor our corner kicks were throughout the match. I think we had 14 and don’t remember one being dangerous. Regardless of who is taking the kicks (today Merida was the main culprit) they usually end up softly floated to the near post and easily headed away. It would be one thing if we had a target running through there, but we don’t. I’d like to see more driven in front of the goal to at least make the keeper come out and challenge them.
eduardo – 6.5?!? come on, thats a little harsh, I would give him at least 7.5
thoughts??
yeah his header was a brill!!!!!!
……..missed fabregas
agree with most of the comments.
good to see Eduardo coming back to a little form plus Vela on the wing.
thougth midfield won the day, Ramsey, Song, Diaby and Nasri at the end were too mucg for a tiring West Ham.
if there is one thing though that comes out of this match. Please please Arsene NEVER EVER play Silveste again…anywhere, in any position, in any competition …I have been saying for a long time, he is the WORST Arsenal player I have ever seen, can’t tackle, can’t run, can’t head a ball….Sell him in january, better still shot the bastard! i have always suspected that he is still in the pay of Ferguson anyway
I,ve been saying the same thing for months now ,Gallas and Silvestre are the weakest links at Arsenal not the goalie Almunia ,that,s why we need two more experienced defenders or Djorou urgently.Silvestre is a typical Man.United defender with no ball skills to speak of and just a backpassing goaliewards defender like Gallas who consistently passes backwards or sideways when Arsenal needs a quick through ball down the middle ,only Song,s covering for Gallas hides this fact game after game ,it,s time for changes in defence so where,s Clichy?
I think eduardo played better than vela overall. one of our best players, along with song and ramsey.
He looked most likely to do something from our players in the 1st half.
I duno, I didnt think velas cross was “perfect”, it was a good ball in, but the credit should really go to eduardo cos not many forwards can score headers like that. Vela’s crossing did impress me overall, but that’s nothing new
no offence, Im not saying vela didnt play well, but the praise you give him today is a bit disproportionate imo.
He was really unlucky not to score. I still think hes as good a finisher as we have. One-on-one hes always been incredible. Hopefully the 2nd half performance will give hime more confidence and wenger will give him more chances wide perhaps with eduardo up front and arshavin wide right. Hes too good to be sitting on the bench all the time, especially when we have so many injuries
now i dont believe any manager in their right mind would buy silves from us we could pay a team to take him… right now silves is ac milan material he reminds me of milan back line barring nesta and thiago silva otherwise he would fit in at milan right now
ma boy vela made me proud today ope this game actually prove to wegner that a fit vela is better than a walcott that is recovering fr a injury he was superb on the wing even the cross was perfect for eduardo.
has for merida he wasnt that bad to me because he was up against behrami who didnt give him any room to think but as soon as abou came on abou made him look a bit off… behrami was a monster poor kidd cudnt manage behrami.
as to the defense silves is off i dont know what he gives to the team he is not solid at the back and not good going forward so what is purpose… probably to make sure we dont get a clean sheet thats the only purpose he serves to me…. oppposing teams r actually targeting him when we were playin burnley and eagles cudnt get pass sagna they actually made him switch wings when he did he hit the post.. i actually somhow got on a west ham blog today and one of the comments were that silves is starting so we shud b attacking his side… now its obvius he is no goood…
now to the keeping i think fabianski is better than almunia… almunia is too comfortable in the goal and he feels no competition….. lukasz commands his box when crosses come in almunia jus com and flop at the crosses som times i actually laugh when i c him flop at the crosses….
am actually worried cause verminator and gallas wont last for the entire season atleast one of them must get injured and we actually at the time of the season when gallas usually get injured who is goin to cover for him if they get injured dont say silves, who else can play there djourou get well sooon cause i dont want silves in my back line for a minute clichy and gibbs get well soon cause i dont want silves get a chance again
NOW THESE R JUS MY VIEWS NOW WHAT SAY U?
“has for merida he wasnt that bad to me because he was up against behrami who didnt give him any room to think but as soon as abou came on abou made him look a bit off… behrami was a monster poor kidd cudnt manage behrami.”
I disagree, I just think merida’s passing was off today. It wasnt because behrami was beating him particularly, although he did play well. Wenger might go for him in jan if he can get him for a decent price. Weve been linked with him for ages
Edwarodo s majical header
The introduction of nsri and diaby ramsys goal has turned the game around wonder would Danilson be available for Wednesday could rocisky play in in ramsy position and have nasri and ramsy induce energy at the next game could wolcot be available
we had a majical day comon Arsenal for another majical day
i think jack and fran played pretty good today, they just lacked a little bit of sharpness which comes from not playing regularly (neither reserves or first-team, as they are somewhere in the middle).
also everytime jack got away from his man he got fouled, which definitely also affects how people see his game given his class in the final third.
above all i think they just need experience, look at diaby and song now with a decent season of first team football under their belts, they are immense!
also agree with a comment above saying eduardo looks just half a second off his best, and i hope he finds it soon because he is a quality player
good game and great spirit by the lads, cant wait for the next game!
