July was smooth sailing for Arsenal. After completing the summer signing of Petr Cech from Chelsea for $AUD15 million, the Gunners looked to have assembled their best squad in years.
Winning the Asia Trophy comfortably in Singapore, and the Emirates Cup in London, the hype was building for Arsenal to be title contenders.
The Community Shield showed how structured Arsenal were both in attack and defence, Arsene Wenger’s side finally overcoming Jose Mourinho after 13 attempts.
Arsenal looked set for the EPL campaign.
However, Arsenal’s nerves got the better of them on the opening day, losing at home to West Ham for the first time since 2007.
Arsenal made a bright start, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain volleying the ball over the bar from outside the box. Shortly after, he made a brilliant run down the line to set up Santi Cazorla for a volley which narrowly went over the bar.
Aaron Ramsey came the closest, with his deflected shot hitting the crossbar. The Gunners only broke the West Ham defensive line once when Mesut Ozil and Ramsey did a neat one-two, only for Ozil’s shot to be intercepted.
Arsenal seem to be their own worst enemy when it comes to set pieces. Poor marking and keeper decisions allowed Cheikhou Kouyate to put away an easy header late in the first half.
In the second half West Ham put every man behind the ball except for the striker, making Arsenal’s game even more frustrating. The Gunners had all the ball but were just passing it around the box.
The key to West Ham’s victory was their phenomenal second half. They looked comfortable on the ball, stringing great passes together. Dimitri Payet’s Premier League debut was exceptional, showing pace and ball control to easily weave past Arsenal’s defence. 16-year-old Reece Oxford had an exceptional debut, keeping Ozil quiet all game.
Arsenal lack consistency in the Premier League. They have streaks where they play like champions, but then they look like the same old predictable Arsenal, easily outplayed and lacking attacking urgency.
Is the key to Arsenal’s success a world-class striker? Karim Benzema rumours have been heating up, with reports Arsenal are prepared to make a club-record bid for the Frenchman, but yet his agent insists there is no way he is leaving. Benzema has scored more than 20 goals a season over the past five seasons for Real Madrid, an impressive stat that any club would love to have.
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