Mikel Arteta hugged his goalkeeper David Raya amid chaotic scenes at the London Stadium. “It’s a hug he deserves,” said Gary Neville.
There were too many flashpoints in the game as Arsenal came close to winning the Premier League. Callum Wilson’s disallowed goal will grab the headlines, but there were two key moments in those vital five minutes that propelled Arsenal to victory.
Raya’s stunning save to deny Matheus Fernandes a chance to put West Ham 1-0 up will live in Gunners legend if Arsenal go on to win the title.
This shot had an expected goals (xG) rating of 0.54. Simply put, Fernandes was more likely to score than not. The odds are stacked against the Arsenal goalkeeper.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp discuss David Raya’s ‘title-winning save’ against West Ham.
And five minutes later, it was Arsenal who took the lead themselves through Leandro Trossar. It might have been too different.
The only flaw in what was a positive day for Arsenal was that it didn’t need to be that close. In an already tense atmosphere, Arsenal should have accelerated from the start and taken the lead, but Arteta’s plans were foiled by his own actions.
Ben White’s injury caused an unfortunate change in Arsenal’s momentum, but it was Arteta’s response that made things worse. The Arsenal manager brought on Martin Zuvimendi and moved Declan Rice to right-back, removing a key cog for the Gunners in the center of the pitch.
Now there were some honest thoughts about playing Rice as a right-back. He has done that before in an Arsenal shirt. He played 90 minutes in that role in the 2-1 win over Brighton in December. Rice was outstanding in that game, so why couldn’t he do it at West Ham?
Arsenal’s Declan Rice moved to right-back due to Ben White’s injury.
This ultimately ended with Arsenal’s early momentum being blown out of proportion and a confidence boost for West Ham. The Hammers improved in transition as Crysencio Summerville made dangerous runs past Rice on two occasions.
A counterattack down the right that bypassed the right midfield of Zubimendi and Myles Lewis-Skelly allowed Taty Castellanos to test Raya, making his first big save of the night. West Ham got back into the game and Arsenal were left scrambling.
“Arsenal’s midfield is open and the right is unblocked,” Gary Neville said on joint commentary duties at the time.
“Of course, if I were Mikel Arteta I would think about bringing Rice back to the center of the park.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the Premier League match between West Ham and Arsenal
Matters were resolved in the first half when Cristhian Mosquera came in at right back to put Rice back in the middle. This was due to an injury to Riccardo Calafiori, but even if the Italian wasn’t injured, his replacement would be needed anyway.
Despite this, Arsenal struggled and, to his credit, Arteta has turned things around again, this time for the positive. With just 39 minutes in the tank, Zubimendi connected with Martin Odegaard. The Arsenal captain’s return to the team was vital, as he set up Trossard’s win with a classy assist.
“The game at Zubi was difficult,” Arteta said. “But I felt we needed to bring in two attacking midfielders at that moment to create all kinds of problems and threats, and thank God it worked out.
“When Martin came in he had a huge impact on the game.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Arsenal’s Leandro Trossar scored a stunning goal to give West Ham the lead.
But still, Arteta’s constant chopping and changes, which were not handled in the best way, though not entirely his fault, have destabilized his team when they did not need to be. Mosquera could have simply replaced White and Arsenal might not have lost control of the game with Rice in the center of the pitch.
However, by shifting Rice’s position, he effectively killed off two positions – all West Ham needed to gain a foothold. At half-time he replaced the full-backs.
Redknapp: One of the biggest mistakes an administrator can make
All of this contributed to Fernandes’ moment, with Raya eventually coming to his manager’s rescue. Jamie Redknapp said: “If Arsenal hadn’t won today, a lot of people would have seen the 25 minutes he played with Declan Rice at right-back.”
“That was one of the biggest mistakes a manager can make at such a critical time.”
On his podcast, Gary Neville agreed.
He said: “This could be a game-changer for Mikel Arteta. Obviously winning the Champions League would be huge but it wouldn’t give him the credibility (a Premier League title would give him)… but he was a bit lucky.
“When he brought in Declan Rice at right-back, I immediately thought ‘no’.
“That’s not the case for a number of reasons. One is that it’s draining energy from the midfield, and two is that it’s disrupting two positions instead of one.
“For Manchester United and Liverpool at the time, you can’t move Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard out of central midfield in a game of this magnitude. They are a force of nature. You can’t move Rice, I don’t give him the same level as Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard yet, but he has that level of influence at Arsenal.
“When Declan Rice goes to right-back, not only has he done the things I’ve just mentioned from an Arsenal perspective, but I’m sure it gives the West Ham players on the pitch a boost, and also from a defensive standpoint, they take away Rice’s energy.
“West Ham suddenly started to have space, there was space and the midfield looked a little bit more empty.
“It was a really, really wrong decision and I can comfortably say that it was a wrong decision in the sense that Arteta took it and corrected it 15 minutes after half-time. He knew it was the wrong decision.”
Arteta’s big changes this season
Lessons must be learned for Arteta in the coming weeks. Considering Arsenal’s last two games have been at home to relegated Burnley and Crystal Palace three days before the Conference League final, he may not face this type of situation again in the Premier League.
However, the Champions League final is less than three weeks away. Questions have been raised in the past about replacing Arteta at key moments.
In the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, his indecisiveness and failure to change things in the second half helped make City’s pressure too overwhelming. His triple change in the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth in April was also disconcerting.
Every manager is scrutinized for selection and replacement. Even Arteta’s mentor Pep Guardiola was accused of overthinking finals even in his prime.
It’s also worth noting that Arteta has made a number of positive and bold substitutions this season, including bringing in 16-year-old Max Dauman for the game against Everton in March. But the Rice experiment reminded us that we are still one step too far.
If not for his goalkeeping – and a little help from VAR – Arsenal’s Premier League title might have been a lot further away than it is now.