Mark how can you say Edu did nothing and has not impressed you. This Guy is coming back from a frustrating run with injuries and already has 3 goals in the last 4 games.Wenger won’t leave him out as long as he is fit and I would agree with him. Vela will be good but only on the left as he has no upper body strength and can’t head the ball.
I was offline due to my exams. but I am back now talking about yesterday’s game it was amazing display from our senior players like Diaby nasri Eduardo (fine header that was) I never agree with Chris about Vela but this time I agree with him he was exceptionally well at left forward. It was nice game for our youngster but fourth round game will be very very tough we will travel to stoke and in my opinion I wouldn’t risk to give chance to our kids.
Chris, before you called Carlos Vela a pure left winger, I had called him a natural left winger, so lets share the revenge!!!.
I felt sorry for Fran Merida, he is 200 times better than what we saw yesterday, I hope its not that Atletico Madrid talk getting into him beacause i really want him to stay.
Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott needs training at defending, his mistakes were so like what we have seen a few times from Walcott though Walcott doesn’t give an attempted assist to opposition. I reprimanded you yesterday for not including Wilshere in your line up and i maintain, He better make this kind of mistakes in FA Cup and learn from them because if it was in the Premier League, that would definitely have been a goal.
Silvestre was out of it again, those who scream transfer, before you ask Wenger to buy, ask him to sell this one, he has been a winner before but i don’t see him transforming back into one ever again. If he is so good in bringing up our wonderful kids, there is technical staff, he can do it from there, I guess he will make a good coach, he has all the qualities and maturity and all good coaches are the ones whose footballing career had its issues and he has had a fair share of those.
No matter what people say, Eduardo will come back, it may be a disappointing slow journey but he is clearly on his way back.
Stoke City away, I hoped for an easier opposition, this ones will concentrate on breaking a few legs, I am not saying they are not fair but Arsenal doesn’t like their style.
Adriano, Chamakh, Gignac, Balloteli, Jermaine Beckford, Victor Moses, Luis Suarez e.t.c who do you want to see coming now?. I suggested these ones as their moves will be a dream to them and they won’t bring silly egos to Arsenal (except for Adriano but his power & quality is worth it)
I know who i don’t think about,
David Villa, Edin Dzeko, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Alexander Pato e.t.c are great but they are not worth half of the money their clubs want to sell them and they are clearly not worth coming and earning salaries almost double of what Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin & Company are earning. I think its illegal for fans to ask for such players to be bought, their will bring inequality and hence instability in our dressing room and on the pitch, they won’t shine all that much compared to our current stars.
good point…you are one hell of a sensible person. great assessment of balance in the dressing room.
Interesting comments as usual and as is the norm,different opinions.As to the game in the first half the few chances created by West Ham were caused by mistakes by our own players.Merida and Wilshere were having a poor game,Sagna was being closed down and Silvestre as always didn’t inspire confidence.
Something has changed with Wenger.He put quality on the bench and is now timing his subs much better and earlier than before.The introduction of Diaby and Nasri changed the game immediately.Vela moving to the left flank and Eduardo staying more central,together with the driving runs from Diaby and more space for Ramsey and Nasri, creasted many more chances.Ramsey took his goal well and Eduardo has always been a good header of a ball,especially for his height,and he scored an excellent goal, and for the first time in ages he showed an expression of joy.
Fabianski in my mind is by far a superior keeper to Almunia and it showed yesterday,but will he get a run in the team.
With Senderos not even on the bench and Song off today to the ANC, we will know for sure by midweek when we play Bolton if he is not included one must assume he will be leaving.
Strange that Wenger made a special point on Saturday that Rosicky would be in the squad, but again he was no where to be seen.is he injured yet again ?
Finally once in front, we didn’t sit on our lead and went forward looking for a third,and one could see the Hammers wilting as the game came to a conclusion.Again,that is something we often don’t do enough.Good result and now for Delap City
can’t remember when arsenal scored a header from a cross. and what a header it was… great goal eduardo, hopefully it will boost your confidence.
h,
Song last game
oh indeed
Silvestre is very awful, did not know how to move forward at the right time. He totally lost his marking so many times, made Diamanti and Nouble enjoy ran the ball at his side. Off him quickly!
