Arsenal: West Ham win proves Arsenal are ready for title challenge

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Olivier Giroud (C) of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his first league goal during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on October 6, 2012 in London, England.

A 3-1 win over West Ham United isn’t something you see everyday. But Arsenal have done it and proved that they are ready for the title challenge. Yes, they weren’t the best in the air, especially against Andy Carroll, but they were too good for the Hammers and, to the delight of the Arsenal fans, Olivier Giroud scored not just a goal, but a classy one at that.

Playing Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta in the midfield was a bad mistake for me. For the first 20 minutes, Arsenal were looking to be the team to take the lead. But against the run of play, West Ham played a superb counter-attack and Mohamed Diame, a holding midfielder, got the better of Ramsey and curled in an Henry-style goal against Vito Mannone. I thought Per Mertesacker left too much space for Diame, but everyone, including him, thought Diame was going for the cross. Diame then recieved a yellow card for celebrating with the crowd, which would change the game altogether.

A few minutes later, Diame fouled Arteta which I think deserved a yellow and thus, a red card. But the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt, because that was Diame’s first challenge. From then on, he didn’t make too many rash challenges.

Just before half-time, Arsenal dispossessed West Ham and went for the counter-attack. Olivier Giroud passed the ball wide to Lukas Podolski, from where he whipped in a cross. Giroud continued to make his run into the box and toe-poked it past the West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelaainen. This was an RvP-style goal and gives the Gunners confidence that Giroud can make the striker’s position his own.

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Mohamed Diame of West Ham celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on October 6, 2012 in London, England.

After half-time, Arsenal went about their game, and were better than they were in the first half. But Carroll was still a constant pain for Arsenal as he won many balls in the air and the set-pieces came thick and fast. West Ham weren’t parking the bus like Chelsea did against Barcelona. They parked it only when they when they were not in possession but when they had the ball, they either went long for Carroll or tried to go for a counter-attack as was in the case of Diame’s goal.

Kieran Gibbs suffered from a thigh strain and was replaced by Andre Santos. Arsenal hope that Gibbs is fit enough for England duty because that is a reward for the shifts that he has put in since August. Ricardo Vaz Te was a major injury for West Ham with a dislocated shoulder and from there, West Ham’s collapse started.

Theo Walcott, who came on for Gervinho, made use of a superb ball by Olivier Giroud and showed fantastic technique in curling the ball along the ground for the second goal. Arsenal, now that Walcott can play as a striker, have five strikers, all of whom are extremely versatile.

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Santi Cazorla of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal uring the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on October 6, 2012 in London, England.

With Tomas Roscisky, Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna yet to come back to the first team, which they will in the coming weeks, Arsenal will have enough depth everywhere. And that is a prerequisite for a title challenge. Jack Wilshere, in particular, is the player to watch out for. He can replace Aaron Ramsey (where he was against West Ham)and play like Bastian Schweinstieger. The Gunners also have depth in defence, with three good centre-backs in Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Vito Mannone might not be first-choice by any means, but he has stepped up his game, having replaced Wojciech Szczesny in goal.

After the second goal, West Ham tailed off, although they did have two good chances. One was Kevin Nolan breaking the offside trap, one on one with Mannone only for Nolan to slow down and allow Mertesacker to clear. The other was a free-kick by Mark Taylor which was well-stopped by Mannone and for the captain Vermaelen to clear.

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Mikel Arteta of Arsenal is tackled by Kevin Nolan of West Ham during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on October 6, 2012 in London, England.

Theo Walcott set up a magnificent curler for Santi Cazorla, who is the perfect player for Arsenal because he displays the Spanish flair Arsenal missed last season. He has vision, which Giroud could do justice to more often and a magnificent shooting technique which allows Arsenal to score goals from. The curler by Cazorla bamboozled the West Ham goalie. He is the Player of the Season as far as I am concerned.

All in all, Arsenal were comprehensive against West Ham and have three more points in the bag. After the international break, Arsenal face another three-pointer against Norwich and then an out of sorts QPR. This is the perfect time to consolidate their title challenge before they take on Manchester United at Old Trafford. To all Arsenal fans, keep calm and keep the faith.

For we can do it!