West Ham 0-6 Arsenal: The Debrief
Arsenal post their biggest ever Premier League away win
Arsenal needed that.
After the matches early in the season, West Ham were due a bit of a regression to the mean against Arsenal and in this match they got it.
This match also gave Arsenal’s goal difference a boost and put them within a goal of Liverpool and even with Manchester City, it’s not a major thing but with things close, it could be something that comes into play down the road.
There are lots of good things to break down so let’s break it down.
West Ham 0-6 Arsenal: The Graphics
West Ham 0-6 Arsenal: The Debrief
6 - Goals for Arsenal, this is the first time since 2009 that Arsenal have scored 6 away goals (against David Moyes’s Everton) and tied for the most away goals Arsenal have scored in a Premier League match
+6 - Arsenal’s margin of victory, this is the largest away win for Arsenal in the Premier League
25 - Shots for Arsenal in this match, that is the 2nd most they have had in a match this season behind the other time Arsenal played West Ham. That is now 55 shots in the Premier League against West Ham.
6 - Big Chances in this match, this is tied for the most and the 4th time this season that Arsenal have had 6 in a League match.
3 - Times in the last 4 League matches that Arsenal have had 6 big chances.
3.2 - Expected goals for Arsenal, this is the 6th highest total in a match this season.
14 - Times this season that Arsenal have created 2+ expected goals
46 - Touches in the box for Arsenal, the 7th most Arsenal have had in a match. That is 123 touches in the box against West Ham this season.
54 - Touches within 25 yards of goal for Arsenal
0.46 - Touches with 25 yards of goal per shot, that is the highest ratio Arsenal have had in a match this season.
7 - Touches in the box for West Ham.
1 - Touches in the box for West Ham before the 80th minute of this match
4 - Times this season that Arsenal have held an opponent under 10 touches in their box.
2 - Shots inside the box for West Ham
0.02 - West Ham’s xG per touch within 25 yards of goal
Overall this was an excellent performance from Arsenal. That kind of goes without saying when a team hangs six on an opponent but this really was a pretty complete performance for Arsenal.
The movement from the almost triple “10’s” was excellent. The team varied runs behind and runs forward to open up space for ball progression. I was especially pleased to see the interchange between Trossad and Havertz with both willing to move off each other in front of the center backs giving them trouble with where and who they should track.
The other tweak we saw in this match was that Jakub Kiwior was given more of a traditional role on the left and Ben White was tasked with tucking in more often, while also providing his usual overlaps when the opportunity was there.
One of the complaints I have had about Mikel Arteta is that he can be at times too rigid; looking to force the players the step up, filling in for injured players, into roles that are not well-suited for them. He can also be slow to adapt to use the tactics of opponents against them.
Here we saw Arteta at his best. He made sure that Kiwior was given a role he could handle and he flourished. He took advantage of Ben White’s versatility and gave him more responsibility (along with Saliba who also took on a larger buildup role).
Tactically he also threw a wrinkle at West Ham. They had found success at forcing Arsenal to go wide and then they suffocated that space with double and triple teams. Here Arsenal were much better at accessing the central spaces around the box with the triple 10 system.
Things are looking up for Arsenal with the team developing new wrinkles and adaptions to injury limitations and tactics that teams have used to slow them down previously.
Bukayo Saka is that guy
55 - Pass Attempts, 89.1 completion % with 109.4% Pass Efficiency (actual completion compared to expected completion)
9 - Progressive Passes, 2nd
7 - Box Entry Passes, led all players
3 - Key Passes, 2nd
0.33 - xA
2 - Goals
8 - Shots, all players
3 - On Target
1.69 - xG
2 - Dribbles Completed
4 - Dribbled Attempted
2 - Times Fouled
14 - Progressive Carries, led all players
12 - Progressive Passes Received, led all players
16 - Final Third Entry Pass Received, led all players
9 - Touches in the box, 2nd
0 - Times Dispossessed
1 - Tackle
1 - Fouls
2 - Blocked Passes
6 - Ball Recoveries
1.50 - Goal Probability Added, led all players
6.60 - Fields Gained (total progression via passing and carrying)
51 - Goals with Arsenal now, 41 in the Premier League, 5 in the Europa League, 3 in the Champions League, 1 each in the FA and League Cup.
I feel like I run out of words to describe Bukayo Saka.
One of the things that I don’t want to do is take him for granted and this match was just a special performance. He was the target for Arsenal’s attack and he delivered. HIs run off the last man before he was fouled for the penalty was excellent. His finish for his second goal was phenomenal. He looked like he had a spring in his step and was basically unplayable. Best of all he got off at 67 minutes and got to get a touch of rest.
Declan Rice shakes off the West Ham nerves
76 - Pass Attempts, 92.1 completion % on 112.3% - Pass Efficiency
6 - Final 3rd Entry Passes
2 - Progressive Passes
4 - Key Passes, 3 from his excellent set play delivery
0.64 - xA
2 - Assists
1 - Shot
0.03 - xG
1 - Goal
368.8 - Progressive Carry Distance in yards
8 - Progressive Carries
9.70 - Fields Gained via ball progression
The last two matches against West Ham Declan Rice looked fine but arguably put in his worst stints as an Arsenal player. It looked like the occasion of playing against his old team got the better of him.
This time that was not the case at all.
He covered every blade of grass in midfield and kept things ticking over. In the final third, he got the ball to the playmakers and let them rip. He also made sweet contact on a bouncing ball outside the box and put it into the side net for his last kick of the game as a deserved exclamation point.
What a player.