First, an odd remark, defying a couple of the comments, Nasri’s one corner was heck of a lot better than all of the ones versus Portsmouth. We nearly bagged a third goal from it.
Secondly, it appears to me that Ramsey and Nasri play remarkably well together? That chemistry between the two is absolutely tremendous. Sunday’s game against Portsmouth, Ramsey filled in for Cesc and played mighty well. Nasri played on the right, held the ball so well (I think his ability to hold the ball, allows the rest of the team to reposition themselves, and have a breather). And I noticed a few remarks that implied we literally just attack up the right flank. And I think the reason is quite evident, Nasri is back. Any thoughts?
Ramsey and Nasri looked good together
Nasri is amazing talent positive energy and the day will come where he will end up scoring from every direction he improves as he plays ramsy is the same vela is my next man as he develops strength as he showed yesterday when he applied himself it is their choice to become a football player applying their talent energy and strength is the difference between world class player and my self
Yesterday team effort was a Joyce supporting each other with positive energy was the key confidence and perseverance was fruitful with 2 beautiful goals the positive spirit of a team is a winning team tactical manoeuvres with inter changes is a clever way to dazzle the opponent enforcements induce Indralin into the team with our support to our team manager and club makes Arsenal the best club in the world our energy is vital it empowers all
With Wenger post-match reaction, I believe he will be again using a rotation squad away at Stoke City later this month. The results of 4 crucial games against Villa, Man U, Chelski and Liverpool will decide our title this EPL season
As Van Persie and Bendner injured, I hope at least a fine striker be signed early this month. Ramsey performances in last two games was great so the second signing would be a CD (maybe Upson) should Wenger cannot keep Senderos till summer
Watching Arsenal’s Alex Song from the season start, I am a little worry if Diaby can take over Song’s duty. Song has been excellent in DM position so far (I think is the best or runner-up behind Essien in PL so far). Diaby is more suitable with advanced role in Wenger current tactics system.
So, hopefully Denilson and Arshavin will come back on Wednesday:
Almunia
Sagna, Gallas, Vermaleeen, Traore
Denilson
Ramsey- Diaby
Nasri- Arshavin- Eduardo
Arshavin
Go Arsenal!
2 goals in 2 games. Ramsey looks to be the truth. Loads of talent. Great control, vision, and touch. His future and that of Arsenal with him appears bright. He’s also heating up the competition not only for a starting line up spot but within the second team. Perhaps that was why Wilshire and Merida seemed to struggle in the WH game. Clearly Wilshire was pressing and trying to make an impression on the game and on Wenger. While Ramsey’s talent and play look effortless, Wilshire was having a hard time out there and, excessively dribbling around his own box area, was directly responsible for WH’s first goal. Apparently a winger, Wishire should learn not to stray too far in-field and adhere to his position. Merida looked plain hapless and obviously hampered by WH’s rugged, physical style of play. Wilshire and Merida clearly looked frustrated at times. It must have been particularly frustrating that Arsenal’s team play improved once both of them were replaced in the game. Of the 4 youngsters, Vela, Merida, Wilshire and Ramsey, Vela, like Ramsey, appeared ease and not visibly forcing his game and instead let the flow of the game come to him.
Perhaps by not yet signing a contract Merida and/or his agent might have overplayed Merida’s hand and overestimated his talent and value to the team. As good as his Carling Cup performance was against Liverpool, Merida’s WH outing was a disappointment, at times even disappearing for stretches of time. While Ramsey has greater versatility to play at a number of midfield positions, Merida appears to be primarily a central attacking midfielder, with Ramsey clearly ahead of him as well as ahead of Denilson now on the depth chart.
Having witnessed Silvestre’s mediocre Cup competition displays, perhaps Senderos deserves a Cup start; he can’t do any worse than Silvestre. More than anything, perhaps even striker, clearly Wenger must address the team’s glaring defensive weaknesses. At present Arsenal are one injury to Vermaelen or Gallas away from real trouble if Wenger doesn’t make a January move. Buy a striker and a defender, and all Arsenal fans could have a very happy new year and championship in May.
All I can say is Arsene is Genious…
He plays the kids and challenges them… the experience they get would have been worth them losing the game…. this is the only way any of them could be at the level of Denilson, Ramsey, Abou Diaby, Wilshere, Vela, Bendtner….. It was worth Bendtner having a sh$$ season last year to get him to become a goal machine…
Arsene knows what he’s doing. The team is going to become a NIGHTMARE for anyone in the coming years.
wat a comeback it was it shows how the gunners can handle pressure n win games even wen they r losin