Amid the chaos at the London Stadium, Mikel Arteta shared a big hug with goalkeeper David Raya. “This is the hug he deserves,” Gary Neville said.
There were many flashpoints in this match, with Arsenal on the brink of winning the Premier League. Callum Wilson’s canceled goal would dominate the headlines, but there were two big moments in the crucial five minutes that led Arsenal to victory.
Should Arsenal go on to win the title, Raya’s stunning save to deny Matheus Fernandes a chance to give West Ham a 1-0 lead will go down in Gunners legend.
This shot had an expected goals (xG) rating of 0.54. Simply put, Fernandes had more chances than not to score. The odds were stacked against Arsenal’s goalkeeper.
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Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp discuss David Raya’s ‘title-winning save’ against West Ham
Five minutes later, Leandro Trossard put Arsenal ahead with a goal. It could have been so different.
The only downside to what was a positive day for Arsenal is that it didn’t need to be that close. In an already tense atmosphere, Arsenal should have stepped on the gas early and taken the lead, but Arteta’s plans were ruined by his own actions.
Ben White’s injury was an unfortunate turn of events for Arsenal, but Arteta’s response has made matters worse. The Arsenal manager introduced Martin Zvimendi and moved Declan Rice to right-back, removing a key Gunners cog from the center of the pitch.
There were honest thoughts about playing Rice at right-back now. He has previously played the role in an Arsenal shirt, playing 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over Brighton in December. Rice was excellent in that game, so why didn’t he win at West Ham?
Arsenal’s Declan Rice moves to right-back following injury to Ben White
In the end, they overcame Arsenal’s early momentum and gave West Ham confidence. The Hammers were good in transition, with Chrisencio Somerville twice making close calls on Rice.
A counter-attack from the right side bypassed the light midfield of Zvimendi and Miles Lewis-Skelly, allowing Tati Castellanos to test Raya for his first big save of the night. West Ham returned to the game and Arsenal scrambled.
Gary Neville, who was co-commentary at the time, said, “Arsenal’s midfield is open and their right flank is not fixed.”
“Obviously, if I were Mikel Arteta, I would think about moving Rice back to the center of the park.”
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Highlights of the Premier League match between West Ham and Arsenal
That was rectified by Cristian Mosquera coming in at right-back at half-time, moving Rice back into the middle. That was due to the injury to Riccardo Calafioli, but even if the Italian had not been injured, his replacement would probably have been necessary.
Still, Arsenal struggled and, to his credit, Arteta turned things around again, this time in a positive way. Zvimendi played just 39 minutes, but was caught by Martin Odegaard. The Arsenal captain’s return to the team was crucial and he set up Trossard’s winner with a classy assist.
“It was tough against Zubi,” Arteta said. “But we really felt we needed to bring in two attacking midfielders in that moment to create any kind of problems or threats and thank God it worked.
“Martin came in and had an incredible impact on the game.”
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Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard scores a huge goal to take the lead against West Ham
But still, Arteta’s constant chops and changes, while not entirely his own fault, were not handled in the best way and destabilized the team when they didn’t need to be. Mosquera could have simply replaced White, and Arsenal could have kept Rice in the middle of the pitch without losing control of the game.
But by changing Rice’s position, he effectively eliminated two positions and that was all West Ham needed as a foothold. At half-time he was substituted at full-back.
Redknapp: One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make
It all contributed to Fernandez’s moment when Raya finally bailed on the manager. Jamie Redknapp said: “If Arsenal hadn’t won today, a lot of people would have watched the 25 minutes he played with Declan Rice at right-back.”
“That was one of the biggest mistakes the manager made at such an important time.”
Gary Neville agreed on his podcast.
He said: “This could be a game-changer for Mikel Arteta. Obviously winning the Champions League is big, but it doesn’t give him the confidence (that a Premier League title brings)… but he’s had a bit of luck.”
“When he went to put Declan Rice at right-back, I immediately thought it was different.
“That’s no for a number of reasons. One, it takes energy away from the midfield, and two, it confuses two positions instead of one.
“For Man United and Liverpool at the time, you couldn’t move Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard from central midfield in a game of this size. They’re forces of nature. You can’t move Rice and I still haven’t given him the same level as Roy Keane or Steven Gerrard, but he has that level of influence at Arsenal.
“When Declan Rice took over at right-back, not only did he do what I just described from an Arsenal perspective, but I’m sure the West Ham players on the pitch were energized and from a defensive perspective it took away Rice’s energy.”
“West Ham suddenly started gaining space, they had space and it looked like the midfield was opening up a little bit.
“It was a really, really poor decision. I can safely say that Arteta accepted it was a poor decision because of the fact that he corrected it 15 minutes after half-time. He knew it was a poor decision.”
Big changes for Arteta this season
Arteta needs to learn his lessons in the coming weeks. He may not face such a situation again in the Premier League, given Arsenal’s two remaining games are at home to relegated Burnley and then against Crystal Palace three days before the Conference League final.
However, there are less than three weeks until the Champions League final. Arteta’s ability to substitute in important situations has been questioned in the past.
In the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, his indecisiveness and inability to change things quickly in the second half contributed to City being under too much pressure. The triple change during a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth in April also looked panicked.
All managers are under scrutiny for their selection and substitutions, and even Arteta’s mentor Josep Guardiola was accused of overthinking in finals even at the height of his powers.
It is also worth noting that Arteta has made a number of active and bold changes to players this season, such as bringing on 16-year-old Max Dauman for the match against Everton in March. But Rice’s experiment served as a reminder that one step too far.
Without his goalkeeping and a little help from VAR, Arsenal’s Premier League title might have been much further away than it is now.
